MOUNT RUSHMORE

road trip continued...

When we woke up the next morning, we got ready for the day, packed up, ate our continental breakfast and headed to...

WOW!  Mount Rushmore totally exceeded my expectations.  It is absolutely BEAUTIFUL!  The Black Hills really are breathtaking.  We drove through a lot of the Black Hills the night before in the dark (and the flashlight just didn't capture the beauty- did it mom.), so we were blown away to experience it in the sunlight.
Mount Rushmore is amazing!  It was fascinating to learn about how all this came about.  So much effort, especially in a day where the technology wasn't what it is today, went into the construction.

 Upon arriving, you walk through a tunnel of flags, one flag per state.  Tol and I are standing under and pointing to the Utah flag in one of the pics.  We probably should have shown our newly-found Minnesota pride and stood under it's flag.  O well.  But, isn't it pretty?


The kids were super good and patient while my mom and I (but especially my mom- she is a HUGE history buff) took our time through the museum.  We thought they deserved ice cream.  This was some seriously delicious ice cream!  I'd consider driving back to UT just to be able to stop here for ice cream again... oh- and to see the Presidents :)

And back in the car we go for the rest of the day. 

We arrived to our new house in Rochester about 11 hours later.  We stopped for lunch at a Burger King with a playplace so the kids could run around, then we stopped at Perkins for a sit-down dinner, plus a few potty stops in between. 

This stretch of the drive got OLD.  It was 560+ miles on the same stretch of road.  BORING!  By this time, I was over the fields and nothing-ness.  The road was so straight that there were times I was tempted to turn on the cruise control, lay my seat back and go to sleep.  I mean really, it was that straight and desolate.

When we were only about 45 minutes from our destination (about midnight), the kids were finally sleeping and my mom and I were enjoying some peace and quiet.  We were SO ready to be there!!!  So I was determined to get us there FAST!  Then I saw the flashing lights.  FREAK!!  Luckily I got off with just a warning. Not-so-luckily, the kids woke up during the commotion and Addi cried & Tol screamed at Addi to stop crying the rest of the way.  That was a LOOOOONG 45 minutes.

When we arrived, Dave had presents hidden in the house for the kids to find.  They loved that, but they LOVED seeing their Daddy even more!  Tol's present was a little behind-the-door basketball hoop and Addi's present was a Hello Kitty Diary (that she thinks is the best thing ever).  Dave gave my mom & I some beautiful flowers with cards.  Way to go Dave!

So 22ish hours in the car & 1250ish miles later, we're done with the road trip and are HOME!