~100 degrees~

WOW - what an incredibly HOT day!!  It was about 37 degrees Celsius!!  In fact.....all our days have been over 32 degrees!  I guess we are getting summer after all!!

We spent the whole day at the pool  - it was 100 degrees!  They have large shade shelters at this park and even under them it was almost unbearable.  We had the a/c on in the trailer ALL day and the temp. inside was still 30 degrees!!!!!!!!!!!!!  WOW!

What are they doing in the hot tub???  After being in the pool for SO long - it was time to warm up a bit!

WHAT NEXT????????????    Now we have seen everything!!!  These are called "Cooler Scooters" and the people rip around the rv park on these things - hilarious!

~Custer State Park~

In the afternoon we got to experience the unique beauty of the Black Hills. We drove on windy, narrow roads through amazing rock formations. At times there were tunnels that we didn't think we would be able to make it through. We stopped several times at viewpoints - this is the incredible "needles eye". 

 We then did the "Wildlife Loop Road" and saw many animals. There were so many tame burros that came up to car windows and stuck their heads right in looking for food. This one was enjoying our grapes. Some kids in the car next to us were feeding the burros cheezies - which they seemed to love!!!!!! Hilarious

We saw large herds of bison as well as white tailed deer, pronghorns, mountain goats, prairie dogs and many birds. 

What a great day!

~Mt.Rushmore~

 WOW! What an amazing day! We started our day by visiting Keystone- an original gold mining settlement. We enjoyed walking through "Old Town". Then on to see the incredible Mt.Rushmore National Memorial, one of the nation's most patriotic symbols. This massive granite carving is the largest monument in the world and depicts 4 presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.There were approximately 400 people that worked during the carving process from October 1927 - October 1941. Fortunately no lives were lost. We watched a great movie on the carving of Mt.Rushmore and enjoyed the "Sculptor's Studio" where Borglum created a model of the four presidents on a 1 - 12 inch scale.

 Sculptor - Gutzon Borglum spent the last 14 years of his life working on Mt.Rushmore.

~New Friends~

 After being on the road for just a few days the girls have already met some lovely new friends who happen to also be from Canada - Winnipeg.   They enjoyed a lovely day together with Mitchell and Madison

Thanks for a fun day Hudson's :)

~Off we go~

This will be our home for the next 8 months!  We have 4 bunk beds in the back, a couch that we use for a 5th bed and then a double in the front.   We all have our own "spots".

Leaving Victoria and our home.

We started our trip in Washington - State # 1 - We stopped here at Snoqualmie Falls

A beautiful view in Washington

The scenery was much the same in Idaho (#2) and Montana (#3) with lots of farmlands, crops, sagebrush and very dry land.   

                                                                            Next we drove through Wyoming (#4) where we stopped at Devil's Tower National Monument. Just amazing!   So far our days have been very warm  - around mid 30's!!!   Today we are in South Dakota (#5) enjoying our first relaxing day.   We arrived last night and were greeted with an amazing "lightning show" which lasted for HOURS!  Funny to have such warm air and so much lightning but no thunder or any rain at all. We are in such a great campground with an Olympic size pool and MANY amenities.

Shae, Travis and Brad  have already done a little train ride and also rented bikes for the day ($1 per bike per day!!!).  They are especially enjoying the "no helmet" law in South Dakota!!!

                                      

~Symphony Splash~

We spent the evening downtown at "Symphony Splash".  An orchestra played amazing music while on a large barge in the middle of the Inner Harbour

            Everyone sits on the Parliament Building Lawns and in front of the 

Empress Hotel as well as all around the Inner Harbour to listen to the music. There were 50 000 people there!  And.....what a beautiful evening it was!

This was looking down at all the kayaks, canoes, boats etc.... who were all on the water enjoying the show. The famous Empress Hotel sets a great backdrop.

What a beautiful photo Becky took as the sun was setting.

As night falls they turn on the Parliament Building lights.

After the last song they always do a spectacular fireworks show to end off the evening.

~Full Moon~

What an amazing sight last night!  We took these photos from our deck