5 Reasons why we Love Wall Drug!

Our last stop on our family vacation was to Wall Drug in Wall, SD. If you haven't heard of this famous stopping point them I am very surprised! The Black Hills/Badlands and Wall Drug go hand in hand and I'm so glad my dad and I decided to stop there! The rest of my family was ahead of us and we were supposed to meet at Wall Drug for lunch but they went past the exit so it was just Dad and I that experienced this wonderful tourist site. So here are five reasons my dad and I came up with that make Wall Drug so great!

 

Dad enjoying lunch at Wall Drug after a long motorcycle ride.

 

1 // It all started with a prayer. Ted & Dorothy bought a little drug store in a town that was sworn to be "Godforsaken" by their relatives. Times were tough and in December of 1931 it didn't seem like business would pick up but with Dorothy's idea of advertising "Free Water" business soon began rolling in. Their determination came from lots and lots of prayers and they vowed to believe no town was ever "Godforsaken" - there was always Hope!

 

2 // Free Coffee & Donuts for Veterans Any company that values our veterans is a great one! Not far from the Historic Mount Rushmore, Wall Drug takes pride in the Land of the Free and the people that have sacrificed their lives for America. I strongly believe in any type of perks for our soldiers. Even though free coffee and donuts might not sound like much..I'm sure it is greatly appreciated by anyone who has served our country.

 

3 // Workers from all over the world. Have you ever been to a National Park or an Amusement Park that has college age students from all over the world working for a summer there. I love those types of places filled with different dialects and friendly faces! I like to look at the name tags that have their home country listed and see how far they have come for just one summer internship. We had servers from Thailand and the Czech Republic when we went there!

 

4 // Free Ice Cold Water & 5 cent Coffee. What a steal! Now I know what you are thinking, "Water should always be free and I'm sure that 5 cent coffee tasted horrible" But some places make you pay for a cup of water and don't get me started on bottled water. And the coffee was delicious! (and I know my coffee!)

 

Free H2O, cheap Coffee and World Famous Doughnuts! (oh and Beer for dad)

5 // Genius Advertising. Their first sign was for free ice cold water which got Wall Drug on the map. But their simple yet steady advertising as you drive along the interstate is pretty smart. I like to think of it in comparison to an info-commercial because the advertisement doesn't say a lot of fancy stuff, it just repeats it over and over again and by the end of the commercial you're thinking...I should probably check that out just for curiosities sake! Wall Drug even has signs in Japan and Africa stating how many miles to the Famous Wall Drug Store! All those signs cost the company an estimated $400,000 on billboards every year. Not to mention the bumper stickers found on thousands of cars in America!

 

 

So if you are in the Wall Drug area be sure to stop by because you won't be disappointed!

 

 

 

 

 

2 Trips {Tuesday Topics Link Up}

I'm linking up with Lauren @ Life, Love, Lauren for a Tuesday Topic. My choice in 2 trips is very easy! My most memorable trips are to Australia my Sophomore year in College and Tanzania the summer after my Junior year in College. These trips are so memorable and filled my digital camera up with many photos! Lets go down memory lane and half way around the world to remember these once in a lifetime adventures!

Australia - May 2008

Beautiful scenery!

At Morningside College you are required to take a May term sometime during your four years there. My friends and I chose the most expensive May term that Morningside had to offer because we knew we wouldn't have the chance to go on a trip like this again! I went with my close friends Kendra, Bailey and Kelli Down Under to Cains (near the Great Barrier) and Sydney, Australia. I remember the day we packed our luggage onto the bus because it was on my birthday. We were headed on a 10 day adventure with about 30 other college students from Morningside. Our trip was jam packed with stuff to do each day and really was the best way to see the country because our itinerary was full. 

What we got to wake up to in Cains!

Bay and I in Cains, Australia

 

Enjoying drinks at the bar in our hotel.

One fun thing besides being in a beautiful country was that the drinking age is 18 there so since most of us weren't legal in the US we could get a feel of being a legal "adult" by buying fancy alcoholic drinks. We sure did take advantage of that ;)

 

Kendra and I after the boat tour.

Aborigine face paint with Bay and Kendra

I can't even explain to you in detail all the places we went just because it would be such a long post but we spent several days in Cains, stayed a few nights in a rain forest, then took a small plane to Sydney. In order to get the credit for the class we had to talk to local businesses while we were there and also did research of various tourist attractions prior to our flight. I really like knowing about a place before I visit it so that was something that was no problem.

Kelli and I - Roomies!

Holding the squishy sea caterpillar at the Great Barrier

There was no language barrier of course so that was nice! We all fell in love with their Australian accents while we were down there. The people are so nice and so funny! We got to feed kangaroos while we were there and even held a Koala. Unfortunately Kelli got bit by the Koala!! Surprising huh?? I guess the Koala was sick of all the photos and cuddling.

The Barrier reef is so breathtaking! There were tons of fish with colors as vast as the rainbow and the coral was quite the site! We went snorkeling all day and even went on a guided tour farther from our boat which was awesome!

