South Dakota (Jewel Cave)

One of our day excursions brought us to Jewel Cave.

We happened to be in SD on one of the four or so days in a year

 that we could enter the cave for free.  That was a nice little saving and made me smile.

A little bit of history~

In 1900 two local prospectors discovered a cave 

when they felt cold air blowing out of a small hole in a canyon. 

 After enlarging the cave entrance with dynamite, 

the two men discovered it was a cavern filled with  shiny glittering calcite crystals, 

which led them to name it 'Jewel Cave'.

Jewel Cave was proclaimed a National Monument in 1908 

by President Theodore Roosevelt.

It was very interesting to tour this cave, but very different from other cave tours I've been on in SD.

This one is considered a 'dry' cave so doesn't form as many stalactites and stalagmites.

On one of the tours you had to be able to crawl through this in order to be part of the tour. 

But we chose the shortest tour as we didn't know how long Willem would last.

We had about an hour to explore before our tour.

So we went exploring outside the cave.

We could have gone on a longer tour I think,

 because this boy walked!

Wow!  Look how far you can see.

Beautiful scenery...

You could see soooooo far!

 This boy walked and walked and walked!

 He outwalked all of the rest of us by far!

Some interesting info.

 As we drove around in South Dakota we could see areas 

where there had obviously been forest fires, 

so these were interesting to read.

Inside Jewel Cave

We took an elevator down into the cave...

...a very long elevator.

Jewel Cave has over 168 miles of mapped and surveyed passages 

and is currently the third (some say second) longest cave in the world.

All but 2 of these miles have been discovered since 1959.

When we got inside the cave we were told that this is the only rock we could touch.

Very cool (literally and figuratively) in the cave.

We were told it is always a balmy 49 degrees in the cave.

The greenish looking pictures were taken without flash.

The pictures  where you can see the reddish and white-ish tones 

were taken with flash.

Photo credits go to all of us.

South Dakota (Cabin)

As I was thinking about taking this trip I started looking for places we could stay.

I just happened upon this little cabin.  

It's small, adorable, and was very reasonably priced.  

We loved spending time there.

Here are some pictures outside at the cabin.

(photo credits go to everyone)

One common theme you will see in a lot of the pictures is a stick. 

There were lots of sticks everywhere.

The sticks turned into many things...

...awesome walking sticks

...very useful clothes lines

...and hunting guns and pistols to name a few things.

There were also a lot of little wild flowers growing here.  

Here mama, dese are for you.  

Oh, melt my heart.

I think someone was always sitting on this bench.

On our way there we saw 101 degrees,

and it was hot here, but it was dry!

It truly didn't feel hot at all.

And the best thing was - there were no mosquitoes! 

We could sit here all night and not get bitten. 

Lovely!

Sweet sisters forever.

 Cuties. :)

Beautiful trees in the front of the cabin. 

He was carrying either a stick
or a rock in his hand the whole time we were at the cabin.

Here are photos of inside the cabin.
The inside was lovely too.
It was small compared to the other cabins,
but we didn't mind, we are used to small.

Very funny story of the bathroom...

Soon after we arrived and were in the midst of carrying things in,

I heard some screeching and eewwing at the bathroom.

I went to see what was wrong.

The girls were very concerned with what was in the bathtub - 

'I don't know what it is - it looks really gross and it's reddish color.' 

...they told me.

I looked and it was rust.  :)

The girls took a day to finally accept that it was ok to actually use the toilet 

and even the shower without being too freaked out.  

Willem wouldn't go close to the bathroom without someone with him 

and even then the shower curtain had to be closed .  

:)

One of the best things in the cabin was the loft.  

The girls loved it!

It gave them a place of their own, without being too far away.

Willem didn't think it was fair at all that he couldn't go up whenever he wanted.

If you look closely you'll see he's going up with his brace on.

(... and just for the record, I didn't let him go any further than this.)

But we did make sure that he got to go up a few times with help... 

...and he was pretty proud of himself that he got to go spend
a few minutes in the loft with his adored sisters.

Anther beautiful shot of the trees in the front yard.

Our little friend, the Red Squirrel.

The kids found this quite fascinating.  

Do you know what it is?

It's called a cattle guard.  

To keep the cattle from wandering away without using a gate.

And I have to post this.  

This little man guarded our cabin 

by day and night.

The cabin is in the mountains and in a few of these pictures 

you can sort of see the incline the cabin was on.

Although this was a relatively short trip (4 days total), it was relaxing beyond belief.
And fun!

All the kids were excited for weeks before we went 

and I think you can see in these pictures how they loved being here.  

Willem was especially excited and counted down the days.

I'm sure he hadn't a clue what it was all about - this trip to 'da Black Hills.'

He loved it!

He loved every minute of it (well almost every minute:)

He was an awesome traveler beyond belief.

And he got every minute of enjoyment he could here at the cabin

and each place we went while gone. 

The girls giggled and played games and chattered in the back seat,

the whole way there and up in the loft while we were there.

What fun to take the time and work to make this trip happen 

(and it is a lot of work)

and to see them all enjoy it so much!

It makes everything so worthwhile.

Next - some of our excursions
(and remember you can click on the pictures to make them bigger)