5 females in a car together is not a good idea

Hey- I'm back from my "vacation" to the Black Hills. I knew that it would be hard to get along every once and a while, but every other day we would have big blow-ups- it was terrible. I mainly blame it on my sister being a control freak about how our vacation went. She had the whole thing planned out in a 'Treasure Hunters' like fashion. Cute idea- but hauling around two children and a limping mother in really hot summer weather didn't lend to a fun and comfortable time always. Day one we got on the Interstate and went to the Corn Palace, Al's Oasis, stopped by and considered going to the Murdo Auto place (but regained our senses), went to Wall Drug, and arrived at the hotel and went into the swimming pool. Day two- my older niece felt sick and didn't want to do anything. After two trips to Wal-Mart we finally started our day. We went up Dinosaur Park and to Storybook Island in the morning. We attempted a picnic at Storybook Island, however my niece still felt sick and spent most of the time in the bathrooms. It was fun there- not the same fun I remember- but still fun. After those events we regrouped at the hotel and then headed out to Mount Rushmore (and my younger niece slept most of the time- except when she woke up and screamed her head off). We went back to Rapid and had a late supper at good old Denny's. Day three- my sister had made reservations for tickets to the 1880 train leaving from Hill City- at 9:45 in the morning- we had to be there by about 9:15- which was near a miracle. The train ride was beautiful- Samantha (the younger niece) screamed her head off again most of the ride. We went back to Hill City and headed out to Flintstone's Bedrock City and had lunch and tried to enjoy the day- in 105 degree weather- Samantha once again screamed and threw fits and I was in the middle of a fight with my sister. It was terrible- absolutely terrible- in fact I may never be able to look at the show in the same way again. We then went to Wind Cave and my mom, Samantha, and I waited while the other two went in the cave (for about two hours). After that my sister took us to Custer State Park and we went on the loop where we saw at the very end two grown buffalo and two babies. Then at about 8:30 having not ate anything substantial since lunch we (meaning my sister) took us up Needles Highway where the daylight quickly faded and left us terrified up on the top by the Needlehead. We made it out alive and ended up getting back to Rapid at 10:30 PM. Then we started pulling into a Perkins and my inner bitch came out and I said no way- we are doing fast food- I'm not waiting another 20 minutes or longer for my food. I was so pissed off that night that my sister got the point that she was planning too much for us. Day four- I got to drive and we left for Deadwood at 10:00- we spent most of the afternoon there and gambled away quarters and took touristy photos- we didn't get to do as much as I wanted, but we did get to go up the hill towards Mount Moriah's Cemetary. I'll have to have an adult vacation some year and go either by myself or with a friend. After that we went to Spearfish and to the D.C. Booth Fish Hatchery where we met up with relatives and fed the fish and ducks- it was fun! We went to supper at Sanford's in Spearfish and came back in time to swim and relax at the hotel. Day four our last day we decided to bypass going to Reptile Gardens and went to Bear Country USA instead. The driving section was pretty fun- but the Babyland was so adorable to behold. The baby bears put on a show for us- too cute to imagine. Then we got back on the road and headed home. Oh yeah- it was my birthday too- I turned 28! It went by without much fanfare and I am another year older- woo hoo. Anyway- I had to work on Friday and now I am trying to relax for awhile before I get back to regular life. My cat was alive and well when I came back- I was going to have a relative come and check up on her while I was gone- but no one ever did do it for me. I was pretty happy to come home and have her there. I plan on going to Clerks 2 tomorrow and maybe swimming with the nieces- see you later