Day 3

This morning we left Chamberlain and headed towards Spearfish. We didn't quite make it. We are currently at Rapid City, SD. We had expected today to be very "touristy". So we weren't sure if we would be able to reach Spearfish or not. We could have, but it was getting late and we are only about 40 miles short.

First we took a side route through Badlands National Park. As we enjoyed the scenery, the popular Rich Mullins song, Awesome God, came on. My MP3 player was on shuffle and it somehow played twice in a row as we drove through one particularly impressive area. Lisa and I both found this to be very appropriate background music for our drive through this spectacular aspect of His creation. Even earlier, we all had been talking about how creative God was when He designed this amazing rock we live upon.

When we left the park, we stopped at the tourist trap known as Wall Drug. Once a drugstore, this stop along I-90 has become a theme park of sorts. We had lunch and took a little bit of time to look around before heading towards Mount Rushmore. I had a buffalo burger and Adriana had a buffalo hot dog. As we were getting into the van, we met a couple in the parking lot. He commented that we needed a second floor for our van when he saw all of the girls. I pointed out that we had added on a room on top even if it wasn't a whole second floor. As we talked, we found the his wife had completed a DTS and Summer of Service with YWAM years ago.

On the way to Rushmore we took a detour to Rushmore Cave. Again we marveled at the variety of God's creation.

Rushmore was interesting. It is impressive to consider the work involved to create the sculptures. The vision the artist had when he designed and sculpted was incredible. But honestly, I think we were a bit let down after the Badlands and Rushmore Cave. I suppose the created can never out create the Creator.

No swimming to end the night tonight. Everyone is exhausted. Even Adriana and Lisa are asleep now. (I posted the pictures before I started typing.)

Grace to you all...