Family Vacation Day 5

Our original goal was to leave by 8:30 (MT), or 9:30 by Jeremy’s watch. We left at 7:13 (MT)… we were very quick… granted the original time included breakfast, so it’s probably good we were ahead of schedule. As we exited the park, we decided to get Morgan’s photo next to Smokey the Bear, however, there was no pull off. We settled for the Custer State Park sign. Jeremy sat Morgan up on the sign, we took photos, pulled Morgan down and then are told “it’s all wet up there”… Jeremy had set Morgan right in a puddle… necessitating a clothing change. We decided to take a picture, because that is what real life is like! I headed to the passenger side, and Jeremy said “Whoa, Ana”, I turned, and said “Holy Banana’s”… apparently, unbeknownst to us, a gynormous buffalo (AKA American Bison) was ambling down the road toward us… what a nice good bye!



9:00 am We made it Rapid City and stopped at the Flying J for gas and to eat at the restaurant. We decided on the buffet (I hate buffets)… but kids 4 and under are free… and my kids can put away pancakes! By 10 we were “on the road again”…here we come Iowa and Spirit Lake/Lake Okoboji!

1:15 pm We stopped on the Missouri River for lunch. The kids played at the McDonald’s play area, and I found WiFi (which I posted to the world on Facebook). The kids ate, Jeremy ate, I found Subway, we were all happy.


5:45 pm Hello Spirit Lake… with a “lakeside view” (not exactly what I had in mind). We arrived just as a rain cloud (okay, clouds, make-that, total cloud-cover) moved on by… it looked like there “might” be blue skies on its heels, Jeremy said it wouldn’t be a Cooper Family trip if there was no rain. We opted to go to the Wal-Mart (we needed bread and ice) and let things dry a little before setting up our new home. While we were out, we decided to go ahead and eat out, the third time in one day… oh well, why break a working pattern? “I wonder if Wal-Mart has Wi-Fi (for the weather report)… home is only 3 ½ hours away… or, they do have hotels here with indoor water parks, that might work.”



After a super-nutritious dinner at Pizza Ranch (okay, I did have salad and 1 slice (with minimal cheese) of pizza) (what is it with two buffets in one day?), we headed back to camp and prepared for bed. Eventually everyone did fall asleep!