South Dakota Bound - Long Post Warning!

Here's our South Dakota Trip in a nutshell (the last one of the year!):

Thursday (the 1st):
 - Driving through Wyoming has got to be the most boring thing ever! I didn't realize no scenery actually makes for a not so fun road trip. Plus we both lost all our service on our phones in it so there was a spot we got a little lost (I didn't want to have navigation going the whole way so we didn't kill our battery...turns out just let it go because once you don't have service you are screwed and when you miss your exit and the next one isn't for 14 miles it's awful!). We finally made it to our hotel around 6 PM. Enough time to grab some pizza, a shower, and get some sleep finally! Haha (this was a 12-13 hour drive not including stops for lunch and gas...lunch was gas station food though).

Friday (the 2nd):
-We started our first day by going to Bear Country...my favorite part probably. It was so much bigger than Bear World (which seems odd...considering the names). They had tons of bears and other animals and it was so cool to have them so close to the car. I'm obsessed with bears if you couldn't tell. We walked through the gift shop and I saw things I loved, but I have decided recently that I think I'm going to stick with post cards as my go-to souvenir...they are just easier, cheaper, and will last longer probably. We got to see some baby bears, but they were eating so they weren't really exciting to see and then there were some kittens in the otter area that I really wanted to see if we could get to come to us, but they were pretty sleepy on their log. It was a pretty cool place to visit and I recommend it if you ever are in the area.
After Bear Country we headed over to Mount Rushmore. Larry liked going, but agreed with me that you don't really need to go more than once. I think he was a little disappointed that the mountain wasn't as big as he expected. We watched the informational video beforehand (because I remember thinking it had some good stuff in it...it's decent, but whatever) and then walked the path up to the mountain and around the area. We decided the light show wasn't really worth it since we looked it up on YouTube so just the day visit was good enough for us.
I realized at that point that the shirt I found at Bear Country would make a great souvenir gift for Andy for a thank you for watching the kitties. I had also seen some cute bear boxer shorts I wanted for me to sleep in since it was still warm. Turns out, though, that you don't get multiple admissions for one price there so we had to call ahead to see if we could get a pass just to go straight to the gift shop. I ended up walking around to watch the baby bears again for a little bit since that was in the gift shop area and they were so cute and I did pay a decent entry fee so I figured it was fine. They were so much more playful around noon more so than that morning when we went. After a little while (and my memory was pretty much full on my camera) we went back into the gift shop so I could get the last two items I wanted and head back out. It was only around 1 in the afternoon at this point - plenty of time for another activity. We saw so many signs for Reptile Gardens on our drive and it sounded interesting. I looked it up online and it turned out to have really good reviews so we decided to check that out.
Turns out it was a great decision! We got there right as the snake show and alligator show were about to start (one after the other). I was nervous about the alligator show, but after watching the snake one and all the crazy, big, or poisonous snakes he handled I figured it might be fun to watch the other one (my fear isn't NEARLY what it used to be). Going to the alligator show was pretty awesome! The guy showed us how to basically sit on them and get them to not attack really. He pulled a big one right out of the water and sat on it (it started to crawl away with him on it even, but he got control of it and showed how if you put your knees behind their armpits they can't move). They explained a lot of good info about how they can't open their jaws as easily (and as strong) as they can close them so once they are closed if you hold it shut they can't do much about it. He even almost got attacked by them when he brought food out, but he handled it amazingly! There were about 30+ in this pit with him so he was quite outnumbered, but it really made me feel better about them. At the end he brought out a baby for us to touch (talk about conquering your fear). After the shows we walked around the reptile house they had, which was cool to see all the different snakes out there, and through some gardens (where we got to pet some tortoises they had). Then we ended the whole thing at the gift shop where I aw a stuffed animal alligator and actually thought it was cute. Consider that phobia completely wiped out! I also recommend going here if you are ever in S.D.
With all that out of the way we decided we'd go check out Crazy Horse Monument. I had heard about this from my grandma and it had some good reviews that made it sound interesting. Here's a tip, you can see the almost barely-there statue from the road and it doesn't cost you anything...try it that way. The video we saw was interesting (but I always have a sense of white guilt when watching things to do with Native Americans), we paid $8 to go to what we thought was the top of the mountain, but it was just to the bottom...didn't look any cooler than being at the visitors center. The coolest part about this was we got to see and pet a kitty that belonged to the guy's wife (the one who started the monument so many years ago). Oh and we got to take a rock home...it really isn't worth seeing in my opinion...at least not to pay for it.
After all that we decided to have dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse (a favorite of ours). The food was great, like usual, but I wanted to point out that Larry made a funny comment that stuck with me. We were eating and all of a sudden I could smell a dirty diaper. Just out of nowhere. There was a little girl at the booth behind him and she was the only little kid around us, but I could tell she definitely needed to be changed. Larry couldn't smell anything so he made a joke about me being pregnant. I knew I wasn't, but I thought it was funny and wanted to make a note of it. Wouldn't that be crazy?
Overall it was a busy first day, but we got to see a ton of animals and cross off a big item on Larry's list so it was a good day. I also learned a lot about digging into mountains and reptiles. Plus I got to see a lot of bears and get rid of a huge fear so that's a win in my book!

