Black Hills Vacation – Day 6

It’s day 6 of our fantastic Black Hills Vacation and on this day we drove to Wyoming to see Devil’s Tower. I knew it would be about a two-hour drive from Custer to Devil’s Tower. I had to stop at a gas station in Custer for directions because I didn’t have a map and with no Wi-Fi, I didn’t have navigation. Thankfully a friendly local pointed me in the right direction.

I was eager for some quiet road time. It would allow the kids to rest and I would have quiet time to take in the surroundings and think. The drive wasn’t too scenic, although it was interesting to see the landscape change the farther away from Custer we drove.

Ranches, fields, cattle, horses and lakes and ponds – it was so pretty. I believe we saw many oil drills in fields as well, but I’m not sure that’s what they were? I expected the drills to be larger, so maybe theyweren’t for oil?

We passed through a couple small towns. It was the second town where I thought it would be a good idea to pick up sandwiches for the cooler. Wyoming was beginning to look a little unpopulated and I didn’t know what, if anything, would be available when lunchtime rolled around. So, Subway once again. Subway is your Black Hills family vacation friend because it’s easy, healthy and everywhere. We threw our sandwiches in the cooler and continued West.

It wasn’t too much farther down the road and I noticed the road signs weren’t really happening anymore. I began to doubt myself. Were we going the right way? Was I on the right highway? Why weren’t there more signs telling me how many miles to Devil’s Tower?! No cell phone coverage, no Wi-Fi, no people, no towns. This was truly an adventure, people.

I spotted a rest area and decided to pull off to ask friendly-looking people if they had a map or knew the area. I saw an older couple with an RV. I approached the man who was getting back in his RV with his dog. He looked a little alarmed by me, but his wife quickly came to the RV door and helped me. She got out her map and confirmed we were, indeed, on the right road. I was so thankful for this friendly Texas couple! I handed her my business card, much to the embarrassment of my kids, so she would know I wasn’t a psycho – and also, maybe she knows someone who would like to join us here?

We finally made it to the state line and stopped for the necessary photo. Then we loaded back up and pushed onward to Devil’s Tower. It came into view MILES before we arrived. Enormous!

When we entered the park, there was a long line to get in. We moved to the right and stopped at the gift shop first, hoping the line to get in would go down while we wasted time inside. I bought myself a lightweight zip up hoodie, a hatpin and a walking stick charm for Gman. Lolo discovered they had Wi-Fi, so we sent a few texts to family and then got back in the line to pay to enter the park.

The parking lot was already full but we managed to find a spot. We decided we were hungry so we started our Devil’s Tower adventure with a picnic lunch on an unpaved trail. We each picked a boulder to sit on and pulled out our Subway sandwiches. Lolo complained about bugs and Gman complained about heat. It was around this time Gman declared he “hated outside.” Fun times when everyone is hot and hangry. Vacation wasn’t ALL magical.

Everyone’s attitude improved after lunch and we set off on the paved trail toward Devil’s Tower. We stopped often to take in new views of the Tower and to count the climbers. People scaling this gigantic thing!! That’s nuts! They looked like ants from where we stood. Absolutely incredible.

After our hike we went to the gift shop/information center to use the restroom. Of course while we were there we found something we had to buy. A National Parks Passport! If only we had this for the entire vacation! Gman got his book stamped and we headed back to the van. We stopped at the store parking lot one more time so we could use the free Wi-Fi to upload pictures off our phones.

It was now mid afternoon and so we had to find more to do before heading back to Custer. So, next up? Spearfish, SD!

I had read about beautiful hiking trails and several waterfalls, so we set out to find them…without a map. Like Lewis & Clark, I tell ya!

Miraculously, I found the way to the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway

There was a pull off area with a map of trails, so we stopped to figure out where we wanted to go. I saw we were on the route to Bridal Veil Falls, which I had read about. I was determined to find waterfalls!(I don’t mind this kind of “natural water.”)

We found the viewing platform and took in the beauty.Then we noticed people climbing down from the viewing platform to cross a stream that would take them to the base of the waterfall. Hmmm. Clearly this wasn’t a park sanctioned path. There were no hand rails, no stairs, and quite frankly, I thought I might fall and die. But we did it anyway. We grabbed on to tree limbs, sat on our bottoms and slowly slid down from rocks. We held ontoeach other so we wouldn’t fall. I’m describing this way more dramatically than it actually was, but I was actually afraid we’d fall and get hurt!

We finally made it down to the stream. Now, how to cross. Shoes on? Shoes off?Take the fallen logs or step on slippery stones? We watched a few people try it and decided the log was NOT the way to go. We went for the shoes off, step on the slippery stones route.

Oh my goodness, this was worth it! When we got to the base of the waterfall it was just majestic! We talked with a fun Canadian family, who were so kind to take our photo.

We played in the water and took in the moment, trying to lock it into our hearts and our memories forever. It was a goosebumps kind of place. The sheer beauty of nature reminds me of how awesome our God is. I wished I had saved some ashes for this location.

I forgot to mention I brought some ashes along on this vacation. After two years of trying to decide what to do with the rest of the ashes, I’ve finally decided I’ll spread them in places that take my breath away. Places that are so beautiful they make your eyes leak. Places that make you FEEL GOD. Places that give you just a glimpse of Heaven. I won’t tell you where we spread them, because I’m pretty sure it wasn’t legal. Anyway, these places make us feel a little less sad and a lot “Thank You, God!!” And I think my husband would like that. I have a list of places I’d like to go to do more of this. The Grand Canyon, Redwood Forest, The Rocky Mountains, Glacier National Park, etc. are on my list. It may take my entire life to do this, and I have zero idea how to fund it, but it’s my goal. And I’ll figure it out.

After our waterfall adventure, we were exhausted. Today was hot and we’d done a lot of hiking and traveling. Time to head back to the tiny house. We decided to have a nice dinner on our last night before heading back to Custer. We found Desperados in Hill City, SD. The kids ordered buffalo burgers with elk bacon (shocking because Lolo usually orders chicken fingers no matter where we eat). I ordered a steak. It was a fun place and a good way to spend our last night of vacation.This was our last full day in the Black Hills. We were sad to see it coming to an end, but also getting a little eager for “home.”

Next up…our last day. Crazy Horse, The Badlands, Prairie Dog Town, Another Wall Drug Donut and Dodging Hail.

Thanks for following along on our vacation!

Extra Grace,

Jodi