Originally published at Information Echo. Please leave any comments there.

Our luck with the weather had started to wear thin - we received the brunt end of a storm through the night that was loud enough to scare my daughter into waking up in the middle of the night assured of the fact that she needed to sleep with us, instead of in her own bed.

The storm passed, but the crowded bed arrangement lasted for the rest of the night, leading to a less then ideal nights sleep.

Regardless, when the morning arrived it was once again bright and sunny, so we’ll take it.

Todays sole goal was to visit Mount Rushmore. There was some question if we should go through the day, or if we should wait until the evening hours and perhaps catch the supposedly great laser and fireworks show at the nearby Crazy Horse memorial. If we waited for the evening hours we planned to enjoy some of the wide-variety of entertainment at the campground through the day, or vice versa.

Unsure if we actually wanted to visit Crazy Horse (the cost was surprisingly steep compared to the extremely reasonable $10 Mount Rushmore charged) we decided to go to Mount Rushmore right after breakfast. This would turn out to be a wise decision later in the day.

Mount Rushmore itself was amazing. Clearly they have spent a lot of time and effort improving it in recent years and it shows - the grounds, buildings, walking trails, and everything else about the memorial was top-notch. Without actually seeing it for yourself there’s not much that can be said for the experience, but for anyone who is in the area, don’t pass it by.

We spent a surprising amount of time at Mount Rushmore and it was well after lunch when we finally departed. We decided to visit one other attraction that was a short distance away but wanted to stop for lunch first. Unfortunately we discovered that the dining options in Keystone South Dakota were limited at best, especially if you wanted something to eat on the run. With little other option we eventually settled on grabbing fast-food from Dairy Queen. The food was OK (for Dairy Queen) but clearly there was a huge tourist-town price gouge going on as it cost us nearly $40 for 2 kids meals, 2 adult meals, and a few extras.

The other attraction we visited was called Cosmos - a unique attraction based solely on optical illusion. It was difficult to explain exactly what it was all about, but once again, if your in the area, it’s worth the $8 admission.

The afternoon was wearing, and with the kids wanting to get back to the campground to go swimming we decided to head back. Dinner ensued and the kids did get a swim in, but then the weather started to take a turn for the worse, eventually deteriorating to heavy rain and hail shortly before sunset.

Our good weather stretch was officially over, and our decision earlier in the day to go visit Mount Rushmore in the daytime hours (instead of the evening) was now turning out to be a very wise one.