jennifer lynn kuhlmann merck

Day 6 found us waking up in our little apartment at Pahaska Teepee Resort. Our accommodations were the top floor of a large cabin with 5 sleeping accommodations. Ours was actually 3 bedrooms plus a bathroom: one with 2 Queens and two with 1 twin apiece. Pahaska is, I think, the closest lodging to the Park without being in the Park. It has lots of cabins of varying sizes, a restaurant (and gift shop, of course . . . what tourist attraction would be complete without a gift shop?), a tavern for the late-night crowd, and a horse barn and corral. The cabins are fairly rustic, but very comfortable. There is no TV, though there is a phone (which may come in handy because there is absolutely no cell service for miles and the wifi at the Lodge/Office didn’t seem to work so well). The bathroom had clearly been remodeled very recently, with brand-new pine-board walls and ceiling, as well as new pedestal sink, toilet & shower stall. Very clean, very workable for our family.

Our family is not huge breakfast eaters, so we do quite well with continental breakfasts, especially when they are included with the hotel. This was our first hotel without an included breakfast, so we sat down in the dining room and enjoyed a delicious hot breakfast. Our waitress was informative and helpful. When she thought our 9 year old was ordering too much food, she let us know, just in case we wanted to change the order (which we did). And in case you’re interested, the pancakes (both saddle blankets, i.e. plain, and blueberry) are huge, probably at least 12 inches across. In fact, they are slightly bigger than the plate they come on. And they are very thick. So, when the 9 year old was ordering a stack of two, the waitress let us know that it might be more than he needed. True! One was perfect. The 14 year old, however, dug into the short stack of two. The rest of us had various omelets and hash browns and egg skillets and such. Good service and good food.

We headed into Yellowstone for the day, grateful once again for our annual park pass. Yellowstone’s entrance fee is $25. Not sure why so high. May be just because it is so popular; they know they can charge that much.

We’re beginning to find our groove with this national park thing. We’re big on well-considered division of labor in our family: Think about it. Talk about it. Decide what works best for everyone. And proceed with a plan for who does what. Here are a few things we’re realizing about driving in and around the parks. Hal prefers to drive in the parks during the daytime. He likes to look at the scenery and prefers to have someone tell him where to turn and what’s next. I prefer to read the map and review the Park materials to recommend what we should spend time doing and in what order. I also prefer to review the resource materials we have (brochures, booklets, web) to decide what we and the kids need to know before or after we visit a particular location. So, Hal drives. And I navigate, recommend itineraries and offer educational resources.

We spent a full day at Yellowstone and feel that we got a good flavor for it. We drove all the way around what I think is called Grand Loop Rd. We were entering from the East Gate (Rt 14), drove the 27 miles toward the first Visitor Center (27 miles from the Gate to the first Visitor Center . . . did you read that right? Wow, this is a big park!), and then headed south (clockwise) around the loop. We made a few little stops here and there for some beautiful photos (waterfalls, Yellowstone Lake with snow-capped Rockies in the background), but our first real destination was Old Faithful. We spent quite a bit of time there and in the area nearby. We didn’t make it to the Visitor Center, but the Old Faithful Lodge, which is right next to the Geyser, has a clock on the left, right when you walk in, that tells you when (+/- 10 mins) Old Faithful is expected to erupt next. That’s really all you need to know. A bathroom break, a bottle of water to take some Excedrin, and we were headed to find seats for the “show.” There are two rows of benches all the way around a semi-circle surrounding Old Faithful. The crowds really gather for this event every hour of so. And it is very dramatic when it does its thing!

We had lunch at the Cafeteria at the Old Faithful Lodge. The Lodge is a really lovely hotel with a variety of accommodations. My recollection is that I considered staying there, but was not able to book a room that would work for our family. They fill up quickly. The Cafeteria had a variety of really good food – hot & cold. I had a wrap and some vegetable soup. The 9 year old and I shared a delicious slice of carrot cake too. All of this in a beautiful, high, logged-ceiling dining room with window overlooking Old Faithful. We continue to be impressed by the staff at the national parks. What an interesting summer job to have. Hard work, I’m sure, but interesting variety and locations.

