The Kofford Family relocates to Colorado after 40 years as Californians. In December of 2007, Grandma Lorraine is diagnosed with Stage 4 brain cancer. Sadly, she passed away on Dec. 26th, 2008 after a year long courageous battle. Follow our journey as we keep Lorraine's memory alive, and as we learn to appreciate that each day we are given, is a gift to be enjoyed!

“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.”
~Maria Robertson

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

79 degrees and beautiful in South Dakota

Hello again from lush green South Dakota!

Wow, what a wonderful state this is! We have been so impressed with the pleasant climate, GREEN hills, valleys, meadows, and the Black Hills! It has consistently been between 79-84 degrees each day, with sunny blue skies and not a speck of smog or brown patch of grass in sight!

Today we drove to see the Crazy Horse sculpture that is being carved into the mountains in the Black Hills. It will be the world's largest sculpture when it is complete, and is impressive in size when we learned that the entire 4 heads of Mt. Rushmore would fit into just the space of the face of the Crazy Horse sculpture. The kids enjoyed learning about Native Americans, their culture, and how the entire project came to be.

We also drove to "Thunderhead Falls" which is an impressive waterfall inside a mountain. We walked into the oldest gold mine in South Dakota and took in all the lime colored walls, crystals, etc...until we got to the falls where water flows from a giant sink hole. It was a dark wet cave that was perfect for the the kids to explore.

Later in the day we drove through Custer State Park, and hoped to see buffalo as all the signs suggested. Although it was stunning with open green meadows, deer, wildflowers, etc...we didn't see a single buffalo. At least we saw some at Bear Country, USA yesterday!

We ended the day riding together on the giant water slides at our hotel in Rapid City, and enjoying the man made waterfalls on the lazy river! Tomorrow we will journey through Nebraska and will keep you posted as the trip comes to a close.

Thanks so much for your comments...as any of you "bloggers" know, we all live for comments to know someone is actually "there" in cyberspace! Thanks for thinking of us, and we wish you a wonderful week filled with happy memories!

P.S. One negative thing about South Dakota, is the food! We have yet to enjoy a decent meal...looking forward to a home cooked meal soon, (even if I do have to be the one to cook it!) hee hee

4 comments:

Kim said...

It sounds like South Dakota is a beautiful part of the country. So glad you are enjoying each and every aspect of your trip! Hope you can get a good meal on the way home....

Lorri said...

I'm always here even if I don't post! I know what you mean about living for posts! I had over 250 site visits yesterday and 1 post from my sister!

I'm loving your trip and want all the details so we can copy you next year! See you when you get back! Love, Lorri

Anonymous said...

What perfect weather you're having, but my only negative thought is that the winter there will be colder than heck! Sorry you didn't see any buffalo--they probably used them for buffalo burgers and that's why you couldn't get a decent meal! Glad you're all having a great time and enjoying the beautiful scenery. On our trip we saw Wind Caves, in South Dakota We'll talk to you when you return. Love, Mom

Anonymous said...

It just occured to me, that you probably aren't renting the RV you talked about doing. You mentioned all the Holets you're staying in with all the Cool Waterslides!

Now, that you have a New Car w/ DVD Player, you might has well drive that and save on GAS PRICES!! Yikes!

Maybe you won't have to cook when you get home...Tom can use his New BBQ!!!

Have fun,

Laura