He Said:Future-boy again. Almost caught up. If it's not windy and cold, it's hot and buggy. Today is our last tent day and we are roasting. We changed our plans a bit because of that. We started off with Holy Terror Mini Golf. There is a ton of Holy Terror places around here, apparently named after the mine, which is named after the miner's wife. So the story goes. The course goes up a hill and has many sloped holes which frustrated the kids after a while. And me. Then, because of the heat, we went in to Rapid City to look for something with AC. We ended up seeing Rio 2. On the way home, we stopped by dinosaur park which has seen better days. It's free, and it's a set of dinosaur sculptures atop a hill; the view is great. Then we stopped at the Guinness World Record winning Reptile Gardens. It was hot, the day ran too long, and everyone was tired. I'm writing this exhausted now, which is why it may be lacking some of my usual flair. In brief, I stunk and I was exhausted. Back at KOA we checked into a cabin. Two rooms, two bunk beds in the one. Kids were excited. Very rustic, door didn't close, so we slept with the bugs and the heat. Or tried to. I'm going to stop now and write when I'm not so tired.
She Said:I thought it was just a cold , then I was worried it was a sinus infection. But the Advil Sinus medication I took seemed to relieve the pressure in my face that kept me up all night. Whew. Just a cold with sinus congestion. Not that I need that when I'm camping. But being away from free health care is worrisome. And I'm getting old.
I'm in the future too. Doing laundry while everyone else is asleep. Reptile gardens was cool, if you're into that kind of thing. Well done. Good exhibits and interesting talks. Ryan got bored (also was bored at the caves the day before). The girls seemed keen. I made Mara ask my question about why the venomous snakes don't poison themselves. Turns out that sometimes they do. They have a high tolerance for their own venom but if they accidentally get themselves in a vital place, they could cause real harm to themselves. Interesting fact - the most toxic snake has never killed a human (reportedly). And the cobra kills 15-20,000 people a year. In India, where immediate medical attention is scarce. American rattlesnakes bite more people than cobras do, but way fewer die from it because of access to anti-venom. And the great majority of rattlesnake victims are 16-25 yr old girls. Just kidding. Of course it's boys. Trying to capture and/or kill a rattlesnake is quite the hobby for them.
Camping was good overall. The bunk bed cot that brad bought me for Mother's Day was good for both fitting us all in the tent as well as getting me and my achy hips off the cold hard ground. We played Qwirkle with the kids at the cabin before bedtime. It was fun. Him maybe Brad will go back to Day 5 and mention the ghost ride.