After lunch, we walked around the 1 mile loop of the Upper Geyser Basin, which includes Old Faithful. We almost didn’t do this, but were so glad we did. We saw quite a variety of hot springs and smaller geysers that erupt more frequently than Old Faithful. We also learned that Old Faithful is the largest reliable geyser in the world. There are larger, higher-shooting geysers, but they are not reliable with their eruptions. And there are others that are reliable as well, but not as large.

Our family tends to gather information fairly independently for trips like this. We use our print and web resources, but only occasionally stop and ask questions. It’s just how we tend to do things. We were reminded today, though, how much information you can gain by occasionally asking questions. We had read on a website for planning a family trip to Yellowstone that there were “off-map” locations where you could legally soak in Yellowstone hot springs. Every piece of print information we had did not mention this, however. Apparently, we were thinking, it is really “off-map.” We had brought our swim suits, just in case, so we decided to ask the front desk staff at the Old Faithful Lodge about this possibility. The 14 year old was most interested, so he did the asking. Here’s what we learned from the very helpful desk clerk. There were record snows this year, the final one being in June. Summer didn’t really start until 2 weeks ago. Snow remains (we’ve seen lots of it) and is still melting and running off the mountains. There has also been a lot of rain. All this has led to the waters being very high (this we also saw – all the rivers and streams were bursting the banks), which has made the three (two?? They’re off-map, so we never really got straight how many are legal.) swimmable hot springs too dangerous. So, they’re closed for now until further notice. We quit looking for our off-map hot springs soak. Oh well. Maybe another time.

The rest of the day was spent gradually making our way around Grand Loop Road, stopping a number of times to see geysers and mud pots and hot springs and waterfalls and wildlife. We identified the sights we wanted to see for sure and mapped out our plan with these in mind. We veered from the plan a number of times as something more interesting came to our attention. The day was beautiful (low 80s, I’m guessing) with a cool breeze that was refreshing. The sulfuric fumes were not as irritating as I thought they might be. The 9 year old kept on saying they smelled like scrambled eggs (which, of course, they did).

We had planned to end up back at the Pahaska Teepee dining room for dinner, but our timing was a bit too tight, so we opted for the Cafeteria at the Lake Yellowstone Lodge. This Lodge appears a little older, but is still quite big and is located right on the shores of Yellowstone Lake. If this were Hal’s blog, he would tell you about the swarms of mosquitoes near the shore as we walked to the restaurant. But this isn’t his blog, so I won’t tell you about them.

I will tell you that we were about 10 feet from a deer and 15 feet from a bison, which were grazing near the road on the way to the Lake Lodge. I will also tell you that the Lake is huge and beautiful with the snow-capped Rockies on the horizon. Wildflowers abound. During our travels, we saw mule deer and lots of bison and even a coyote making its way up the side of a mountain. We had heard from my cousins, David & Suzy, that if you see people stopped at Yellowstone, you should stop and ask them what they’re looking at. We absolutely found this to be true. We saw quite a few creatures by watching what other people were doing. Thanks for the tip, David & Suzy, and also for reminding us to bring binoculars. We are so glad we did.

One other division of labor we’ve discovered: I love driving windy roads at night, and Hal doesn’t. Well, we already knew this. But it is particularly relevant on this trip, so I drove the final leg from dinner to Pahaska Teepee. All in all, we drove almost 170 miles today, just to circle Yellowstone.

Yellowstone was greener and more mountainous than I thought it would be. The geysers and hot springs were eerier and more other-worldly than I thought they would be. All in all, an amazing place. The crowds can be a little hard to take sometimes, but I understand why so many people want to come here.

While we like where we stayed at Yellowstone, our only regret is that we could have finished the day and headed down to Grand Teton that same night. Instead, we’ll be back-tracking in the morning to head into Yellowstone and then south into Grand Teton. Oh well. Live and learn.

