Cabins, Clear Skies and Caching

As we headed to the Black Hills for our tri-yearly Fergen family reunion (Raumi's mom's Lisa's side) I drifted off into la la land and thought about what things a 2 year old may like while adventuring in the Black Hills of South Dakota. This obviously occurred in the stretch between Bowman and Belle Fouche. This stretch of road tends to be the most boring of all roads, and little did I know (until the ride home) that you can actually get a fairly good radio station from nearly Bowman south...I digress.

As we arrived in our cabin, much to Kelsen's delight (he actually thought it might be our new house) Newman's and Heiser's (Raumi's aunt Pam and her husband Rod) were there and not far behind we the Hohn's (Raumi's aunt Amy and her 2 younger children, Trey and Ellie) and Mueller's (Raumi's aunt Linda and her husband Curt and kids Melissa, Anna and Maggie. Melissa brought her finance Justin with as well).

Now that we are all there let the games begin. Our cabin was adjacent to the Newmans 5th wheel and the games of Norwegian horseshoes began. Raumi thinks that Kelsen temporarily dislocated his finger (I disagree) but the one thing is for sure, when a 2 year old launches a metal washer and takes a direct hit to the head, loud screams are heard throughout the campground.


Day 2 led us to lots of new adventures for Kelsen. Prior to the trip we let him decide if he wanted to see the snakes (Reptile Gardens) or the bears (Bear Country USA). Much to our surprise he chose the snakes and off to Reptile Gardens we were. Kelsen loved the gators and birds but really did not care for the snakes (kinda like mom and dad). He was being goofy in the gift shop and was getting many laughs from all walks of people. After Reptile, we took in the Alpine Slide in Keystone. Raumi and I were not sure how Kelsen would do with the chair lift (hell I didn't even know how I would do). Kelsen did better than we thought and REALLY REALLY liked the ride down (Do it again Daddy?)

Day 2 evening led me on new adventure called geocaching , it was a blast. Pam, Rod, Lisa, Trey and I took off towards the evening for 2 geocahcing adventures. The first was quite easy and found with little difficulty to terrain. The other one was very difficult and took us approx 2 hours to find. We ended up finding it near the top of Flag Mountain. It was a much harder than Harney peak, as there were no trails and a much higher degree grade of climb. Trey was the first to arrive (he is a wrestler and in much better shape than me) so when when we got to the top we were both pretty shot (although I appear to look more tired, darn self portraits). Pam, Lisa and Rod arrived a short time later and we all enjoyed the views (although Rod and I were in a hurry to get back to the cabins for cold beers). Geocaching is something that was great and Raumi, Kelsen and I even went on a "lighter" version the next day.

Day 3 was what I call a hidden gem (not really hidden because many people were there), but the views at this place are majestic. Sylvan Lake. It is at the base of Harney Peak (didn't climb this year-Flag Mountain was enough and no one else was prepared to go). We decided to set up camp and just relax the day away, swimming and climbing around. After Sylvan, Kelsen took a nice nap. While napping Raumi and I did what most couples do on vacation, we also napped, but outside on some comfy lounge chairs. After Kelsen woke up he stated he wanted to see the "Mans", which was Mount Rushmore. Our purpose for Mount Rushmore was twofold, the first to of course see the faces, but also gorge ourselves with some ice cream cones. Kelsen was half scared, half excited to see the faces but what he really enjoyed was the hiking we did after. He thought he was a pretty cool dude climbing around on the rocks and in the trees.

Day 4 took us on our ride home, Kelsen was a champ on the ride. This was a great weekend and we very much enjoyed spending time with the family again, along with being able to do some things as a family, as the 3 of us did. Kelsen had a great time with his cousins.(not sure if they are 2nd or 3rd cousins) Anna, Maggie, Trey and Ellie kept him entertained the entire time we were there. Thanks guys! You are some good kids and Kelsen loved playing with you much. We are looking forward to again getting into the Hills when Kelsen gets a bit older.

One last note, my final count this morning was 33. I viewed 33 different state license plates during the trip (would have been 34 but Raumi didn't let me count Oklahoma because I personally didn't see it).

Have a nice week.....not sure when the next blog will be, this computer may end up in a moving box sometime today!