Badlands and town of Wall

We had a super busy day with lots of driving but we saw a lot!

We started off our day with a visit to the Oglala Lakota Indian Reservation Visitor Center

White River

Scenic Town 

Finally made it to the Badlands!

Fossil discovery at the Badlands Visitor Center

For lunch, we took a detour to the town of Wall!  In the 1930s, it was a small drug store run by Hustead's.  They were trying to make ends meet but then started giving about free ice water and everyone stopped there!  They became famous after that!

The original owners!

It is now this HUGE drug store with a variety of small stores inside it!  It was neat to see but out of control!

 

Family Pictures of the Halsteads

My free ice water!

Best donut ever!

Then we went to the Prairie Homestead to see a home from long ago

and to see cute prairie dogs!

Then we made our way back into the Badlands to see the rest of the National Park!

Mount Rushmore and Downtown Rapid City

Today I flew to Rapid City, South Dakota! I was suppose to meet Aunt Jeanne there but her flight was cancelled and she couldn't fly in until that night.  So I had the day to myself exploring South Dakota!

After renting the car and checking into our hotel room, I headed to Mount Rushmore!  The drive was gorgeous! This does not do it justice but it was the best I could do while driving!

 

This is the statue of the man who designed Mount Rushmore

Before you get to the monument, you walk through the flags of all 50 states and on the columns below each flag is when that state was admitted to the union. This was my favorite part for sure!

Then I made it to the perfect view of the monument! (See it above my head?)

I went into a cave/lookout area to see this up close.  After I walked out of the cave, I saw a woman wearing a Meredith College t-shirt.  I stopped and talked to her. She graduated from Meredith in 1977 and now lives in Fayetteville!  Too cool!

View from the Presidents' Trail

Ice Cream to round out my visit!

Then I headed to downtown Rapid City!  It was a view neat area with two events that night!

Love this graffiti back area!

 

After dinner, I walked around Target to marvel at all the great things they have!

As I was leaving Target to go pick up Aunt Jeanne, this is what the sky looked like! How pretty!

I am in the states!!

I just wanted to post to let you know last night Zoe and I arrived back in NC safe and sound for the summer!  Our flights were uneventful and Zoe did great! I think she is getting use to flying!  I am in Cary for 2 days and then I leave for Rapid City, South Dakota to spend a long weekend there with Aunt Jeanne! Don't worry, I will post pictures!  Well, as soon as I buy a new camera... mine got a bit of water in it from a spilled water bottle in my purse and won't turn on!  Uh-oh!  Thank goodness it happened right before I was headed to the states!  Anyway, love you all and hope to see you while I am here for the summer (I fly back to Tunisia August 15)!

My week in pictures!

Our ACST End of the Year Party

Laura and me

Laura, Joni and me

Cheryl, Lesley (my principal), Karen (Liam's mom), and me

I packed up my apartment all by myself and all of my stuff was moved into my new house (but I won't move there until I get back in August)

Zoe and I ate ice cream in bed

Zoe's first trip to the beach!

Katie and Lola

Zoe loves Laura!

Sunset on the beach

Full moon rising on the beach

World Cup showing on the side of the hotel building outside my apartment window

Said Goodbye to Kaylee (she was my lifesaver this year- we worked on the 2nd grade team together)