Day 5 was mostly a travel day, but there are a few things worth noting. On our way to Yellowstone, we detoured an hour or so our of our way to stop at Devil’s Tower National Monument. Our annual Park pass got us in this time. Yay! I found the Tower to be more impressive in person than I thought it would be. For some reason, I didn’t realize that people climb it. You need to register to climb or go beyond the “boulder field.” There are a few trails you can hike. We only went a little ways down one because we needed to get back on the road, but it would have been a nice hike if we’d had the time.

There is no food at Devil’s Tower and none for several miles. At the base of the mountain, just outside the park, there are two small restaurants that are part of souvenir shops. We had hot dogs and nachos at one of them because we knew that it was many miles to other food. We had been advised to keep our gas tank full on this trip because there were areas where you wouldn’t find gas for many miles and you wouldn’t want to find yourself in a pinch. We filled up and headed west toward Yellowstone.

The drive to Yellowstone from Devil’s Tower was just over 6 hours. We drove through probably the most awe-inspiring landscape I have ever seen. A good chunk of the drive was in the Bighorn National Forest. Wow. We wound through canyons and up and around and through evergreen forests. You have never seen so many trees in your life and colors of the canyons were breathtaking. If we drove this way again, I might plan our timing to bring a picnic and stop at one of the Recreational Areas or picnic tables that seem to pop up out of nowhere. At one point, we were at 8000 feet above sea level, briefly. The air was cool. And, did I mention that there was snow?! There were patches here and there of (very dirty) snow. Amazing that it could last through the middle of July.

As we neared Yellowstone, we stopped for dinner 2 hours shy of the Park, in Grey Bull. Using the navigation system (how did we ever manage before navigation systems?), we decided on a local A&W for dinner (competition research, you know). I can’t decide whether the name of the town sounds more like a beer or an energy drink for aging athletes. We settled in late at our lodging for two nights: Pahaska Teepee Lodge, just 2 miles outside Yellowstone.

A final vignette for your amusement . . . I hope it comes through in writing as amusingly as it did in person. Overheard at the A&W:

Middle-aged man, ordering at the window: I’ll have a burger with ketchup, mustard and lots of pickles.

Woman taking order: Ok.

Man: LOTS of pickles.

Woman: O.K.

Man: It’s for Brenna.

Woman: Ohhhhhhhh.

Day 4 brought low clouds and fog with the promise of thunderstorms in the afternoon: not ideal weather for a second attempt at viewing a mountainside. We dilly-dallied a bit in the morning, hoping the fog would lift. Eventually, it lifted a bit, though we still debated about whether heading to Mt Rushmore was the right activity for the morning.

Keystone, SD is a touristy town. If you’ve been to Gatlinburg, TN, you have a sense of what Keystone is like. Presidential Wax Museum. Alpine Slide. Mini-Golf. Lots of motels with presidential names. And a plethora of souvenir, fudge & ice cream shops. Exactly why they sell salt-water taffy in all such places, even miles from the ocean, is beyond me.

Roosevelt Inn is on the far south side of Keystone, almost the last hotel before the mountain begins to climb toward the Presidents. Just a ¼ mile from the National Park and 2 miles from the entrance gate, we decided to give it a try, even with the foggy weather. Fog in the mountains can be a funny thing. It often seems that the clouds are coming down to meet you. When you’re driving in it, you can even feel that you’re driving in and out of the clouds. As we headed up the mountain, we remained uncertain of our choice until we rounded a corner and voila: there they were! Cloud-cover framed the faces of Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt & Lincoln, but they were clearly visible. Success! We had been wondering if we could leave the area not having actually seen Mount Rushmore.

We walked the Presidential Trail, around the base of the mountain. There is a little Heritage Village that demonstrates some of the Sioux teepee-making and wool-spinning techniques. This is the interior of a winterized teepee. The trail is asphalt and boardwalk for the first ¼ of the trail and offers interesting, underneath views of the sculpture with explanations regarding why these presidents were chosen and how the sculpture was made. That’s impressive in itself.

