ajalldredge.blogspot: South Dakota

We drove into our hotel in Keystone after dark, but we did get a glimpse of Mt. Rushmore in the distance, since they light it at night. The real fun would start the next morning. This part of the trip was our "trip inside a trip" according to Levi. A week of vacation between jobs and a chance to explore some great historical and natural monuments. Some thought we were crazy heading to South Dakota in February, but we were graced with unseasonable warm weather and abundant sunshine! Rapid City is a nice city with some great nature centers, tourists traps (it was the off season so they were all closed) and a very cool downtown! We were finally all feeling well again and ready to explore!

Our hotel in Keystone....the boys got a bit kick out of the western wildlife decor.

One of the beautiful nature centers. They offered lots of classes for outdoor sports like archery, snow shoeing, kayaking, etc.

The indoors was full of beautifully displayed wildlife and play areas for children. Everywhere signs read "please touch", which is nice to see as a mom of three little kids.

Playing like they were baby bears.

Cool aquarium area with native fish.

Smokey bear was everywhere! I think we have pictures with multiple statues of this cautionary bear.

I love the bridges in the area....why build an ugly concrete bridge when you can build this?!

The historic Hotel Alex Johnson. Construction began on this building just one day before they began Mt. Rushmore. Its a beautiful hotel and reported to be haunted by the ghost of a suicidal bride, among others, but I didn't stay long enough to check out that part of the story!