My aunt and grandma drove from Chicago to see me graduate so that was very special. My sister even came to Des Moines-taking time off her busy schedule and my parents actually got along!!
The day after graduation my dad took my brother and me to South Dakota. I'm not sure if the trip was for me or for my brother because my brother had been begging my dad to take him back to see the Mount Rushmore again. This was my first time there and I have to say that South Dakota has a lot to offer.
We saw Mount Rushmore and everything that entailed, explored 3 caves, went to Custer State Park, Crazy Horse, Reptile Gardens, and the Presidential Wax Museum. I was highly impressed with Crazy Horse and it is something that I'd love to go back and see as more progress is made on the rocks. The story behind it is amazing and I'm glad that people are working so hard to preserve the Native Americans' legacy. The caves...well that was a constant internal fighting battle because I am very claustrophobic. The first cave I went inside the guide told us we would be climbing down into the ground about 10 stories. Just the thought that there was ground above me had me in a panic attack but I didn't tell anyone because I didn't want to be the loser that stayed back. So, I thought...great! I'm done with my cave experience...I was wrong! My dad went cave crazy and we ended up going in two more. The second cave, Mount Rushmore cave, was even more nerve racking! We had to squeeze through tight places, they didn't have rails all the through the tour, and the ground was slippery as certain spots, and the air was stale...we ended up going in about half a mile and all I thought was that I had no where to run to get out in time to catch a breath. I lived to tell the story so I guess thats all the matters. The third cave was a piece of cake. It was wide open and we just looked at crystals. This was Jewel Cave.
Custer State Park was a ton of fun except for the fact that it was foggy and raining so we didn't see as much wildlife as we would have liked. In the end, we saw 14 resident donkeys...two of which approached our van and tried to take off our side view mirrors, three buffalo close up and two far away, tons of pronghorn, and tons of wild turkey.
All in all..a very nice trip. Almost made me want to have pets!
This weekend is my 22nd birthday! Boy do I feel old. Twice in SD I was referred as my brother's mother! I honestly never thought I'd get that...but it made me feel awkward..EWWW.
I'm going home either tomorrow or Friday. My original plan was to leave tomorrow, but its Cammeo's birthday and she called me last night begging me to stay an extra day so we could celebrate our birthdays together, and I haven't decided what I am going to do yet. My mom is throwing me a graduation/birthday party along with my cousin who will be graduating high school on Saturday!
I will end this long entry with some fun graduation pictures!
Senior Reception: My family
My parents!
Beginning of Graduation
My aunt and grandma along with my brother and mom.
So excited to be done! The fabulous four!
The four with Greg doing the "Sonal Gremlin face"
Kwesi and Nana..I met them the very first day at Drake and we're still friends :) And Cammeo.
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