Sep 14, 2009

Cruisin' down the back roads on our way to anywhere...

This last weekend was the South Dakota Bible Bee, of which Hannah and Joseph were apart. It took place in Pierre, our capital. So we packed up the old suburban, hitched up the trailer and we were off before lunch on Friday.
Lovely trip. We took the back roads, but there was construction in a few places. We got around that easily enough. I loved all the sunflower fields we passed. Occupied with a good Louis L'Amour, I didn't get a picture of any though. I love sunflowers. :)
We arrived at a beautiful campsite, one of the prettiest we've ever stayed, around five or six probably. We loose an hour when we travel to Pierre. So here are just a few snapshots or our highlights.

It was quite pretty! Sunlight filtered through the trees along the paths and the lake glimmered in the sunset! There was a playground a swimming beach and this bridge. Bridges are the best!
Ethan and I played "Bug" on the swing. It's the most wonderful thing, a swing. To me it's almost like flying all by myself!

The lake was so still, so magnificent.


Ah! Another bridge among the reeds. And it's in sepia because sepia is the very best for capturing bridges and reeds.

A little art...here and there. :) The mosquitoes did not help with that much. Especially when you forgot your tripod and had nothing on which to steady yourself.


Our campsite. The exposure is a little dark, sorry!

Practicing getting at least one picture of everyone. I'm not sure I remember what Dawna was doing here. Brainwashing, you know, to forget things you're not lawful to remember about what exactly that person was doing. ;)

"Hey, Chip!"
Joseph being Joseph! Ever conceding to my picture taking and handling it all very nicely! :)

"It was a big dog!"
Hannah loves to tell stories about her adventures!

"The innocent smile will avail you nothing, sir!"
Happy as a lark, Ethan is, and messing about the fire with sticks.

Austere and manly! Quite a decent chap, really, once you get to know him. Not a bad one for putting up with three sisters, either. :)

"Animal crackers in my soup! Monkeys and rabbits loop ta loop." Self portraiting. Despite their smiles I gathered everyone was getting tired of being taken a picture of. :)

The next morning there was mist coating the waters of the lake. A sight my unworthy camera could not capture properly. But it was a light with sun and flame, shimmering across the ripples from the silent boats.

"There is nothing in all the world to compare with messing about in boats."~The Wind in the Willows

Mysterious mist shudders across the waves, still with the cool of morning, soft with the shimmering magic of unseen beauties.

Hannah and Joseph registered at the Bible Bee at about ten, we had time to go drive around a bit since the BB didn't start until twelve. So we went to visit the Missouri River and this chapel. Oahe Mission and Chapel, 1877.

The Missouri River beyond the Russian Olives.

Children pictures! Ethan makes the best faces! :)

Another shot of the Missouri. Out of the window pics are so famous by now! :D

At the Bible Bee before the opening ceremony. :) This was church where we also stayed for TeenPact.

He looks very nervous, doesn't he? This is his reading face. I'm quite attached to it myself. :)

Ever sweet Hannah. And never nervous! We loathe nervousness, we shun nervousness. No, we are never nervous! :)

Just some artsy evening shots after Bible Bee. It reminds me of an African terrain for some reason. :D

I was reading about how to take landscape photography, and one of the things it mentioned was you ought to change your perspective sometimes, and I love grass anyway. :)

Before the journey home on Sunday we stopped by the Capital to look around and see the WWII memorial there. It was glorious. Because all the times I'd seen the grounds around everything was dead and covered in snow.

All the men from South Dakota, listed under their counties, who fought and died in WWII.
The memorial statues were so well made.
WWII was one of the saddest time periods I ever remember studying about.

These two pictures are kind of backward. The one above is the end of the Memorial and the one below is the beginning.
Across the lake there, there is this beautifully kept fountain with flowers and roses. And from everywhere you get these amazing views of the Capital.
More kidlun pics! :)

And a Daddy-o and Mommy-o one, of course! :)
There were a great amount of pictures inside the Capital but I could never fit them all into one post, so here are just...two...of them. The marble stars are magnificent!

And phone booths! Those are so cool!

And outside there were hazelnut trees, as Hannah gloriously displays them.

We were going to take the Farm Island hike, but didn't have enough time. We stopped by on Farm Island and watched the pelicans, though.


On the way home, we stopped at Wall Drug, another sight one must see in South Dakota. The highlight of that was the T-Rex which promptly got mad and stirred up every twenty minutes. It made such a loud roucus and drew such attention, I'm not surprised that they didn't charge fees to watch him!

You don't see these very often anymore! Mom and Ethan complied. :)


"Bye, bye, boys! Have fun stormin' the castle!"

Hannah and Dad take a break on the "Ton Petrified Log"!


I'm not sure how this got way down here, but have a nice day anyway. :)

4 comments:

Ashley said...

Hi Kayla!!

What a cute self portrait!! You got some lovely scenery pictures!! Your photography talents are shining through some of those!!

Have a lovely evening!! Love you!!

P.S. You did get my email, right?

K. M. Updike said...

Thank a bunch, Ashlove! :)

Yup! I got your email! Just finished replying! Sorry it took me so long to get it back to you!

Emily said...

Wow, the pictures are FANTASTIC!!!! I'm not trying to flatter you at all--they're fabulous. Period. :)

Aaaaand you will be getting an email soon!! ...I hope. :)

Luveth thee!!

K. M. Updike said...

I'm SOOO looking forward to that email, Em! Miss you and Ash tons!