We had such an epic road trip vacation this summer and I definitely do not want to leave it undocumented! These next few posts will probably be heavy on pictures and light on narration (which is what I know everyone loves anyway). I should have done a better job documenting our trip as we were taking it, but hindsight's 20/20 and now here we are.
After we left our beloved Indiana, we headed to Wisconsin to visit our better halves (the Petersens), then we traveled through Minnesota, South Dakota, Montana, Wisconsin, Idaho, Nevada, and California. I'm going to break these posts up into three installments. So let's just jump right in with part 1!
Our last picture in front of our Branchwood Lane house. I loved that house and was so sad to leave it. I wasn't the only one. I think every one of us shed a few tears as we left it for the last time.
Getting ready for our road trip (I love that Josie's face changed in every shot here).
And thus began the Indiana exodus. Sammie kept herself entertained with the iPad. (And notice all that green out the window? Sigh, I miss that most of all.)
Our first stop was Wisconsin, where we got to hang out with our very best friends, the Petersens. It was a very relaxing few days filled with good food, lots of fun, and the best of company.
They have a family in their branch (church congregation) who has the sweetest backyard pool set up. We got to go swimming there one afternoon and it was so much fun. I have never wanted a backyard pool until we experienced this one (Justin feels the same way). So fun!
Sammie, always the baby whisperer, is loving baby Kate.
We got to go and pick fresh strawberries!
Where we ate just as many as we picked.
We took a few walks to the drugstore for popsicles (and exercised our right to dress up however we wanted).
Basically it was a fun last "Midwest" hurrah with the team. Hopefully next year they will move closer again and we can see them frequently.
After we left Wisconsin, we drove through Minnesota. It was a very exciting drive (clearly). We did stop at a cool park for lunch and watched some boat races and saw some duck and goose families. Of course I didn't photograph any of it (way to go, Ariane).
From there we headed to South Dakota. Now, you may not know this, but South Dakota is actually fascinating. Like, for real. There is a lot to do there. We had heard that we needed to stop at Wall Drug first. "What is Wall Drug?", you ask. Good question. I honestly don't know. It's kind of like this strip mall in the middle of nowhere. There are lots of interesting shops, some really overpriced (and very average tasting) food, a fake dinosaur that scared the crap out of my kids, and a jackalope that - well - I'm not sure what the deal with the jackalope was, but you could sit on it for pictures. So we did.
See?? Jackalope. All told, I was a little disappointed in Wall Drug, but I'll recommend it to anyone who happens to be driving past it because, hey, why not.
From there we went to Mt. Rushmore. I was really excited to see this! For me, Mt. Rushmore sort of symbolizes the epitome of a family road trip vacation. Like, your road trip wasn't a success unless you stopped at Mt. Rushmore (thanks for dropping the ball mom and dad, my childhood was a complete disaster). Why do I feel this way? No idea, but I
really, truly did. Even when several people told me how lame it was, I was still really gung ho and insistent that we see it.
And, was it lame?
NO!! I loved it! The weather was absolutely perfect on the day we went so we were able to walk the trail that takes you around the mountain and learn a bunch of cool facts about the presidents on the monument and the monument itself. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and, I daresay, my family did too! Not sure I'd go back (it's kind of a "once you see it, you've seen it" sort of thing) but I'm really glad I crossed it off my bucket list!
My one issue was we couldn't seem to find a good spot to take a picture with the monument in the background. So we have this cute one of Justin and Sammie...
And this okayish one of me and the kids (with the hall of flags behind us - every state flag is displayed here). Oh yeah, and the awesome photobombing girl in the background.
After Mt. Rushmore we headed to Reptile World. Reptile World is the largest reptile museum in the WORLD! It was really cool. We had to choose between that and bear world and I think we chose correctly. We saw snakes and lizards and turtles and crocodiles and alligators. It was pretty awesome.
We got to see the crocodile/alligator show. This guy who ran it was pretty funny and put on a really fun and exciting show. Was he going to make it out alive or not?? The suspense was all part of the fun (spoiler: he lived).
Oh, there was also a groundhog exhibit. Because what are reptiles without groundhogs I ask you!
Then we got to see these huge tortises. A few of my kids had near misses when they nearly ended up in the pool with them, but thankfully they were saved.
We had a full day in South Dakota for sure. I had gotten each of my kids a trip journal. Every time we stopped for the night, the kids had to write (or draw) in their journal the things they did and saw that day (I did it too). It was a really great part of the experience for me, reading what things they really liked from that day. And the kids seemed to really get into it too (except Noah, he didn't love it so much - but he did it!).
The first leg of our road trip was a good time. The kids were really good in the car, and we were having a great time as a family. As I look back on these pictures, I sort of miss all our family togetherness time (not quite enough to recreate it right now, but still, it was great).
I'll end with our best family picture from Mt. Rushmore. See how small the monument is? That's probably what surprised me most. It always seems more grand in pictures.
Coming up...Road Trip part 2, where we narrowly escape death in the scariest motel in West Yellowstone.
