I'm back! We had a great time in the black hills of South Dakota. In nine days I took a total of 550 pictures.
On most days we would usually leave the house at around 10:00 and not return until 8:30 in the evening. Needless to say our days were full.
I had so many shots that it was hard picking just one to represent each day!
Day 334 {Log cabin with a view}
This is the incredible view from our friends log cabin (where we stayed). This shot was taken early in the morning while the sun was coming up (which is why the black hills look so light).
I was sitting out on the deck enjoy some french toast. This was the most peaceful view to wake up to each morning.
Thanks Linda for a great trip!
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Day 233 {Geo cache Travel Bug}
Today we explored Jewel cave, shopped in Custer and then headed out to do some more Geo Caching.
I found our second cache of the day and inside the cache was a
Travel Bug. A travel bug is a trackable geo caching item and I was excited to find it.
Unfortunately I left it behind in South Dakota, but a friend is going to mail it out to me so that the travel bug can continue his journey on the west coast.
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Day 232 {Panning for Gold}
Today was another day of running all over sight seeing. Before heading out to do some Geo caching we stopped at
Wade's Gold Mill so that the girls could try their hand at panning for gold.
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Day 231 {Leads SD, strip mine}
Today was one of those days when we drove all over the Black Hills. One of the places we stopped was
Lead, a very old mining town.
We stopped and checked out the giant strip mine hole in the ground. About 5 minutes after I took this picture it began to pour rain. That is my mom with the girls!
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Day 230 {Slyvan Lake}
On our tour of
Custer State Park we stopped to hike around the picturesque Slyvan Lake.
There were several spots around the lake where you could climb on the rocks. That made my little rock climber Kate happy.....scared the hooey out of me!
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Day 229 {Teddy Bear Town}
Before having dinner at the
Alpine Inn, we stopped in "Teddy Bear Town."
Teddy Bear Town boast a collection of 6,500 different teddy bears and on it's sign claims to be a great "time killer."
The woman that owns the collection used to house all 6,500 of her bears in her room at the Motel 8! This picture is only the tip of the iceberg.
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Day 228 {Mt. Rushmore}
Ah, the famous Mt. Rushmore. We cruised down the street to see Crazy Horse as well.
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Day 227 {Exploring Hill City}
Day two and we decided to head into Hill City and look in all the cute shops they have on main street (which is probably 1/2 mile long).
This interesting horse sculpture reminded me of an eye spy book. You could sit for hours identifying all of the crazy parts that make up this sculpture.
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Day 226 {George Mickelson Trail}
We arrived in Rapid City to stormy skies, but by the time we arrived in Hill City the sun had come out.
After dropping our stuff off at the cabin we headed down the hill to take a hike on the
Mickelson Trail. A great way to shake off an afternoon of traveling.
Kate thought that Rusty needed his "bangs" out of his eyes while he ate his "cookies."
Reid shares her birthday with her Daddy, but for the past 14 years the day has pretty much been all about Reid.
Kid graffiti!
So creepy, yet so pretty.
Field Hockey Rule: If the ball hits your foot possession turns over!
I probably should have looked up some tips on shooting fireworks before giving it ago, but I'm into winging it! As a result my shots headed straight for the trash, but I do like this silhouette of the girls.
Not something I normally would have picked, but for goodness sakes it fit the girls and it actually looked good! Ok, make that decent. 
The first thing we always do when we get to the fair is cram into a photo booth and take our picture. This year it was just me and Kate so we had a little bit of room to spare.
This is my fat cat Summer. We adopted Summer 10 years ago on our way to a 4th of July BBQ from a group of little kids standing on the corner hocking a litter of kittens.
These are the lovely flowers our house guest left for me. 
