July 27-29

July 27

Today we viewed the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site left over from the Cold War. Eye opener for the kids.

Then we were off to Badlands National Park where we saw many bighorn sheep and prairie dogs, not to mention, beautiful colors and formations at the overlooks. We did a couple short hikes, as well.

Badlands was followed by the Minuteman Missile Visitor Center to learn more about the Cold War and the Missile facilities that dot several states.

We made our way across South Dakota and finished up the day by doing laundry at the hotel. Everyone loves clean underwear!

July 28
We spent the day at a Sioux Falls water park so we did not take pictures. We enjoyed the lazy river, water slides, wave pool, and the kids and I tried making across tethered down floating objects to cross the pool. I failed and got a bruise from a rope but the kids really had it figured out. We also did bumper cars, batting cages, and go karts. Rhys went on the tallest slide twice which made us nervous but he did good.

Finished the evening at Sioux Falls Park to see the falls.

 July29

Today we passed a ton of corn and soy and made our way to Le Mar, Iowa, the ice cream capital of the world. Sadly, we did not check when they opened so we scooted over to a nearby Catholic cemetery and documented headstones for Billiongraves.com for 45 minutes. Then the ice cream tasted even better at the Blue Bunny Ice Cream Parlor. 

We then made our way to Council Bluffs Kanesville Tavernacle where Brigham Young and his presidency were sustained by church members. Then we visited Winter Quarters, spending time on the temple grounds.

We finished our day with a stroll across the Bob Kerry Pedestrian Bridge which is marked with the Iowa-Nebraska border.