Corn Palace, The Badlands, Mount Rushmore

By: Lars

It's been awhile since our last post so we have a lot to catch up on! Our first stop was the Badlands! One of our stops we made before the Badlands was the Corn Palace. At the Corn Palace, we saw huge frames filled with different colored corn creating a picture. After this corny stop we were heading straight to the Badlands. This was a cool experience because I got to see and eat bison! The amazing thing about the Badlands is that before you're just driving on hilly and grassy terrain and then, BOOM! You see these giant sandy mountains similar to Bryce Canyon! We stayed at the Badlands for one night, for dinner. As I was saying before, I got to eat a bison burger with bacon, lettuce, tomato, and pickles. It was very scrumptious! The next day we packed up and started heading towards the campground called Leigh Creek campground. We made another stop before Leigh Creek, and that stop was at Mount Rushmore! The mountain with the presidents, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln carved into the mountain. That was probably one of the most amazing little stops we've ever made on both of our road trips. After that mountainous experience, we were headed to Leigh Creek campground. Turns out, Leigh Creek campground is inside of Big Horn National Forest. Leigh Creek was a small campground but good enough that we could manage until the next day where we will be heading to Yellowstone National Park!

The Corn Palace!

All The Amazing Things!  By: Ilsa R

Ok so, we have seen a LOT since we last posted and we are not in South Dakota anymore. Let me tell you about it. So the first place that we visited was The Badlands, which to be honest, was not exactly my favorite, so I will just skip that one. However, I will tell you about where we went on our way to The Badlands. We went to the Corn Palace!  The Corn Palace is basically a big building (not made of corn) that has a design on the front that is completely made of corn! Also, the inside is well... pretty much a corn-everything visitor center. The second stop that we made on our way to the Badlands was an old-fashioned 1880's town! It was so interesting to look at old saloons, a school, a church, a grocery store, a doctor's office and so many other things! After visiting The Corn Palace, the 1880s old-fashioned town, and The Badlands, we headed to Bighorn National Forest where we stayed in a campsite for one night. Our campsite was pretty much a usual campsite (if you don't count big rock walls going up the sides). On our way to Bighorn National Forest we visited the famous Mount Rushmore. I think our luck was pretty good that day because it happened to be the day that we met Nick Clifford, the only person who created Mount Rushmore who is still alive!  Make sure you don't miss the next post, on Yellowstone National Park!

P.S.  I am now going to highlight all of the places that I have been to!

Ilsa at the 1880s Town - School Room

The Badlands - lucky to time it with the fields of yellow flowers

Mount Rushmore - meeting the only surviving driller

Mount Rushmore

Camping in Bighorn National Forest

Leaving Minnesota - On the Road Again!

Our water dog Kiska is also sad to leave Minnesota!

Minnesota!  By: Ilsa

Doing our usual trip to Minnesota this year was not the same as it was years before. For one, it's June! Usually our trip is in August which is WAY warmer.
 Spending time in Minnesota was so much fun even with the colder weather! There are always fun activities to do and having Kiska there with me just put the icing on the cake. Some of the activities that I did on the lake were tubing, water skiing, fishing, paddle boating, swimming, and many more! It is sad to leave the lake and my grandparents but I am excited for the planned adventures ahead! Also, my whole family was at the lake with me which puts the sprinkles on the cake after the icing! My three uncles and aunts were there including my cousins. Make sure to keep following my blog and we also enjoy comments! See you again in South Dakota!

By: Lars
Remember how I always write about how it’s so hard to leave a place that we’ve visited for a while with our Scamp? Well, leaving Minnesota to start our road trip was probably the hardest of all the other places that we went to. The reason this is is because Minnesota is where most of the families on my mom’s side come to my grandparents' lake. This is also a time to meet my cousins Reece and Keegan! Every summer Reece, Keegan, and I go tubing, swimming, and other activities in the water and in my grandparents' yard. This year was a lot more different though because we came a lot earlier than we usually do when we come in August. One, it was colder so that meant less sun, a colder lake, and more wind than usual. Two, we had Kiska accompanying us on our trip to Minnesota. And lastly, we still have our Scamp here from our last trip! This made our 9 day visit to Minnesota less and more fun at the same time! It was fun to visit our family in Minnesota but now, it is time to go on our real road trip and like I said before, it's not a road trip if we're not on the road!

Ilsa with her cousins and Grandma and Grandpa

Lars and his cousins Reece and Keegan

Baby loons hatched while we were here!

Scamp Trip Leg #2 - Day 1