Wow! We think we could easily live in Wyoming or South Dakota. The scenery is beautiful and the people very friendly. Yesterday we traveled from Rapid City, SD to Devils Tower National M0nument in northeastern Wyoming (about 80 miles). The girls worked on school work until about 8:30 a.m. and then took the rest on the 1.5 hour drive. Devils Tower is made up of 50 million year old molten magma that was forced into sedimentary rocks above it and cooled underground. As the magma cooled it formed columns. Over time the softer sedimentary rock eroded away leaving behind the ingneous intrusion. Devils Tower became our nations first national monument in 1906! We spent most of our day hiking around the tower on the Tower Trail and exploring the many prairie dog towns in the area. The girls also worked on Jr. Ranger books in order to earn an "official" badge!
Today we got a late start because there was much grumbling about school work. The girls finally finished up around 10:00 a.m. and we took to the road. We are staying near Hill City, SD which is only a few miles from Mt. Rushmore so it didn't take us long to get there (15 miles). We spent the entire day learning about the four presidents carved into the mountain: Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln. We also learned about the artist, Borglum, who carved Mt. Rushmore. The visitor center was amazing! We watched two park films, listened to a 120 minute audio tour while walking the 1 mile loop trail, attended a ranger program at the Sculpter's Studio, and spent 1 hour in the Lincoln Borglum Museum. We didn't eat lunch until 4 p.m. Tomorrow we're off to Custer State Park, Wind Cave (wildlife loop), and Jewel Cave.
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