Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Recap of the trip!

**Remember when I said that this was a weekend away for us? I didn't realize I was a prophet!! I had no idea that it would mean no phone service, no texts, no email, no internet, and no GPS Maps from our phones! (For those who did write/call me: thanks for thinking of us, so sorry for being so rude to not reply but I had no idea about it all until Sunday night.) That was a shocker for me and something I wasn't prepared for, I hadn't printed directions for anything other than our cabin. This really turned into a weekend away!!!!! It was good but I wouldn't be honest if I didn't tell you I felt a little vunerable and anxious during the weekend.

We headed north Friday and drove to Lusk, WY which was our pit-stop on the way to Mt. Rushmore! We stayed at the Covered Wagon which was pretty affordable but not really nice if you know what I mean? It was okay don't get me wrong, the pool was fantastic and the boys had a blast there. The room was just so-so but of course the boys loved it because we had 3 beds so they each got their own. Compared to all of the hotels we've been in can you believe this is at the top of their list? Ha! The town was really small and unfortunately the restaurant I was so excited to have dinner at ended up being closed so we had to go to Subway. I was grateful that we had that Subway option though because there wasn't much else.

Saturday morning we got up and finished the drive to Custer, SD and drove on to Mt. Rushmore! It was amazing to see and the walking tour guide was really informative - I loved learning all about it.
We drove by Crazy Horse but didn't stop. He was a famous Indian from that area and they are in the progress of constructing his mountain carving. It's supposed to be the largest in the world!

Drove through Needles Highway, which is a long scenic drive. It was nice - we stopped at Sylvan Lake and did a bit of hiking. It was beautiful there.

Finally made it to our lodge where I had the cabin reserved! It was super nice but unfortunately our phones still didn't work and our cabin was so far from the lodge area that we didn't have luck with the wireless internet either. Josh is teaching a class and he had to go to the lodge to use the computer so that was a bummer but it turned out okay in the end.

The boys loved the cabin and being in the forest. They love to go and explore, climb rocks (and hurt themselves), and be outdoors. We even had a campfire that night and made s'mores!

Sunday we made our way home and although I didn't originally think 6 1/2 hours was a long drive - it is! Especially when you are tired. I had a good time but I'm so tired right now that it's hard to enjoy it. Give me a week and then maybe I'll sound happier about it all. I am really glad that we did it though. Now I can mark that off my list and decide on what we have to see next.

4 comments:

Stephanie said...

Sorry not everything was as planned but it still sounds like an awesome trip to me. Wish it could have been us. Love all the pics.

Shell said...

I just love the pics! Especially the last one of you guys at the cabin and the boys in front of Mt. Rushmore! How awesome! Thanks so much for sharing.. :) Love you!

lavon said...

Shea--this looks like a great trip. The pics are great. I loved the cabin. I hope we get to do this one next year.

Jen said...

Great pics. Mt Rushmore looks so cool! You're the only person I know who's been there!