The Nuetzel Family: 4th o'Fun!

Over the 4th of July we dumped Bailey at the kennel and drove to South Dakota to spend the weekend with Uncle John, Aunt Bonnie and Cousin Lily who made the drive all the way from Ohio. We had made camping reservations at Custer State Park (which is close to Mt. Rushmore) for a few days and then we would be heading to the town of Deadwood which is the gold mining boom town, once home to Wild Bill and Calamity Jane. Well it's still their home, they are buried there and we all paid one dollar to make sure it was true. We arrived at our campsite around dinner time and found out that great minds truly do think alike...earlier we had decided to split dinner duties between Ohio folk and CO folk...we brought Fajita fixin's, and so did they...we brought cheddar cheese chex mix, so did they...I could go on, but honestly I forgot what else matched...it was funny though.

The next day we woke up and decided to head out to see Mount Rushmore. I was kinda bummed because I had read that they were canceling their firework show due to the dry environment, but hopefully there would be fireworks in Deadwood later in the week. We took the scenic drive to M.R. and it really was pretty - there were tunnels to go through, and in some places the road spiraled under itself to get up and down over the hills. Here is our first sighting of the monument...I really thought it would be more impressive.

So what else did we d

o while in Custer State Park?

We struck it rich panning in a nearby creek, baby! Well we'll be rich only if the price of mica goes up soon...

We bathed...

We struck a pose or two in our 4th of July finery...

Another sighting of Mount Rushmore...really thought there was more than one president up there.

We even discovered where the Buffalo roam (even though they are really Bison). It's at the corner of Oak Draw Road and Wildlife Loop Road.

After seeing the Bison Roaming, the next day we headed up to Deadwood - home of Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane, and also the ghost of Seth Bullock, one time sheriff of Deadwood...who apparently hates Bill and Jane for some reason. (We read that little tidbit in a book that John bought). Once again we decided to take the scenic option up through an area called the Needles District to get there. Here is the tunnel we had to drive through once we got to the top - only 8'-4" of clearance. We measured the camper and figured we were alright-ish to fit through well enough with 6" to spare. I still got out of the truck to make sure we didn't hit the sides.

We got into town just in time to see the 4th of July parade go through. The girls we fortunate that there really weren't very many people out watching the parade (they were all in the casinos) so they end up collecting about 5 pounds of candy that was thrown from the parade floats.

The parade included I think probably every piece of fire rescue equipment within 30 miles, every horse within 5 miles, two guys on dirt bikes jumping over a truck mounted ramp, the Deadwood HS class of 1976, the community band (which I'm happy to say did not include any saxophones), and a flatbed truck carrying the Richardson Family Reunion. I'm not sure who the Richardsons were, but apparently they were important enough to be part of the parade.

Later that evening we drove over to the next town to watch the fireworks. We drove up on a side road and ended up being about 600 feet above the town, right at eye level with the fireworks. Once they started, of course Olivia became scratchy (translation - scared). She snuggled up with me and watched out of the corner of her eye while I covered up her ears. A few minutes later she said "That one looks like a jellyfish!" After that she was perfectly happy watching them. After the show we walked back to the truck and the girls instantly fell asleep, and Tim and I waited in a traffic jam for about 40 minutes before we started to move.
So, what else happened?