Devils Tower

July 25-26, 2013

So we left Yellowstone and on the way out finally got a picture by the sign! So fun and cant wait to come back again to explore and see more sights. We also would love to come back and do some of the harder hikes they have! 

 We passed the Yellowstone Grand Canyon and saw this beautiful waterfall. Also got into the conversation about Dave never going to the real Grand Canyon, so there is another trip on the list :) 

Further down the road we stopped to see Tower Falls. After that first one wasn't quite as cool, but still a nice hike to break up the long drive. 

 And finally we saw buffalo.....lots and lots and lots of buffalo! 

 Not sure what this was called, but we called it the Mexican Hat :) 

 At one point a bug fly in the window and caused a huge freak out in the back. This is what Paisley did threw the whole thing...

 And after is was done the girls took there pillow cases as shields :) It was a pretty funny time during the drive!! 

We then drove all day to get to our camping place in Buffalo. It was the longest stretch of the day and the girls did so great! One thing I would say that I wished we had skipped was spending one night in a camp ground inbetween. It was really hard to get there and unpack and then pack up again then very next morning. If we ever go again we will get a hotel for the inbetween days to make it a little easier. The next day we woke early and headed to Devils Tower and then to our Mount Rushmore camping location. 

 We arrived at Devils Tower and started by having lunch and listen to a presentation about the Monument. Then we headed to the hike which started with a teepee that the girls thought was really cool. 

 This ended up being a lot cooler then we thought it would be and the hike was incredible! LONG, but incredible. I did it all with Oakley on my back, though, and survived!! 

 Look how strong our girls are! 

 You can hike to the bottom over boulders. We didn't go that far with kids. 

 A view looking the other direction away from the tower

 And we took different angles as we hiked around. The hike was 1.3 miles and under beautiful trees. I was so proud of the kids for doing so well! 

 We made Paisley the leader and she didn't complain once and loved ever minute of it! 

 Half way point 

And we made it :) 

 Then of course we had to get our Devils Tower Junior Ranger badges. That makes two!! 

 And on the way out we saw the field of Prairies dogs and then headed to our next camping ground. 

When arrived this KOA seemed like a resort! The Yellowstone one had been nice, but the one we stayed at inbetween was very basic so this amazing! We loved our camping spot and even got to choose. This KOA had a two swimming pools, a slide, nightly movies, mini golf, bouncy houses, and fun little shops. All included in our little 10 dollar resort fee! The downside is we didn't know there was so much to do at the place so didn't plan enough time to do anything. We also didn't know the small towns around us had so much fun things to do so we have already planned to go back! 

 That night we had spaghetti for dinner and it was a big hit! 

And here are a few pictures of our campsite. We loved having the park right across the way! 

Mount Rushmore tomorrow!