Rapid City

Monday was our day to tour Rapid City. We started off by driving up the Needles Hwy towards Rapid City. There are two amazing scenic drives in Custer State Park, the Iron Mountain Rd. which we did the day before is wonderful because it winds through mountain meadows, which I love, and gives you a wonderful appetizer of Mt. Rushmore as it becomes closer and closer when viewed through rock hewn tunnels. The Needles Hwy is also fabulous but in a totally different way. If someone could only do one, I'd be at a loss to tell them which one to do. The Needles starts out in an evergreen forest and transitions into a decidious forest with losts of white birch. Then, the real fun begins. Rock Spires on all sides in the distance. Rock Spires that touch the road on both sides, at the same time. Then, 3 narrow tunnels. The 1st two were only a little over 6 feet wide. We could roll down our windows and touch the rocks on either side. I'm sure glad I've gotten used to driving my big white beast of a van. We even had someone taking a picture of us squeezing through one of the tunnels. There was no way we could open the doors to take a photo ourselves, but here we are going through an 8 foot wide tunnel. Now picture it two feet more narrow!

While driving, Jacob scratched at a small bump he felt on his head and came away with a bloody tick. His reaction reminded me of when he was 2 ½ and Dode and I were first dating. We'd gone hiking and I had him in a backpack. I slipped crossing a low log bridge and dunked him in the water. “Jacob go home now” he told us once we were situated. Well, after finding that tick he let me know that it was ok to go home now. It really grossed him out. Throughout the day, he kept remembering it and it continued to give him the creeps.

Our 1st stop was the Cosmos of the Black Hills. A place where “mysterious” forces make the laws of gravity not apply. Balls and water roll up hill, people can lean in mysterious ways. I got to sit on the “chair of honesty”. Balanced on a piece of wood sticking out from the wall 2 feet up, the back two legs of the chair on the wood and the front two dangling in space, the tour guide asked me a serious of questions. If I told the truth, all would be well. But, if I lied, I'd go crashing forward. The kids were happy to learn they had an honest mom. I asked them why none of the three cameras in our family was used to take a photo but they said they were so into seeing if I'd tumble down, they never thought to take a picture!

waiting for our tour

We drove from the Cosmos to the Maze of the Black Hills. They had picnic tables set up and we were able to eat our lunch there before venturing into the maze. Isaac was really good at navigating the maze and finished in 28 minutes. Miriam was also quite skilled because she realized early on that all you needed to do was duck under the particians and you could get anywhere you wanted! The girls and I finished in 50 minutes, with a little help from Isaac at the end. One nice thing about the maze was, they used pea gravel so you couldn't just follow the path most marked out by feet.

From the Maze, it was off to Pirates Cove Adventure Golf. I'd found them by googling a listing of mini golf by state. Then, if there were any on our route, I used tripadvisor to find out if they were worth going to. Pirates Cove sounded like the most fun. Pirates Cove is a Franchise and it was a very fun course. The little ones are finally old enough to make it through all 18 holes. Willliam just couldn't hit the ball with his club no matter what so he played soccer golf. Elizabeth got two holes in one. I was doing much better than usual and made most holes in 2-3 strokes. I think golfing with the little ones , watching their reactions to the holes and their skills, is ½ of what makes it fun when they're into it. Since they're finally old enough to make it through, it was a success.

As we were driving out of town, the kids saw a large dinosaur on top of a hill in Rapid City they wanted to get a closer view of so we drove up to check it out. Dinosaur Park has got to be the strangest depression era publics work project I've ever seen. 5 large cement dinosaurs perched on a hill above Rapid City built with the purpose of “perpetuateing the facts of history”. Where we live men were building state park gazebos and rock guard rails. I've never noticed any large dinosaurs. The gift shop was a welcome change after the prices at Mt. Rushmore. $.99 got each of us a hot dog and drink that we could eat on the deck overlooking the city. $1.39 bought huge ice cream cones.

I'd read about Storybook Island on tripadvisor but had decided not to go because I thought it would only appeal to the little children. The woman working the gift shop at Dinosaur Park encouraged us to go and I'm so glad we did. As we pulled into the parking lot, Miriam screamed like a girl at her 1st rock concert, whipped off her seatbelt and was off running towards it. It was build by who it said loved children and wanted a fun place for them to play. It was absolutely amazing. 6 ½ acres of structures and ways to interact with them based on classic children's stories.
 

The dinosaurs we'd just seen were a bit run down but Storybook Island was a class act. Anastaya said it was like a mini Disneyland. Fun, free, no lines!
 

While we were there enjoying it, it started to sprinkle. I just can't escape the rain! Everyone started to leave but not us Washington folk. Next came thunder. Before we even knew what hit us, the heavens opened and we were drenched. The kids ran screaming from play house to play house exploring them all. It wasn't a cold rain like home and I think it really added to their sense of adventure. William and I hid out at the firetruck and put out a few fires with our imaginations.

 

After 10-15 minutes, the sun came out and soon the rain was over. It was still warm out so we kept playing, clothes dripping wet. Before we left, I wandered into the gift shop and knew it was a place Boma would love. Instead of a tacky gift shop selling souvenier t shirts and hats, it was a quality but tiny toy store. 90% of the toys were Melissa & Doug toys I'd never seen before. I had to buy two but could have bought many more! As we were driving away, Jacob said we needed a place like that back home. He said he should build one as his Eagle project. I wish he could!