Yesterday night...into today...now we're driving again.

After barbeque yesterday, we headed to Evan's Plunge natural hot springs resort. The mineral spring is supposed to be rejuvenating and healing, but we just felt really tired afterwards. Grace kept busy on the swinging rings, while the rest of us spent most of our time on a swing ring into the pool and slides they had on hand. The bottom of the pool was covered with rocks, and I thought it was either for some sort of filtering or just for "natural" effect. There was no chlorine; the water is completely replaced every 16 hours. We really enjoyed ourselves overall, and I'm sure Grace enjoyed being a monkey on her birthday.

Afterwards,.we went back to the cabin to freshen up. Meanwhile, Grace got to pick the restaurant we ate at for dinner, as going with the Svoboda tradition of choosing the meal the family eats on their birthday. Unfortunately for her, she did not get out of her chore, trash patrol, a tireless and thankless job.

We ended up eating at a homemade wood fired pizza place, where they tossed the dough in front of you and had topping choices like buffalo and barbeque sauce. Grace ate six slices of pizza, impressing us all.

From there we headed to the Grand Magic Show, featuring internationally known magician Dwane, winner of the gold star in the National Magicians League. We don't know why, but imagining a bunch of magicians gathered together for us laughing and we couldn't stop giggling for most of the show. We saw lots of wigs, illusions , and a huge dog and bunny. Maddie remarked that the real magic of the show was the quick changes by the assistants...they must of gone through twenty plus costumes through out the night.

We got back to the cabin and watched the Princess Bride. We were inconceivably quiet. We were in bed by eleven, and after Maddie accidentally scared the crap of me, we were all quite awake in our beds. Fortunately, sleep took us, and by 8:30 AM we had packed, cleaned, and had cups of rooibos tea.

We're on our way back on a ,slightly different path, with Grace and Josh playing Uno in the back and those of us up front planning on sleeping for a while.

Update: We just slept for two hours. Yessss.

Anne said some of these roads have more curves than the Duponda. Fortunately, we're going into Nebraska...

There will be another post this afternoon... safe travels to those in Kansas City!

Good morning, good morning!

Hours 12:00 to 1:00 last night:

Alex: *snores*
*rolls over aggressively*
*wakes himself up*
*snores*

Maddie: he he he he he he. HEHEHEHE. HE he He he. HEEHEE.

Grace: *rolls over and attacks Anne*

Gabbie: *scared of Maddie*

Anne: * removes Grace from on top of herself*

Alex: *snores louder*

Josh: (in his sleep) "Where's Grace? I CAN'T FIND GRACE.

Maddie: HEEEHEEEHEEEEHEEEEHEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Gabbie: He he. He he. HEHE. HEHEHE.

Despite our diverse sleeping habits, we managed to get in some decent rest last night. We also got to sleep in (thank goodness) and enjoy breakfast at the cabin.

We ate cereal, peanuts, and tea this morning around our small wooden table. Birthday Grace was the last one to wake up, but she woke to many Happy Birthdays and some fun little gifts. We washed our dishes and headed out for the day, our Positive Day, as Anne has dubbed it. Our car ride consisted of many fun facts, most of which were provided by Josh and Alex. For example, do not give someone the thumbs up in Saudi Arabia. It's like flipping someone off.

Our first stop of the day was Wind Cave National Park, which consists of vast prairies ad well as the seventh longest cave in the world, coming in at 141 (known) miles. All of its passageways are contained in a square mile at different depths. Only fifty percent of the passable passageways have been discovered.

We were again graced with a great tour guide. I would say the only negative of the tour was the kid that kept repeating "I don't want to be here."

We ate some good cheap barbeque and are now heading to a natural mineral hot springs...we'll let you know how it goes!

Pics: us in the cave, caveman Josh eatin ribs. 

Lots of schitz.

