Raible Road Trip #13 Trip Report
Last Monday morning, my Dad, Abbie, Jack and I loaded up our rig and embarked upon Raible Road Trip #13. We rolled through Custer, South Dakota around 4:30 in the afternoon and arrived at Mount Rushmore just after 5. After gawking at Rushmore, we took a meandering route through 1-car tunnels and Custer State Park. We saw a plethora of bison, some antelope and lots of nice campsites.
On Tuesday, we woke up early and began the 9-hour drive to Fairmont Hot Springs. We pulled in right around 5 and had a blast in the pool and on the water slide. When we got there, we discovered that the pools were open 24 hours. Abbie and I were still up when my Dad and Jack fell asleep, so we snuck out and played in the pool by the fading light of the 10:00 sunset.
On Wednesday, we arrived at The Cabin around 5 after a brief stop in Missoula to get some clown costumes (for the parade) and have some of the best ice cream in the world (according to Jack). Abbie learned how to chop wood and Jack got to ride on all the tractors. My Mom arrived from Oregon later that night.
Thursday and Friday, we worked on The New Cabin and got ready for the Swan Valley 4th of July Parade. While camping in Custer, Abbie and I decided to be clowns for the parade and we were fortunate enough to find costumes in Missoula. My Mom had to drastically shrink Abbie's to fit, but her hard work paid off when Abbie won 1st Place among all the walkers. She was sooo cute as a little clown and I was a proud Dad for pulling off another fun parade.
After the parade, we ate some huckleberry ice cream and watched the O-Mok-See for a couple hours. Then we joined up with my friend Owen and his family and enjoyed an afternoon boating on Holland Lake. We closed the night watching fireworks and got to bed really late.
Since we've been here, we've seen a couple bears (while riding the 4-wheeler with each kid) and my Mom saw a mountain lion walk in front of the cabin this morning. The mosquitos are vicious, but the weather is beautiful. For more pictures from the last week, see my Montana 2009 - Week 1 set on Flickr.