Gagnons Gone RVing

Black Hills, South Dakota to Buffalo, Wyoming After visiting Mount Rushmore, our family took advantage of some good old downtime in the Black Hills.  We had a blast riding an alpine coaster, speeding insanely fast down the mountainside.  I was literally belly-laughing the entire way down, Quinn holding my legs in a death grip.  Such great fun together. Then the kids completed a ropes course.  Justin, (aka “Cinco”) wasn’t one to miss the fun, and did it with them.  Quinn was really apprehensive, but eventually warmed up, and the big kids CRUSHED the course. A quick stop for a Dairy Queen Blizzard followed... Then, we departed for Wyoming.  On our way to Wyoming, we stopped at Devil’s Tower, the United States’ first National Monument.  It wasn’t what we expected upon getting a close look, totally greenish in color and with the sharpest edges.  Justin and I were so glad we made it there! We saw the most amazing prairie there a

Wind Cave and Badlands National Parks, South Dakota When I was planning our trip, we went back and forth as to whether or not to explore South Dakota, and we are all so glad that we did. Our first visit was to Wind Cave National Park, near Hot Springs, South Dakota.  We arrived very late the first night after our drive from Rocky Mountain, and checked into our site at the Elk Mountain Campground, right on the edge of the prarie.  I got up super early the next morning to get in like for first come, first-served Cave Tour tickets, the best way to explore the park, and secured six tickets for the tour we were hoping for.  SCORE.  Only problem was, when we returned for the tour, we were quickly informed that there were no tours available as the elevator in the cave had broken.  Such a bummer, but we knew it was out of our hands. We spent some time in the Visitor Center, learning about the park, and visited the original cave entrance.  We learned so much, and it was fascina