Gabbie here. The morning brought some relief to the group after some much needed sleep. Today was our tour day. After piling in and out of the bathroom (twice or so) we headed to Ft. Hays by Rapid City. The buildings on location were all moved from the set of Dances with Wolves, compete with rope-making, tin pan making, and coin pressing shops. We ate all you can eat pancakes and listened to a wonderful piano player. Then, our tour bus arrived, and the group boarded with twenty others from the Midwest, South, and Canada.

Our tour guide, Matt, had a long gray pony tale, vest, hat and boots. His calm voice told jokes and information masterfully as we traversed our nine hour trip across the hills. We started off the morning at Mount Rushmore under cooler windy weather and cloud coverage. There were small crowds and ample picture taking opportunities. We walked up and down 426 steps on the Presidential Trail that took us up to see up the Presidents' noses. We learned that there is a room that holds documents behind the heads that isn't open to the public. We hit the exhibit space, and most of Josh's questions we answered. We headed back to the bus and off on a scenic route through the hills towards Custer State Park. The trail was engineered to keep cars at a low speed so they would enjoy the drive, and every other turn you could see Rushmore framed perfectly, especially after the narrow tunnels we went through. The first tunnel we went through gave us six inches clearance on both sides. And that wasn't the narrowest....

We ate lunch at the park lodge. The lodge is famous for hosting presidents over the years...Calvin Coolidge actually spent three months working out of the Black Hills. We ate a delicious brunch, including buffalo stew and pork ribs, then headed to some beautiful features.

We climbed several boulders to see the narrow, vertical rock structures called the Cathedral Spires. We then went to the Needles to see similar formations. Grace fed a chipmunk out of her hand. Then, we went through the Eye of the Needle....the narrowest tunnel you could gains. We had three inches of clearance on each side of the bus....yes. Three inches. A crowd or tourists gathered to see if we could make it through. Our tour guide, being the joker he is, paused on the stressful journey through and put the hazard lights on. After the tourists took several pictures, we rolled out to safety to applause.

Lastly, we headed towards Crazy Horse, the (unfinished) monument honoring the Native American people. We then headed towards our Chuck Wagon supper. The supper was located in a barn with a large stage. The supper was also good...it included traditional western food and then was concluded by a diverse  music show with a six piece band. Numbers ranged from Elvis to a capella gospel to modern country.

Needless to say, we were a bit tired when we got back to the cabin. We had ice cream to sooth our hot bodies and played Apples to Apples and Pit.

By this point, you may be wondering how we're all getting along. I will say we had some low points today. We had a come to Jesus and ice cream, and now things seem to be better. In my opinion, it's not that we're mean-spirited or want to hurt people's feelings...we really do have opposing personalities. Learning to deal with that has been a challenge, but I think we're learning life lessons. For example, I like some alone time at the end of the day. Josh likes to pace. Right up to you and away. Instead of telling Josh to stop pacing, I simply said I was changing behind a curtain and sat on the floor in with the lights down. Maddie had a little too many beans, and the bathroom was a nuclear waste site for a while. Instead of being mad at her for stinking up the cabin, we tried to laugh it off and Febreeze the heck out of it. Grace likes to jump on people, and Maddie has effectively dealt with this by stepping out of the way at the last minute. These are petty examples, but after nonstop contact, strategies to deal with these differences are necessary. Thankfully we're quick learners. Anne is also a saint.

Gordy is still livin strong.

Pancake breakfast!

Common rock formations...this is Sylvan Lake.

Grace had a couple naps on the bus...

Additional pictures will follow. Ask your kid about schitz.

Cows, 70 signs, and a trip back in time...the Starship goes on.

Good evening, all. Gabbie here. I have resigned from the position of navigator because of a new passenger alignment. Because of various complaints submitted to the Captain about Starship seating, we now rotate seats in a clockwise fashion every time we stop the ship. Josh had the pleasure of taking up navigator when our GPS signal was lost in the hills. Luckily, with his skills, we stayed in the correct galaxy.

After leaving lunch, we entered a new time era: the 1880s. The village we visited seemed to be uninhabited except for the lifeless models on various poses amongst the dilapidated buildings.

