Day 16 - Custer, South Dakota to Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Ms. Perrin:  "I am feeling much better after a good night's sleep.  We had a king size bed last night so all of Kelsey's flailing and kicking didn't reach me.  Yahoo!! :)  First thing this morning, we went to Mount Rushmore.  On a side note, Kelsey has been 'collecting' license plates all through this trip.  She has seen every state but 4 (Rhode Island, West Virginia, South Carolina and Louisianna) and she's still missing Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and the Territories.  She also needs Washington DC.  She prioritized the day by stating that the first order of business at Mount Rushmore was to do a 'lot crawl' and see if we could find any of her missing states/provinces in the parking lot.  This has almost become more exciting than the trip itself.  You should've seen us when we got Hawaii.....3 TIMES!!!  Anywho, we only added South Carolina to our list but now she only has 3 states to go! :)"

Kelsey:  "I am determined to get those states!!!!!

Ms. Perrin:  "Mount Rushmore was amazing but what I found the most interesting was The Hall Of Records.  Apparently it's blasted into the mountain right behind Lincoln and holds all kinds of historical stuff regarding the United States.  I didn't know it existed until today.  The public are not allowed to see it but they show you a model of it at the Visitor's Centre.  If anyone's planning a visit here and you'd like to walk the Presidential Trail, take the left entrance to the trail from the Grand View Terrace.  That way, you get to walk DOWN the 250 stairs....unlike us!"

Kelsey:  "I have now lost the love that i never had towards stairs."

Ms. Perrin:  "Then we went to Sitting Bull Crystal Cavern.  I've been to caves before but this was my first crystal cave.  It was very cool and the crystals were HUGE!  I am embarassed to say that I thought that all of the crystals would be clean, sparkling points.  Of course, they are not.  They have all kinds of cave stuff on them but it's really cool.  It feels like you're standing inside a big geode."

Kelsey:  "The cave was fun, but the cave beside it you didnt need a tour guide to go in and we were allowed to just go into the cave with the supplied flashlights. my flashlight didnt work, buti went in with a group of people. Somehow, i got a bunch of mud stripes on my leg. So, Tony the tiger, now that i have earned my stripes, what have you to tempt me to eat your nutrcious-and-not-delicious terrifying cereal???????"

Ms. Perrin:  "Then we drove to Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  We came through a massive storm with hail and ridiculous winds coming out of Rapid City and then we arrived here to a beautiful light show of heat lightening lighting up the sky behind the B & B we're staying at."

Kelsey: "apparently, the attic room looks awesome, but the lightswitch is halfway across the hall and the only light we get to GET to the switch is from the lightning in the bathroom window. its scary out there, so im going to wait til morning!!!!!!