Good Times, Good Times

In our house, we take advantage of every 3-day weekend that comes our way. Truth be told, we pretty much take advantage of every 3-hour break that comes our way. We are not homebodies.

So to that end, we took the kids to Mt. Rushmore for Labor Day weekend - a trip I've wanted to take ever since finding out it was only a 6 1/2 hour drive from Denver. There are those who thought that was too long for a 3-day weekend, and those are the people I really just don't get. How much time do you need people? We had a fabulous time and saw a whole bunch of stuff. It's true that much of the entertainment falls under the category of what *I* might call redneck/middle America/down home/good ol' boy fun, but we are not ones to quibble. If we're out of town, if we're having an adventure, if we're experiencing something new then we are pretty much happy as can be.

So here are some highlights:
* Stopping off at the Flintstones Bedrock City of Custer, SD. Sure, the kids have never heard of the Flintstones (and yes, I feel sufficiently old), but they enjoyed it nonetheless. Here we are on the train - K2 is perusing the pamphlet planning our trip; and the kids hanging out in Fred's garage:




* The next morning we hit Mt. Rushmore. It really is awe inspiring to see up close. My favorite was a toss up between Teddy Roosevelt and Abe Lincoln. Abe's face looked nearly lifelike with the brilliant wrinkling and face lines so integral to his features, but Teddy had those spectacles and somehow - even in a carving - they managed to make them look real. If you ask the kids however, they will tell you their favorite part was the gift shop. And the ice cream.





* We went to a cool place called the Cosmos Mystery Area where gravity truly does work in strange ways. I don't know why it is, and I didn't bother to ask a lot of questions but there must be some crazy magnet buried there or something. Your body doesn't act in normal ways. It was cool, different, and made me a bit sick to my stomach. That's because I've got these crazy sensitive inner-ear issues. But that's just me. Oh, and I forgot to bring the camera there so no pics. Boo.

* We then headed up to Deadwood as B was really interested in seeing it, but alas was really disappointed. Even though it has great history, its basically been turned into a lameA gambling town. We did eat lunch in the same place where Wild Bill Hickock was shot, so there's that. And the kids took part in the re-enactment with K2 (as always) making friends with absolutely everyone she saw including random old men and K1 (as always) walking around with a swagger as though he owned the place and really was the law in those parts.



* The next morning we headed to Reptile Gardens where K2 charmed a snake, and a giant tortoise charmed k-squared (and me). I really wanted to take this one home for a pet - we hadn't worked out all the logistics but figured it could ride up top with the wind in his - er - shell.





* Then we headed over to Bear Country USA, where you can drive through and see animals up close and personal. And I do mean up close - I didn't even need the zoom on my camera for these shots. The highlight was in the bear section, where this particular bear paced back and forth in front of the exit gate, holding up a line of traffic, oblivious to the posted sign that said "please drive slowly - bears will move." This bear had our number. His devil-may-care attitude impressed me.







And after all this it was, alas, time to head home. There were a few things we didn't get to (believe it or not) so maybe one day we'll go back again. But as we generally do on each trip we take, we were busy planning all of our future vacations so it may have to wait a bit. That's ok though - I think I've had my fill of redneck/middle America/down home/good ol' boy fun for now.