Swimming in ice cold water on on of our hikes

Kelli and I in downtown Sydney

 

Tasting the local food - I think one was crocodile

Visiting the 2000 Summer Olympics location

Us girls with the Sydney Opera House in the background

At the famous Bondi Beach

Bay and I trying out surfing at Bondi

The whole Morningside Gang

The group that we went with made the trip even that much more memorable.

"Did you say Didgeridoo?!?!"

 

Tanzania, Africa - Summer 2009



Wilson our awesome Tour Guide / Brother to STEMM

I can't believe I am writing about both of these long trips in one post but it is great to have an excuse to document them and share them with you! This is a trip I have wrote about before because it was changed my life and my outlook on life so much! I had always wanted to go to a third world country like Africa on a mission trip and when I had the opportunity to go in college and get nursing experience I knew that God was pushing me to go. I listened and I have never ever had any doubts! This trip opened my eyes to extreme poverty, gave me a new found hope in this world and made me realize that even if you have so little, you still have so much to praise God about! I went with an organization called STEMM (Siouxland Tanzania Educational Medical Ministries) that was founded by an orthopedic surgeon who has gone to Tanzania over 20 times. You can hear more about my trip by reading this post.



My favorite picture of the Trip. Little girl at The Plaster House

 The Plaster House is a place children go after they have surgery. They can't go back to their mud huts with casts on so the Plaster House is a place to go in between surgery and home. Dr. Meyer assessed kids there that were planning on having surgery and he would try to do as many surgeries as possible on his 3 week stay there.

Breaking ground for the STEMM Children's village - a new orphanage

Breathtaking Mount Kilimanjaro - Tallest freestanding mountain in the world

Amanda Sarah and I ready for surgery!



Their smiles are just the best :)

Had to bring the baby along! Sleeping quarters under the radishes

On the trip we helped in several orphanages. One of which was called Huruma Orphanage and the little girls I met there just melted my heart. "Huruma" means Compassion in Swahili and after returning from Tanzania I had the word Huruma tattooed on my foot with a cross.


The whole gang on the safari

Children of Tanzania

Beautiful Whitness at Huruma Orphanage

 I was also able to scrub in on orthopedic surgeries (weird because now I am an orthopedic nurse!) When I was in surgery the power went out and we had to just wait and pray for several minutes waiting for the electricity to come back on. We also did HIV/AIDS education in 2 schools there and were able to take in the beautiful sights on an Africa safari for 3 days!



Amazing picture of elephant reflection!

 

Simbas!

I picked up on a little Swahili while I was there and mama Gayle (our trip coordinator) taught us a lot of phrases. My favorite is Bwana Yesu Asifiwe which means Praise the Lord! These wonderful people sing their hearts out for the Lord and I have never felt so close to God or so moved by the Holy Spirit as I have while in Tanzania!

 

Black Hills Vaca {Post 2}

I have so much to write about, I don't know where to start! It has been such a fun and fulfilling summer and I feel that I could write about work experiences, vacations or daily crafts. But for tonight I will tell you about the second half of our wonderful vacation we had in the Black Hills.

Tuesday (July 2nd) afternoon we went to Wonderland Cave. My brother had been wanting to go to a cave and that one seemed to be the best in the area. So I rode on the motorcycle with my dad and the rest of the family drove in the Morano. It was a long trek there and were signs that would say "Wonderland Cave this way" or "Almost there" or "200 yards". My dad kept saying "this cave better be worth it!" and it was a pretty neat cave! We went on a 45 minute tour through the stalagmites and stalactites. I loved riding on the bike with my dad and even though it was a little scary at first I trust him and he was pretty cautious just because he hasn't been riding that long on it. I will cherish that moment on the bike with him forever. It was good to have that quality time on the open road with my dad. We totally didn't look like the "biker" type though. We had just jeans on, and I had sandles on. We kept trying to figure out the "biker signal" that every biker uses when they meet on the road but we still don't know if we got it right..haha!

 

 

Mom & I after our muggy run

Wednesday (July 3rd) The guys went to a course and golfed 18 holes and mom and I had breakfast at the lodge while watching Kathy Lee and Hoda (one of my guilty pleasures). We decided that we should check out the running/bike trail that was very close to our lodge so we headed there around 11:00 am. It was already pretty hot and we set out on a walk. Soon I ditched mom and jogged up the trail on my own with my pandora playing :) It was a great run and somehow I had the energy to run a total of about 5 miles. Like I said before, during my runs I feel close to God and this run was no exception. Being among such beautiful nature and able to have the motivation and endurance to run that far made me feel truly blessed. I always think of that ability God has given me and think of Fidel or my patients that can't run that far because of their conditions. It makes me very thankful for what God has given me.

After the trail we met up with guys and went horse back riding. We went to a nice little horse back riding place that had many beautiful horses and even a few little colts that were just the cutest. We all were assigned horses and quickly shared the horses names with everyone.

 

Me = Colby

Alex = Jamie

Mom = Trigger

Alex G = Sky

Mike = Baby

Michael squishing mom before the trail ride

Alex learning how to handle his horse.

