Over the 4th of July we did the vacation of all vacations!! Oh yes, here we come, in our RV to South Dakota!! We rented from "cruise America" a pretty large size RV to fit our family nice and comfy! It was perfect and kids were in heaven. "What!" "no seatbelts?" Well there were some, but it was too tempting to explore and walk around while driving. We could sit and play games at the table and do all kinds of crafts while we were on the road. It was a little bumpier than we thought, but it was so worth it! We would do it again in a second. Mike fit in that driver seat just perfect, he was a natural at driving that beast!!
checkin out the motorhome
Our first part of the trip was a scenic drive around Custer state park where we saw most every animal you can think of--well at least buffalo, goats and donkeys--good enough for us. It was like a petting zoo, we could even feed the animals out the window. Well not the buffalo of course. Those things were massive....pretty amazing animals--there were just herds of them everywhere!!
hangin out the window like its no big deal--don't worry I think we were going like 1 mph. didn't really expect to get stuck in traffic for 30 minutes. I guess we weren't the only ones thinking to do this drive. It might have been the herds of buffalos crossing the road whenever they feel like it.
And the next stop was the most amazing of them all....Mt. Rushmore!!
you always here of how cool it is but you will never know just how cool it is until you go and see so yourself. It is absolutely breath-taking in person!! So hard to imagine even thinking to carve that monument! So Beautiful!!
Our good friends the Lyons Family, came along with us as well. They have a lot of the same aged kids as us. Here we have Wesley, Easton, Drake, Brigg, Billy, Andrew, Charly, Lydia, and Jocelyn
This is about the only way that Brigg would get a nap on this trip. It was all go, go, go. And no room for a porta crib on this puppy. He was an absolute trooper!! Super pleasant the whole time even with sparatic naps. Such a sweetheart
We made it to our KOA village. Or should I say CITY. This was one of the biggest KOA's in the country, and it was packed!! Pretty fun place with a swimming pool, horseback riding, jumping castle thing, and more. Brigg and Charly only wished they could ride on the horseys. So we just pretended by holding the reigns.
And what's camping without dirty boys and smores :)
Next stop...REPTILE GARDENS
This was one of the coolest places ever!! The kids were in Heaven the whole entire time we were there. They had an amazing crocodile show with this guy who was hilarious and super brave.. He was actually the guy in all the shows, he made every show!!
If only Drake could take this big Daddy home. He is in his element!!
Inside looking at a bunch of other creatures, like geckos, lizards, crazy looking birds, and more...
Outside they had the turtle farm--YEP, they are sitting on TURTLES.
Massive turtles that is, they have been around for years. They were huge!!
Brigg was fascinated with the humongous snakes as well.
Great, just what we need--more snake lovers!
Livin the Dream:)
On the road again......
Next stop...BEAR COUNTRY
This place was amazing, you drive around this meadow filled with all kinds of bears and a few other animals. They are literally right outside your window. They acted like they didn't even care we were within 2 feet of them. Kind of a little creepy if you ask me. Just don't make any of them mad or you're in big trouble.
They have a place to park to go check out all the baby bears. They were hilarious, just playing, even though it looked like they were hurting each other. I wouldn't want to be playing with any of these baby bears. Pretty cute though!!
One of the kids favorite spots...The Alpine Slide
Do we have to leave??? Time to pack it up. What a great trip filled with so much adventure!! We recommend this trip to anyone and everyone!! So many memories made--just the perfect family vacation!! One we will never forget!! You will definitely be seeing more of these vehicles in our future family getaways:)
