the badlands are bad...in a good way

Wall Drug strikes again.  I promise to take most people to Wall Drug when you visit.  It's hilarious.  Way too many tourists were out and about and Tyler and his dad were not too excited to be surrounded by the multitude of what Wall Drug had to offer in addition to the tourists, but I again loved it. 

We found the scary dinosaur, cowboy orchestra, and 6 foot tall rabbit.  Below are some of the few pics we took.  And, by the way, the traveler's chapel was beautiful in the midst of the Wall Drug crazy.

Guy on a Buffalo

From Wall, we headed to the Badlands.  There is a charge to enter the park but with Tyler being active military we were able to get in at no charge.  From what I remember it's around $15 to get in.  The badlands were unreal.  Standing amongst the cliffs of the badlands (if that's what you call it), made us feel small and reminded me of how amazing God is.  Tyler of course became a daredevil and climbed down on one of the "trails" through some of the land.  We weren't able to drive through the entire park due to some construction on the road and a really confusing/confused guy trying to direct traffic.  The Badlands are a definite place to stop when in this area.  We can't wait to go back and see the sunset while drinking wine (or water) and enjoying the company of each other.

Mountain goats climb like crazy.

Tyler looks so small.  I even zoomed in on him so he could be seen. 

Buffalo are everywhere!

Yet we all kept walking...

We worked up an appetite and headed downtown to enjoy local beer and food at the Firehouse Brewing Company.  Ty enjoyed some of the local beer and I really enjoyed their artichoke dip and beer infused bread to dip in it.  Delicious.  Great dessert, cool atmosphere, and a very busy place for a Monday night. Oh, and their adult lemonade drink was delicious.  I can't remember the name but I'm pretty sure it's one of their popular choices.

http://www.firehousebrewing.com/Brews.aspx

Overall, last weekend was great fun.  Spearfish is calling our name for some kayaking, fishing, and hiking.  Now onto STURGIS week!

25 hours and counting

Married with no husband in sight was a bit too much to take in, but I successfully made it through the month of May.  The annual Doucet beach trip, packing my life up in BR, and saying goodbye to my kiddos helped the month go by rather quickly. 

Thinking we would beat the movers to SoDak by a few days, my mom and I left good ole' Louisiana (swamps and all) for the wilderness.  Boston kept us great company and had his first hotel stay.  Mind you, he was delightful and loved Bison beef jerky. 

Traveling through several states was great and a little tiring.  We were supposed to make the trip in 3 days...we did it in two.  We're that cool. 

Wall Drug.  Wall Drug.  Wall Drug. 
If you drive in from the east headed to Rapid, you'll see signs for Wall Drug.  Drive-you-insane kind of signs.  Here are a few examples:

The problem...no where on these signs does it give you any kind of info about where you can find this interesting and magical place.  We found it.  The Disneyland of gas stations is located in Wall, SD and fabulous. 

Mount Rushmore was of course a stop of ours.  It was a gorgeous day and no...the pictures don't do it justice, but here are a few...

Interviews and job offers came next on my birthday.  Luckily the job offers came so I could celebrate the big birthday with Tyler and my mom without having to think of jobs.  By the way, my school's name is South Park.  No kidding.  B-day dinner at The Corn Exchange was amazing.  I cannot wait to go back.  Delightful and local ingredients made it a perfect celebratory dinner.  Only wished my twinkie would have been with us.  Hard not having twin birthdays in the same location anymore. 

Movers had some issues.  The movers are still having some issues.  We have yet to see any movers or any of our "stuff" since I packed it all.  Looks like I'm going to have to continue to wear Tyler's clothes until mine come in.  Boutiques and shopping aren't what I'm accustomed to.  Our mall is excited to have a Sears, JCPenny, and Gap.  Wahoo!  Online shopping here I come. 

LSU didn't make it to Omaha.  We are a little fortunate that no one follows college baseball in Rapid City to the extreme of our southern states which it made it easier to forget those brutal games. 

 Here's home so far.  Just waiting to find some cliffs to do some cliff diving (Tyler's idea) and the movers so we can make home feel like home. 

Tyler scouting out the cliff for some diving.

Our kitchen table.