Probably three weeks ago, I stopped by work to see a co-worker I hadn’t seen in what felt like
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(Think Squints in the Sandlot.)
Three of the four bar seats were occupied when my friend and I arrived. Luckily for us one of the seats opened upon our arrival. My friend sat by people he was familiar with and I took the stranger. My co-worker was asking questions about our pending trip to Alaska and the stranger, six feet away, piped in. As it turns out the stranger works for the state in the, if you can believe it, Covid department.
She told me that the mask mandate was coming and expected it to be mandatory two weeks before it actually came out. She also told me to be prepared for hybrid learning and potentially distant learning full time. She suggested I look into Alaska’s travel restrictions which ended up being the demise of our trip.
Then she said something that really caught my attention…
Almost everyone in her department has been traveling.
REALLY?
She said that her team has been to Colorado, Alaska, Wyoming and she recently got back from Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.
Interesting…
I would have imagined the people dealing with the calls, facts and general concern for the virus would be isolated into their homes IF it wasn’t safe to go outside of your residence. To hear these people are traveling gave me hope.
Although Alaska was postponed, I couldn’t help but hear the stranger tell me about staying at the KOA in Palmer Gulch. As a kid I stayed at that campground numerous times. I could recall everything about the campground, including the time my dad almost got bit by a horse!
Everyday I thought about Mount Rushmore and the Palmer Gulch campground and how much my kids have to experience it.
So we went.
Because I’m strict about electronics and not having my men be zombies, we opted to leave electronics at home. After a little bit of space arguments they figured it out and the road trip part went very smooth. They even took turns reading the latest Dog Man book to one another and admittedly I could feel my heart growing!
We spent a night in the Badlands. I was hoping the sky would be so clear that we would be able to see the Neowise comet since we didn’t have any luck at home but we weren’t able to see it there either. Due to Covid the Badlands were a little desolate. The hotel we stayed didn’t have their pool filled and breakfast was offered in bag form if you requested it on check in. Besides hitting Wall Drug, we didn’t stay.
Wall Drug, while fascinating, was kind of a double edge sword. I mean, when you tell your kids they each got $20 from their grandparents for travel money they either go nuts or save. The little one wanted to buy everything and even stuck out his bottom lip and lowered his eyebrows…little does he know THAT doesn’t work on me. The big one, with camping on his mind, bought a paracord bracelet with a compass, whistle, flint and metal piece on it. He was ready to hike! And hike we did.
We hiked in Mount Rushmore monument and in Palmer Gulch. We also went into Bear Country, which I would HIGHLY suggest. The bear cubs fight like little boys wrestling, flipping plastic pools on each other and tackling each other. I could have watched it all day long.
During our trip we went to Deadwood and learned about Wild Bill and the dead man’s hand. We saw live reenactments of events that happened downtown, walked past haunted hotels and ate an interesting crust on a pizza.
Most of our days were spent right at the campground. There was an incredible amount of activities included in the cost. The pool, mini golf, movies, water slides, inflatable pillows, parks, basketball, volleyball, hiking on site and more. Then they had extra activities, like horseback riding and bike rentals.
The bike rentals were fun. They had this four seater that we decided to rent, after the one seater jeeps were a little much for the boys to handle. The “bikes” had two seats in the back and two in the front, the pedals were only in the back along with one steering wheel. Each one of us tried every seat and the best combination was parents in the back, pedaling and steering with the kids enjoying the ride in the front.
After a 3 mile ride, and buying a six pack of beer my husband and I gave up on the bikes and decided to sit on the sidelines while the boys rented banana bikes. If you’ve never seen a banana bike from a KOA, they are fun! They sit low to the ground with two wheels in the back, one wheel in the front with pedals on each side. The chair turns with your body weight and there are two handles on either side of the seat.
The little one wasn’t interest in trying them. The big one already has experience with them from the Wisconsin Dells KOA and couldn’t wait to get on them. After 45 minutes of straight begging the little one decided to just try them, it didn’t even take a block before he was hooked. We’d briefly see them for seconds only when they passed us on their loop.
Four hours later they returned their bikes and went to our cabin for some s’mores.
Time escaped us. We were relaxed but never bored. Rested, rejuvenated and ready to explore. It was amazing. Our phones didn’t have service unless we were in town and the boys didn’t ask for electronics or video games.
With everything going on it was nice to escape.
I already have an idea of where I want to go next year IF Alaska still isn’t in the cards.
Get outside, it’s good for the soul.
Namaste, Jes xoxo