The Rolling Hills of South Dakota

Due to the lack of cell phone service and wifi we have not been able to post any updates on our trip, so I'm going to play some catch up here.

6/9/15
Day 2:
We left the Flying Goose at 8:30 a.m. and headed towards our next location- South Dakota. This would be an all day drive and none of us were really looking forward to being stuck in the RV all day again. I felt sick the first half of the trip, so I slept in the back room until about 12 p.m. when I was feeling better. If you wanted to hear some fun stories about the drive this is not the article you should be reading because I was out for most of it. I can tell you that the scenery I saw when I finally woke up was absolutely beautiful. There were rolling hills, huge mountains, and a variety of animals. Up in the mountains we ran into a rain/hail storm, it was loud and kind of scary, but as we came up on Mt. Rushmore the weather cleared and we all ran to a window to catch our first glimpse. We only saw it for a few seconds before it was hidden again by various trees and mountains, but just that glimpse alone made me realize how beautiful it really was. Upon arrival at Mt. Rushmore KOA campground, we saw all of the fun things available for us to do at camp.  We hurriedly set up at our muddy location and road around the site to check everything out. We parked by what seemed to be a mini gift shop/fun center, there was a pool, splash pad, mini golf course, basketball court, sand volleyball court, playground, ping pong table, giant checker and chess board. After playing a game of mini golf together, we all split up to do different things. I'm not sure where everyone else went, but Chandler and I played four games of ping pong (3 games to 21 and 1 game to 11). I kicked Chandler's butt! I killed him in the first two games and by the start of the third we agreed that if I beat him the this time he had to run through the splash pad fully clothed. Let's just say Chandler went the rest of the time at the fun center soaking wet. He did finally beat me the fourth game, but that's only because we played to 11 which isn't even a full game. After accepting his losses, Chandler and I went over the the sand volleyball court and peppered until both of our arms were numb from popped blood vessels. We walked back to camp to meet up with the rest of our family. They were all a bit confused by Chandler's sogginess, but after he changed we all sat down and ate some hamburgers around the campfire (HAHA you thought we cooked hamburgers on the fire, right? NOPE! Dad brought a portable grill that he cooked the burgers on. Classy camping right there!).

-Carmen

Day 2 Next stop... Hill City, SD

Day 2
Depart Fairmont, Minnesota
Destination.....Hill City, South Dakota (8hrs)

We closed up the RV and headed out of the Flying Goose bright and early Tuesday morning. We hopped on 90 headed straight for Mount Rushmore! Highway 90 felt like the longest non-populated route I've ever seen. They have more random cows than people in about a 5 hour stretch of highway. As we crossed over the border into South Dakota the billboards brainwashed you for over 200 miles as we approached the big cities. This was the most anticipated long stay destination for us. We booked Camp at Mount Rushmore KOA. As we approached Rapid City, the weather changed dramatically. We were hit hard with heavy rain and large hail. The sound of hail hitting our RV roof made us all cringe.  We arrived just before dinner, a little ahead of schedule. The roads were a bit washed out throughout the camp. The views were breathtaking from our lot. We were blessed with an end lot with little traffic. More heavy rainfall and flood warnings headed our way so we hurried to set up camp. Weather held off just long enough for us to check out all of the awesome amenities camp had to offer. We really enjoyed the scenic camp drive, human chess, mini golf and a few minutes of panning for gold before we headed to grill dinner.

Co-Co Pilot 

Random Cow population

We have arrived!!!

Watch out peeps, this bus is exiting into mountain country  

   Scariest part of the drive so far. 

Weather dramatically changed into large hail and heavy rain. 

The hail slamming onto the roof and windshield heightened the stress of the steep grade hill drive. 

Things cleared up momentarily just a few miles out to Hill City. 

 Rounded the bend to find this most beautiful view! 

It was a wonderful surprise for all of us to be front and center at this moment. 

And it was FREE!

Side view of Washington as we rounded Route 16 

to the back of the mountain towards our Camp.

Setting up camp at Mt. Rushmore KOA

 Colin obviously getting his wiggles out. Cooped up for too long. 

We had an AMAZING view.

Scenic drive through our KOA. Stunning. 

Friendly game of chess at the KOA

Water logged mini-golf at the KOA 

Flying Goose

Flying Goose Campground 
Fairmont, Minnesota
Happy Camper Rating 8/10

We had a great time at our first stop, Flying Goose RV park and campground. This Campground is set up beautifully. It has amazing wholesome family fun. If you are traveling without children, it is an wonderful place to rejuvenate. I would come back for sure! 
Amenities: Lake to swim in, playground, bike path, mini golf, laundry, restrooms, shady parking, sand volleyball,  awesome wildlife, close to interstate and town,  on spot picnic table and fire pit. 

Bike Ride with the family to check things out.

Setting up Camp. Moving the Table to the other side of the RV. 

We dared Carmen and Colin to jump in the Lake with their clothes on! 

Yep, didn't have to ask them twice.

Mommy and her boys.

Charlie excited to go swimming. Big HUGS!

Carmen was very amused by these random turtles everywhere. 

This poor guy didn't see her coming. Sorry Dude. He peed a little. 

The turtles were digging holes everywhere in preparation to lay their eggs.

  WATCH OUT FOR THE SNAPPERS!

 The look you get when the men contemplate going swimming. 

Nope, it didn't happen. 

The Beginning of the Journey of a Lifetime

After a few weeks of anticipation and preparation, the day has finally come for us Voss' to hit the road in our new goliath of an RV that we will be calling home for the next month. Dad, being the captain of our vessel, had everyone up at 6:15 a.m. this morning and told us all to be aboard the RV and ready to leave by 7:00 a.m. (Which really meant we would be leaving by 8:00 at the pace most of us move). Our Day One route is taking us from North Central Illinois, into and through Wisconsin, all the way to Fairmont, Minnesota where we will be "camping" at the Flying Goose Campground. Our estimated route will take somewhere around eight hours. It sure doesn't feel that long when you are riding in style. 

After 7 hours and 17 minutes  we finally arrived at the Flying Goose Campground (surprisingly ahead of schedule, but then again I did hear Dad's navigation system yell at him several times "You're going over the speed limit"). It was very well kept, organized, pretty, and the management was very friendly. Once we got everything all set up, all of us went on a bike ride around the grounds. Though it was not very large, it did have mini golf, a sand volleyball court, and a beautiful lake. My mom and I ran out to the beach along the shore of the lake. My mom dared me to jump in and swim to the raft that was anchored a few yards from the shore. It took me a little while, but I finally gathered my courage and jumped in fully clothed. Colin eventually joined me and we jumped off the raft into the water together. I got into a splash fight with my mom and had to ride my bike back to the camp ground a few minutes later dripping wet. Mom, Chandler, and I fell a bit behind Dad, Colin, and Charlie, and ended up finding three different turtles. The first one we found was a baby snapping turtle, I tried to pick him up and move him off the road, but his neck was a bit longer than I thought and he nearly snapped my finger off so I just pushed him across the road with my two fingers by his tail where he could not bite me. The second turtle was a pretty painted turtle, he peed all over me numerous times (We had a pretty good time hanging out if I do say so myself). He did not try to bite me, but he did claw my hand up pretty good. The third turtle was also a painted turtle, but this one was about to be a Momma. She had dug her little hole and was preparing to lay her eggs when we stumbled across her. Mom wanted to pick her up, but I told her to leave the turtle alone. Everybody cleaned up and we ate hot dogs around the campfire. We also got out some shrimp and cooked them on the campfire, they were delicious! We ended the night with s'mores and got all snuggled up for bed. 

-Carmen