The Needles

One of the coolest stretches of highway ever is "the Needles",

 crazy rock formations near Mt. Rushmore.

We had to drive through several tunnels like this one

Jake is looking over a cliff to the road below

This is that road

If you thought the million dollar highway had slow curves,

I think that this one has it beat.

Really cool views along the drive!

Chad & Tiff

Rapid City, South Dakota

We spent three days in the Rapid City area. We were so surprised at the beauty of the area & the fun times to be had. If you have the inkling, it isn't a bad place to take the fam!

We had nearly reached the hotel when Tiff called to tell us that they had switched our reservations to another hotel that had a water park attached to it. Talk about fun!! Good decision, Chad &Tiff!

Bri & Tiff on the lazy river---just love this pic!

Crazy Horse...can you see how excited the kids were? How about a bit of advice? Save your $27 & avoid the crowds, just park along the highway, snap a few photos & then mark it off your list. It is a total waste of time & money!

Jake & Lander learning to make ropes at Fort Hays, the location
where Dances with Wolves was filmed

Cosmos Mystery area
(Bri in light blue, Devin with his typical crazy face pose, Jake & Lander).
Gravity is messed up here.

We can't explain it, but it was pretty cool.

I think this was in Hill City (???).
We had to stop & eat here when we saw the building.
(Devin, Lander, Bri, Jake sitting on purple pig)

We played a lot of mini golf. Pirate Cove was the BEST.

Really cool place & so worth the stop.

Bri was freaking me out!

Uh, oh. Looks like Lander lost his ball.

Not again?!?

Third time is a charm....or not...

Eating at Sanford's, the biker restaurant.
Lander looks so tired out & cute in this picture!

Bri & Lander...the big boys wouldn't join the photo...

A last minute, spur of the moment decision led to go carts,
batting cages, bumper cars & remote control cars. It was a lot of fun!!

Back 2 School

Today was amazing. It started with an early morning bout of exercising, and then was followed up with the boys going to their first day of school. I had forgotten the peace and tranquility that can exist in my home!

Lander (2nd grade) & Jake (4th grade)

So after my home was tidied up & I had all that free time on my hands I had to decide what to do next. A brisk game of Settler's of Catan was tempting me when Kelsey called me. What would I do without Kelsey's cattle-prong of motivation? (Keep poking away, Kels!) She recently made a cake with fondant & after seeing her cake, I thought I would give it a try too. Here was my first attempt:

I realized that bows are not my strong point, but it was still fun. It's like playdough for adults!

Martin's Cove

Next stop on our journey towards Mt Rushmore was Martin's Cove, the site where the Martin Handcart Company was stranded on their journey to Salt Lake City. We decided to do a mini-trek with the kids, but first we had to pick out our rig.

This was Lander's choice:

Jake's choice was slightly larger.

Josh & I prevailed, insisting on the covered hand cart, knowing that we might be able to glean a bit of shade from its canopy.  Boy, that was a good decision. Wyoming summers can be as brutally hot as the winters are cold.

We pulled the handcart roughtly two miles on a flat, gravelled, and beautifully maintained trail. Prickly pears littered the ground all around the trail and we started wondering how many spines the pioneers must have pulled from their feet.

We then dumped our cart at what is known as "the parking lot", and walked the rest of the way, climbing into the hills, higher and higher. I had always thought that Martin's Cove would be sort of flat. Well, it's not. Those starving, barefoot pioneers' stamina amazed us all.

Josh and the boys are standing in front of the actual Martin's Cove. The surrounding hills offered shelter to the pioneers from the blizzardy weather.

Regardless of what Josh tells you, this is the antelope that nearly attacked us. It sprinted towards us, leaving its baby, stopping maybe 30 feet away. I'm sure that my fervent prayers are the only thing that saved me from facing its dagger-like hooves. 

On a final note, we learned that some of our family was at Martin's Cove as members of the William B. Hodgetts Wagon Company. Some may already be familiar with this, but just in case you are not, Grandpa Farnsy's mom was Maud Cluff. Maud's dad was Heber Cluff. Heber's parents were Ann Bond and Moses Cluff.  Ann Bond & Moses Cluff left England and joined the William B. Hodgetts Company, a wagon train headed west, in Iowa City, Iowa. The Hodgetts Company acted as the a support for the Martin Handcart Company. Here is a link just in case you are bored & want to learn more: "Handcarts West in '56", Trail Excerpts by John Bond

Lander is RICH!

Apparently, Lander is rich. Or at least that is what he said on the first night of our trip to Mt Rushmore. Why? Because, "I own an entire town!" I guess I can see why he would come to that conclusion.

This picture was taken at an art gallery located in the same building where we believe that Lander's great-great grandma, Evelyn Hilsinger, sold newspaper subscriptions in what was then her step-dad's pool hall. She sold so many subscriptions that she won a model T Ford, which she then used to carry boot-legged alcohol to the Shoshones for that same dad. All this at the tender age of 13! The building is located on Lander, Wyoming's historic main street.

We started counting the number of times we saw his name. I think we got to 54...but who knows. Lander felt like the king of the day, stopping everyone who would listen to tell them that he was named Lander and that this was "his" town.

I don't think I have ever seen him so happy for so long. It was too cute!