Road Trip! Day Three

Rise and Shine in Fairfax!  On the road again, with a mission to cross the great state of South Dakota while also seeing the maximum amount of both kitsch and awe-inspiring natural beauty.

I think it went well.

Of course there was a giant pheasant at the gas station in town.

There was also a whole lot of this.

 On the outskirts of the badlands we stopped at Prairie Dog Ranch.  We fed Prairie Dogs. It was awesome.  And a little smelly and there were lots of bugs, but no matter.

Ivy carefully dropped her peanuts into the burrows, for a surprise/

Jack actually managed to pet one on the tail.  He's a prairie dog whisperer.

 Maximum amount of kitsch:  Achievement unlocked.  Giant plaster prairie dog, complete with peeling paint.

The "noir" filter on the iPhone camera makes everything epic.

 Next stop:  Badlands.

 Awe-inspiring beauty:  Check.

Met a nice family and took their photo, then they took ours.  Turns out, they'd been in Souix Falls the day before too.  And, spoiler alert, we would soon run into them again at BOTH Wall Drug AND Mount Rushmore.  True story.

The kids were WAY into climbing.  Needed a few water breaks because it was crazy hot.  But totally worth it.

Ivy did her climbing with her new stuffy, Grassy the Prairie Dog, clutched in one hand.  Grassy liked to jump off things and "climb around wildly."  Ivy became more and more independent and motivated to climb the longer we were there, and by the end I think she was ready to take off for the other side of the canyon, my adventurous girl.

 This was the aftermath of our Badlands visit.

 Thankfully, it was just a short drive to Wall Drug.

 Wall Drug always saves the day.  We regaled the kids with stories of our previous visits to Wall (most notably the trip down from Winnipeg in my black Honda Civic without Air conditioning and with a panting dog...) and how Wall Drug is always an oasis.

Purchasing our useful souvenirs-- sunglasses, nail clippers... and a new mug, of course.

This time was no different.

 Ivy adored this Connestoga wagon, and the giant jackalope.

 Jack spent the entire time in this splash park.  Both kids were sopping wet and so very happy.

With our 5 cent coffee!  Had to pose in front of mini-Rushmore because at this point, having so much fun at Wall Drug, we thought maybe we wouldn't make it to the real one...

 but we did!

 Mount Rushmore, and ice cream, by sunset.

 And then a long drive into the night to Wyoming...

 Kids laughed themselves silly and then fell asleep watching Beethoven's 5th.  Nat and I stayed awake by force of will and we all got to bed by 1:00am, mountain time.  What a day!  More adventures to come...