The Black Hills and The Bison

We decided to leave the Southern Badlands early and head on to the Black Hills, because we realized how far away it actually was, and how we were not going to be able to leave the dogs alone for that long. On Thursday, the 14th, we packed it up and headed the two hours over to Rapid City, SD. Let me just say, Rapid City is sick. The downtown was my favorite and included; a coffee shop with really good iced mochas, multiple vintage stores ( that I took advantage of ), an improv place ( which made me think of The Office ), a record shop, and an art gallery. The whole shebang. Our couple of days in the Black Hills were well spent. We ended up going to the wind cave and learned about the Lakota Indian creation story, which was really interesting. Although I was freezing most of the tour, I really enjoyed myself, and I didn’t even fall once!! We also ended up going to Mt. Rushmore. It was pretty cool, even if it was a little smaller than I expected it to be.

I’m just going to state that all pictures are mine unless stated otherwise

One night my family and I were just sitting outside listening to music, when we began talking about the future, and what we see our lives being like. Apparently Eleanor has her entire life planned out to the very detail, whereas I have pretty much no clue. All I know is that I won’t have to worry about much when I’m famous and have money, Lol. I do see myself getting a goldfish. Hopefully I’ll be able to keep it alive. Eleanor even knows who she wants to marry, Jake from State Farm, and her kids names. Oliver and I, on the other hand, don’t want kids. It was nice to talk about that kind of stuff no matter how much it scares me to do so. The Black Hills was a grand ole time, but soon it was time to move on to North Dakota where we would be meeting my uncles!

The Badlands of North Dakota are, in my opinion, prettier than the more southern ones. There is quite a lot more grassy lands on the bluffs, which are much larger than in South Dakota. The views are absolutely stunning and breathtaking.

Teddy Roosevelt National Park is a very beautiful park with lots of wildlife. We saw lots of Bison and were told not to get too close because they were very aggressive. On one hiking trail there was one laying in the middle of the path, so we had to turn around and hike all the way back to the road. Luckily there was a very nice ranger that gave my dad and uncle a ride to our cars so we didn’t have to walk the road. Speaking of my uncles, they live in MN and drove over to meet us. Jason, I mean Jasper…. ( he said he wanted to be called Jasper, which only makes me think of Twilight, so I shall call Tom, Alice. ) Jasper and Alice spent a couple of days with us, which I was super glad for because we don’t get to see them often. We spent the three days we had together hiking, eating fudge and ice cream, and cracking jokes. I always love spending time with them. We had lots of fun, and I even almost died once! I came very close to stepping on a deadly rattlesnake and caught myself right before it. If it had bitten me I probably would’ve died, so woohoo for living another day!! That was definitely a YOLO moment.  We even got to walk through a Prairie Dog town, and their squeaks were so freaking cute! We also tried going to the famous town play, Medora, but the tickets were $40 a person so we decided not to. The food at The Farmhouse Cafe was wonderful, and they even had squirrel, I’m sorry, swirl, cake. My family and I enjoyed our time in North Dakota, but soon it was time to move on to Montana.

Yesterday we packed up and headed down the road four hours. We stayed in the parking lot of a Cabela’s, without any power, because our generator went out, water, or sewage. We left as soon as we woke up this morning and drove two and a half more hours until we arrived here Gardiner, Montana. It is a fun little town, and my siblings and I just walked into town, from our RV park, to go to a little cafe that is here. Its name is Tumbleweed and I may get a snack or something. Okay, I’m getting off topic, let me back track an hour or two. THE MOUNTAINS ARE INSANE. I have never seen anything like them in real life so it’s a little surreal. All that I have left to say is that I am living my best life, and I couldn’t be happier that I am living this amazing dream with my amazing family.

Isabell Gobble

 

Philocaly- (n.) the love of beauty