"Face Mountain"

Favorite Vacation Moment

Badlands and Black Hills, SD

by mommynae March 13, 2008

Our family in front of Mt. Rushmore

Last summer, my husband and I, with our two girls (ages 4 and 2) took a road trip from Washington state to Rapid City, SD. That was over 2000 miles driving in our car and staying in a tent at KOAs. People told us we were crazy, but it was the best vacation we've had. We took in the many sights along the way. We, of course, went to Mt. Rushmore while staying in Rapid City. Our daughter Emma (age 4) called it the "Face Mountain." We saw Storybook Island park (the coolest park ever!), an underground cave, Cosmos Mystery Spot, Crazy Horse Monument, Stav Kirke Church, and many other activities. It was such an amazing place. A great destination for families. And we went swimming every night! But I think the most memorable part of the whole trip was the first night staying in Rapid City. There was a huge wind storm, with wind gusts up to 40 miles per hour. Needless to say, we did not sleep well that night. The walls of the tent, no matter where you were in the tent, kept hitting everyone's heads and feet. One of our tent poles broke, and one of the RV-ers told us the next day that the tents looked like something from a Jello Jiggler commercial. We were one of maybe 2 or 3 other tents that stayed the whole night. About midnight our daughter Emma asked in a very scared voice, with really big eyes, "Is there a dragon outside? He must be very angry!"