Saturday (the 3rd):
-Saturday was the day we had planned for the train. I also wanted to walk around the town they had there. I didn't realize how small of a town it was though! We walked the streets up and down and went into a couple shops (there's one there called The Farmer's Daughter that has cute garden sculptures and some antiques...super cute!). When the train was finally open we went to get our tickets (I had pre-paid, but you still have to go pick the tickets up). They told us since our ride wasn't until the afternoon we couldn't get the tickets until later. Well we had seen most of the city area there so I decided I wanted to go this place, Old MacDonald's Farm, a few minute away (also had some pretty good reviews).
Old MacDonald's Farm is REALLY cool...probably a lot more so if you have kids or are a kid, but I still loved it. We got to feed and pet a million goats! Baby ones, grown up ones, ones in between, it was awesome! I couldn't get enough of that. They also had bunnies, calves, pigs, roosters, and horses. We fed and pet as many animals as we could. Larry brought like $4 in quarters so we could get all the food. The goats were funny, once they heard the change they'd come running over because they knew that sound meant food. They would constantly call to us to get more. I was obsessed with them! They also had donkeys and baby chicks you could pet (and hold- the chicks that is). Oh man I couldn't get enough of this place! It was so cool!
After the farm we headed back to the train city and got our tickets for that. I was starting to get hungry for lunch and didn't want to get on it without food or water, but it turns out the only place to get real food was at a cash only spot (and I never carry cash on me, nor am I willing to pay the fee to use the ATMs in those locations) so I decided to get some snacks from the gift shop at the train station. Sure it was all candy and some water, but it was something to hold me over! We figured we'd eat once we got off the train. The ride was really cool, we saw a lot of dear and a couple turkeys on the way. There was supposed to be a shoot out, which was a cool addition, but they only did it by one of the cars while the rest of us just listened to a lady narrate the whole thing. I guess it would've been better had they moved around the cars. Luckily we were on the side of the train that we could see it from our window, but the people on the other side missed it or had to lean over the other side to see it, so I feel more bad for them. We got to the end of the line and switched seats so that we were closer to the front of the car for when it went back. On the way back we noticed this blue truck with an old couple in it was chasing us back to our original destination. The couple behind us mentioned that's a big thing in train cities (racing the trains), and that they were big train people and had a train car in their front yard (how random is that?). So it was kind of cool to get a bit of history (I guess that's what you'd call it) with that. I never thought to chase a train before...
After the train we still had some time and Larry was dying to go try some wine and some of the winery's they had close to the train city so I decided I'd let him have his fun. We both went to a few different ones - Stone Faces, Naked, and Prairie Berry Winery - Larry tried a few different kinds and I tried a couple at the first and last ones (it cost money to try at Naked and since this was for Larry I just let him do it). They were interesting, but I'm still not a fan. Unfortunately we hadn't eaten lunch at this point so Larry was feeling a bit tipsy so we decided we needed to go eat immediately.
Dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings was probably the most disappointing part of this whole trip. We had a long wait, it was so loud, and we ended up sitting outside with the smokers. The highlight of the whole thing was watching a drunk guy get taken away by a cop across the street haha.
Overall a decent day, not the best ending with dinner like that. However I got to play with animals again and ride a real train and Larry got to try some wines like he's wanted to do for a while so it was still a good day.

