Travel log; days 4,5 &6

One of the main reasons we went on this trip was to see Mt. Rushmore again. It is really an amazing sight. We actually went there on the evening of our 3rd day because we had heard how great the night program was. I'm so glad we saw it.
It had changed so much since we had gone 16 years ago. One of the things they added was the hall of flags. There is a flag for each state. This is the girls by the Utah flag.

Family Picture with the monument.

So we had heard a lot about the night program. They play a movie were they talk about each of the presidents on the monument then the light each one. After they light it up, they retire the flag for the night. When they do this they invite all the Veterans to come up on stage.

Jon's Dad is a Vet and it was a very special moment to see him up there saluting the flag.
Usually they pass the flag around and let each Vet tell his name and rank and where her served, but because there was such a large crowd that night they didn't do that.
They did ask all the Vietnam Vets to step forward and honored them. This all made me very proud of my father in law. I'm very glad my girls got to see this.

Day 4 we decided to drive to Badlands National Park. Grandpa loves his girls.

Badlands kind of remindes me of Bryce Canyon but with out the pretty red rocks.

The girls had so much fun climbing on all the rocks. We even did some climbing.

The girls got their ranger badges here too. The Ranger that swore them in made them promise to bring him a pizza next time they came. Badlands was very interesting. They are still finding lots of fossils in the area.

Day 5 we had to move our camp site, and we were a getting a bit tired so once we got to our new campsite we took it easy for most of the day then drove into Deadwood for the evening.

Jon and I really loved the HBO series based on the origins of the town of Deadwood that was on a few years ago, so visiting this town was really fun for us.

Bri and Carly outside of Saloon No.10 where Wild Bill Hickok was killed.

Each night during the summer they do a reenactment of the capture of Jack McCall, the man who killed Wild Bill. It was very fun to watch. Many of the actors walked around and interacted with the audience before the show got going.

The Bullock Hotel, named after Seth Bullock the first sheriff of Deadwood, and my favorite character from the show.

Day 6 we went back to Mt. Rushmore, because we didn't get to see some of the stuff the night before and the girls needed to get their Ranger badges.
These girls are just so cute!

I wanted to put up the picture of Jon and I in front of the monument from 16 years ago but I couldn't get my scanner to work. But here we are, many pounds heaver but still as happy.

After we left Mt. Rushmore we went for a drive on the Needles Highway.

It was so very very beautiful. There are several of these beautiful bridges.

One of our stops along the way.

There is a great stop along the way to view the monument.

One of the other fun things about the Needles Hwy is all the tunnels. There are 7 total and most are very very small. You have to honk your horn before you go through to let people know your coming.

And again, so many beautiful views.

This is called the Eye of the needle. (Sorry about the raindrop.)

This tunnel was so narrow that Jon and I both put our hands out the windows and could touch the sides and we drove through.

We really enjoyed our time in the Black Hills. If you ever get the chance to go I highly recommend you go.

Still to come Devils Tower, Little Big Horn Battle Field, and Yellowstone.