All 50 Road Trip-June 5, 2018, Day 25
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Mitchell, South Dakota to Independence, MO
Due to the time change and laundry, Robby and I were up until after 1 last night. We still woke up fine though we probably should have woke up earlier, but in our defense we have been doing this for 26 days so we are probably just a bit tired. When the boys and Campbell were dressed this morning, Robby sent them down to breakfast together. They were almost finished when we made it down to breakfast so we sent them to get the cart and start loading it up.
Soon we were back in the car for our 7 hour day. Like always, on our long driving day, our first stop was minutes away from the hotel. The Corn Palace was under construction the last time we were there, but this time the only construction was working on the murals for next year. We walked around looking at the murals. We even sat in on a video about the Corn Palace for a few minutes and listened to a lady explain some of the murals. My girls love gift shops as much as I do, however, we didn’t need anything from the Corn Palace since we already have a Christmas ornament from there.
On the way out though, Robby did decide that we needed some popcorn for the ride today. When we climbed back in the car, we passed out popcorn, drinks and ipads in hopes that we could get on down to the road. Now, on the way we started seeing signs for De Smet. Aww, that is where Laura Ingalls Wilder lived. We went there the last time we were here, and it was just magical. I will agree with Robby though that we probably don’t have enough time, but I am still a little bummed to miss it.
Sioux Falls, South Dakota we stopped at Falls Park for a few minutes. We walked around the falls and took a few pictures. The thing that we noticed the most aout the Falls Park was that it is hot outside. Hot! I guess it is hot at home as well but when we left home, it was still coolish. When we left there, I drove some. The kids watched a movie, and Robby passed out lunch. Today’s lunch was crackers, cheese and spam. This used to be a treat to most except I think now most everyone likes it better when we fry it at home.
Soon we were in Iowa or some state nearby and stopped at a part of the Lewis and Clark trail We walked through the Visitor’s Center. Then we walked on the Bob Kerry Pedestrian Bridge where you could stand in Iowa and Nebraska simultaneously. It was a warm walk but on the way back, we did walk through some fountains to cool everyone off. From there, we walked back into the Visitor’s Center planning to watch their movie about Lewis and Clark. We sat down and watched about 2 minutes before realizing that it was the same movie that we had already watched at one of the Lewis and Clark sites that we have been to on this trip.
From there, we went by the stadium that hopefully the Hogs will be playing at next week followed by some fun on a slide downtown. We had stumbled upon the slide last time we were here and the kids still enjoyed it. Next stop was the birthplace of Gerald Ford, who was born in Omaha. Who knew?
Back in the car, we drove on until we found a gas stop that looked like it had slushies. The kids were able to pick out a drink and after filling up we were back on the road. Robby and I spent a good bit of time reviewing BBQ restaurants in Kansas City to see where we wanted to eat supper tonight. The kids listened to a movie. They all have radios so they are able to use their headphones/earbuds to listen to the movie. That is wonderful because it doesn’t have to be so incredibly loud for Robby and me.
A bridge was out in Kansas City so we had to take a forever detour. It probably wasn’t forever but since it was nearing 8, and we were starving it seemed like forever. BBQ was waiting for us at Joes KC BBQ. It was one of Les’ recommendations, and when we saw the 30+ person line at 8:30 at night we knew we had chosen well.
Robby had called ahead so he was able to bypass the line, and since we had seen a park on the way there, we stopped to eat there. The kids were thrilled that we had a playground that they could run around on, and we were thrilled that we had real food to enjoy. The BBQ was delicious. We had ribs and sandwiches. The beans were pretty different and good, but not my favorite. It took us a few minutes to get everything ready to eat.
After we ate, the kids played some more while we cleaned up, and then we headed to our next stop. We did take a picture of the giant shuttlecock on the way to Winsteads for a quick milkshake. We were here in 2014 for a milkshake. We looked at the pictures of that visit, and the kids looked so sweet and precious. Now they are just all grown up!
We didn’t tell the kids that we were getting a huge milkshake and that the milkshake would came with people playing a tambourine and shouting. As we were waiting, Anderson wondered aloud if the milkshake came with a parade. Indeed it did! Once again, the kids’ eyes were huge as they delivered the milkshake. Last time we just ate one, but this time we were able to pretty much eat every bit of both milkshakes.