Sunday (the 4th):
-Sunday was an interesting day. We decided it would be our "nature" day. We had plans to go drive through Custer State Park (the wildlife loop is supposed to be similar to Yellowstone without the geysers) and then go to the Wind Caves and do some of the tours there.
Custer State Park is awful! We got there REALLY early and no one was at the booth to take our money so we just went in. We figured if anyone stopped us we'd mention no one came to greet us and just pay then (literally, we waited for like 5 minutes and no one came out of the shack to say anything to us). Turns out it was good we didn't pay because we only saw some donkeys (who LOVE corn nuts it turns out) and that was only in one spot. The rest of it was like driving through Wyoming again...boring and uneventful. We decided we didn't want to go through any of the other trails since it was disappointing enough and we didn't want to risk having to pay at some point. We left to go straight to the wind caves.
The wind caves were one of the coolest parts, in my opinion. We were able to sign up for two tours (I figured you could do them all in a day, but it turns out they only have certain times for each tour and only so many people allowed on them...weird). We got our tickets for the two tours (one starting like 10 minutes after the first one), went and watched the information video (again), and then headed to the first meet up spot. I will say the video on this one was really interesting and set up a lot of good information for the tours. Our first tour (called the Fairgrounds Tour) we went down in an elevator, walked in a big loop, and ended at the elevators again. The carvings were really cool and I was SO tempted to steel a rock because they were just laying there, but I knew it was wrong so I didn't. We even got to see the cave in pitch black (they turn out ALL the lights) and then our guide lit a lamp to see what the kid who first discovered them saw...I have to say he was very brave because there's no way I'd go through a cave with just a little lamp on! They also mentioned stories of people who wandered from their group and got lost on their tour...in the dark? I'd be more scared than anything in my life!
Once we got back to the elevators I decided we needed to be first on so we could rush to our next tour. We got on, the lady noticed we had passes for another tour, and then we got stuck. The elevator would not go up at all for anything. The lady tried everything she could, but nothing was happening. It was kind of freaky thinking of being stuck so far underground, but they obviously have precautions for that and they were able to get the second elevator going. She let everyone know we were the first that needed to be on since we were running late for our other tour (which just happened to start on the other end of the grounds, of course). Once we got up and off Larry and I thanked the lady and literally booked it as fast as we could to the other group (called the Natural Entrance Tour). We reached them JUST in time to hear the lady start her schpill. Luckily we had watched the video so whatever we missed I'm sure was just a repeat of what we already knew.
This tour started up and took us through the cave and back to the elevators again. I would say both were equally interesting so we didn't need to go to both. They both went over the history, did the blackout part, and explained why the cave was the way it was. It was just different sections of the cave so we just saw more of it. Overall it was a cool experience, and we didn't get stuck on the elevators the second time around so it wasn't as scary. I would recommend only doing one of those tours if you go though (it's not worth the stress of rushing, though there were other tours you could do that were a bit different).
Ending the night, we went to Fudruckers for dinner. I was really excited as we used to have these in Utah and they all closed, but I heard good things. I think I was expecting more, not just a burger place. Larry wasn't impressed, I felt it was good food, but I thought it was more of a sit down restaurant.
So while today didn't start out exciting, it was pretty cool to see everything we did and I'm glad we at least got to see the Wind Caves (if you go - Custer State Park is NOTHING like Yellowstone. Go ahead and skip that part)

Monday (the 5th):
-Monday was an interesting day. We were finally leaving. It felt weird because normally I'm sad to end a vacation, but this one didn't feel like a normal vacation so I felt we had seen what we wanted and needed and so I was ready to be home and with our kitties. I knew I wanted to take Larry to see Devil's Tower because I wasn't sure when we'd be in this area again and I really enjoyed going last time (with the Wilson's). We started our drive in some crazy fog, it was really early, but really crazy and eerie. Luckily it didn't last long and we were in the clear vast meadows of Wyoming again (I seriously hate this state!). We got to Devil's Tower pretty early (around 9 AM) and did the "hike" around the base. We got to see a deer (and many prairie dogs) at a random point, which was cool, but I found out they got rid of the sign about the ladder at the top and the story behind it. I showed Larry where it was, but without the story it was just ho-hum for him. The hike didn't take long at all, not even an hour. We went to the gift shop so I could get my post card and see a few other things and then we were back on the road.
It doesn't sound eventful, but I still think Devil's Tower is cool. Although they could put more gas stations along the way there...that part was scary when we still had like 50 miles but we were getting close to empty in the car. There's nothing I can say about the drive through Wyoming except that I was so very happy once we hit the mountains of Utah! I literally wanted Larry to pull over so I could go hug and kiss them haha. I love our Utah Mountains! It was a very long drive and we had to stop in Rawlins for gas and food and that town is just so ew! I really dislike that state and hate that I was so looking forward to driving through it before we left for this trip. But it was a minor blemish on the trip as a whole. We got home a little before 8:45 - just in time to bring stuff in, play with the kitties for a bit, and then head to bed.

Larry had to work today so we couldn't stay up too late, but I was smart and took it off so I could do laundry and everything. For the overall of the trip I would say it was really fun. It makes me look forward to taking real vacations next year. I'm glad Larry got to see Rushmore, try his wine, and walk through caves. I got to pet a bunch of animals, see bears, ride a train, and conquer a fear. So it was a win-win, but not a repeat vacation like all the ones we've done before. I've already started thinking of fun vacation plans we can do next year to make up for this year (I don't know what it was, but this trip just felt weird the whole time. Still fun, but very different). We also have plans to go see "Don't Breath" tonight with Jeni and Robbie so should make for a good night. I know this has been a long post so thanks for sticking with it this long, I now have to get started on my day!