Day 18: Custer, South Dakota & Mt. Rushmore
The Happy’s were less than happy when we woke up this morning at 6:30 am. We started our day rushing around the campground trying to gather our things before loading onto our vehicles. Some of us were feeling sick this morning so Brandon made his “special remedy” which was tea, lemon, and honey to make us feel better.
After loading the vehicles, we rode for about an hour before eating our gourmet breakfast of cinnamon rolls and oranges. We drove for an hour and a half before stopping at Bighorn National Forest. The parking lot was surrounded by trees, mountains, and a beautiful waterfall. We were given the opportunity to take pictures of the scenery. Brandon even got his drone out and got some cool footage of all of us jumping around and having fun. After loading back up we drove for another hour and a half where we stopped at Walmart. Most of us spent our time eating Subway, walking around, and of course, buying snacks. Many people bought pre-cooked cookie dough, and lots of icees were bought. Before leaving Walmart, the participants on the van had a dance party in the parking lot. We loaded back up on the vehicles and drove for a bit before we decided to play some games.
The first game we played was “Twenty Questions” but we only described animals. Josh would choose an animal and we’d ask questions until we guessed correctly. Next, we played “Guess That Smell” with some scents that you would never want to smell such as Josh’s boot, Lilly Myer’s shoe, Gracie Crocker’s earring, and Alayna Hogston’s toothbrush container.
After playing for an hour or so, we arrived at Harbach Park in Custer, South Dakota to allow the cooks to start dinner and for other groups to practice their dance for tomorrow night’s competition (which is a dance competition to the remix of Old Town Road x Timber). Tonight our dinner consisted of chicken tenders, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and angel food cake for dessert. After eating our delicious dinner, we had some time to hang out. Some tossed around a football, while others sat and chatted. It was soon time to get on the road again to make a short drive over to the beautiful Mt. Rushmore. The faces on Mt. Rushmore surprised some as they seemed smaller than many thought. Unfortunately, we did not get to spend much time observing the mountain due to a thunderstorm that rolled in about 30 minutes after we arrived. On the bright side, we all got to enjoy some delicious ice cream from the Mt. Rushmore Ice Cream shop, one of the favorite flavors being raspberry soft serve. Some participants were able to cruise the gift shop and buy Mt. Rushmore themed gifts. After our time at Mt. Rushmore ended due to the storm, we headed back to the Custer YMCA where we will be sleeping for the night. The gym in which we get to sleep is wide and warm, which is much appreciated considering the storm outside.
Shout out to Josh’s wife, Katti! The photo below shows a group with Josh using an exfoliating face mask in homage to Katti. We all love you!
The Happy’s were less than happy when we woke up this morning at 6:30 am. We started our day rushing around the campground trying to gather our things before loading onto our vehicles. Some of us were feeling sick this morning so Brandon made his “special remedy” which was tea, lemon, and honey to make us feel better.
After loading the vehicles, we rode for about an hour before eating our gourmet breakfast of cinnamon rolls and oranges. We drove for an hour and a half before stopping at Bighorn National Forest. The parking lot was surrounded by trees, mountains, and a beautiful waterfall. We were given the opportunity to take pictures of the scenery. Brandon even got his drone out and got some cool footage of all of us jumping around and having fun. After loading back up we drove for another hour and a half where we stopped at Walmart. Most of us spent our time eating Subway, walking around, and of course, buying snacks. Many people bought pre-cooked cookie dough, and lots of icees were bought. Before leaving Walmart, the participants on the van had a dance party in the parking lot. We loaded back up on the vehicles and drove for a bit before we decided to play some games.
The first game we played was “Twenty Questions” but we only described animals. Josh would choose an animal and we’d ask questions until we guessed correctly. Next, we played “Guess That Smell” with some scents that you would never want to smell such as Josh’s boot, Lilly Myer’s shoe, Gracie Crocker’s earring, and Alayna Hogston’s toothbrush container.
After playing for an hour or so, we arrived at Harbach Park in Custer, South Dakota to allow the cooks to start dinner and for other groups to practice their dance for tomorrow night’s competition (which is a dance competition to the remix of Old Town Road x Timber). Tonight our dinner consisted of chicken tenders, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and angel food cake for dessert. After eating our delicious dinner, we had some time to hang out. Some tossed around a football, while others sat and chatted. It was soon time to get on the road again to make a short drive over to the beautiful Mt. Rushmore. The faces on Mt. Rushmore surprised some as they seemed smaller than many thought. Unfortunately, we did not get to spend much time observing the mountain due to a thunderstorm that rolled in about 30 minutes after we arrived. On the bright side, we all got to enjoy some delicious ice cream from the Mt. Rushmore Ice Cream shop, one of the favorite flavors being raspberry soft serve. Some participants were able to cruise the gift shop and buy Mt. Rushmore themed gifts. After our time at Mt. Rushmore ended due to the storm, we headed back to the Custer YMCA where we will be sleeping for the night. The gym in which we get to sleep is wide and warm, which is much appreciated considering the storm outside.
Shout out to Josh’s wife, Katti! The photo below shows a group with Josh using an exfoliating face mask in homage to Katti. We all love you!
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| Caroline and Reanna eating their whole tube of cookie dough! |
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| Some of the girls got friendship bracelets! |
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| Boogers or Aloe?? |
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| Spaghetti Sauce! |
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| Dirty sock! |
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| Red Bull |
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| Josh's boot! |
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| Toothpaste! |
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| Dry Shampoo |
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| Alayna's toothbrush case! |
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| OFF! |
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| Chapstick! |
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| Gracie's Earring! |
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| Foundation...but josh got this immediately since Katti sells Mary kay...not the best choice for him! |
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| Olivia, Ella, Mary, and Henry trying to look like Mt. Rushmore |
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| The counselors did it better though |
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| Amelia May telling us about the Rodeos of Cody, Wyoming! |
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| Casey Gore telling us about Cody, Wyoming! |
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| Gage Adcock telling us about The Shoshone River! |
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| Abbey Curtis telling us about Custer, SD. |
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| Cade Hastings telling us about The state of South Dakota! |
Huge shout out to Josh's wife Katti, who sent us Mary Kay Charcoal Mask!!! We had so much fun with this!
