Sunday, September 7, 2008

Into South Dakota

The trip continues...
We awoke early in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart Supercenter in eastern Wyoming. Unlike many places, most Wal-Marts allow overnight parking at their stores. There were a few other RV's and semi-trucks in the parking lot as well. I think it's a smart business move on Wal-Mart's part. We always stock up at their store before we head out for the day.
The kids were still asleep, so we had a few miles down before the first "are we there yet?"
Here is a place that is not named after me.
We had never been to the black hills of South Dakota, so we had no idea where to stay. I found one campground in the directory that sounded good. It had a pool, and horses, and took pets. The photo in the guide looked a little plain, but we only planned one night so it didn't really matter.
We drove past Mount Rushmore on the way. Wow. What an amazing work of art.


The campground was only 5 miles past Mount Rushmore. When we drove in, we could see the horse corrals. Check in was smooth, and we followed a guide in a golf cart to our space.
It was a perfect spot.
This is my definition of perfect:
-we had no adjoining spaces
-a quiet, private space
-a small stream ran alongside our RV
-the girls were "panning for gold" within minutes of parking
-there were 3+ swimming pools
-there was a water slide
-there was a splash pad
-there was a big playground
-there was a big bounce pillow
-there was mini-golf
-all these things were NO extra charge
-showers, laundry, and a store were nearby
-the girls could go trail-riding in the morning (many places won't allow kids)

A few minutes after we parked, I walked down to the reservation desk and booked a second night.
Here are a few photos of our mini-vacation in South Dakota:




This is a photo of our campsite. It didn't photograph well. I tried to catch a photo of Roxie, but she wouldn't get out of the stream that is just inside those bushes.


We stayed 2 nights. On our way out of town we saw a couple sights... to be continued.

3 comments:

Butterfly Wife said...

Sounds like a lot of fun.

Buck said...

That sounds like a very good RV park. I'd have booked a second day, too!

And ain't Mt. Rushmore just the COOLEST? I have a photo (several, actually) taken at the exact same spot you took yours, Susan... with the flag in the foreground. It's one of my all-time favorite shots.

Kasey said...

The photos are great!!