Exploring South Dakota

Wow! South Dakota is diverse! Today we started off by grabbing a quick breakfast. I got a DELICIOUS smoothie from a juice place. 

How fitting, right?
It was seriously a super yummy and filling smoothie!

Today I was finally able to see so many sights that I have only read about up until now. Little bro wasn't terribly interested in all the little tidbits I was sharing with him all day long, hahaha! Oh well! I enjoyed sharing the random facts! ;-)

The first part of the drive was sooooo flat! I didn't think anything could be flatter than Indiana but South Dakota may have it beat. At least, parts of it. South Dakota is very diverse! But this part is so flat... you can see for miles and miles! 

 There was so much open space! It seems like the only things we saw were cows and lots and lots and lots of bales of hay. I couldn't help but wonder how so many people claim that America is overpopulated when there is so much space out here. 

We came across an original homestead and so we stopped. I get to read a couple of Little House on the Prairie books with my class this coming year so I took lots of pictures to show them as we read this year. Here are a few of the highlights. :)

The top of a dugout cellar.

We used some of their costumes to dress the part as we toured the homestead.

And then we came to the Badlands. Words cannot express and pictures cannot do justice. Peruse at your leisure but please be aware that the grandeur and bare beauty is much greater in person.

I found myself looking for the next rise or the next bend in the road as we drove through the Badlands... actually, all throughout this drive. I realized today that I anticipate with pleasure the unknown past the top of the hill or around the turn in the road. There is something pleasant in knowing that there is something NEW just beyond... something I have never seen before and could never imagine into existence and could not expect. As today went on, I realized that that should be my attitude toward ALL the bends in my life-road and towards all the hill tops of my path. God has something just beyond the bend and just past the top of the hill. He has it there just for me, even though I could never imagine it or expect exactly what is there. He has good things in store for me always. Sometimes hard things, but always good things. Every time there has been a bend in my life-road in the past it has always produced something good in the end.

What's behind your bend in the road? And how are you anticipating the bend? With pleasure or with fear?

After the Badlands, South Dakota began to get more hilly and interesting to look at. We popped up over a hill and got our first glimpse of the Black Hills. 

And after driving through some of the hills (please let it be known that I now am aware of the proper driving procedures in hilly and mountainous terrain), we caught our first glimpse of Mt. Rushmore.

Getting close to the top of the hill and almost to Mt. Rushmore!

 And suddenly there they were! Did you know that these four presidents were chosen because George Washington helped to birth the nation, Thomas Jefferson helped to establish the nation, Theodore Roosevelt helped to expand the nation, and Abraham Lincoln helped to preserve the nation. Interesting, huh? I never knew that before!

On our way back down from Mt. Rushmore.

What a hearty, sturdy, determined little tree this is!

Heading to Spearfish, South Dakota for the night and it started to downpour. I love seeing how the clouds appear to be falling to the earth when it rains! Of course, they technically are!

Sunset in Spearfish, South Dakota. Day two is done!

That's all for today! What a busy time! Tomorrow we'll be driving towards Yellowstone and may spend a little while in the park tomorrow afternoon. More pictures to come, I'm sure!

Answers to prayer so far:
-Gas prices have been lower than $4 per gallon ever since we left Illinois.
-Calvin's trunk has not locked on me and I have been able to get things in and out of it without a problem. Huge answer to prayer!
-Driving has been smooth with no car problems whatsoever. Calvin (my car, for those of you who have not had the opportunity to become acquainted with him as of yet) has been a pretty happy camper so far!
-I successfully learned how to drive through the hills and how to downshift and use engine-braking when going downhill. Now to test it in the mountains in a couple days.