Aloha and Holo Holo: It's beginning to look a lot like summer vacation

We woke up to snow this morning. That's right: One week into our SUMMER vacation, it's SNOWING! And, the snow only got heavier throughout the day. This thrilled my kids to no end, and they feel this is now officially the best summer vacation ever. I don't love being out in the snow, but I have to admit, it does give the landscape sort of a magical feel.

We had a late breakfast and then made a couple of fun vacation stops at an RV store and Wal-Mart, which is where everyone ends up eventually, even if they are on vacation.

Since we didn't quite get all the spelunking out of our system yesterday, we headed over to Wind Cave to have a look around. It was a much different experience than Jewel Cave but still very captivating. When we were done there, we took a little drive through Custer State Park, hoping to see more wildlife. We saw some deer, a few bison, and a bunch of turkeys, but what everyone really loved was that our ascent along the scenic route took us right through a snow cloud. The boys were begging to get out for a snowball fight, as they observed the snow piling up nicely all around us.

All the snow put me in a sit-by-the-fireplace-and-drink-coffee kind of mood, so we found a little log cabin near the park, in the town of Custer, to pass the night. This was a win-win, because there was still a little snow piled up around the cabin, and the boys were able to get their snowball fight in, while the rest of us sipped coffee and relaxed near the fire.

Tomorrow, we will leave South Dakota, but we have thoroughly enjoyed our time here and hope to visit again in the future.

Trying to catch the first tiny snowflakes

A snowy drive

They call this room inside Wind Cave "The Post Office"
because it contains so much of what they call "boxwork."
This cave houses 95% of the known boxwork in the world.