When I was a little girl...

I went to South Dakota and saw Mount Rushmore with my grandparents and my aunt, uncle and three cousins. When I think about it now, I have no idea how 4 adults and 4 kids managed to drive 3000 miles in even remote comfort, but I don't remember feeling anything but excited and happy about being on the road. We drove hundreds of miles a day, but it was a fun trip filled with fun memories. It was the second trip I took with my grandparents, the first I went as the only grandkid and we only went to Wichita, KA, and back.

On this one, though, my Uncle Jerry and Aunt Mary were there as drivers. We did the traditional trip to Wichita to see the family and go to the minor league baseball playoffs. I never really liked baseball, but it was fun being someplace that was focused on celebrating. I got a bright orange baseball and had anyone who was running around in a baseball uniform to sign it. I then got a protective plastic display case and put it on my shelf in my bedroom where I showed it off for years. I think I thought one of those minor league players would be famous one day and I could sell the autograph for lots of money. If this ever happened, I never knew about it, so I didn't get rich.

After we left Wichita we drove north to Mount Rushmore. We stopped outside an Indian reservation to look at a giant totem pole, then drove through Black Bear National Park. That was really cool as the bears were everywhere and you could pet the babies. Then the great mountain with its awesome carvings. Unfortunately papa couldn't climb to the look-out observatory, so those of us who could practically had to run up there, take a photo and run back to the car. Then we were off again.

When we went through Colorado we stayed at a hotel that had an indoor heated pool. I remember being SO excited about going swimming, so I couldn't have been out of the car 5 minutes before I was jumping into that heated pool, that may have been heated to a grand total of 65 degrees. We ended up spending the rest of our play time in the hot tub much to the chagrin of the adults who were in there. (Years later when I was describing this hotel, David laughed and told me he stayed at the same place on a trip with his parents. He and his brother jumped in the pool, told their mother how wonderfully warm the water was and convinced her to jump in. I don't know if he has ever been forgiven for that.)

Then we were going to go to Silver Lake, CO, but couldn't get a room, so ended up driving and driving and driving over night through really cloudy mountain tops. I remember being really scared and then extremely relieved when they finally found a room where we could sleep. I thankfully slept on the floor that night.

At one stop, Donna and I bought all these funky looking playing cards. Some were round, some crooked, some slanted. We had a great time playing gin and go-fish to pass the time.

I think the trip to GA with my parents and the two trips with my grandparents were the grand total of all the trips I took with family as I was growing up. As a jr. high student I went to Washington, DC., New York City and Honolulu, HI. More on those trips in a future entry!