The rest of the trail was indicated strenuous. While we initially doubted this claim, the 250+ steps was certainly excellent exercise for the day! If you’re traveling with people capable of hiking this trail, I would recommend it. It took us about 45 mins. Lovely views and interesting information about the history of the sculpture. The Sculptor’s Studio, at the back of the trail, exhibits the plaster casts and original smaller-scale model used to construct the sculpture. Did you know that Mt Rushmore was constructed between 1927 and 1941 and was never completed?

Why these Presidents? Washington for the BIRTH of the nation. Jefferson for the EXPANSION of the nation (Louisiana Purchase). Roosevelt for the DEVELOPMENT of the nation (Panama Canal, Trust Buster & National Parks). Lincoln for the PRESERVATION of the nation (saving the union during the Civil War).

The fact I found most interesting about the history is that Historian Doane Robinson began with an idea to erect a monument to heroes of the western frontier. He pursued funding for his idea with the state and federal legislature, and he approached the sculptor, Gutzon Borglun, with his idea. Borglun was known for being a demanding and finicky artist. In fact, he left a job he was dissatisfied with to begin work on Mt Rushmore. However, Borglun wasn’t interested in sculpting western heroes. He wanted to do something with a more national focus and suggested the Presidents. And so, we have the national monument that we have today.

Mt Rushmore does not have an entry fee per se, but to enter, you must park and parking is $11 for a one-year pass. We had decided a few weeks ago to get an annual pass to all the National Parks and Monuments. Definitely worth it if you’re going to multiple parks: $80 for the annual pass. Parking is considered a “concession,” though, so it is not included in the annual pass.

Before we finished at Mt Rushmore, we had lunch at Carver’s Cafe, their food service. Cafeteria-style, we enjoyed buffalo burgers (American buffalo or bison: excellent, low-fat, low-cholesterol meat! A little dry, but delicious with condiments, and the Cafe had a wonderful burger condiment bar) and salads. The employees were from all over the world, with their country of origin on their nametags. The service was terrific and polite. There’s also a yummy-looking ice cream shop, though we didn’t choose to partake!

From Mt Rushmore, we headed to Custer State Park. We had heard that the Wildlife Loop Road was worth a drive. This 18-mile 2-lane road meanders through grasslands, evergreen forests and craggy, red-rock mountainsides. The landscape is beautiful and certainly worth the drive, just for that. But, oh, the wildlife! A couple miles into the drive, no one voiced this thought, but Hal and I both began wondering what all the fuss was about. Give it a bit, though, and the Wildlife Loop Road will not disappoint. We saw many pronghorns grazing in the fields. They are a deer-like animal often confused with antelope. We saw a few big-horn sheep on a hillside. We saw tons of little prairie dogs in a field, popping in and out of their holes and cheeping to one another, probably to warn one another that we had arrived. We saw burros, a lot of burros. They are descended from burros that used to give rides up a nearby mountain. When the family that owned them stopped giving rides, the herd was donated to the State Park and they have maintained the herd in their grasslands. The burros were the friendliest wildlife we saw during the afternoon. Despite warnings to the contrary, many visitors feed the burros carrots and apples, so they know that humans bring them food. Fortunately, they seemed pretty friendly! The most amazing animals we saw were probably the American Buffalo or Bison. We would see one here and there, out grazing or lying in a field. That was fun. But, oh my goodness, were we in for a surprise! Near the end of the Loop, there was a herd . . . and when I say a herd, I mean hundreds of buffalo . . . along the side of the road and walking in the middle of the road. They all seemed to be going somewhere and would just walk wherever they wanted. The absolute cutest were the babies with the Mamas, some nursing along the side of the road. They were within 5 feet of our car, walking right toward it, and then walking on by. Amazing, powerful creatures.

