I was just looking at my schedule and like I expected I am busy, but I came to the realization I really need to get going on things. Anyways, I am taking another vacation to the Black Hills just next week, and I figured I should type something up about my previous vacation in South Dakota (14 days late, lol, and my sister already has had one up for 13 days). It really doesn’t seem like it has already been 14 days, but rather it seems like it was just yesterday. And even though most people wouldn’t call it a vacation, I still had fun. But enough comments, lets get to it.
I did take entries on the trip, but I wrote it more as a personal journal because I keep one. So I am going to write a summary right now, and maybe include some quotations from my journal.
Day 1 – June 4th – Aberdeen:
“Aww… yet another vacation. I’ve been waiting for something to kick off summer and here it is, even if it is only four days [and in uncommon tourist destinations]. It’s just nice to get out of here and take a break from things. So we were going to leave 9:30, but as usual we were late and it wasn’t until 10:16 that we left.” And so began my journal. Our GPS said it was a 3 hour drive to Aberdeen, so there was a lot of time to do stuff. However, with a 90 day Bible reading plan the time went by quickly. 15+ chapters a day takes quite a long time. That’s basically what I did along the way (in fact, I didn’t even get time to listen to music or watch Fresh Prince). I had a Hot Fudge Sunday from Jamestown as well (McDonalds). Anyways, we eventually got to Aberdeen and ate at Culver’s. I got a Bacon Deluxe Snack Pack and it was great. We checked in at the hotel and went to Wylie Park. We started with bumper boats and then went to Storybook Land and the Wizard of Oz. I was being dumb most of the time and played along. But I formed a conclusion that as a child I was more interested with Donkey Kong 64 and Super Mario 64, and therefore I knew only 5% of the stories… the rest of my family knew about 95% of them. I got a Blueberry Slush Puppy as usual and went on a balloon ride, which both Bri and I enjoyed. We then went on paddle boats for 30 minutes and played mini-golf. I did cream Bri but I will admit I had an unusually good game, probably the best I’ve ever had. We went back to the hotel and dad got pepperoni and mushroom pizza from Godfather’s Pizza. I of course hate mushrooms so I had to spend a minute or two picking them all off, but it was a delicious pizza. Dad and I then went swimming in the pool afterwards to finish the night. The water was warm and there was nobody there at all so it was quite fun.
Day 2 – June 5th – Dell Rapids:
Not to follow Bri’s journal, but I’ll quote her here, “The reason we took this trip was to see my uncle who couldn’t make it up for my graduation, so we went to Dell Rapids to visit him, his wife, and his son.” So yeah, we headed out right away to go to Dell Rapids. On the way there we stopped at Brookings (I think at least, not too familiar with SD and had to look at a map) and picked up some more Culver’s. I had the Chicken Strips. It was a semi-long drive to get to Dell Rapids, but I was literally reading the Bible all the way to my uncle’s front door because my plan takes forever. I didn’t even get the chance to journal at all. When we got there we were shown around his house. I really loved it and I hate that my own family has such a boring house despite all the space we have. Anyways, we talked for awhile but I got Bri to play pool with me. I was really looking forward to playing even before the trip because I rarely get to play pool and I love it. My dad wants a table in our own house but we have nowhere to put it. Bri didn’t know the rules at all but she learned them and eventually beat me 2 out of 3 games. My uncle eventually came down and asked where we wanted to eat. I said I wanted Italian, so we ended up going to Spezia because we have the other two places here in town. Before that I drove around in my uncle’s golf cart which was fun. At first I was speed shy but soon went pretty fast. So we then drove to Sioux Falls to eat. I had some pasta with chicken which had some sort of dark sauce on it (the name fails me) along with Caesar salad. The food was delicious. Bri and I had plenty of fun drawing on the paper that was set on the table. We then went to my cousin and his girlfriend’s home in Sioux Falls, which was really nice for the small size. Afterwards we went back to Sioux Falls and went to the driving range. Oh, I forgot to mention the house is right along the golf course so they go a lot. I brought up his cart and we got some balls for the driving range. I did better than I expected for my first time ever golfing. I think I had a pretty good swing technique wise and I had pretty good power (got around 200 a few times), but my aim was terrible. I missed the ball as much as I hit it, and I left a huge divot. I took the cart back to my uncle’s house and we said good bye to my cousin for the day. Then dad, Bri, and my uncle went to look at cars. Meanwhile I stayed at the house and played more pool with my mom and my aunt. I think I played my mom in one game and she won, while I beat my aunt 1 game out of 2. When the rest of the family got back I played my dad and my uncle. I lost both games to my dad and the one game I played my uncle in. I actually wasn’t that bad and nearly every game I played came down to just the 8 ball, but I could never seem to win. I played a bit of fool’s ball and then went to bed.
Day 3 – June 6th – Sioux Falls:
In the morning I listened to a sermon on Sola Scriptura, but we eventually left to go to Sioux Falls for breakfast. On the way there I was reading the Bible once again, but the drive was too short for me to finish. Throughout the day I had to pull out my iPod and read which cut it tight, but I got it done. Anyways, the place we ate at was the Original Pancake House. I had 3 pieces of bacon, 2 pieces of french toast, and 2 eggs. The food was very good, but it left me full and I wasn’t even that hungry for supper. We said goodbye to my uncle, aunt, cousin, and his girlfriend and went our separate ways. Just us four (dad, mom, Bri, and I) went to Falls Park. The place is absolutely beautiful and I took over 100 pictures. I am currently making a video that will be on YouTube about it. I’ll probably get that out today. We spent a long time at the park walking around and climbing on the rocks. But we eventually left and went to the zoo. I’m not too much of a zoo fan, and I thought it was okay. We then played mini golf. This time I didn’t do so hot. I would make excuses… ok I will. Well, the hole were slightly upward, so if you hit at them there was a good chance it would roll around. I never once made one from more that a foot away, because all my shots rolled around. So I got creamed, but adding up the two games I was still the champ 
We then went to Sonic, which I wasn’t too excited for. The reason I didn’t like it was that a lot of the stuff is expensive so you can’t get that much. Another reason is all I’ve had in the past were hamburgers which weren’t amazing (but still good). I was wrong about both of these. They have a good dollar menu, so I got tots, a hamburger, and a hot dog. It was a lot of food for $3. I also got a shake for free due to a buy one get one free deal. Everything I had was excellent and it wasn’t that bad of a price. So I can now say I am looking forward to it in Rapid City in a few days. We went back to the hotel, and Bri and I went swimming. It was a big and open pool and no one was there, so it was fun. Bri isn’t too much into swimming so we talked a little bit about the vacation and stuff. After that we went to bed.
Day 4 – June 7th – Traveling
Well, we went back on the road for home. In my journal it said the long and boring drive was 275 miles or 4 hours. I actually managed to keep busy almost the entire time and it went by faster than I expected. I read the Bible some of the time and watched the Fresh Prince of Bel Air season 5 that I got a week before. In Aberdeen we stopped for lunch and I had Taco Bell. I had a Chicken Burrito and a Beef Nacho Cheese Chalupa. The food was very good. In Jamestown we stopped for ice cream, and this time I had a cone. We eventually got home. Well, this trip was a nice break from everything and I had fun.
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