6-26-11 Custer State Park

Custer State Park, South Dakota

7th campsite at Stockade South
Custer State Park

Girls were going to jump BUT it was way tooo cold!

Wild Buffalo roamed all over the state park.

We visited a real Mammoth site.....very very interesting!

Mammoth tusks

Kids panning for fossils.

Mount Rushmore 6/27/11



 On our travels to Mount Rushmore. There where wild burros(donkeys) coming up to the cars for food



 

We went through these man made tunnels to get to Mount Rushmore. Straight ahead in the distance is Mount Rushmore. It was breath taking to see! 

Not sure if you can see this but the monument of the Presidents is through the window.

Us at Mount Rushmore.


Tomorrow morning we are off to Montana. Pray for our safety and that our van and camper hold up. Thanks for following along with us. This is qutie an experience!! So thankful that God has blessed us to do this trip together. Tell the next time I am sitting at a local park or pizza shop using their wifi!!!

June 25, 2011

The oldest town still standing in the USA, 1880 Town.

There's the town sheriff kickin' back with a cold one! Of course only rootbeer ;)

The town sheriff and the local beauty..what a match! 

Entering the Rolling Hills

The rolling hills...beautiful

 The Badlands

After a VERY long day of traveling 400 miles, we finally

found a campground, Cottonwood Springs. God answered our prayers!

 The girls taking Jules to the playground, look at those smiles......NOT

                             

Our Campsite number 6! God was soooo good to us tonight.

Welcome to South Dakota, Little House on the Praire 6/23-24

 Upon our arrival to Walnut Grove, we met a friendly old man, Stan, who invited us to the local small town bank's customer appreciation day...we enjoyed free hot dogs and drinks and memories we'll never forget!

 Entering Walnut Grove, where Laura Ingalls Wilder lived.

 As you can see on the GPS, we were supposed to continue on this road, however, it completely turned into a lake! Good times, good times. :)

 Beautiful campground we stayed at here in South Dakota

Getting the full experience of the prairie life!

Josiah and LaRynn picked these wild prairie flowers

 The kids at the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum

 At the Laura Ingalls homestead, the wind  blowing the native praire grass  and a painted sky, absolutely breathtaking.

Our second campsite in De Smet was at community park, something new again.

Mall of America Day Trip - June 22, 2011

 We spent about 7 hours here and we didn't see everything. This is the biggest mall in America. They had a full amusement park, a aquarium, a mini golf course and every store that you could possibly think of!

 Here is Hannah and Josiah going on the biggest indoor roller coaster! They loved it.













Josiah bought a Phillies hat.

 Here is Woody made out of Legos!



















On our way back to the campground our paved highway became a dirt road. We are surely seeing things we have never seen before.

Wisconsin and Minnesota

We've made it to Wisconsin and stayed at our first campsite,Wylusing State Park.

Here is an example of what the scenary looked like from our campsite, we were on a mountain!

Here is the Mississippi River which we traveled along, one of God's beautiful creations that we got to savor! It was so big it looked more like an ocean!

We're now staying at Nerstrand State Park in Minnesota, visiting the Mall of America and Little House of the Praire.

Our site here at Nerstrand State Park.

Another one of the beautiful scenary seen right from our campsite, Hidden Water Falls.

Right now, we're using the wifi here at the Mall of America. Tomorrow we're visiting some Little House on the Praire sites, and headed to South Dakota. Keep us in your prayers and we'll keep you updated as much as possible!

Off to Wisconsin!

As you can see, the kids are having a great time together. Tomorrow morning we'll be off to Wisconsin! We probably won't have access to the internet for awhile, so it might take us a few days to update our blog. See ya soon with more action from our trip!

Peace out from the Blair's & Dueck's!

Second Stop: Wisconsin!

Happy Father's Day!

Jason and I relaxing at Portage Lake. What a great husband and father he is! Happy Father's Day Jas!

Portage Lake!

Here's the crew at the lake, what a great time we had!

The boys caught a turtle!

The girls out swimming.

Jules loving the sand!

My beautiful girls, LaRynn and Hannah in the scenery here at Michigan!

Lots of love fills this family! 

Thoughts from the kids!

~LaRynn: So far, this trip is going well. The Duecks are an amazing family and it's such a priviledge to spend time with them. Yesterday we went to the lake, and had a blast! Today is Father's Day so we will have a good ole fashioned game of street hockey like we've had with the Duecks in the past. Tomorrow morning we'll be heading out to Wisconsin! I'm so excited! :)

~Hannah: This trip has been alot of fun so far! Jess, LaRynn, and I are having fun together. I'm really excited for the hockey game tonight! Tomorrow we leave for Wisconsin where we'll get to see Little House on the Praire.

~Josiah: Me and Ben are having fun together. We play nerf guns together and watch movies. All of us boys play sports in the gym. I'm having alot of fun with them!

~Julia: Even though it's hard for me to transition, I am having fun. I watch movies and play at the lake. I am still getting used to sleeping in the camper, it's different from my tinkerbell bed. Keep praying for me!