We spent so much time on the Wildlife Loop Road that we missed the last tour at Wind Cave National Park, which is south of Custer State Park. That would have been fun and we hope to tour another cave later in the summer.

We swung back north into the State Park as it approached evening. I had been reading about some of the lodges in the Park. There are four. If you wanted to go to Mt Rushmore, but stay in a more wooded, less touristy area, investigating one of the lodges would be a great idea. I could see doing that if we came back to the area. Each of the lodges have dining rooms open to the public. We decided to make a reservation at the State Game Lodge because it was President Calvin Coolidge’s 1927 Summer White House. That summer is when he dedicated Mount Rushmore. That sounded interesting, so we filled up on gas and wound back through the beautifully forested park to the Lodge. Here’s the Lodge: a rustic, but regal building. I can see why the President chose it. It has 7 hotel rooms in the Lodge, but now also has a motel attached, as well as cabins on the property. The dining room is gorgeous: high log-beamed ceilings, white table cloths, a party room being used by a large group in the back. I was so impressed by the wait staff. Our server was one of the best I’ve ever had: always available when you needed him, constantly attentive, but never intrusive. He was helpful with the menu, offering suggestions and opinions. He was patient and friendly with the children. One great thing about the restaurant was that, despite the prices ($$$) and the white table cloths, there were lots of families with young children and many travelers in shorts and t-shirts. We felt right at home and enjoyed a terrific meal. Their specialty was local fish and game, so I enjoyed some Elk medallions in a blueberry compote, alongside some fresh steamed veggies and a delicious slice of a loaf of bread. Hal had the Walleye. Two kids had steaks and one had ribs. The adults had salads with delicious home-made dressings. Yum. I have not had a meal so delicious or well-served in a very long time. Oh, and the pies. I cannot forget the pies. I had pecan a la mode and Hal had blueberry a la mode. Don’t miss the pie.

A very windy 45 min drive took us back to our hotel. Our daughter found the switchbacks (including fully coiled 360+ degree turns) a bit much and called for the trash can after a while. If you ever wonder why it pays to have a trash can in your van, now you know. A quick response from Dad saved the day! I was driving and loved the ride. If you ever drive this road, be sure that your driver who likes a challenge is driving.

After hiking the slump trail in the Badlands in the morning, we headed back to Route 90 toward Rapid City, SD. If you’ve ever driven Route 90, you know the Wall Drug billboards. I read that Wall Drug spends $400,000 every year on billboard advertising. This is exactly why we didn’t want to go to Wall Drug. It is clearly a tourist attraction with many souvenirs for sale, but that’s not exactly why we came to South Dakota. We were drawn in by the promise of lunch, though, and thought we’d see what this Drugstore was all about. We ate at what I think was called the Prairie Cafe: buffalo dogs & pizza. I had the most delicious watermelon Italian soda. Yum.

The first hint of the coolest thing about Wall Drug was that in amongst the souvenir shops and fudge shops and pottery shops and Native American beading and weaving shops was an itsy-bitsy little Chapel. A sweet, narrow nave, only about 10 feet across sat quietly between shops vending their wares. We stopped in for the peaceful quiet and to see what this little place was all about. Rows of pews, an altar up front. A few icons of Mary. A few crosses on the wall. And an invitation to travelers to stop in.

If you go to Wall Drug’s home page (walldrug.com), you see the beginning of the story that we read from a card on our lunch table. Ted & Dorothy Hustead were a young couple with a 4 year old son when they opened a drugstore in Wall, SD in 1931. The town had less than 400 residents and every one of them was poor. Ted had graduated from pharmacy school about 5 years before and had worked for other pharmacists as he began his career. He and Dorothy decided that it was time for him to open up his own pharmacy. They searched several states nearby for a good location. Their two criteria: a small town and a Catholic Church so they could attend mass every day. They said they’d give this venture 5 years and at the end of 5 years, they had another baby and not much else to show for their hard work. But then, Dorothy had an idea. She was convinced that God had them in this place for a purpose and that this purpose had something to do with serving the people who lived, worked and traveled near them. Dorothy’s idea was to give away free ice water. Before the first billboards were completely up, the people started coming and they haven’t stopped. Amazing what a little generosity, creative thinking, and unusual marketing can do! Despite the current tourist trap, we avoided the fudge and the souvenirs and enjoyed the history of this couple who found their calling in a little town called Wall.

