USA... week four (memorable disappointments)

South Dakota in the summer is so much fun; with so much to see and so much to do.  Historically, Micah's parents would travel during summers to visit his grandparents and extended family in Minnesota.  Micah fondly remembers visiting many famous landmarks during these trips, and has wanted our kids to have a similar experience... so every time we drive from Oregon to Iowa, we usually travel the same route.

As is the custom, we usually drive through Yellowstone National Park through Wyoming and South Dakota stopping to see Devil's Tower, Mount Rushmore, the Badlands National Park and Wall Drug.  This time however we were too early for Yellowstone, too rushed for Devil's Tower and Mount Rushmore was completely obscured by fog. It rained through the Badlands and it's probable that no one would have noticed if we'd skipped Wall Drug altogether.  It's a good thing it wasn't the first time we'd visited these places!  Perhaps all the minor difficulties will be glossed over in kids' childhood memories (as I'm sure is the case for Micah's as well ;).

We laughed outright at the whitewashed Mount Rushmore, still saw a ton of animals up close in the Badlands (which really helped the kids in the Junior Ranger program), and experienced a general sense of enjoyment besides!