Part One

This summer our adventuring took us out west to South Dakota, Wyoming and a small part of Montana. Our first stop in South Dakota was the Sioux Falls KOA. I loved this campground because it was so meticulously maintained and the laundry facilities were the nicest I have ever been in. Now, you can definitely tell I am a mom of 7 kiddos when the laundry room excites me. The kiddos really enjoyed the pool and the playground because there were huge tires to climb on. Before we left, we had to explore the falls the town was named after. They did not disappoint which was a good thing because finding RV parking was a bit of a goose chase. We had to drive through town and several road construction detours before we saw the teeny, tiny RV parking sign. It ended up being directly across the visitor’s center which we had passed a couple of times.

The next day we traveled into the Badlands to stay at the Badlands KOA. The Badlands National Park does charge an admission fee of $25 for 7 days unless you have the “Every Kid in the Park” pass they give to 4th graders. I goofed on this one because I had registered Bella but did not have the printed paperwork with me. They will not accept an electronic confirmation so we had to pay the $25. They highly recommended I get a copy of the paperwork before Yellowstone and so I was able to have our campground print it for us. Whew! Saved us some money!

Back to the Badlands…I had never been to the Badlands before and it was absolutely breathtaking! They look like giant rock formations but when we got up there it just seemed like piles of dirt. It was weird dirt, dry and clumpy. Being the homeschool mom that I am, I am sure there is a good science lesson here but we haven’t explored that yet. The kiddos were convinced it was all fake but quickly figured out the “caves” were like little pockets of dirt. We did have a few minor tumbles and scrapes because getting up was a whole lot easier than getting down. Andy told me it was better than an amusement park and coming from a kiddo who is fascinated with roller coasters, I was impressed.

Getting in and out of the Badlands was easy peasy and the RV parking was virtually everywhere. Since we are such a large family, renting a vehicle can be pricey so being able to travel in our RV is a must.

I did plan for all of us to wear what we call our “camping clothes.” Basically, we bought several T-shirts of the same color for each person. These shirts stay in our RV (unless they are in the laundry) and we can get dirty and play in them. Anyways, I planned for us to have a change of clothes so we didn’t have to worry about staying clean. One of the advantages of traveling in an RV is you have everything with you.

CrewTip: The Concept Behind My Crazy

Dress everyone in the same color of shirt so you can scan and count everyone easily. This made our Badlands experience so much more enjoyable because I didn’t stress trying to keep track of the kiddos. I wear the same color so I remember what I dressed my children in. Added bonus… It goes all in the same load of laundry which is a lifesaver especially when you’re camping and doing laundry costs money.

We drove on into Wall, South Dakota which was less than an hour from the Badlands. We all enjoyed reading the billboard signs advertising Wall Drug. They are everywhere! We found free RV parking easily about a block away from downtown Wall. We headed straight for the restaurant because we had worked up quite an appetite with all our climbing. I enjoyed a childhood favorite, the Hot Beef Sandwich topped with mashed potatoes and smothered in the perfect amount of brown gravy. I had been looking forward to it and it really hit the spot. Almost everyone else ordered some kind of burger but my husband, Rick had a bison burger. It was packed with flavor and had just the right amount of moisture.

We took their picture with Wall Drug‘s Mount Rushmore and tried to convince them that this was real Mount Rushmore. Bummer, they didn’t believe us because it was too small! Silly me for thinking that would work since we had studied it in our “Goin’ West” Unit Study. The place was filled with all kinds of things we had studied and so the kiddos had a grand time experiencing what they had learned about. My favorite place was the book store because it was filled with so many books we had read or wanted to read. There is nothing like holding a book in your hand and flipping through it to determine whether it’s worth your time. One of Rick and my favorite memories of Wall Drug was when the kiddos were all lined up intently watching a dinosaur eat and roar. What did we do? What any good parent would do… Grab them and scare them half to death! Yep, that was a highlight for us probably not for them though. A lot of what Wall drug offered was free although there is a lot of opportunities to spend money on things like souvenirs and trinkets. I always try to prepare my kiddos for that before we go in because honestly, we can’t afford to buy souvenirs X7. I remind them it’s all about the experience and if they really want it they can buy it with their own money. We couldn’t leave without getting some Wall Drug donuts. I love donuts. I love Wall Drug donuts! They were huge- fried crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Wall Drug was everything we hoped it would be!

Crew-Spective:

Andy writes “It’s (the Badlands) awesome! It’s like a playground. It was my first time at the Badlands.”

Please check out our video on YouTube about our Goin’ West! And don’t forget to subscribe!