From Wall Drug, we headed to Reptile Gardens (reptilegardens.com), on the south side of Rapid City. What a wonderful little reptile zoo. It is definitely worth a stop, if you’re nearby. We arrived around 3:00 pm and stayed until about 6:30 or so. We saw everything there was to see. The cost was $15 for ages 13 and over, and $10 for ages 5-12. Under 4 is always free. Don’t miss the shows! There are three: bird, snake & ‘gator. They are scheduled regularly throughout the day, so you should be able to easily fit all three into your visit. These are some of the beautiful things we saw at the Reptile Gardens.

We tried for a quick visit to Mount Rushmore at night, but found it drizzly and too foggy, even with the lights, to see our Presidents. We’ll try again tomorrow in the daylight.

We stayed at the Roosevelt Inn, right in Keystone, SD (rosyinn.com). It’s a lovely inn & suites right at the base of the mountain. The entrance to the Mt Rushmore National Monument is just two miles up a windy (but wide) mountain road. We have a loft suite where the kids are in beds upstairs and we have a King downstairs. Very nice.

We had dinner at the restaurant in the hotel: Big Time Pizza. Terrific pizza and subs. They were open until 9:30, which worked for our late-night family. Loved the Henry Weinhard’s Vanilla Cream soda from the cooler. They also had Cherry Cream, Orange Cream and Root Beer for a bit of variety.

I will use “wonderful” as my word for today as a hat tip to Ted & Dorothy and their Wall Drug endeavor. We enjoyed it much more than we thought we would.

One of my purposes in blogging this trip is to have a record of it, in photos and words. Our family will enjoy re-reading these posts over the years to come. I also want to give friends and family the opportunity to “travel with us” as we go. My other thought, though, is that friends and family who are planning national park trips over the coming years might enjoy learning from our experiences. Hopefully, there will be many things you’d like to copy, but there may even be a few things you’ll want to avoid based upon our experiences.

We arrived mid-afternoon in the Badlands. Wow, what an amazing sight. What struck us most about Badlands National Park is how it pops up out of nowhere. You’re driving along Interstate 90, among grassy plains and flatlands. In the distance, you begin to see some land formations rising in the southwest. You turn south and find yourself in the midst of these austere, dry, colorful (but all in the brown & red range!) mountains and valleys.

Before dinner, we spent some time hiking. For those interested in the details, we hiked an easy trail . . . uncertain at the moment if it was the Door Trail or the Window Trail. And then, we hiked the strenuous Saddle Pass Trail (further along the Badlands Loop Road)that was quite treacherous because of its incline and the sandy gravel of the mountains underfoot. Our 9 year old, by his own choice, descended entirely in a squat position, just to ensure that he didn’t fall down. The next day, he wanted to do it again!

The air in the Badlands is very dry. This is part of what makes them what they are. The ground is dry, but the area is prone to infrequent and strong thunderstorms. We were there for one of these storms. Lightning struck continuously about 10 miles away as we hiked and then the storm came in while we ate dinner. With little water most of the time, little vegetation tends to grow. This allows for easy errosion when the rains come. It is this combination that has produced the landforms that identify the Badlands.

In the midst of these desert-like mountains, we would occasionally found a flower. This is one we found at the top of our strenuous hike. You can see the parched earth underneath and imagine the roots growing deep to find water. Why the sunflower in the midst of the parched earth? A moment of grace in the midst of hardship. It reminded me of those victims I have known in my work as a social worker who have survived horrible life events. What allows some to be survivors and others to be victims? Grace.

