Day 1 (yesterday)

What a crazy first day~~ we drove for 14 1/2 hours, pulling into Rawlins, Wyoming just past midnight.  Driving this many hours in one day was truly a record for the Frykman's.  We are used to driving a lot with the kids, but this was WAY TOO LONG of a day!  The beauty of driving so far is that we were able to have a great day of driving TODAY!  God is good, he kept us entertained by the beautiful, dramatic skies all around, the awesome scenery, the kids were entertaining to each other and to us as well, we were able to finish two books (The World of William Penn and More of a Kind Family), Eric was able to stay awake, I was able to nap, and great music was rocked out too!

Day 2

Today we fell in love with South Dakota!  Kids are trying to figure out how we can move here, while Eric and I are chuckling up front....reminding them that winters are VERY COLD here in SD.  Needless to say it is GORGIOUS here in the Black Hills.  This was our first time to this state and we weren't expecting it to be so green and full of trees~pine, aspen, lots of rivers, streams, and lakes.  

 As we made our way towards Mount Rushmore we made two unexpected, but amazing stops!  We took the time to stop at the CRAZY HORSE MONUMENT.  I hate to admit I had no idea who he was or why we should pay $27 to drive our car full of crazy, tired kids up to see this, but after talking to my dear friend Ruthie and reading a little more about it we decided to give it a try.

 

Here's what made this a cool stop

1. The sculpting began in the 1930's by a Polish, American

2. He and his wife Ruth raised 10 children, 5 boys and 5 girls at the base of the rock

3. After his death in 1982 his wife and children continue to oversee the sculpture

 project even to this day.

4. When finished it will be WAY bigger than Mount Rushmore

5. The Visitor Center is also the North American Indian Museum which was really cool with tons to see and read about.

6. The work on the sculpture is privately funded, no government money has been accepted.

7. The finished sculpture will honor

 all American Indians.

 

and here is what the finished rock will look like....

 

 

Our second stop or rather excursion was Needles Highway...oh my goodness!  We were in for an amazing treat....

 

 

 

 

Kids playing around on the rocks at one of our stops

 

 

 

 

That's Eric and the rest of the kids in the van coming through the tunnel!

 

 

Our first glimpse of Mount Rushmore through this last tunnel!

 

Tonight we are staying in Keystone, South Dakota

 

We ended our day trudging up from the car to see the lights on Mount Rushmore.  We had a real treat as there was a very well done mini history lesson telling about each of the four presidents pictured on the mountain.....Gearge Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Teddy Roosevelt