Washburn Weekly: Mount Rushmore Vacation Part 1

I have been planning this vacation for the better part of a year. I've always wanted to go to Mount Rushmore and since we only live 10 hours away I thought this year would be the perfect time to go. After getting it all planned out Stephen and I decided to invite mom and dad to come with us to maybe help us out a little bit with the kids. They were happy to go with us and were so excited to go they asked the rest of my siblings if they wanted to come along. We ended up with Joseph and Adam's family joining us for a total of 18 people. We rented a beautiful and spacious cabin through Air B and B right on the golf course. That in it of itself was worth the trip--to be able to stay in a nice cabin in the Black Hills. Everyone stayed the night at our house the night before we left for Wyoming, so that was also fun for us.

We packed in a much as we could that week. There was so much to do we couldn't do it all. We took two days to drive there just so the kids wouldn't get too whiney in the car. Stephen and I were really anxious about that because we usually don't have good experiences in the car with the kids, but they were awesome! The whole drive they were pretty quiet and there was minimal fighting. We first stopped at the Fort Bridger State Historic Site just across the border in Wyoming. That was really interesting and fun to explore for about an hour and half. The kids got a half dollar coin from the museum for coming and looking at all their exhibits.

This wooden horse is what the locals used as a punishment. If you got stealing or sluffed off your chores you were made to sit on this horse in the middle of the fort and hold up the 7 foot long sword upright for several hours. Apparently it was a pretty effective way to make sure people stayed on task and did what they were supposed to.

The next stop was Martin's Cove. Everyone made the 6 mile round trip trek around the cove except for me and Stephen. We walked to Devil's Gate. When Stephen and I returned we had some time left to look at the museum and take a nap while we waited for everyone else to return.

These two were two peas in pod the whole week.

Apparently Grayson wanted to walk the whole way by himself (no surprise there) but he was too slow, so he had to sit on Uncle Joseph's shoulders because he wouldn't sit in the wagon, haha.

I took the perfect picture of this Tiger Swallowtail butterfly in just the right light it almost looks like it was photoshopped in there.

We stayed the night in Casper and headed for Deadwood in morning. Somehow all three cars separated and ended up taking different routes to get there, so no one knew where the others were. We were in the front thinking we were in the middle. Everyone else stopped to look at the Sundance location where all the buffalo jumped and died. Ancient tribes would drive the bison into this natural sinkhole where they'd butcher them. We didn't get the notice in time to stop since we were ahead of everyone, so we kept driving and had lunch in Deadwood and walked around a bit. We met everyone at a playground so the kids could get out and relax and play for a bit. They had a merry go round there where I was pushing some of the kids and something happened to my wrist and I couldn't use it anymore. It was in a lot of pain; I couldn't bend it down or rotate it at all. Luckily mom brought her wrist brace that I borrowed for the rest of the week. Thanks mom!

We went back to Deadwood even though we--our family were pretty much done. It was hot, Stephen was sick with a cold, and we had already seen the main street, but we went back anyway. While we were there the kids were throwing tantrums because they couldn't go into every souvenir shop and buy something. As we were all crossing the street, Zander accidently stepped on Lucas's map and ripped it. Lucas got sad and angry so I told him I would stay behind and we could go back into the shop to get another one since we were just right outside. When I turned around to go inside Hannah bolted into the road into oncoming traffic because she decided she wanted to go with Grandma. It all happened so fast. Next thing I know I instinctively screamed her name and she veered back onto the sidewalk. The car stopped, everyone on the busy sidewalks on both side stopped and watched. I had a crying Lucas next to me while I was pushing Grayson's empty stroller and four year old Hannah who was scared to death not knowing what was going on. I had people come over to me to see if we were ok. One couple walked past me and the wife told me it was ok and it was all over. It probably won't be the last time something like that happens, and that it was ok for me to cry. She could tell I was scared and overwhelmed and so that's what I did. I cried. and she cried with me because she has kids and knows what its like. She was comforting, and I was so grateful for her. Then Mom came up behind me and grabbed me and I cried into her shoulder until I could compose myself. I was done. We were ready to go check into the cabin. So our family left and took it easy for the rest of the night.

These two got matching hats, so we had to get a picture