We were so anxious to take a little time away as a family this winter in one of our favorite places - South Dakota.
We decided to stay at Spearfish Canyon Lodge and enjoy all things winter - snowshoeing, hiking, skiing, and hot tubbing with cocoa.
We started our journey on Thursday night, stayed in Rapid City, and spent some time sight seeing on our way to Spearfish on Friday.
We saw Mount Rushmore through some fog and also drove the scenic route on the wildlife loop in Custer State Park.
At first during the loop, we were not seeing many animals. We were beginning to think it was a bust. Then we turned onto a side road where there was a whole herd of buffalo waiting for us. We drove slowly up the hill and soon our van was surrounded. They looked a bit intimidating at first but then they all started licking the road salt off our van! This continued on for several minutes. We were all laughing and having so much fun seeing the buffalo up close and personal!
The next day we were up bright and early for skiing lessons at Terry Peak. All three kids had 2 hour lessons while Andy & I had a date re-learning how to ski together. The views atop those hills were breathtaking.
Although the kids didn't love lessons, they loved being able to independently go down the hills when they saw us later.
We were all pretty tired so we decided to grab lunch and head back to the hotel for some rest.
That afternoon we all strapped on snowshoes and set out to find the frozen waterfall. It took some time getting used to the snow shoes but the spikes really helped us climb up and down the hills on the trails. Next we soaked in the hot tub on the roof of our lodge and enjoyed the scenery.
We were so tired that night from our activities I'm pretty sure we were all sound asleep by 8:30.
The next day we went back to Terry Peak for day 2 of skiing. The kids were so impressive - Marie and Bennett were completely independent on their skis. Brooks took a little time adjusting again but he got the hang of it before long.
Our final night we enjoyed a meal in Spearfish and early to bed again after a final soak in the hot tub.
This was such an adventurous and fun trip for our family - definitely one we want to do again!
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