TWB July 13th 2019 Experience: July 2019

Day 18: Custer, South Dakota & Mt. Rushmore

Hey guys! It’s your favorite group of TWB… The HAPPYS!!! We started our morning out at 6:30 and got onto the bus as fast as possible. The Sleepy group provided us all with a lovely breakfast of cinnamon or raspberry rolls with an apple and apple juice. On the bus, many were entertained by ASMR provided by Luke S., which was later followed by yet another episode of Luke’s Low-key Logic with the help from Dallas who has been demoted to co-host. Today, it consisted of interviews from other bus riders inclduing Kenna, Josh, Ava G, Ava R, Ford and Nick. We used a book provided by Jo that is filled with 3,000 questions about their future. Man, was it interesting! While the bus hosted their (somewhat) daily talkshow, the vans were entertained by Scout S. free-styling about how much he loves his mom! There was also another song provided by Corbin A. about getting pee on his shirt. We are all very confident that it will be a number 1 hit on the music charts soon!

We then made a stop at the best place in the world… Wally World! The cooks bought the next three meals while others looked around for some snacks. Cold and allergy medicine were also added to the mix because so many of us were starting to feel a little sick or were trying to prevent it. Then came our traveling lunch of chicken ranch wraps and they were delicious! Then we continued on our trip as well as attempted to find other ways to occupy ourselves. Many slept while a few others had some deep conversations with everyone around them.

Around 3:00 pm, we stopped at a park in order to prepare for our next competition… a DANCE BATTLE! All groups had about 2 hours to come up with the best coordinated dance they could to a mash-up of Timber and Old Town Road. Lets just say, we became somewhat of a tourist attraction to the people of Custer. The cooks then prepared an amazing sit-down dinner of walking tacos with all the fixin’s. While cleaning up, we realized the sky was getting quite dark. And right as everyone was loading the buses, it started POURING! Luckily, it was over by the time we reached our next stop… Mount Rushmore!

Although there was construction, it was quite the sight! After a quick group photo, many of us rushed to get ice cream before the line got too long (even though Dallas told us there wasn’t any ice cream there). Others went to look at the gift shop and bought the usual sticker or t-shirt and maybe a few souvenirs for their lucky friends and family back home.

On the way back to our camp, the bus had a CRAZY dance party thanks to DJ Dallas. Everyone was singing their hearts out to songs such as “Baby” by Justin Bieber, “Love Story” and “We Are Never Getting Back Together” by Taylor Swift, and “Apple Bottom Jeans” by Flo Rida. Everyone got to show off their amazing dance moves (the Happy group had the best J) and Luke S. crowd surfed up and down the bus aisle twice! Needless to say, everyone would be great at karaoke! Carolina Girl had a quick history lesson about the presidents on Mount Rushmore on their way back, since Will P., thought that Thomas Edison was one of the guys on the big rock.

As we arrived at the Custer YMCA for the night, some participants presented their research and then we began to unpack all of our items. While outside waiting for our duffel bags, there was an insane amount of lightning,which was very shortly followed by a lot of rain. Thankfully, everyone helped to get all of our stuff inside without it getting too wet. We are very thankful that the Custer YMCA let us stay indoors and we did not get rained on at all! The guys decided to play a mean but quick game of basketball before showering and bedding down for the night.

Goodbye until tomorrow!
Love, the Happy group!

Starting our morning catch up on some ZzZZzzz's

Jo fell asleep reading the newest Sports Illustrated

Downtown Custer

Unfortunately, due to construction, this was as close as we could get :(

Group Photo in front of Mount Rushmore

YAY Mount Rushmore!

Counselor photo session

Doing their best Mt. Rushmore impression

The famous Mt. Rushmore ice cream

Massage train! Sleeping on the ground creates some knots

Grace B. telling us about Cody, WY

Ford G. looking like a real cowboy talking about the Rodeos of Cody, WY

Maddy H. talking about the Shoshone River

Blaine L. educating us on Custer, SD

Kennedy M. on Mt. Rushmore

Kenna M. on the state of South Dakota

Jo B. started quite the collection of hats

Day 17: Cody, Wyoming

HEY HEY HEY! It’s the Happy GANG (Katie Cusick, Mackenzie Hedger, Caroline Clemmer, Matthew Ferrara, Will Pattinson, Bailey McGuire, Anna Turlington, Caleb Brannock, Ethan Thrower, Jon Grigg, Carleigh Carter, Madaline Finger and Walker Perryman) starting off with an exciting day in Cody, Wyoming. This morning we hopped out of our sleeping bags at the late hour of 6:15 am to head over to the Shoshone River. Before our adventure, we were warned by Kent of the dangerous BEAVER-SHARKS! To avoid our toenails being eaten, we made sure to keep a smile on our face, and paint our toenails. While preparing for our rafting trips, a beaver shark sadly got the best of Bailey M., which resulted in four stitches later on in the day. She was such a trooper and went the whole 12-mile journey without even complaining! When we got back, counselor Julia made sure she was taken care of! While we froze our toes off rafting through the Wyoming rapids, we encountered many different types of flora and fauna, including Lyndon’s butt. Even scarier than both Lyndon’s butt and the beaver sharks was the wrath of Caleb B. Ethan T., Luke S., and Chris F.’s raft. They would splash every single raft they saw while also screaming to “assert their male dominance.” After our trip we were treated to an amazing breakfast provided by our counselors of grits, eggs, sausage, and bread. Everyone ate quick and rushed to do laundry and take the most luxurious, warm showers of the last 2 weeks!

Laundry all together took 3 hours! Many of our clothes suffered damage such as Will P. and Caleb B. who were in for an unexpected surprise when their clothes came out tie-dyed! Some had to wait a little longer than others due to Kent being late picking us up and not having enough seating on the vans. Overall, doing our laundry was not the best experience, but hey, at least we have clean clothes again!

We all slowly came back to our campsite and began to get ready for the biggest night in our TWB experience: the Cody, Wyoming Rodeo! Many girls spent a solid 2 hours trying to get ready and also helping others get ready. While we had some down time some people enjoyed Spike Ball, calling home or walking to Dairy Queen. Some people even got to enjoy a nap at our campground instead of a nap on the bus for once! For dinner, the Sleepy group cooked an amazing first meal of chicken nuggets, mashed potatoes, and green beans. At this point in our trip, this is quite the gourmet meal!

Around 5:30 pm, everyone loaded onto their vehicles and went into the town of Cody to do some shopping! Many took advantage of the 2 for $20 deal on cowboy hats in a local shop while others got coffee, watched the gun fight, or bought other souvenirs. Many people took advantage of the $5 clearance shirts they had! Luke S. was very flattered to find that others found him very attractive in his cowboy hat, jorts, and flannel shirt.

Then it was RODEO TIME!!!! It started around 8 pm and all were thrilled to witness what was to come. Several rode the mechanical bull, including the one and only Grant Deaton as well as our beloved bus driver, JD, and some of our counselors (Kent was quite sore after the ride). Several participants enjoyed riding the mechanical bull, including Rece Guy who rode it 8 times! Everyone enjoyed watching the show as well as showing off their patriotism! During the rodeo we got a special shout out and got to sing "Party in The USA" very loudly! We became known as the "North Carolina" group very quickly and we noticed many people taking pictures of us! We then left and went back to Ponderosa Campground for our second night in Wyoming. Right before bed, we headed over to Dairy Queen and made sure to have some late night snacks whether that be a blizzard or some French fries. All in all, today was packed full of adventure and fun and we enjoyed every second of it!