Jackson Hole, Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore 2009 - Day 6

Exploring Keystone, SD

Think of all the things you can get done in 11 hours. I'm betting you can do a lot of stuff, right? You want to know what we got done today? We drove from West Yellowstone, Montana to Keystone, South Dakota.

We got up at 6:00 and loaded the car and drove back to Yellowstone through the West Entrance and exited through the North Entrance. We saw so many amazing things. It was a totally different experience than the day before. It took a little longer, but we're glad we did it. The kids slept most of the way through, so Chad and I really got to enjoy it alone. Every now and then, Ashley would pipe up with some random comment or question, but it was a relatively quiet drive - we even did it with no music.

The most excitement we had was stopping for lunch at the Cracker Barrel near Billings, MT. After buying some souvenirs for the kids, and filling up Jane Honda, we drove.... and drove... and drove... we really enjoyed it. Eventually, I got in the back seat to let the kids take turns riding shotgun. I watched Bedtime Stories for awhile. Chad gets in a groove when he's driving and never wants to stop. The kids are the best road trippers we've ever seen. There has not been one melt down nor incident of any kind. We brought Benadryl, thinking we might need to drug them if things got out of hand, but turns out we haven't had to use it. Just kidding... no I'm not. Yes I am. But not really.

We rolled into Keystone at 5:30 PM and checked in to the White House Resort just a few minutes from Mount Rushmore. This hotel is amazing and it's right next to an old 1880's boardwalk with some great shops. We ate dinner at this really bad restaurant and then did some souviner shopping. We walked back to the hotel and took the kids to the pool until 10:00 PM. They played with about 8 other children that are staying here as well. A couple of older girls seemed to really like Jackson. He's oblivious, but his mommy isn't. The girls were hanging on him and giggling and calling his name. I was considering nailing them with one of the giant beach balls, but I figured the ball wouldn't do enough damage to have any effect. So I let it go. Sort of.

The view of the indoor pool from the door to our room

We'll be here for a few days as there is SO MUCH to do in this town! We're looking forward to fattening our brains with history tomorrow. Good thing the kids love history too, or they'd go crazy from boredom. We'll get some pictures up tomorrow. The one above is from Jackson Lake Lodge at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.

6 days down, 5 to go....

The Niemeyer's