We had very limited internet service from day 4 until we returned home. Once we returned home, we were focused more on unpacking, getting through the rest of the summer and getting ready for school than posting on the blog. Hopefully I remember a little bit of the journey…
We picked a lot of the hotels based on whether they had a buffet breakfast included, since DH really likes buffets. Surprisingly, whether we got a decent breakfast or not seemed to have no rhyme or reason. It didn’t seem to matter if we were in a “blue state” or “red state” or whether the people around us were wearing masks. I think some places were using COVID as an excuse to just provide a granola bar or packaged muffin. The days where no one ate well for breakfast were a lot tougher. Especially if there wasn’t a great place to stop for lunch, either. At least we finally started to go through all of the snacks I had packed.
Day 5 started with the Badlands.
It was very dry and reminded us of the Painted Hills in Oregon…but that went on and on and on. The hills themselves seemed to be smaller than the Painted Hills but there were a lot of them! We were very glad we got to go through the Badlands in a car rather than trying to go over the wall of hills in a covered wagon.
After the Badlands, we drove to Mount Rushmore. As we continued to get closer to Sturgis, the number of motorcycles continued to grow. At Mount Rushmore, there were separate entrance lines for cars/RVs and motorcycles. Tween was really nervous about being around the swarms of bikers. We had to convince her to get out of the car to see Mount Rushmore. Although we were masked and tried to not walk close to anyone, that was mostly impossible because it was so crowded. This was also where the kids stopped being interested in getting Junior Ranger badges.
After Mount Rushmore, we went to Crazy Horse. It did not look like any progress had been made on carving the stone since DH and I saw it in 2004. But, we did not remember such a huge welcome center or entrance fee. The only difference we noticed between 2004 and 2021 is that now it felt like a tourist trap instead of a monument to honor a Native American.
It was not easy to find food in the mid-west. We thought the kids would finally eat a good dinner when we found a Mexican place that also had pasta. While DH and I enjoyed our meals, the kids weren’t as impressed. Who puts black pepper in a kids’ meal of mac and cheese?!
