The Black Hills

This past Labor Day weekend my husband, John, and I joined my family for a trip to the Black Hills of South Dakota. The main reason for the 7 hour drive to the hills was for my cousin, Tony's Wedding on Sylvan Lake. Since my family had not been to the hills for about 11 years, we thought it was a great opportunity to make a family vacation out of the trip.

Since my parents live in Minnesota, they came to Sioux Falls on Thursday, in order to get three hours of driving out of the way and to spend some time hanging out at our new apartment. It was nice to hang out with my family and show them around the city of Sioux Falls. In the evening we grilled out at our apartment and finished up some packing for the weekend.

We took two vehicles to the hills as we had seven people to fit along. Before we had even left Sioux Falls, we had already lost the other vehicle as they took the wrong exit off the interstate. It is hard to remember that my family does not do a lot of interstate driving, so they struggled for some of the trip. I forgot how long and boring the trip to the Black Hills is. We filled up the driving time with music and conversation, and still it seemed to take forever.

We stopped at Wall Drug along the way, which is basically the biggest tourist trap in the world, but it was a good place to at least stretch the legs. We made it into Custer at around 8:00 Mountain Time, and we were exhausted. We stopped and ate and then headed to bed. John's uncle was nice enough to let us use his cabin so all of us kids stayed at the cabin and the parents stayed at a hotel.

The first day in Custer we went through Custer State Park to see all the animals and we also drove on Needles Highway which has some beautiful scenery.
Later that day was Tony and Elizabeth's Wedding. It was an absolutely beautiful day and a very nice ceremony. Congrats to the newlyweds!

On Sunday we shopped around at some tourist shops and everyone bought their Black Hills apparel that they desired. Then we went to Jewel Cave which was pretty cool (literally and figuratively). Last but not least we went to Mount Rushmore. I have seen Mount Rushmore three times, and I think everytime is just as special as the last. It is just an amazing piece of history and I love seeing it. We walked the President's trail and stayed to watch the lighting ceremony. I think we were all a little bummed that we did not have more time at Mount Rushmore.

I had a great time on this family vacation, and I look forward to another. There has already been talk about Duluth, Chicago, or even possibly Washington D.C.! As always, Thanks for reading!