ShellyNo surprise, this has been my favorite day yet. We didn’t have to drive! And an added bonus, there are almost zero bugs anywhere here. That’s awesome especially after the EXTREME flies the night before. And the temperatures are great.
This morning was pretty darned cold but still nice. My guess would be somewhere close to 40° and super windy. It was cold enough for Patty to need her sweatshirt and me to down two cups of hot tea. Sam got in a few quick crosswords with his coffee. And we took a quick walk before we got the boys up. They were happy to have hot chocolate and a warm breakfast.
Sam and I had our video therapy session with J at 11. So we took the boys to the little marina on the other side of the lake to fish while we sat on their patio and used their wifi.
While we had our video call, the boys rented a little fishing boat for a couple hours. But it was too windy and choppy out on the main part of the lake. So they both came in early and just fished from the dock. I don’t remember what they caught but they each caught (and released) a few fish.
After fishing and lunch back at the campsite, the boys took naps and fished some more while Sam and I went on a wonderful 5 mile hike. Patty especially liked it since she got to go off leash most of it. She was a good little girl…until toward the end of our hike when she saw one of the only squirrels around and about snapped my arm off trying to go for it. Crazy dog.
We hiked the Centennial trail with a spur off to some other trail I don’t remember 
These are the cliff jumping rocks into the lake 
The lake dam 
The rapids after the dam at the lake 
Proof Sam and I are on the trip together 
At about 5:30 we decided to venture over to Mt Rushmore since it’s only about 20 minutes away. It’s not a dog friendly venue. So after seeing the 4 presidents from the parking lot, Patty and I just stayed back at the car while the guys went and saw everything up closer. Pro tip: if you get to Mt Rushmore later in the day, there is almost no one there and all fees are waived. Win-win.
What We're Eating:
Breakfast: Breakfast burritos, oatmeal and pop tarts...something for everyone
Lunch: Sandwiches
Dinner: Ranch chicken with bacon and broccoli over potatoes...and when the recipe says it cooks over a camp fire for 20 minutes, they lie. It took another 20 minutes on the camp stove skillet after 20 minutes on the camp fire grill
Temperatures:
Low about 40, high about 66...and windy until dinner time
Drive Time: only 40 minutes
