More Vacation!

While my parents were in ND we wanted to show them Mt. Rushmore and a few things around there. It is a 3 hour drive from Bowman so we left Logan with Grandma Linda and just took Sam. It was a super long day, but so much fun. I'm so glad we got so share it with my family. We took Sam to Mt. Rushmore last year and when we told him we were going back to Grandma and Gramps, he asked if we could go to Mt. Rushmore again. He loves that someone drew faces on the mountain.

You can hike around under the faces. Its a long hike but really pretty. The trail was closed half way because they were doing maintenance in the mountain. It was super hot so we took a lot of rests!

I am SO PROUD of my Mom! When we got to Rushmore Cave, it had already been decided that Dave, Dad, and Sam would go through the cave and Mom and I would wait in the gift shop. One of the guides over heard us trying to get my Mom just to look inside the cave through the glass door. He was SO NICE! He offered to let my Mom step in and check it out. I don't know if she was sure about it but Dave helped her through the door and went with her! Dave said she was SO BRAVE!! He told me that she hesitated once but he just pushed her soft and she went in. My Dad and I thought he would just take her right inside, but he didn't. He let her to the first big cavern! They were in there for at least 5 minutes!!! My Mom is very claustrophobic (she doesn't even like elevators) so even stepping inside the door was a big thing for her. You were AWESOME Mom!!!

I love her face!! She is totally freaked out but she was in there and this is the PROOF!!

Sam is fearless! This is the second Cave he has toured and he loved it! It was a mile walk and he went the whole way!

Sam and Papa Jerr. Sam loved being able to share that with my Dad!

After the Cave we went down the Needles Highway. Dave and I wanted to check it out but we weren't sure if my Mom would let us dive through the tunnels so we didn't tell her until we came up on them! She didn't tell us we couldn't! It was BEAUTIFUL! The tunnels were a tight fit but really cool! It would have been more cool if i didn't get car sick, but sadly I missed most if it. The roads were switchbacks for like 2 hours! Sam loved it!

This was the coolest tunnel! It was long! While we were there and Motor home almost got stuck. Dave and my Dad had to help him back out and turn around! It was a pretty tight squeeze.

Sam went rock climbing with Dave. I sat in the car for the most of it. They found a cool route to go up to the top of the tunnel. Sam is so brave, he just ran around up there. Dave said that the rocks he is climbing under and around or rocks that have fallen and are just hanging there.

Here Dave and Sam are at the top. Sam made a new friend, Ben there. We stayed at this spot for about a hour. It was really fun. I'm so glad my parents came out to see us. Dave loved getting to show them around ND and SD. The boys loved seeing Maymee and Papa Jerr!