Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Wistful Wednesday: South Dakota 1978

Looking back it seems we took a number of vacations in 1978, we ventured to Canada in June, in July we travelled to St. Louis to marry off my baby brother and in August we went to the Black Hills in South Dakota.

Needles Eye South Dakota August 1978

 

Needles Eye South Dakota August two  1978

The Needles Eye …and as you can see our girls are on a rock with their Dad close by. That is Far Guy’s Mom, Evelyn walking away.

The car was a Plymouth Horizon and a special order.  We ordered it and it was delivered to the dealership across town.  I enlisted Denny next door to drive it home for me (Far Guy was gone on deployment) because I needed some practice with the clutch before heading into traffic with two small children.  Remember when you went into the Car Dealership and looked at all the showroom models and you could special order one with everything you wanted?  I think that was the last vehicle we special ordered.  I practiced going around and around the trailer park and was a pro by the time Far Guy came home from where ever he was.

Needles Eye South Dakota August Gene Trica and Jen  1978

Here they are on a rock again…with their father.  Seems like they must have liked to climb rocks…either that or they all wanted to scare me because I was and still am afraid of heights.

Chipmunks Gene  and Jen  1978

This is youngest daughter Jennifer and her Dad.  Feeding the Chipmunks and the Prairie Dog Town was a fun stop for the girls.  Jennifer was not yet 3 years old and Trica was six years old.

Trica and Jen at Mount Rushmore Black Hills SD  1978

Here are the girls at Mount Rushmore.  I think I must have bribed them with candy to go and stand at the wall and look up.  This was not a very fun place to stop if you are a kid.

Trica and jen Black Hills SD  1978

Water and climbing on rocks was much more their style.

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20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice photos. I love their blond hair. John and Larry visited Mount Rushmore a few years back and it was very foggy, photos showed NOTHING!

Henny Penny said...

You had some great vacations! I would love to see Mount Rushmore. For as long as I can remember, vacation meant going to the beach for a week or two. Usually a South Carolina beach. Your girls are so cute!

DJan said...

It blows my mind when I think how long ago 1978 was. There's nothing in the pictures to date them except the ages of the kids. :-)

Dreaming said...

Awww, the girls are so cute! I can almost hear them in the car and at the various stops you showed.
I was just thinking about how we used to order cars! n 1980 I had a job at a car dealer. I used to key in the orders - most of them for the dealer. I guess that was about the time the special order thing became archaic.

linda m said...

you were so brave to go get the car on your own. Wise decision to practice first especially if you had never driven with a clutch before. You pictures brought back memories of my trip out to South Dakota and Mt. Rushmore. It was so much fun. Thanks for sharing.

lisa said...

I bet those were fantastic memories. I have always wanted to go visit the Black hills and Mount Rushmore.

Alan Burnett said...

Great photographs. "They rock", as they would say.

Linda Reeder said...

Hmmm. Let's see. In 1978 my kids were five and three. That was the year we had our house built and moved in in June before Jill started kindergarten. That was a very big year for us.
It's fun to remember back, waaaaay back. Looking at old photos from back then is fun too, except it's such a blatant reminder of how old I have become!
Thanks for evoking memories.

Karen said...

I have fond memories of our camping trips when I was a kid...when I can remember them that is! I too love climbing up rocks, the view is always better up there:)
We special ordered our truck in 2009, so it can still be done. Glad you can drive a car with a clutch, too many people can't do that, and you just never know if you might need to in an emergency. Our car requires clutch knowledge:)

Nancy said...

I love how you posted the first two photos: they really give the perspective of the Needles.

I'm with you and heights - I never was comfortable looking over an edge and once I'm up, I panic about going down.

Primitive Stars said...

Another wonderful post, I want to go to the Black Hills so bad. Looks amazing, sweet pictures of the girls, Blessings Francine.

Leah said...

Fun & some great dated pictures... We love the Black Hills ~ Mount Rushmore looks so different now (not the presidents :) but the area to get to it. That would have been a busy summer for you with little ones ~ everybody should have to learn how to drive a manual car!

Jacqi Stevens said...

Never thought about Mount Rushmore in terms of whether it would be a fun stop for kids...

I'm with you on the heights. If I were there, I'd be walking away with Far Guy's mom--trying my best not to look impending disaster in the face. I'm chicken like that :)

L. D. said...

Great places to visit. I have been to the needles and the monument when I was very young. I like the old color photos. They have a special character.

Anonymous said...

My family went to South Dakota in 1978 too. I had just graduated from high school. My parents and I (my siblings were all older and out of the house by then) plus my aunt, uncle and their four kids all traveled by a rented motor home. My dad did all the driving, even up to Mt. Rushmore!
~Laura

Cynthia said...

Learning to drive a car with a clutch seperates the adventurous from the unadventurous. Extra points for driving in the Black Hills! What fun memories with your little girls. My kiddos always wanted to climb on the rocks, too.

Anonymous said...

I grew up in the Midwest but that was one location we never got to on our family vacations. It's awesome though... xox

troutbirder said...

Fond memories. I went to the Black Hills with my parents in the fifties and later with our boys. Never liked it much all that touristy etc. Then much later Barb and I went over Easter vacation, the weather was perfect we had the whole place, especially the Custer loop, all to ourselves and have been going back ever since in spring or fall. A whole different world then.....;)

kathy b said...

great old photos. We loved the Black hills and Custer State park/Mt. Rushmore. Also LOVED the badlands in that area.

Red said...

Good times ! I'm sure these are popular family photos.