Welcome to South Dakota!

Well, we're finally all moved in and settled here in Rapid City. I guess I should catch you up on how we made it here before I go into our adventures in SD. We left two weeks ago after many tears and goodbyes. We planned our trip so that we would spend our nights at Air Force bases along the way. Our first stop was Biloxi, MS, where we each lost $2 at the Hard Rock casino...we're not THAT naughty, are we? Next we drove up to Little Rock, AR. Surprisingly, Arkansas was probably my favorite state to drive through. It was so hilly and pretty. Next we drove up to Whiteman AFB in Missouri. That place was in the middle of nowhere!!! We found a good Chinese buffet there though. Yum. Next we drove up through Iowa and into Omaha, NE for some R & R. We stopped at the Winter Quarters Temple and did a session there. It was really pretty inside and out.





We finally crossed into South Dakota.


To my horror, it smelled like horse poop all over the east half of the state. I'm not exaggerating - As soon as we crossed into SD, it smelled.

Thankfully, it doesn't smell where we are. Maybe we just got used to it. Eww. Someone come visit me and tell me if it smells. For real...I'm lonely. haha. We finally made it to Rapid City though! The town's pretty cool. It's small, but cozy.











We live about 30 minutes from Mt. Rushmore too. We decided to drive out there to check it out. It is pretty awesome. I was impressed. I was afraid we'd get there and find out that Mt. Rushmore is actually 5 feet wide or something. I wasn't disappointed though! It's huge, just like I hoped. After we admired and defaced the presidents, we decided it was time to head out.

We finally decided on a place to live. We're living in base housing, but it's actually about 20 minutes from Ellsworth AFB. It's pretty exciting because we have an actual house. Goodbye apartment living! It's a 3 bedroom, 2 bath little house that we can hardly fill up. I guess we'll just have to have a baby or something to take up more space ; ). And no, that was not an announcement of any kind. Well, that's our last 2 weeks in about 5 minutes! Enjoy!

On the Road Again!

Well, Adam and I are about to pack up our computer. The movers are coming to take everything away tomorrow morning, so I won't be on for awhile. (Even though we're not officially leaving until Saturday). I'll be sure to post pictures of our journey when everything is settled again! Wish us luck : ) So long, paradise!

A Monday Bike Ride

Today Adam and I decided to go for a bike ride on a 7 mile trail that we found the other day at Tarkiln State Park. The trail led to Perdido Bay.

The day started out beautifully. There was a nice cool breeze blowing, and I was feeling great! And being the health guru that I am, I wore the appropriate head gear.

However, soon we came across an obstacle. Little did we know that the trail was seeping with similar trials...

I survived dragging my bike through the brush with minor damages.

Near the end of the halfway mark, I was feeling mighty tired and I knew I needed some carbs.

Thankfully, we had a picnic lunch to enjoy once we reached the bay!

We sat and enjoyed our sandwiches and decided we had better head back since it looked like it was going to rain.

However, we made time to share a special moment together first.

THE END

State Parks

Adam and I decided that since we'd be leaving Pensacola soon, we wanted to take advantage of the beautiful sights and weather before we move to the land of ice. While Adam was at work the other day, I went to the beach and just stared at the Gulf of Mexico for awhile. I feel like we're leaving paradise! However, I know South Dakota will have some awesome places to visit too. Plus, neither of us have explored the plains area very much.

We spent most of yesterday exploring the state parks that are minutes away from where we live. It's kind of sad that we hadn't visited them until now, but it was a fun day anyway.









The first one was Big Lagoon State Park. It has an observation tower that looks over the ocean. There was an old couple at the top of the tower that took a picture of us together. I wanted to be cool and carve our names into the tower like many before us had done, but I'm not very good at carving letters into wood with car keys. Oh well.









Next we went to Tarkiln State Park, which is very close to Big Lagoon. We walked on the mile long trail and were surprised by how nice it was.

A lot of the trail was made up of wooden walkways that seemed fairly new. We kept finding lizards and crazy plants to take pictures of. Adam hopped off the wooden trail a few times to get some better pictures of the wildlife. He loves taking cool pictures.




The end of the trail led to Tarkiln Bayou, which was absolutely gorgeous. We were the only ones at the park, and the bayou was surrounded by tall pine trees. It was very peaceful/romantic.







That night we had a goodbye dinner with friends from church. Overall, the day was just relaxing and enjoyable. I love hanging out with my hubby.