South Dakota - who knew??

Wow, a lot has transpired with us Happy Campers since last we blogged.  Now that we're out on the open road with no family visits planned for a while, we've realized we'll have a LOT more pictures to share (we took 175 just yesterday!!).  Since blogs have a limited loading capacity - we'll figure out a way to share more pics via shutterfly or flickr or something like that very soon! 

In the meantime - here's what's been happening with us.  We hope you enjoy....

First, we visited T's brother, sister-in-law and nephew in Minnesota.  We had a great family visit and got to see Devin in a swim meet and play lots of baseball.  Also got to see them awarded the first place trophy for Edina little league.  Great job Coach Palm (T's brother) and Devin! 

Next, a stop at the Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota on our way to the Badlands.  Ok, we stopped here b/c we thought it would be a kooky place to see, but it ended up being very cool and we were fascinated that the outside is completely covered in corn!

 

For you trivia buffs:  This place was constructed in 1892 and is re-done each year to the tune of $130k in corn cobs which make these amazing murals!  Craziness!   And we couldn't resist a picture with our faces in the corn cobs....total tourists, or what?!?!?!

There are many more amazing pics of the corn palace - so we'll be sure to let you know when we find a place to post them if you're interested in taking a look!

Then it was The Badlands

Yes, they were bad...as in bad-ass!  All we saw was corn, moo-moo's and hay (or as Amy likes to say...haaaaay) for endless miles in South Dakota.  Then you head into the Badlands and you can't believe you're in the same country, let alone the same state.  Unfortunately it was 108 degrees the day we drove through, so we didn't get to do much except stop and take pics, but it was an amazing drive!  And yes, Amy did get out of the car despite the Rattlesnake warnings!  Pics do not do this place justice!

Then we drove up to Black Hills National Forest where we're staying for 3 nights, and it's like a whole OTHER world in South Dakota.  It's so weird how many different looks this state has!  It's beautiful in the Hills - here are a few pics pieced together of us at Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Prairie Dog Nation, and hitting the Alpine Slide:

And last, but definitely not least for tonight, was our drive through Custer State Park.  Ok, all I (Tracy) wanted was to see a heard of buffalo, but instead, we had the best time of all feeding wild (not sure on the "wild" part!!) jackasses on the side of the road.  It was totally cool, and we were glad we had a half eaten apple and a box of crackers in the car.  So much fun, and something we'll always remember - and probably laugh about.  By the way....no buffalo!  But here we are, feeding our "asses".   And yes, Amy and I have not officially converted to "campers"....we're still wearing skirts and taking showers!!

There's so much more to see here, and we're going to try to cram it all in today.  We leave the Black Hills tomorrow and head towards Wyoming where we'll be visiting Devil's Tower (Close Encounters was filmed there) and Yellowstone National Park for 4 days.  Tracy wants to see every animal species known to man - including bears, wolf packs, buffalo, etc.  Amy's interested, but is still not convinced that a bear can't open our camper door.  I told her they would at least knock first.  It is Yellowstone National Park - I would expect the wildlife to be polite!  LOL!

Until the next exit....

Amy & Tracy  

ps: We also made a guest intern appearance at Jelly Shot Test Kitchen while in Minnesota.  As many of you know, Tracy's sister-in-law, Michelle, is the creator of the delightful treats that we've shared with many of you.  She's the master, and we learned a lot.  We'll keep you posted if our variation of a Rum Punch makes her blog.  Here we are at JSTK