Interestingly, the next day, we hiked a different trail that took us up the side of a mountain where a “slump” had been created. A slump is where the side of a mountain has fallen off, creating a flatter area where water has collected and allowed more vegetation to grow. The entire of this mountain was covered with vegetation, including some cacti (in South Dakota . . . who knew!) and many more and much taller sunflowers.

After our hikes, we drove the Badlands Loop, SD Hwy 240. Gorgeous. Drive slowly and make sure the kids are watching. You just don’t see landscape like this anywhere else, especially so close up. It was like being at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, driving along the basin.

We stayed at the Badlands Inn. There is only one accommodation location within Badlands National Park: Cedar Pass Lodge. It is a small grouping of cabins, perhaps about 12 of them, some 2 bedroom. This would have been ideal for us, but the cabins were all booked when we made our reservations. The Badlands Inn is also part of the Badlands National Park accommodations (cedarpasslodge.com), though it is a few feet outside the National Park. The Badlands Inn is really no more than a motel, though it does have a simple, continental breakfast from 7:00 am to 10:00 am. I would recommend either Cedar Pass Lodge or the Badlands Inn for their proximity. You’re right there. You’re surrounded by the Badlands. They’re out your window and right in front of you when you walk out the door in the morning.

We had dinner at the Cedar Pass Lodge Restaurant. The specialty is the Sioux Indian Taco. They also serve various burgers, steaks, chicken and fish. All the full meals come with a salad, roll, vegetables and choice of baked potato, rice pilaf, fruit, or sweet potato fries. The trout was delicious, as were the sweet potato fries. Not to ignore the local favorite, we got an Indian Taco to share as an appetizer: perfect for our family of 5. An Indian Taco is refried beans, cheese, and other toppings such as black olives and onions, all on top of Indian Fry Bread. Ours came with a side of salsa and sour cream. Yum.

The story behind Fry Bread is interesting and sad. In the late 1800s, as many Native Americans were being forced to live on newly formed Indian Reservations, they were not able to maintain their normal means of hunting and eating. The U.S. Government gave them rations, but those rations were often not enough to feed Native American families, partly because those rations were often siphoned before they arrived on the reservations. Fry Bread, a simple, flat bread fried in oil, was one of the foods that families created with the rations they were given. Since that time, Fry Bread has become part of Native American cuisine and culture across the United States. Definitely try some if you have the opportunity.

My word for today is beautiful. The Badlands are stark. They are harsh in many ways, both in weather and in appearance. But the simple beauty of the striated peaks is striking and memorable. Can you imagine the settlers trekking across the prairie grassland in their covered wagons and encountering these peaks? We read that some pioneers left their wagons and continued down into the valley on foot, with their horses. I can’t quite imagine doing what we did on foot, with a horse! I can imagine, though, that the pioneers were struck by the strange and mysterious beauty of these wonderous land forms.

Scheduled to depart at 10:00 am, we pulled out of the driveway at 11:08 am, excellent timing for the Merck family! We’re off on our next trek of the summer. My husband’s company has an amazing sabbatical plan: after 10 years of service, every employee gets 8 weeks off. As my friend, Dan, clarified: in a row? Yes, in a row. People often add their vacation time to that, so Hal is taking 10 weeks off of work. His last day was July 1.

We’ll be spending some of his time off traveling . . . a road trip west to national parks, and a road trip east to family and friends and Harry Potter at Universal Studios. This week, the journey has begun. People have commented that we are making memories to last a lifetime. True. My term for this trip: once-in-a-childhood. Ten years from now, all our children will be out of the house (at least full-time, anyway), so this will be our longest time traveling together, well, ever.

Our family loves driving together. There’s lots of music; driver gets to pick. The kids play games or watch movies or read or talk. Because this is a road trip, I’m trying to draw the kids’ attention to the landscapes we’re passing through. My questions so far:

• What do you see in this landscape? How is it different from where we live and normally drive?
• Tell me about the topography you see.
• Tell me about the vegetation.
• Are there crops here? Are they different from Illinois?
• What do you think someone who lived here would do for a living?

