On all of our trips, we have unforeseen detours. These are the stops that catch our eye and pull us over to take note. Bear Country USA outside of Rapid City was one of those stops. The 200 acre park where 25 species call home was started by a local dentist and is now quite a tourist trap.
If you like animals as much as we do, then this set of pictures is for you! Our kids especially enjoyed their “babyland” with all of the baby animals—especially the bears. I found it amazing to drive through the bears who were just roaming around in one of the large areas. We were just a few feet away from these powerful creatures!
We made our way over to Mt. Rushmore for a quick tour and photos there. What an amazing tribute to some of our great presidents!
After Rushmore, we drove quickly over to Jewel Cave. We missed the last tour, but the generous rangers took us down into the cave anyway. At 145 miles, Jewel Cave is the second longest cave in the world. It is filled with calcite crystals (pictured) and other wonders that make up the "jewels" of Jewel Cave National Monument.
Then, we started the long trip across Wyoming. We elected to skip Yellowstone because of the threat of rain mixed with snow.
Notables:
• Seeing a wolf running across the road in Wyoming.
• We pass the long driving hours listening to sermons from Hebrews which is what we will be studying this summer and listening to Holly read novels out loud to me
• Our little cooler keeps us eating out only one meal/day. Our specialty has become a 15 minute stop where we get gas, to the bathroom, and make lunch!
• One of the roadside signs today read, “120 miles to the next gas station”
• Crossing over the continental divide several times
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