Mt. Rushmore Area Trip
We did it! Iowa to Minnesota, to South Dakota to Wyoming and back again! In a car. With little kids. Do it again? Definitely!
But there’s so much to do and so little time. So here are just a few of the things that we thought were must sees and a couple skips.
Mt. Rushmore. Obvious. But it’s impressive even to all ages. Inexpensive, only $10 for parking and free entry. It was busy, but not overly packed. Of course, we had to hit up the gift shop for something to commemorate the trip. You can do a tour and spend, more time, but it isn’t necessary for the full experience, and overall this stop won’t take a ton of time.
When near Mt. Rushmore, you should totally stop to see Crazy Horse monument. Do I think it’s worth going all the way in? Not yet. It’s still under construction, and amazing as the start is and really amazing as it will be when it’s done, I don’t think $30 for the car to get in is worth it just yet. We pulled over at the sign in a little lot and took pictures. I recommend that!
If you are in this area, driving through Black Hills National Park and Badlands National Park are must dos. There are plenty of pull over and look out spots. And the views are GORGEOUS.
If you’ve made it out to the Badlands, stop at Wall Drug. Yes it’s a lot of hype. And busy. But a very cool see if you need a drink, a bathroom and a leg stretch. You could spend all day here. But you don’t have to. We did an hour or two and picked which bits to see here.
If you make it a little further out to Rapids City, SD, see Bear Country USA. We didn’t stop this time, but would have if time allowed (we did years ago). Totally worth it. Especially with kids in tow. It’s so amusing to see bears up close!
Sturgis is also a fun stop. More for the adults, but still things to see for all ages. Great to say you’ve been there even when the rally isn’t going on. Great food. Not a must do of you aren’t into this type of thing.
If you are at Mt. Rushmore and want to venture just a couple of hours west, a stop at Devil’s Tower, WY is a must do! It was STUNNING in this area! We walked the whole path around it and kids and adult alike were in awe.
This whole area of WY is stunning really, especially to see if you are not local. The red dirt and mountainous terrain are very neat to see. We stayed in Hulett, right next door to the tower and this town was definitely unique if you’re looking for a place to stop. There is an antique store there with unique Native American artifacts. The Best Western in town is very rustic and nice, with a pool. And the local cafe was delicious.
If you have headed out to WY from Mt. Rushmore, Deadwood is on the way. I recommend stopping here if you’re on adults trip. The gambling and drinks life there looked very fun. It’s not a horrible spot to stop with kids, but not a must do. The Broke Boot gold panning mine sounded super cool with kids. However, their website did not say we had to book in advance and since we did not, we were SOL. We also planned to see a shoot out there with the boys. They only do the shows on Saturdays and Sundays and we were there on a Friday. My fault, as this is on their website.
Also on the way out if heading west is Spearfish Canyon. Definitely drive the scenic byway here. Stop for some photos and explore. It’s just amazingly gorgeous out here. We did hear that there are mountain lions when off the paths, but we did not see any. This you don’t want to miss.
If your path take you East to Souix Falls, SD on the way in or out, we loved the Ramada there. They have a little water park. Kid win!
Another stop we had mid-South Dakota was Mitchell. We stayed here on our way out. This is home of the Corn Palace. It’s neat. The kids were impressed. Fun dining in town. It’s not a must see, but makes for a good place to stop if you need to!
Hitting Minnesota on the way? The town of Blue Earth is home of the real Jolly Green Giant. Great place to stretch! The even have a little sound park!
Hope this helps a little bit! If you are the get out and explore or hike type of fam, bring a fee baggies and a permanent marker for any treasures the kiddos find!
XX,
Jess
Mini Paint Project
I have finally completed a tiny project that has bugging me on my to-do list forever now!
Remember the little downstairs bathroom with the cute antique cupboard… (tiny room = bad photos, sorry!)
Well, here is the very sad, and a little scary inside of this cupboard…
So, a little paint and some pretty things to make the cupboard useful, and… viola!
The cupboard is antique, and therefore has many bumps and cracks, so it will never be “perfect,” but now its not such an eyesore. When company is over I will not be so embarrassed to let them reach in for another roll of toilet paper or necessity!
I even did a bit of decorating to the necessities in the cupboard. These antique jars got new fun lids. And a small box got a bright cover to hold small things.
Aah, much better! What do you think? More projects on the way too! 🙂
A New Chair Love And Wedding Tid Bits
I fell in love with another chair. That happens often, doesn’t it? My wonderful, loving fiance drove me an hour away to pick the cutie up. Now, we have one more seat in the living room. Best part of this little guy though, is that it would work in just about every room of the house as things evolve.
What do you think?? I’m in love. I love the navy and white stripes, but my favorite part is the nail head trim that goes all the way around the back. I think he is pretty old and was redone with changes to the bottom half and I just adore how they did it! He even has casters, which make it easy to reposition for company. And once the walls are painted I think this will work so well in here.
