Adding to our national park adventures we headed to South Dakota and Wind Cave National Park. Through our travel and local adventures we have visited many caves, each with its own unique features. Wind Cave is no different, it holds 95% of the boxwork in the world. This is a special type of cave feature that looks like honeycomb, spiderwebs, or cardboard. There is also flowstone, popcorn, and other cave features. Since the tour areas are in the drier parts of the caves there are none of the usual stalagmites and stalactites. This made the cave feel very different from many of the others we have visited.
With the new found love of national parks in America we knew we had to arrive early to get a tour. Before the kids woke up we started our drive into the park. By 7am while Stephen made breakfast in the parking lot Jen stood in the forming line. there are some perks of traveling with your house and mornings like this are a big one. It worked great and we had our pick of tours. We choose to do the Fairgrounds and the Garden of Eden Tour. The Fairgrounds is labeled strenuous and they really push that is is hard. Besides stairs, that we took very slowly, it was really no big deal. As long as you can climb stairs you are good. The Garden of Eden Tour was the easiest tour with very few stairs and half the distance. Both were good tours and we ended up with the same tour guide for both. She was informative and nice but it would have been great to mix it up and get a different perspective from a different guide. We learned about the cave history a formation from our guide and the visitor center, as well as the Jr. Ranger program.
Morning sunrise 
Pronghorn 
Boxwood 
Waiting for our tour 
Two goofball brothers 
After our cave tours we drove the park to get in some above ground hikes. We did two small hikes the 1 mile Ranken Ridge Trail to the lookout tower and the 2.4 mile Cold Brook Canyon Trail through a prairie dog village. With these two trails we were able to see the diverse nature of the area. While the cave and tours were very crowded the above land drive and hike we almost empty. Wind Cave is located where the prairie meets the woodlands and is extremely beautiful land. It is a diverse area with plants and animals from both areas converging together. We saw prairie dogs, bison, pronghorns, chipmunks, and heard an eagle. Watched the grass flow in the breeze and stood at breathtaking overlooks. It was a good day both above and below ground.
Solving the problems of the world on a hike. 
It is good to have a strong little sister. 
The prairie is beautiful! 
Hiking selfie 
Hello little prairie dog! 
More prairie dogs
After all our hiking during the day we drove back to camp at the Black Hills KOA. It was a good place with a little rec room the kids enjoyed and a playground. It was somewhat smoking during our time there and we did not spend much time outside. The kids did their usual Saturday thing, working off time owed to us (chores) or using the time they earned (screens). This week only one kid owed time so the rest enjoyed their screens. We all enjoyed dinner and then played the new Guess the Park game we found at the visitor center that day. Since we have been to a lot of the national parks it was a fun game. Especially as we shared memories of the parks.
Our 6S Full Life 