The vacation this year started out by going to Back to The Fifties! It is amazing to see so many cars in one place. Remember the newest car in the place is a 1964! I have included only a few of the pictures I took there! I think a Rat Rod is in our future! Maybe a fun ride for the granddaughters too!
After Back to the Fifties it was off to Rochester where Brianne spent the week in the garage at the house of some friends! It was such a relief to know she was safe as we vacationed! No worries about her sitting in a parking lot getting scratched, no worries of having to fix her so far away from home. Two trunk openings after we got home the trunk hinge broke. This required taking the trunk totally off the car and repairing the hinge with another hinge! I saw the welder out and numerous other things we do not carry in the Chevy. If we had taken her to South Dakota, it could have been a disaster! Thanks to James and Brenda's graciousness we had a wonderful vacation!
With Brianne safe in James and Brenda's garage we were off to South Dakota in the Ion for some sight seeing! We made our first top in Mitchell to see the Corn Palace so that Brian could feel at home "Acting Corny" and we stopped at Wall Drug just so we could say that we did. If we ever make this trip again I am going to count the billboards advertising for Wall Drug!.
We stayed in Custer as we visited many places:
Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse Monument, Black Hills Institute, The Mammoth Site, Museum of Geology, as well as scenic drives through Custer National Park .
Mount Rushmore is a beautiful site. The picture at the end is veterans on stage being honored as the flag was retired for the evening! I really would have been happy if that was the most exciting part of the evening. However, after being lost for about an hour and a half in Custer State park in a rain storm on the curviest roads they make, kind of took the joy our of the evening. As we came around a curve there was a flash of lightning, and THERE HE WAS, the biggest buffalo I have ever encountered 3 feet from my window. Brian offered to back up so I could get his picture. Sorry, but I declined his offer!
The Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, SD is very interesting!
There is a Buffalo Stampede in Custer! There are buffalo everywhere!
Brian has an interest in Dinosaurs. I was beginning to think we were going to camp out at the Geology Museum and the Black Hills Institute! One of these is Stan the Juvenile T Rex they recently found. The staff at Black Hills Institute are the people that found Sue the T Rex that is in Chicago
Crazy Horse Monument is HUGE! What a wonderful family story that goes with it as well. This up close picture of the face (which is completed) was taken from the helicopter. Helicopter ride-one more item to taken off the Bucket List!
When we went to Crazy Horse Monument we spent several hours in the Indian artifacts museum, and all of the other exhibits on display. As it started to get dark we went back to our car to see the Laser Light show and the night blasting to Celebrate the sculptor's wife's birthday. We were sitting in the car reading Guideposts and Reader's Digests that had accumulated the past year and had not yet been read when I heard a voice say, "If I had a nice camera like that I would be taking a picture of this!" The camera was sitting on the dash. The man outside my window was pointing at the beautiful clouds! It did storm, but it stopped in time for the Laser Light show and the night blasting! It really looked awesome, but the pictures I was able to take did not show the beauty!
The last day in South Dakota was spent at an auto Museum where we saw the only Dukes of Hazard Car that is left of the 17 cars that were made for the show! We saw so many different cars it was unreal! AMC pacers to early Fords! There was even a manure spreader with a motor! We also went to a model car display. The guy has thousands of model cars on display.
My favorite part of the trip was seeing all of the wild life. I loved watching the big horns sheep as they took a little rest! the sound the buffalo make as they cross the road reminds you just how big they are! The little babies are so cute! Sioux Falls is very pretty. The wound of the water is so calming after a long day on the road. I am sure you can tell that we had a great time. Brian had never been to South Dakota and has such a love for cars and dinosaurs, it was the perfect vacation for us this year.
Janesville
Relay For Life