Hunters

Hey mom and dad I cant find my phone so I need a new one thanks I am having a good time. Thank you!
~Hunter

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First Day

So far the trip has been amazing! The first two days we mostly drove. The girls all drove in the same car. I thought that the drive was going to be one of those "are we there yet" types of things, but it was nothing like that. For us girls it was a time to bond and get to know each other. I mean it took a while to get us talking, but soon we were laughing uncontrollably! We had a blast, and made a great team setting up the tent that night.

When we got to out first campsite it was dark and muddy, but we set up our tent, and fussed about not being able to take a shower. In the middle of the night we had to go sleep in the van during a storm. Now I will say that it was not fun. It was not comfortable, and we were all over each other. None the less we fell asleep. ~ We woke up at 4:30 because we wanted to get a head start cleaning up, in hopes that we could take a shower, which never happened. When we woke up we were still in the van and informed that we could of gone back to the tent where it was more comfortable, but we were too knocked out to hear. So we all ended up somewhat getting over the fact that we could of had more then about three hours asleep. This resulted in tons of sleep in the car.

The rest of the day was great, and so were the other nights. We are all getting a long great, and having a good time. Post more soon,

Hannah


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Lots of rocks today!

We're out in Rapid City at the moment, refilling our pantry at Sam's and Walmart for the next few days of cooking. We drove through The Needles highway first and stopped to climb on the rocks. That took us to Mt. Rushmore. Gorgeous weather for a nice change!

The Badlands

It's a day after we've been to the Badlands, and I'm still thinking about them. The endless array of reds and browns stacked into mountainous heaps of strong, hard rock. I wish I could of stayed there forever and stared, wide-eyed, at the magnificent colors in which was created by our home. I wish I could of stayed and experienced the winds and rain that weather away this great attraction. Have you ever leaned back into the wind and waited for it to push you back up? If you're like me, sometimes that doesn't happen, ending in a hard fall to the ground. In the Badlands, it's a different case. Anyone, big or small, can lean back, using all force, and come right back up. The wind sweeps though your hair and washes away all of your thoughts. It's a day after we've been to the Badlands, and I'm still thinking about it.
~ Lydia
Date: May 31, 2011








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Entering the Badlands

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Corn Palace

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Location:Mitchell, South Dakota

Cooking

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Dinner

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Location:KOA Sioux Falls SD

Cooking

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Cahokia Indian mound yesterday

Here are some photos from yesterday. This is the largest pre-Colombian Indian site north of Mexico and the largest earthen Indian mounds in the Americas. Monks Mound contains 22 million cubic feet of earth with a base covering sixteen acres. The dirt was excavated and carried on the backs of workers over a period of 150-200 years. It is 110' high at top -third largest pyramid in North America. Cahokia was a real urban city of its day and covered 4000 acres with over 120 mounds.






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Location:Collinsville IL near St. Louis

Damp and Dreary

Got to Arrowrock State Park last night just at dark. For the first time putting up tents, in the dark to boot, the kids did a pretty good job. Rain started a little after midnight and thunder and lightning sent us to the vans around 1:30 am where we stayed for a couple of hours. Luckily the temperatures are not high, so while humid, it could be worse! A little damp this morning but not too bad. We're having lunch at a park in St. Joseph, MO right now after a slowish, but scenic, drive through Northwest MO countryside. Wow, have they had some rain up here - everything is lush and green.








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Location:Night no. 1 and day no. 2

Lunchtime!

Just finished our first lunch stop off I 57 near Marion, IL. Ms. Littlejohn


gave the "rules of the road" for the trip.


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Location:Benton,United States

Here We Go

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On the road again!

We are on the road, in Bellevue filling up the gas tanks. Ms. Little john had to go wake up one student and we hit the road after the final load up a little before 8:00. The boys are all in one van and the girls in another. I'm in the third van with six adults, a seven year old and a five year old. Cool!

2 days to go...

In 48 hours we'll be driving through Kentucky on our way to Missouri for our first night. We're getting excited and preparing as fast as we can. Don't forget some warm clothes, flip flops for the shower, and extra bugspray. Make sure we know about any medicine that needs to be taken on the trip. We are checking with the state transportation sites to make sure we can avoid any long detours caused by the recent storms.

I found this site that explains how geysers work. It's one of the best explinations I've seen of why they don't errupt all the time--what makes the water flow sometimes but not constantly. http://mms.nps.gov/yell/ofvec/exhibits/index.htm