States & Plates

Back in July while on a road trip to Illinois, our family started watching for license plates from the fifty states, using the “States & Plates” smartphone app.

During that trip, we spotted 46 of the 50 states (including a pit stop at Iowa 80, the “World’s Largest Truckstop” to see which states we could find there. ;)

A few weeks ago, Paul spotted an Alaska plate right here in Sioux Falls.
On our recent trip to the Black Hills,
we were still on the lookout for Delaware, Rhode Island, and Hawaii.

When we left the hotel early one morning,
we could hardly believe what was parked right next to our van…

The owner was leaving at the same time we were, and told us they had the car shipped via boat from Hawaii to San Diego, and were driving it across the country to their new home. Wow!

(P.S. If you should happen to see a Rhode Island or Delaware license plate anywhere in our area, please be sure to let us know! ;)

Black Hills & Badlands, part 2

We saw many different animals on the Custer State Park Wildlife Loop, including…

pronghorn antelope,

bison,

prairie dogs,

and of course, the wild burros!

 

 

 

Bye bye, burros! :)

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It’s tough to get pictures inside the cave because of the lighting (or lack thereof),
but here are a few of our spelunkers. :)

Luke by “The Column”

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We also saw some wildlife at Bear Country USA…

Arctic Wolf

Bighorn Sheep

Red fox

Baby bears eating a pumpkin

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And last, but not least, we took a guided horseback ride…

Seth, Luke, Kara, & Jenna all saddled up and ready to go!

Evan too

 

Paul & Ryan

 

Here we go! :)

 

The whole crew!
Nate & Levi on Pedro the mule, Brenda on Blondie, Andy the trail guide on Sasha, Bri on Annie, Paul & Ryan on Kyla, Seth on BooBoo…

Emma on Baby, Erin on Molly the mule, Kaitlyn on Lily, Kara on Indie, Evan on Jamie, Jenna on Colby, and Luke on Trigger

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One last group photo in Keystone…

We had a wonderful time in the Black Hills and made so many fun memories
while exploring and enjoying God’s creation!

Black Hills & Badlands

Our kids had a few days off last week, and we met Nate & Brenda and Richard & Joanna in the Black Hills. Both the weather and the fall colors were absolutely beautiful!

We did some hiking in the Badlands and made to the “End of the Trail”

 

Jenna & Evan doing some climbing.
God’s handiwork is so evident in the striking beauty of the Badlands!

 

Family photo

 

Ryan & Levi in the visitor’s center

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Our next stop was Mt. Rushmore National Memorial

Beautiful blue sky!

 

Taking a break after the Presidential Trail

 

Our family

 

The whole crew

 

A couple of mountain goats on our way out of Mt. Rushmore

 

View of Mt. Rushmore through one of the tunnels on Iron Mountain Road

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On to Crazy Horse Memorial,
where we enjoyed authentic Native American Tacos at Laughing Water Restaurant

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Breakfast at our hotel in the quaint little town of Keystone

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More to come soon from Rushmore Cave, Bear Country USA, Custer State Park,
and a horseback ride through the hills…

Happy Birthday, Evan James!

Double digits today for Evan James!
Can’t believe he’s 10 years old… it’s been a joy to watch him grow!

We celebrated with bowling and a dinosaur-topped cheesecake!

 

He’s going to very busy building Legos, which is one of his all-time favorite activities!

Happy, Happy Birthday, Evan James!
We love you very much!

Ryan’s Big News

Ryan has some very important news to share… : )