We did stay up to watch the lighting of Mount Rushmore but I couldn’t get a good picture of it.

We were up and left the camper after breakfast around 8:30am and went for a scenic drive to Custer State Park which started in the Black Hills National Forrest.

I chose a hike that said family friendly. It was 3 miles total (in and back) called Cathedral Spires trail.

Nova, Esme and I stopped about 1 mile in and the boys did the full 1.5 miles in, to the Cathedral Spires viewpoint.

The next pictures were taken by Cal after we split up.

Nole took some pictures too.

The boys caught up with us on the way down and we finished the hike together.

Nova loved how the dirt sparkled. We noticed that there was a lot of mica around which explained the sparkle. Nova said “Can I wear it as make-up?” and put some on her cheeks. She was surprised to hear that mica actually IS used in make-up!

It was a climb in and downhill on the way out so it was a little challenging. The boys said there was some rock scrambling required further on. We did enjoy it though and the kids liked having to lily-pad across a muddy area on rocks and cross a creek on a wooden balance beam.

The girls also liked singing 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall. They started by singing milk, not beer, but I insisted on the beer version.

We continued our scenic drive from there. There were several single-file tunnels we had to go through and Nole got his first taste of mountain driving with switchbacks. Nova got a little nauseous in the last 10 minutes of the drive but improved immediately after exiting the car.

Back at the camper, we ate lunch, rested, took showers and did laundry. At about 5pm we walked to a strip mall that had a couple of restaurants and shops. Cal had a buffalo burger for dinner which he enjoyed. Asa got a little light-headed but we realized he skipped lunch and he felt better after eating.

Then we took old timey photos. We hadn’t done them before as a family and we had a really great time. Nova now wants to work in a saloon…

The kids went back to the playground and then it was time for bed. Tomorrow we hope to get an early start. We added a stop kind of last minute for another National Park which was on our way so we are trying to cram a lot into one day.