The Daily Grind: Eden, South Dakota Style

Everyone was in town to celebrate Eden's 100th anniversary.  Besides getting ready for the centennial

we had lots to keep us busy.  The kids were running the streets

or biking

or playing at the park

with an occasional visit to Dan's Grocery for goodies!

The adults took a road trip to the International Vinegar Museum.  We had fun cruising around with the top down...

some more than others!

Lots of games were played.

2014 was a benchmark year for a couple of people.

A shot (birthday cake vodka) to 50 and 75 years!

General maintenance was done...supervision is always a good idea.

General maintenance was done to my little girl as well.  She got a fantastic cut from this new shop in downtown Eden.

 She was quite pleased with that braid!

Had to throw in a shot of the patriotic nails as well!

Storm rolled out, blue skies rolled in

Hard to believe after the night we had but we woke up to a beautiful morning in the Badlands. 

Well, some of us woke up!

The sweet clover and rocks were just as crazy leaving the park as entering.

Luckily, Q reminded us to get our picture before we left the park.

After waking up @ 4 am to get a run in before a day in the car I found that there was quite a bit of cleanup to do from the big hail storm of the previous night.  We spent over an hour raking what was left of our trees, picking up pieces of my decimated pergola, and bemoaning the loss of my garden.  We got it cleaned up enough to leave and put it all behind us for a week vacay.  Amazingly, we were only about an hour behind our scheduled departure time.  Our trip included a stop in Alliance, Nebraska for Carhenge.

 We planned to stop in the Badlands (South Dakota) for a night of camping.  The contrast of the Sweet Clover (invasive legume) and the geological formations was quite striking.

Campsite 41 had nice views of the buttes and spires.  There is no shade in the campground so it could get quite hot during the summer months.  There was a covered picnic table shelter.

After a so-so lunch at the lodge located inside the park we headed out on the loop drive to explore.

We hiked up to Saddle Pass (1/4 mile).  During the homesteading days the horses came down this way but not the wagons.  If we'd had the time it would have been nice to do the whole trail.

We stopped at most of the observation points for great views of the rocks, sky (getting stormy), and clover.

Q spotted these Big Horn Sheep:

We turned around at the Hay Butte Overlook and took the shortcut back to Interior for dinner at the Wagon Wheel (pizza, hamburgers, and cheese balls).  Just so-so food but we didn't have to cook in the rain so that was all right.  By the time we made it back to camp it was storming.  We stayed in the truck for awhile until the storm blew over.

It was really moving the tent.  Good thing we weren't in there!

I was the only one who slept in there that night.  The kids and C stayed in the back of the truck.

Tent camping @ Zion National Park

Site D20 was tucked in with great views.  The tent pad was big enough for two decent sized tents. Our campsite didn't get sun until 10 am every morning so it was chilly (25-35 degrees).  Make sure you have plenty of firewood to keep the troops happy!  We were one of the last sights to have sun in the evening however.

We had room to play catch,

and natural area to introduce Dots to the deer passing by.

There was plenty of time to relax,

catch up on our reading, 

fill out our Junior Ranger books,

and even play a game of Uno or two.

After a hike one afternoon we discovered something has gotten into my apples.  I guess he got full after 1/2 of one or scared off.

We needed lots of fires.  The morning temps were 20-30 degrees but did warm up quickly once the sun hit the campground.

These cheese brats from Horton's in South Dakota were tasty with crescent rolls wrapped around them.

The pie irons were good cookie warming trays for that perfect warm, gooey, right out of the oven texture.

We also had time to decorate our windows,

or for a quick nap!

The kids had no problem staying warm at night.  They are fantastic cocooners!

It goes without saying that the stars were amazing every night!