Day 11: LIttle Bighorn to Yellowstone

When you camp during the summer, you don't need to set the alarm clock.  The sun is your alarm clock.  David and I were up early to start packing because we were hitting the road again.  We have lots of road to travel.

There are 2 kids in there still asleep.  They did not want to get up!

On our way out, we did pass by the profile of George.

Haylee found the biggest dandelions we have ever seen.  She couldn't resist blowing it everywhere.

We missed the South Dakota sign coming in so thankfully there was one just across the highway so we ran across the road back into SD.  Carson couldn't miss out this time. He found a dandelion too.

We drove, and drove, and drove some more.  We passed signs for the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument.  Since we had been in the car all day, we decided to stop.

Here's the info David reported on:  As many as 10,000 men, women, and children from various Plains Indian tribes may have been encamped on the banks of a Montana, late in July if 1876. A large number of Sioux and Cheyenne tribesmen had all left the reservations and joined Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse at the place they called Greasy Grass, after the US Army ignored previous treaty agreements and invaded South Dakota. A battle ensued after the US Army's 7th Cavalry Regiment had been sent to confront the camp. The older Sitting Bull rallied the warriors and saw to the safety of the women and children, while Crazy Horse and other battle leaders like Two Moons and Chief Gall led a large force against the army attackers. In the end between 40 and 50 Native Americans, some women and children, would die in the battle. A staggering 263 cavalrymen were left dead including their commander, Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer. The famed military leader's body would be found at the top of the little hill in this picture, now known as Last Stand Hill. Much could be debated about the Battle of Little Bighorn and the entire Plains Indian War but one thing is certain. In the few years after this battle, one way of life would completely disappear and another one would take it's place. 

After we left here, we hit the road again.  Carson was interested in learning more, he started writing down some facts from the brochures we were given.  He also googled some other info while we were traveling.  Love when he gets into something, and wants to learn more.

 Here's some beautiful views of the sun setting!!

 

We finally made it for the night.....

Day 10: Mt. Rushmore and Beyond

The main purpose of this road trip was to see Mount Rushmore.  After breakfast, we hit the road.

There are no words....

After several attempts to take a selfie with the sun in our eyes, someone asked if they could take the picture for us.

We also went to the sculpture studio.  

This showed the original design of the sculpture, and had some molds that were used.

David's info:

George Washington was our first President, Teddy Roosevelt created the National Park System, Abe Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, and Thomas Jefferson authored the most important document in American History. That's right, ole TJ wrote the first recipe for Ice Cream in the United States of America.

 This is his recipe.  It was hard to read.  They make ice cream here according to his recipe, so we tried it and it was really good!

We left there and headed to Custer State Park.  It was supposed around 20 miles away.  It took a lot longer than that because of this...

and we still hadn't made it to the park, but we were close.  Here are some pictures through the tunnels.

 It's hard to see, but if you look through the trees, you can see Mount Rushmore. It was just beautiful!

We finally made it!!

 On some days, you can see hundreds of buffalo.  Today, this was all we saw.

 

We also saw some deer, and wild burros.

These people are all strangers, we will not be approaching any wild animals.

 

We drove to crazy horse, but didn't go in to the park.

From there, we went to the Wind Cave.  I thought this was something we could get to on our own, and that it was an above ground cave.  Oh no, it's a guided tour underground.  The kids wanted to do, it so off we go...

Having fun while waiting on our tour to start

 Ready to start...

What a busy day!!  but we saw lots of great things.  

Tomorrow we will be leaving, and heading to Wyoming.