Mike made a hilarious comment by saying "no one puts my horse in a corner" haha! I loved the Dirty Dancing reference. We set off on the trail with 2 young girls that were leading us. They were really great because they told us a lot about the horses and by the last part of the ride we were able to gallop on the horse which was fun. That was the fastest I had ever gone on a horse and was really exciting! The area we traveled was wonderful! The horses had to go on some pretty tricky terrain but they did great! Horseback riding is something that I have been wanting to do for many years now and was so happy that we got to in the area we did.

My Beautiful Horse!
 

That night we ate at restaurant in Deadwood and then I played a little roulette at the casino that was connected to the restaurant. They had the electronic roulette game that I played in Las Vegas so I texted my friend Kelli and told her I was going to play. She told me to put money down on number 1 so on my first turn I put money on 1 and it HIT!! I won $18 on that spin so was feeling pretty lucky. I ended up winning $14 total after going back and forth. We were going to head to a movie after that but sorta got lost in Spearfish and would have been really late so we just decided to get ice cream instead at DQ. I had a s'mores blizzard that was delish!

 

The fourth of July started off really rainy and stormy so we waited to do anything until a late morning. Dad and I started off on the bike while the rest of the family followed but we had to park the bike in Deadwood because it started raining again. We all hoped in the truck and headed to Mount Rushmore. We stopped in Hill City to grab a bite to eat and went through some of the tourist shops there. I bought Easton (Alex's nephew) the book "Who Pooped in the Black Hills".

 

 

It was really neat getting to be at Mount Rushmore on the 4th of July and I thought it would be more crowded but it wasn't too bad. I had been to Mount Rushmore when I was younger but it was really neat to see it again. I still can't imagine having a vision to create the four presidents' faces out of a mountain! And the whole project happend from 1934-1939. The monument was orinially going to show the presidents from the waist up but did not have enough funding to sculpt that much. As you walk to Mount Rushmore there is a aisle of all the state flags which is a really cool sight to see.

 

Land of the Free...Home of the Brave

My wonderful parents

I forced them to pose this way..though it would be a cool picture :)



My husband and I



Black Hills Vaca! {First of many posts}

Well I'm back in good ol' Nebraska but already missing the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota! Family vacations are a tradition for the Deichmann's and we do one every year no matter if it is accross America or just down to KC. Last year I missed out on the KC vacation because I had to work but this year I was super excited for 5 days away with my husband, parents and brother despite my sis not being able to go. Vacations are much need for several reasons but 3 big motivators are spending quality time with my family in a new atmosphere, relaxing by getting away from work and the city, and getting closer to God through nature! In my time away this past week I definitely got in all 3 of those and let me tell ya it was hard getting back in the flow of working again after all those days off!

Setting off on the 9 hour road trip!

We left Sunday afternoon and took my cousin Alex with us because we had plenty of room in the 4 bedroom cabin. Then we met my parents and Michael in Sioux Falls for dinner at Chili's. After a break from the car we caravaned to Al's Oasis in Chamberlain where we spent the night to split up the drive. We all stayed in a one hotel room which was pretty humerous with our 3 beds packed in there. We stayed up watching Daniel Tosh's stand-up comedy and all had a good laugh :)

 

The cute bears all around Al's Oasis Hotel

Isn't he FABULOUS!?!?

Then in the morning we left bright at early at 8:00 so that we could make it to the cabin at a decent time. We stopped at Diamond Lil's which is the restaurant Kevin Costner owns. He fell in love with the area when he was filming Dances with Wolves and his parents still live in Deadwood. The bar and grill is pretty neat because it has the exact outfits that he wore in all of his movies. Alex and I really like the movie Waterworld and of course Field of Dreams.

 

Linda sent me this picture of my lil Kobe!

 

With full stomachs we were ready to find out what our cabin looked like and move all of our stuff in - or so we thought! When my mom opened the door to the cabin there were 3 pairs of shoes by the door and clothes still in the rooms. We were all a little freaked out because there was noone there but the cabin was obviously being lived in still. Mike figured that they had been murdered in the woods for sure! Since the people before us didn't move out and the owners of the cabin couldn't get ahold of them they said we could stay in a different cabin in the same area and OUR cabin would be ready the next day. So we were a little bummed but the other cabin had a hot tub so our disappointment didn't last long :)  My mom, Alex and I went on a bike ride/hike right by our cabin. I was breathing hard and my thighs were aching from the uphill climb but it was great to be out in the fresh mountain air with two of my favorite people! We grilled steaks that night and I even facetimed with Megan to show her around our place. We all waved to her and missed her so much! Dad and I took a soak in the hot tub before we turned in for the night.

 

Our running obstacle!
  

Tuesday morning, Michael and I went for a hike along a ski lift. Alex had treked the same slope the day before and we figured we could do it too! Well it was brutal! The incline wouldn't have been so bad but all the brush/ tall grass and thistles made it so much harder! By the time we got to the top we felt pretty accomplished and wondered just how crazy we were! The view was spectacular though and I climed on of the posts of the ski lift so I could get a true bird's eye view! I mean look at those clouds suspended in the blue sky...you could see for miles!

 

( to be continued....)