The Black Hills, day one....

So today's title should give the answer to yesterday's question. Paha Sapa means "Hills Black," or "Hills of Black" in the Sioux language. The location I had been hiding out in for the past week.

We left last Tuesday for our adventure. It was my mom and dad, Luke, and myself all loaded up in the grandparent's mini-van. We pulled out of Pueblo at about 10am and it was already close to 90 degrees. Thank goodness for air conditioning! But it was also a bit of a comedy in pulling out. We had everything loaded down nicely and were well ready to boogie North. Only had to make a stop for a drink and some ice for the cooler. We got the drinks, forgot the ice. What dorks!

Second stop was made in Colorado Springs, might as well grab the ice there. Nope, not happening as the gas station was out of ice. They hadn't seen ice shipments in close to a week! How weird. The journey continues to Monument.

Finally we get our two bags of ice! By now it's noon. It takes an hour on usual days to get this far. Time for lunch. A fantastic, tasty, and healthy one from McDonald's. But at least it was quick.

We made it through Denver just fine, spotted some of the tornado damage in Wellington, soared through Cheyenne, and marveled at the grass blowing in the wind. We finally stopped for gas in Chugwater, Wyoming. I just love that name! It was a little more than halfway to our destination.

A couple of hours later we were about to join the road that would take us into South Dakota. We met up with a flagger for a construction crew and she stopped us. We not only had to wait for a pilot car, we also had to wait for a tornado. They had a warning for one in the area, but nobody knew exactly where it was. Better to make sure everyone was safe. We only had to wait about 15 minutes.

Another stop for gas in Newcastle, Wyoming, and to make sure our route was an okay one. By now we were only about 90 minutes from our destination. Oh my, were we anxious! Back on the road we go.

We entered a world of sheer beauty. I mean sheer beauty. It was incredible! A little sad since a massive fire had torn through at some point (I don't know that I've ever seen a burn scar quite like that before), but just sheer beauty. The ride was just one of fingers pointing and exclamations to look at various things. A lot of deer, a lot of antelope, a lot to look at.

We rounded a curve and got our first view of Mount Rushmore, but we honestly didn't gawk for but a moment because we were consumed by the overall view and keeping an eye open for our lodging. A few minutes later and we were there!

The Powderhouse Lodge is a conglomeration of cabins with an office and restaurant on the property. The restaurant was still open so we were able to grab a bite to eat before crossing the road to "the house." Our cabin was actually a house, someone's residence they eventually sold to the lodge. It is right across the street from the main campus. Just a little 2 bed, 2 bath place with a small kitchen and living room, but it was absolutely perfect for us.

The thing that will always stick out about getting to "our" house for the week? It was June 10th, but it was about 40 degrees, windy, and drizzling a very, very cold rain. It felt more like January! Okay, that's a stretch, but it gives you an idea.

Time for bed. We were ready for it and the cozy little house snuggled 4 very tired individuals into comfy beds for the night. It was time to prepare our bodies for a very, very busy and exciting day to come..........