Every year, Minnesota schools have a 4-day break in the middle of October. Last year, I decided I wanted to take this time and go explore a part of the United States with Peyton. I planned on using this mid-fall break as a learning tool rather than sitting around the house. This year, our school district turned our 4-day break into a 6-day break! When I heard we were going to be having 6-days off I knew I wanted to head to South Dakota. It's a fairly long drive from Minnesota and I knew the ...
South Dakota
Make Yourself at Home with Hilton Garden Inn
When I started to plan our trip to Rapid City, South Dakota I knew we were going to need a place to stay. Traveling with two kids, I had some specific amenities and qualities I was looking for in a hotel. Here are a few things I was looking for - It had to be family friendly. There needed to be a pool. Wireless internet was a must. Restaurant on site. Easy access to freeways. I was prepared for this search to take a while. But I was not prepared to find out that so many ...
Wind Cave National Park: Scenic Cave Tour
Peyton discovered cave tours last year when I took her on one in southern Minnesota. From that moment on, she has been begging to go on more cave tours. South Dakota has several guided tours available to the public at various caves. Since we were already exploring Wind Cave National Park I decided to take the kids on tour through Wind Cave. There are several tours available at Wind Cave National Park with various degrees of skill difficulties. Because Peyton is only 6 years old I decided to take ...
Wind Cave National Park
While we were visiting South Dakota I wanted to spend some time in the National Parks. There are a few different parks you can visit while in the Rapid City area. Unfortunately, time flew by and we were only able to fit in one National Park. Wind Cave National Park is located just a short 10-minute drive from Custer, South Dakota. Wind Cave National Park is considered a smaller national park in comparison with other parks, it's about 28,294 acres. The park is set into sections for camping, ...
Custer County Candy Company
On our trip through South Dakota, we stumbled across an adorable old fashioned candy store. The Custer County Candy Company is located in Custer just a 15 minuted drive from Wind Cave National Park. It's right off the main drag, tucked back just a little ways off the street. If you see a huge metal sculpture of two horses stop, the candy store is right behind them. First thing I saw when I walked into the store was a massive case of chocolate! So many chocolate candies and truffles that I ...
Mammoth Site
Peyton has a fascination with dinosaurs. There was one point when she would only watch The Land Before Time and Ice Age movies. She's better now and watches other shows but when I saw an opportunity to take her to a site where they are excavating Mammoth bones I knew I had to take her. For Peyton to see a real Mammoth bone up close would be something she would never forget. The Mammoth Site is located in Hot Springs, South Dakota which was about an hour from where we stayed. The drive is ...