In the Saloon, we enjoyed sarsaparilla and a private live piano and singing show. We got to sing along with "How Much Is That Doggy in the Window" and make barking noises. Josh was embarrassed. We also had fun playing on the (fake) railroad tracks, ironically.

From Yankton to Wall, SD, we counted approximately 70 Wall Drug signs. This got mixed results from the passengers; the Captain and I said we refused to fall for their traps while the others remarked "what is the big deal about?" We ended up stopping, having our free ice water, five cent coffee, and homemade donuts.

Another two hours to the cabin, and we were getting to the point of annoying each other when we noticed that the cows  were huddled together. It was hot...so we of course consulted Google. Apparently, they huddle together to discourage biting flies. Cows are actually highly intelligent creatures. They form lasting friendships and can hold grudges. Maddie remarked they sounded like High Schoolers. I tend to agree.

We stopped at Taco Bell for supper (and had a surprisingly satisfying meal) and then headed towards the cabin in Custer. We saw Rock Shops and figured Grandma would have liked those. In fact, before we left, she remarked that she wished she could go with us, but she "can't even walk to the car." We decided to get a picture with a giant piece of quartz to show her.

The cabin is very cute and has a tether ball out front, which we played with until it got dark. We took a walk downtown, and I really enjoyed talking to my cousins about high school, acceptance, and whatever silly jokes we could think of.

Right we're not exactly the healthiest group, so send up a prayer. Tomorrow is a big day!

We love you all.

Pictures:

Another from the corn palace.

1880s town

Giant rose quartz

Funny or Gross?

Saloon and pianist.

TETHER WAR.

Asleep already? How long have I been writing...?

Tuesday in full swing...

Collaborative lunch post.

After our post last night, we started a cult.

It started with a pinky toe and a bottle of nail polish. Four toes later, we cornered Josh. He refused to join Hello Kitty Cult. He ran, but not after we went after his socks.

After a relatively solid sleep by most, we headed out from the cabin. We ate breakfast and left Yankton around 8:30.

Shortly after, we ended up at the Corn Palace, an interesting experience. Apparently corn is a big deal in the Midwest. Huh. THERE WAS SO MUCH CORN MERCHANDISE. Anne wants to go back in the fall to see the new corn mural.

Gabbie drove for 2.5 hours in scenic hills. We passed over the Missouri, ate plenty of snacks, and saw 29 Wall Drug signs so far.

We're now at the 1880s village having lunch in a 1950s dining car. Grace is eating like a piglet....we want sasperilla next.

Monday Night

First and Second Officer Gabbie and Maddie speaking, with collaboration from other passengers. We arrived in Wisner with 3/5 of us having sweaty butts. Pulling into Anne's driveway,  we saw an Eastern Goldfinch stuck in the grill of the suburban. We thought that we were happy to have a piece of Iowa with us, and we promptly named him Gordy.

After a pizza and plenty of carrots, we headed off to the cabin, first stopping in Pilger to look at the damage and send some prayers their way.

We actually had some fun conversations, topics including:

-Weird dreams we've had
-Superpowers
-people we want to meet.

In Crofton, we stopped at the Dairy Dock to enjoy the local fare. The coconut sherbet was delicious, and we bought a quart to share with the visitors coming later this week!

On the way to the cabin, we played with Squishy, our rubber, air-filled ball with silicon fingers and a light inside. It was confiscated twice today.

We also discovered that Josh has bug telepathy when we crossed the bridge over the dam.

When got to the cabin, Josh was so tired that he ran into the glass screen door.

Our Butts Are Numb

Josh here. I got a rug burn on a chair.

Grace here. I made a pretty bracelet for Gabbie's ankle and told really bad jokes the whole way. Maddie and I discovered a fly. Maddie wanted to name it Fred but I wanted to name it Gus. Then, we realized there were two flies so, we named the other one Fred.

Gabbie here. As you can tell, our trip from Nebraska City to Wisner has been great. Imagine adding another passenger...Thank goodness for the suburban...

We're almost out of the car.