Another place I had never been on all my travel to Illinois was the Lincoln Park Zoo. It's a free zoo so I'm not sure why we've never visited but I decided we were going to check it out this time. Spending the day at the zoo is one of Peyton's and my favorite things to do. We could just sit and watch the animals all day long. Peyton was pretty excited when I told her we were going to visit the Lincoln Park Zoo. She couldn't wait to see what we would find. The Lincoln Park Zoo is fairly ...
Destinations
Wind Cave National Park: Scenic Cave Tour
Peyton discovered cave tours last year when I took her on one in southern Minnesota. From that moment on, she has been begging to go on more cave tours. South Dakota has several guided tours available to the public at various caves. Since we were already exploring Wind Cave National Park I decided to take the kids on tour through Wind Cave. There are several tours available at Wind Cave National Park with various degrees of skill difficulties. Because Peyton is only 6 years old I decided to take ...
Wind Cave National Park
While we were visiting South Dakota I wanted to spend some time in the National Parks. There are a few different parks you can visit while in the Rapid City area. Unfortunately, time flew by and we were only able to fit in one National Park. Wind Cave National Park is located just a short 10-minute drive from Custer, South Dakota. Wind Cave National Park is considered a smaller national park in comparison with other parks, it's about 28,294 acres. The park is set into sections for camping, ...
Custer County Candy Company
On our trip through South Dakota, we stumbled across an adorable old fashioned candy store. The Custer County Candy Company is located in Custer just a 15 minuted drive from Wind Cave National Park. It's right off the main drag, tucked back just a little ways off the street. If you see a huge metal sculpture of two horses stop, the candy store is right behind them. First thing I saw when I walked into the store was a massive case of chocolate! So many chocolate candies and truffles that I ...
Mammoth Site
Peyton has a fascination with dinosaurs. There was one point when she would only watch The Land Before Time and Ice Age movies. She's better now and watches other shows but when I saw an opportunity to take her to a site where they are excavating Mammoth bones I knew I had to take her. For Peyton to see a real Mammoth bone up close would be something she would never forget. The Mammoth Site is located in Hot Springs, South Dakota which was about an hour from where we stayed. The drive is ...
Wall Drug
Stopping at Wall Drug is a must if you are in South Dakota. I had never been before so I wasn't sure what to expect. When we arrived, immediately I felt overwhelmed. Thank goodness we visited during the off-season, I don't think I could've driven Wall Drug during peak season. It would've been way too stressful for me. Because it was the off-season many places were closed but the main attraction, Wall Drug was open! Wall Drug can easily be an all day excursion during peak season. For us, it ...