Black Hills Vacation

Our family vacation this year was to the Black Hills in South Dakota. Steve hasn't been there since he was a kid, and the last time I was there was in 2002 with my parents, brother, sister, and their families. One of my favorite places that we've stayed at is called Rafter J Bar Ranch. It's located just outside of Hill City and is right in a valley surrounded by the Black Hills. We rented a minivan again because we had so much stuff. I'm not sure how Steve managed to get everything in the van, but he did - even our bikes and bike trailer!
Here's a picture of Amaya (and Elmo) before heading out:


Amaya travelled exceptionally well, even though it still took us longer to get out there than we expected. We were still able to make a quick stop at Wall Drug before heading to our cabin at Rafter J Bar. Steve and I tried counting all the Wall Drug signs and the first one we noticed was just outside of Worthington, MN and we got to a total 0f 70 (give or take a couple). We did a little bit of shopping and ate supper there, but in order to make it to our cabin before it got too dark, we cut our stay a little short.


Every time my family visited Wall Drug, my dad would take a picture of us kids in the covered wagon. It took us a little while to find it, when we did, I was glad it was still there. Here is a picture of Amaya and one of me.



There was a small carousel that Amaya enjoyed riding. She wasn't too excited about riding this covered wagon with the horses because it jostled her quite a bit. This picture was taken right before a minor meltdown.


This covered wagon was more her speed.

There's a picture of my dad kissing this woman... so I couldn't resist getting a picture of Steve and Amaya with her.

I'll post more pictures over the next few days of our experiences. We had a wonderful time, but it's good to be back in our own beds.