Colorado and The Black Hills

Tuesday July 8
We left Moab first thing and set off towards Colorado.  We found a campsite in Glenwood Springs and instantly noticed the difference in climate.  We all breathed a sigh of relief to be out of the desert heat.  We spent the afternoon outside and played an evening game of Monopoly at the picnic table. 

 

The big Monopoly match underway

Wednesday July 9
We continued along the I-70 en route towards Denver.  As we approached Vail, we noticed a ton of bikers on a bike path beside the interstate.  Pete began drooling so I casually suggested he go for a ride.  I didn't have to suggest it twice.  We dropped him off at a rest station and discussed a good pick up spot with some locals approximately 30 kilometres down the road.  Little did we know we were at the summit at that point and we were picking him up at the bottom of the mountain.  Rumour has it he didn't have to peddle even once!!  We continued along our way and aside from a minor braking mishap heading down a super steep hill (picture smoke pouring out from our front tires on the truck midway down a crazy steep hill in a little picturesque town with nowhere to go but down and a little old couple slowly crossing the street a few metres ahead of us - le gulp!), the day went pretty smoothly.  We had a reservation at Golden Gate Canyon State Park and were very glad we decided to keep it.  Every time we find ourselves in Colorado, we fall a little more in love.  We were very excited to finally have a campfire again and cooked our favourite chicken to celebrate.

Mmmm... campfire chicken!

Eating dinner (notice Ethan and Leah sitting under the trailer - it started to rain and they considered themselves very clever!)

Thursday July 10
It rained off and on today but we didn't mind one bit.  We had an awesome day hanging out at the campsite and meeting new friends.  The kids made a fort in the woods and biked around the loop hundreds of times while Pete and I messed around with our hitch and thoroughly inspected our brakes.  We then played ball, had a blast playing walkie-talkie hide and seek, got out our skipping ropes, and even managed to invent some forest tennis.  Another campfire and s'mores capped off an awesome day.

The fort in the woods - by the time we left the next day it was 4 times this size.  We have a video of the kids walking us through every room - it's pretty hilarious.

Leah setting off for a ride around the loop.

Friday July 11
We were understandably pretty concerned about our brakes as we headed off this morning given we were at the top of the Rocky Mountains and we were only an hour away from flat land.  Thankfully the work Pete did yesterday paid off and we had no issues whatsoever.  Well it was almost an issue-free day.  There was the one incident of us being on fumes and nearly running out of gas and having to unhitch the trailer to make it the last 20 kilometres to the gas station, but that's minor compared to all the other mishaps we've been through on this trip!  It was actually a blessing in disguise because it was at that gas station that we received directions to the best campsite of the trip!  If ever you find yourself in Wheatland Wyoming, we have one heck of a great recommendation!!  The campsite is located in their town park.  It's free, there are electrical hookups, there is water, there are washrooms, there is a massive park, there are tennis courts, there's a ball diamond and there's a swimming pool.  Unbelievable!!  Needless to say we had an awesome afternoon and are wishing we didn't have a reservation tomorrow in the Black Hills because we'd gladly stay a week!

Free camping in Wheatland, Wyoming!

The boys playing tennis in the park.

Saturday July 12
Today was one of those days that truly was issue-free.  We said farewell to Wheatland and drove to the Black Hills in South Dakota.  We found the Horsethief Campground where we had reservations and set up in record time.  It's been so long since we've had an issue-free day of driving that we didn't know what to do with ourselves.  We explored the campground, had a swim, played some horseshoes and then spent the evening playing board games.  We're here for a week and are looking forward to a bit of down time.

Sunday July 13
While we were researching the Black Hills online last night we learned that Jewel Cave National Monument is a must-see but it is highly recommended that you go on a Sunday to avoid the insane traffic due to major construction in the area.  We packed a picnic lunch and set off right after breakfast.  We made it in time for the second tour of the day and thoroughly enjoyed our tour through the cave.  The kids learned about stalactites and stalagmites and we even saw some cave bacon!  On the way home we stopped at the Crazy Horse Monument.  It's an incredible undertaking and it was cool to learn the story about the carver, but we were disappointed that there wasn't more history taught about Crazy Horse himself.  I let the Visitor Centre know before we left... :)

Deep in the Jewel Cave.

The kids standing next to a miniature version of what the completed Crazy Horse Monument will look like.