My inner-homeschool-Mom is coming on strong. I’m not sure the kids are buying it, but I’m still trying!

Our children are perfect ages for travel like this: 14, 11 and 9. Not too young to be napping or slowing us down, not too old to be disengaged from the family and a family trip. We plan to do a lot of laughing and talking on this trip.

I have been thinking a lot lately, what with having a high schooler next year, whether there is anything that I’ve seriously missed in my parenting lessons. I mean, are there values that are near and dear to me that I’ve completely missed passing on to my children? Are there things I’ve thought I’d taught, but have missed in the hustle and the bustle of a full, suburban life? I’m hoping that this time together will offer opportunities to talk about those things: respect, responsibility, politeness, setting goals, investing hard work in accomplishing those goals.

Before I finish up Day 1, I must tell you about Sioux Falls, SD. In the context of our trip, Sioux Falls was intended to be an overnight stop-over, merely a place to rest our heads as we headed to the Badlands. It turned out to be a lovely, fortuitous (even providential, perhaps) beginning to our trip. With the Hampton Inn as our destination (lovely Hampton: always recommend Hamptons!), Hal noted that the “Falls” of Sioux Falls were in Falls Park. A quick perusal of our car’s navigation system showed us that it wouldn’t be far off our path to make a quick stop at the Falls. We decided that we would take a quick look and determine if it was worth taking the time to spend more time in the morning. It wasn’t part of the itinerary, but a trip is nothing if veering from the itinerary isn’t permitted!

Well, we were in for a treat! We noticed a number of cars arriving at Falls Park as we pulled in at 8:30 pm. We were glad to see that the park didn’t close at dusk. It was just about dusk and that was my biggest concern, that we’d find the park closed. As we turned in, we noted a sign that said: “Tonight – Sound & Light Show.” Well, folks, if you see this sort of sign as you pull into a park on a summer night at 8:30 pm, you know you have hit the jackpot. We got out of the car into the most breezy, warm, beautiful evening you’ve ever seen. The waterfalls crashed in the background. Families had begun to gather on blankets on the grassy hillside next to the falls.

Here’s a shot of the family in front of the Falls. This is the best shot with a flash, which put the Falls into darkness. And then here’s a shot of the family with the Falls in the background: fuzzy because of the darkness coming on. I’m not sophisticated enough with my camera to figure out if I could use the flash to make it a better people shot, but also include the Falls. You get the idea, though.

The Sound & Light Show began around 8:45. It gave some fascinating history of the area and how it was settled. We got a terrific introduction to the Western Frontier as we headed even further west. For us, Sioux Falls became the gateway into the West. I’m honestly not sure if they do this Sound & Light Show every night. The sign appeared permanently installed, so I might guess they do. The Show was 45 mins long. It got a bit long for our family, so we headed out in the dark to explore the Falls a bit more before heading out. Serendipitous is my word for today. A happy, accidental surprise! We would have missed it. We could have missed it. I’m grateful we didn’t.

For several weeks, I’ve been toying with the idea of moving my blog from tumblr to wordpress. Well, today was the day. I don’t have huge volumes of posts, but nevertheless, the move went fairly smoothly. You may see some odd links and such in old posts. I’ll fiddle with those over the coming weeks. But for now, all is well. Old posts are here. New posts will come.

I also made a decision to register my own domain name, so you can always find me at jennifermerck.com. Easier to remember. Easier to find. I hope you’ll check in to see what I’m thinking about. Or, you could subscribe in Google Reader. Or, WordPress also has an e-mail subscription option to the right. That might be just the thing for you.

My biggest reason for moving over to WordPress is that I found that I enjoyed the comments and responses to my blog. However, my readers and I didn’t find tumblr to have the smoothest of comment systems. My hope is that WordPress will live up to its claims (and those of many WordPress bloggers) and offer smooth commenting and replying.

Let me know what you think. I’d like to think of this as a conversation, so grab a cup of coffee and let me know whether this is working . . . or what else you’d like to hear about.