TravelingbeebryantRN & Flicks_withNick

Thankfully today is a shorter drive to our next destination. Yesterday was a long 12 hour drive, but I’m glad we did it. We passed by the time with some music, some trivia podcasts, a good nap, and making our bucket list for our Nebraska assignment. We love making a bucket list for our next assignment on our drive. It always gets us excited for what’s coming next. Any fellow travelers from Nebraska or people that visited Nebraska have any suggestions to add? 

Today is a day for exploring and a short drive to Ogallala, Nebraska. Before we start our journey from Custer, South Dakota to Ogallala Nebraska… let’s do the daily little bit about us.

Nick: Sometimes we have to repeat some routes when we travel from an assignment to another assignment. We are traveling a similar route that we did when we drove from Spokane, Washington to Raleigh, North Carolina. We made a pit stop at Mount Rushmore last time. I’m a pretty big history buff. I feel like Mount Rushmore should be on the everyone’s bucket list. It’s an iconic American landmark that everyone should eventually visit. We’ll that’s what I used to think… we drove all the way up to Mount Rushmore. It takes about fifteen minutes to drive up this big hill and you pass all these signs. They honestly get you really hyped up for it. You finally get to the parking lot to find out that your national park pass doesn’t work for Mount Rushmore, and you pay for parking. You huff and puff and pay for parking. You start to walk up to the momument and your wife says, “is that it? It looks so small. Usually I have to disagree, but for once I have to agree. I read that it was smaller than you think, but I was still so surprised how small it was. Is Mount Rushmore overrated, underrated, or properly rated?

Dominique: Listen… Nebraska and I have problems already. Why did no one inform me about the rattlesnakes? I’m not afraid of bison, but rattlesnakes are a whole different story. Nebraksa has four poisonous rattlesnakes. Will have to start reading up on these friends before we start hiking😩

We started our exploring at Wind Caves National Park. Unfortunately, the caves were closed for repair. Honestly… this was still my favorite part of today, because we saw so much wildlife. Check out this huge herd of bison and pararie dog!

We also checked out the first natural entrance. From the pictures this entrance looked a lot bigger… its definitely not!

After checking out the cool wildlife, we went to Hot Springs, South Dakota. Nick judged me for looking up if there was any hot springs. Surprise surprise.. there is. We visited Moccasin Springs Natural Mineral Springs and Spa. You can sign up for a three hour soak period for 27 dollars, and use their 6 outdoor natural mineral spring pools. They offer a very peaceful quiet environment for individuals to relax. We really enjoyed the time to relax after a long drive yesterday. The different pools had different temperatures, which was nice to go from really hot to colder. I think I would have to enjoyed it more if it wasn’t high 80s today. Overall, I’m glad we stopped here today.

We made a pit stop at wandering bison coffee for an ice coffee, and the downtown area for an artsy mural before we headed off to our next destination. Nick decided to spice it up with a huckleberry latte (very tart) and I got a more sweet taste (sugar free toasted marshmallow). For a small town, this was a cute coffee shop and had a really cute downtown.

We started our trek down a dirt road towards toadstool. Honestly we were tempted not to do this because of the conditions of the roads. Just be careful of the conditions, and watch where you are going. The last thing you need is a flat tire or a cracked windshield. Toadstool Geological Park definitely had badlands vibes, don’t you think? We visited Badlands National Park, when we were on our way to Raleigh, North Carolina. Nick and I decided that Toadstool was definitely cool, but we probably wouldn’t go if we didn’t pass by it. It’s not an attraction that we would go out of the way for.

Our next stop was Scottsbluff National Monument. Do you know what movie this plays in? I’m currently trying to convince Flicks with Nick to review it. This may take some convincing. It’s a little to fluffy for him. This is where I found out about the rattlesnakes. This monument was definitely cool. TIP the best pictures are found near the wagons, and at the bottom.

We ended our day of exploring at Chimney Rock. This happened to be on our way to Ogallala. The musuem was closed, so we at least got to check out the area. Again, with the rattlesnakes!

So, today I’ve learned that Nebraska is not just flat. Everyone was wrong! I’m so happy that we only did five hours of driving today (by we, I mean nick… this passenger princess got to enjoy the scenery a lot today 😇). 

So let’s end with the question of the day, Is Mount Rushmore overrated, underrated, or properly rated?

This travelingbee and flicks with nick will tell you it’s… overreated! Cant wait to hear from y’all