Also, we have been super swamped with wedding planning. I have made every little detail by hand, and wold love to show you all, but also want them to be a surprise, so that will have to wait! But, I did want to show our framed engagement picture. This will be used at the wedding too, but also will be on the wall in our living room, somewhere! Notice the same feel of the stripes? Not intended, but I love it! I took an old frame and painted it, then roughed it up. The mat was also painted in one of our wedding colors. I think it turned out really well.
I think the two new additions go so nicely together in the living room! And, the rest of the wedding details are coming along too! Can’t wait to share! Only three months from today! 🙂
Chair Love
These have been a very busy past few weeks. Work, work, work, wedding, wedding, wedding. Time for projects? Maybe a little. I came across this gorgeous blue velvet chair on Pinterest this morning during my coffee. This office looks gorgeous and I think I’d be much more productive in a space like this, just in case anyone wants to help me out!
Aaaah, peace. Even while working so hard! Have a great day everyone! 🙂
Rustic Blue Chair Love
I finally got the chance to finish a little antique chair project over the holiday weekend. This little guy was found at a late garage sale. Shabby pink paint hid the cute chunky style of this cutie. Enter my rustic blue paint…
Before…
And after…
Well, what do you think? I think this one turned out super adorable! For sale now in the shop! 🙂
Blue Chair Love
This chair is so unique that its simply adorable. In addition to the ruffly curves, the chairs bright blue hue pairs wonderfully with the rustic wood walls of the room. What do you think?
See it at Design Crisis.
Bedside Inspiration
I came across this bedside photo on Apartment Therapy and was immediately in love with the bright pops of yellow. The photo comes from the house tour of Kyle and Erin’s home.
So bright and cheery and fun…
I especially love the yellow tray and am now thinking about doing something similar. With the new house finally starting to come together I am able to begin thinking about new ideas and projects to make the place special. I do have some sneak peak photos coming soon for you all! 😉
Vintage Plates
When I got my first apartment my mom and I found an entire set of unused, gorgeous black dishes for $40 at a resale shop. I have lovingly used them ever since. A couple of years ago, during a hurried move, a box broke open and almost all of the salad plates, bowls, and mugs were broken. Fortunately, all of the dinner plates pulled through. But, I have been on the hunt for some fun dishes to mix with the black plates ever since.
The other day at a thrift store I ran across a full set of adorable blue, vintage salad plates. They were .49 each, so for about $4 I added these to my set:
Here are a few shots of a mock place setting, just to see how sweet they looked 🙂
The blue glasses are from a flea market and the black charcoal glasses were given to me by my grandfather and came from Germany. The candlesticks are a mix of vintage and CB2, and my silverware is all new Oneida. I really like how it all mixed together. Although, these photos remind me how I can’t wait to refinish the dining table! What do you think?
Christmas Decor For 2009
This year’s Christmas decor at our house is looking pretty similar to last year. But, I did add one project, which didn’t turn out quite as planned, so I need all of your help!
Here is our tree, similar to last year, but always fun!
Here is the feather boa wreath- also always fun!
And the new project for the year was clear ornaments with the blue and peacock feathers in them for the table. (Very cute when Rachel Ray did it!) My problem is that the ornaments were too large to fit more than a few in the cake stand. Also, the feather look a bit blah to me. What do you all think? Hunt down smaller ornaments? Different feathers? New vase/plate? Hmm…
Let me know what you think!
Lawn Chairs and Cookouts
Yesterday I finally got the garage sale lawn chairs finished! Remember the old blue metal set we got for $10? The one that looked like it belonged next to pink plastic flamingos in, well, not our yard? Yes, those are nice shiny black now! Before:
Now:
All we needed was a couple fun cushions. Well, that has been a task. Since these chairs are so old no cushions are the right size! And, have you noticed how dull this year’s “summer” colors are? Blah! But, we stopped in at K-Mart just to check, and found a decent, fun and bright set. Not what we thought we wanted, but it will work for this year! They are a bit different shape, but when you sit in them and squish them down they are perfect. I would also like to add a couple red throw pillows to match the ones we would like to throw on the hammock (coming soon!). Here’s what we have so far:
Better! And Tony even helped me pick ’em out! So, we decided to celebrate a productive day (and the fact that it didn’t rain!) by grilling out and having dinner at the picnic table.
The pups even joined in! Have a great weekend!
P.S. Just for the record, the blue on the chairs was a really pretty color. But, we have a lot of red in our yard and it just wasn’t matching what we wanted to do out there. But, after already painted the set black we realized the new cushions do have the exact blue in them! Oh, well, sticking to the plan! Now they are versatile enough to change our minds on cushions all the time! (if they weren’t so ridiculously expensive!)
Make Mine Eclectic 