The great migration .. Part I

After a bit of a rocky start we finally cross our first state line. Now I wouldn't normally say that the flatlands of Wyoming are beautiful, but after our fight with the mountains in the morning - ended by getting rid of about 1/4 of our belongings which were already downsized considerably - after fishtailing over hills and worries of rolling, we were happy to stick to some nice simple flat lands.

The girls enjoying the first dinner - cowgirl style at McDonalds.

Another fun perk of desert traveling - no bathrooms for miles and miles at a time. So we would line up on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere and use the little training potty.

Welcome to the Black Hills of South Dakota. Very pretty country, different from any I'd seen before. Bluffs would rise up randomly with very black, knotty low trees and the branches would span out over a large area, low to the ground.

Mount Rushmore - it does exist! The girls favorite part was the walkway up to the view point. There were large granite pillars with flags for each state of the union and dates of when they joined. Emily called it the castle and the spent a good 15 minutes running back and forth feeling like princesses.

We finally have one old enough to take a picture of Mom and Dad together. Thanks Emily!

The little star - Mount Rushmore still.

More pretty countryside. Once we passed Mt. Rushmore and the "Black Hills" were gone, South Dakota got a little boring. However as soon as we reached the east side it got greener and started into the rolling hills with lots of little rivers and streams.

State Line Prizes - Every time we crossed a state line there was a prize. Our sweet neighbor across the street in Provo - Rula - brought over an activity bag for the girls the day before we left with lots of games and prizes. Every time they would cross a state line they would shout out "Thank you Rula!"

More updates on the trip to come. Just a quick update for where we are right now - we are staying in a small apartment downtown Erie - Emily has started school and our townhouse should be available on Saturday, so we will post more info on getting settled and the rest of the trip later.