The next day we stopped at a Minuteman Missile Site just outside the Badlands.
Here we are at the Badlands National Park! It was so sunny that it was hard to get a good picture of all of us.
Our lunch spot. We all spent time exploring and rock climbing afterwards.
We cooled down at the visitor center and then went out again the prairie dog town where we could feed them with peanuts.
Our next campsite was at Custer State Park. This site reminded me of our campsite in the Rockies. Big with lots of space to roam and rocks to climb.
The best part about Custer besides all the wildlife are the wild burros! Last time we were at Custer, Colin slept through seeing the burros, so this time, he was all over feeding and petting them.
On our way to Mt. Rushmore, we stopped for lunch in Keystone and found a fun slide to go down.
Next up, Mt. Rushmore! The kids really enjoyed looking at all the state flags and walking up as close as we could. Then we went to the visitor center and they were very intrigued with the rangers who were talking about how it was all made.
More rock climbing at the Needles Eye Tunnel. We spent a good portion of time watching a huge bus go through the itty bitty tunnel!
For dinner, we went on a chuckwagon hayride out to a BBQ spot. All the kids on the ride ended up playing an epic game of tag while Jordan was one of the many guys to get up and dance for their ladies.
Next day we went for a hike around Devil's Tower.
Moving further west, we made it to Wyoming and camped at Buffalo Bill State Park. The night we got there was a very windy and stormy night. We even had to take a break on our way there to wait for a little tornado to pass through. But the next day was beautiful, and the view was amazing!
And then the weather got bad again. Driving into Yellowstone was quite scary pulling a camper since it was sleeting and snowing the whole time. Complete opposite weather of what we started vacation with!
That first day was pretty chilly, but we still made it out to see quite a few geothermal pools and waterfalls.
Old Faithful! It was such a chilly wait and of course it decided to be late this time.
We didn't have the biggest campsite this time around, but we still saw elk and deer from it. Plus made a few friends!
Eating inside cause it's too cold outside!
Wolfie was cold too, so they kept each other warm.
The next day was a little bit warmer
Oh hey, there's Old Faithful again.
Daddy was the bear whisperer in Yellowstone. We must have seen at least 5 or 6 different bears, including a baby! Although no one could really say for sure if it was a grizzly or black bear.
Colin doesn't look impressed with this one.
We were really lucky when it came to looking for wildlife....except moose! I'm still a little disappointed about that. The spot below was supposed to be the hot moose spot, but all I got were some cute pics of the kids! Can't complain about that I suppose.
Our lunch spot
The sun is starting to come out!
Evidence of the snow that we just missed
Getting their ranger badges!
Because of the storms on our way to Cody and Yellowstone, we missed the rodeo, so we decided to stay at a private campground and go to the rodeo on our way back to the Dakotas.
This kid is clearly a pro as he was teaching Colin how to properly mount a horse and sit in the saddle. Only in Cody, Wyoming!
At the rodeo!
The kids were able to go out and chase two calves just like Jordan and I did as kids. While they weren't the fastest, they sure had fun!
On our way to Teddy Roosevelt NP, we stopped at Pompey's Pillar which the Lewis and Clark expedition made famous.
Getting silly in the car!
And then asleep...
Exploring Theodore Roosevelt National Park
Dinner at the campsite
We had buffalo walk through our campsite several times! One even came right up to the camper while we were having breakfast.
And then we booked it home! It took awhile to not look at every cow or horse we passed wondering if they were buffalo or antelope. :)
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