After we returned from the concert, we were getting ready to turn around and head south for another trip. Before summer started we had booked a vacation to the Black Hills at the Palmer Gulch KOA near Hill City, SD. With school starting soon and already having been gone for the concert (not to mention our North Carolina trip just a month prior), coupled with Dana's additional days off of work he took for a guys' weekend with John the previous week, none of us was too excited to be gone again. When we booked the trip, it was a bit late in the game and there were only so many available dates.
But we were planning to bring the four-wheelers and Dana got us all packed up after Brynn's high school orientation last Wednesday. We took off around 6:00 after I had gotten home from work and made it as far as Uncle Lester and Auntie Shel's house. Unfortunately it was about 10:30 by the time we rolled up to their house.
The next morning we got ready to head out, but not before the girls made a trip to Buzzn' and we had an excellent breakfast courtesy of Shelly. She also sent the girls off with treat bags for the drive.
We did stop at the original Wall Drug for a pit stop which was pretty fun and interesting.
As I mentioned, there wasn't a lot of availability for dates and accommodations when we originally booked the trip, so we ended up reserving a cabin with a bathroom, but no AC. We were planning to ask if there were any cancellations for an upgrade when we arrived to check in, but when we stopped in Wall, Dana got a call from the KOA that they had put someone else in our cabin, so they were moving us to a different one, with more of a kitchenette area, plus AC.
On our way to find the cabin that we would be staying in, we took note of the one we had originally booked so we could fully appreciate our upgrade. Haha. It did kind of look like a little shanty.
Here's an inside view. 'Scuse the mess.
The campground had everything! We were really impressed. It was so family friendly with a couple of eateries, two in-ground pools, rock climbing wall, ping pong table, volleyball and basketball court, small waterslide, trail riding, bike and ATV rentals and then they had a little covered outdoor pavilion where they would host activities during the day and show movies at night. You could stay in the cabins on site or there were a ton of RVs with people camping as well as some tenters.
We decided to hit up one of the restaurants for dinner our first night.
On Friday I had booked a zipline adventure for Dana and Brynn in Keystone. After a yummy pancake breakfast at the Prospector's Tent in the morning, we hit up Mount Rushmore before the zipline.
Every morning they have a pancake breakfast that you can order with bacon, eggs, yogurt, rolls and muffins. I think each morning the girls got this massive chocolate cupcake...I mean muffin.
Clara and I rested for a bit back at the cabin and then checked out the giant jumping pillow pad thing at the activity zone.
After Clara and I picked up Dana and Brynn from ziplining, the girls wanted to do gold panning and gem mining, so we found a spot right in Keystone.
They spent a long time sifting for gold and then moved on to the gems which they enjoyed as well. They both said this was their fav part of the trip while ziplining was Dana's favorite.
Bless him, Dana kept on after the girls moved to the gems.
It was taco night in the Prospector's Tent so we did that for dinner on Friday night.
While we were in the hot tub, Clara struck up a conversation with a German couple vacationing in the states with their two daughters. They were so fun to visit with.
Saturday morning Brynn and I went for breakfast at Peggy's Place in Keystone before heading to Hill City for our trail ride. Brynn said she had a hankerin' for a diner breakfast and Peggy's Place looked like it would fit the bill and it did not disappoint. (I know my hair got into my food when I was taking the pic. Boo.)
It wasn't until after I had booked this trail ride in Hill City that I later realized there was trail riding available right at our campground. Oh well. We had a nice, leisurely ride; it was just Brynn and me with our trail guide.
Dana and Clara went four-wheeling while Brynn and I were hoofing it on four legs.
Once Brynn and I got back, we packed up to head to Sylvan Lake. It was an absolutely beautiful day to hike around.
We ended Saturday evening with some Nerts on the porch.
Sunday we didn't have anything planned in advance so we decided to check out the Cosmos and a cave near Hill City.
First we went back to Peggy's Place and brought Clara and Dana with this time.
The Cosmos are a specific area with a strong gravitational pull and is sort of a warp zone of gravity, I guess! It's hard to explain, but in certain spots there, the trees grow curved because of the force of gravity. They have a couple 'houses' that you walk through and it's difficult to walk in a straight line as nothing is level! Everybody thought it was pretty wacky and cool.
After the Cosmos, we found a cavern to tour nearby. This one promised crystals, not bats. :-) It was a cool 55 degrees in there. Like the trail ride, it was just the four of us plus our tour guide, so it was nice to have a private tour.
They had more gem and gold mining here, too, as well as fossils, so Clara bought a fossil kit and did that after the cave tour.
After a quick four-wheeler ride, we grabbed a bite at Turtle Town (a burger and ice cream place at the campground).
This was our last night at the campground, so Dana loaded up the wheelers while Clara and I rented a bike to tool around the campground on.
Dana and Brynn joined us for some Turtle Town ice cream and live music.
We ended the night with a little fire outside our cabin.
We had a really fun time and there was so much to do in the area, but even just at our campground. The weather was fantastic. So, even though we started out a little lackluster, it was a great trip!
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