How far they've gotten to date.

   
Monday July 14
We decided to be tourists today and head to Keystone.  We knew it would be busy and we knew it would be a money-grab kind of day.  We started out at the Big Thunder Gold Mine where Pete was excited to show the kids some gold mining.  The kids kept picking up rocks and thinking they were rich!  We then decided to check out the Tram Adventure Ride which unfortunately was a huge disappointment.  For over $50 we only got to ride the darn thing once and Pete had the unfortunate experience of finding himself stuck behind a super slow lady in the fast lane.  The most unfortunate part of this was that he didn't discover this until he was zipping around a corner and had to bail off his ride in order to not hit her.  He received some wicked skin burns as a result and the lady was never the wiser.  Even the kids thought the ride was lame.  What a bummer.  We figured a game of minigolf would brighten our moods so we decided to check out the "Holy Terror Mini Golf" course.  It was ok but we were all happy to head back to our campsite afterwards.  After dinner, Ethan and Pete decided to take a bike ride into Custer.  We met them at the ice cream shop in town and toasted their 20 km ride!

Family photo op in the Big Thunder Gold Mine.

Josh practicing on the luge before we got on the chair lift.  Sadly we had more fun jumping on this practice luge then we did on the ride itself!

Saying hello to Mount Rushmore on a drive-by (we all remembered checking it out a few years ago and took a family vote that a drive-by was sufficient).

Tuesday July 15
Our campground was located right next to Custer State Park so we decided to take a drive and check it out.  We stopped for a few hours at Sylan Lake and had a picnic lunch before we drove through the winding roads of the park.  It was a pleasant surprise with the highlight being the Needles Highway.  We came back to our campsite and had an early dinner in order to make it to Custer in time for a magic show we'd read about.  I dropped Ethan and Josh off at Crazy Horse so that they could ride 10 kms on their bikes with Pete.  We met at the ice cream shop and then went to check out the Grand Magic Show.  We were able to get 3 front row seats for the kids with 2 seats behind them for Pete and me.  The show was absolutely awesome and we were all extremely pumped when the magician asked for a volunteer and chose the cutie in the pink dress waving her arm madly in the front row.  Leah did an amazing job on stage.  She spoke clearly into the microphone and did a great job helping the magician magically float a table in the air.  To thank her for her help he gave her a magic wand and a magical colouring book.  It was extremely exciting!!

The kids climbing the rocks at Sylvan Lake.

Driving the Needles Highway in Custer State Park - we had to fold in our mirrors to fit through this tunnel!!

The boys getting set to ride into Custer.

Leah on stage during the Grant Magic Show (I only had my cell on me so the picture quality is terrible).

Floating the table.

Wednesday July 16
Pete decided to bike a whopping 80 kilometres on his mountain bike into Leeds. He discovered the hard way that 80 kilometres on a mountain bike on a trail with a lot of hills is a lot harder than 100 kilometres on his road bike.  The kids and I had loaded the cooler and met him at the trail head for a picnic lunch.  He rode up about an hour later than we'd anticipated and barely made it to the picnic table before collapsing on the ground.  After he refuelled, we drove to Rapid City.  We checked out Dinosaur Park and then stopped at a big wooden maze challenge on the way home.  By then Pete had recovered enough and we made it through the maze in a decent time of 45 minutes (Ethan was in heaven in that maze and later recreated an awesome version on Minecraft).  We wrapped up our last night in the Black Hills with a roaring campfire and s'mores.

Waiting for Dad in Leeds.

Running through the maze.

Thursday July 17
The Black Hills marked the end of the camping portion of our big summer adventure.  Rather than head home to drop off the trailer before heading to Ontario (adding close to 2,000 extra kilometres to the trip), we found a place in Minot, ND to store the trailer for a month.  On our way there, we decided to camp one last night and found yet another awesome free campground in Bowman, ND.  We had the place entirely to ourselves and had an absolute blast riding our bikes, playing at the park and having the mother of all water fights.  It was a fantastic night. 

Getting ready to start the water fight.

Pete commandeered the water pump for a bit before the boys overtook him!

Friday July 18
We drove the rest of the way to Minot, ND today and set up the trailer for storage.  We're sleeping here tonight and then will head off for Ontario first thing tomorrow morning.  Woohoo!