Our hotel was 20 minutes away, and it was nearly 11 when we got inside of our room. The kids changed and then played their ipads for just a minute before going to sleep. Everyone is exhausted today, except for Whitman who had a good nap this afternoon in his car seat. He is still going strong in the couch bed by Graham.
All 50 Road Trip-June 4, 2018, Day 24
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Rapid City, South Dakota to Mitchell, South Dakota
Before I begin today’s blog, let’s spend a few minutes talking about the things that we have lost on this trip. First, there was the toothbrush/toothpaste debacle causing us to lose 6 toothbrushes and a tube of toothpaste. Then on the cruise ship, I lost a pair of fingernail clippers. Don’t know how that happened since I used them one day and couldn’t find them the next. Robby wasn’t in my room, so I can’t blame him. Keaton has lost 2 earring backs, but that is of no worries. Also, I guess you could say that we briefly lost a windshield wiper when it flew off of the car, but we retrieved that so it surely doesn’t count. Yes, there is the one hubcap we lost before the cruise and then the other one we lost after the cruise. Now, I can’t take any blame for those. And last night, we discovered that we are missing a pair of Anderson’s pajamas. Not a huge deal, but urgh I hate losing things. Plus there is one missing sock (one of mine, no less) from laundry a few nights ago. And there is now two things of chapstick that I can't find. Things like this could cause me to lose my mind! We have just a few days left so I am going to try my hardest not to let us lose anything else.
We slept a bit later last night which was nice because we were up a bit with laundry. Reagan wanted us to wash her blanket and since laundry was free we did. However, the washing machine wouldn’t spin her blankets. After two times Robby had to put it in the dryer sopping wet. He tried to wring it out the best he could. It then took two drying times to get it dry enough to just bring back to the room to hang up for the night. Robby did dry it this morning again when he woke up and it was finally dry.
The breakfast was much nicer than yesterday. The kids sure enjoyed it so we were there a bit longer than we should have. Ur next stop was then Walmart to pick up some lunch items. The kids and I sat in the car taking bets on when Robby would come back to the car. Then I ran in Walgreens looking for stamps while Robby picked up some Redbox movies. I was out of luck on stamps though they use to have them. We have been gone practically a month and can’t manage to send the kids postcards home! I have been in at least 3 post offices that have been closed as well. Maybe tomorrow.
On our way to Wall Drug, we counted almost 60 Wall Drug signs. That passed the time very quickly. We pottied and then enjoyed walking around. All of the kids enjoyed climbing up on a jackalope. I was pregnant with Reagan when we came to Wall Drug. I wanted my picture on the Jackalope so Robby hoisted me to the top of it. It was quite a site him getting me to the top. When I sat down for the picture, I looked to the other side and saw the set of stairs leaving to the top of the statue.
We walked around a bit and then finally had some ice cream before climbing back into the car. It wasn’t too far to the Badlands, and we listened to a few podcasts about that. We did stop a few times to take pictures for the view and do a bit of climbing. We did see some pronghorn antelope on the trail. The Badlands are pretty interesting. They are not necessarily the best scenery we have seen, but it was certainly neat to see.
We stopped at the Visitor’s Center and had a picnic lunch. It is hot here! I don’t think I really remember hot. Maybe I am more suited for Alaskan weather. The kids climbed a little bit and threw the football some. Then we went inside to look around. We saw people working on fossils, went through the Visitor’s Center, watched the movie (well, they probably did, but I happened to close my eyes during a little bit of it), and then the kids turned in their Jr. Ranger books.
From there, we drove out of the park and headed to the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site. Years ago Robby and I went to this NHS. We were offered a tour of the site, and to do that we climbed in a Ranger’s pick up and drove out to a missile site. It was quite an odd experience, but when we go down to the site, it was like it had been left untouched for 40 or how ever many years.
Now, the MInuteman site has an incredibly nice Visitor’s Center that we walked through. They had a 30 minute movie but that is a bit on the long side for us and besides we had other things to do. After we walked through the exhibits, we jumped back in the car. We passed out drinks and snacks and then turned on a movie. Eeek. Our movie choice, though it looked family friendly, was not! We quickly switched to one that was much more family friendly and headed on our way down the interstate.
Let’s discuss how nice seeing the interstate was this morning. We hadn’t really seen an interstate since Canada. Most of the roads that we have been on lately have been 2 lane roads that are incredibly straight and looooonnngg. We were a bit disappointed when our time changed back to Central Standard Time this afternoon. I guess that means that we are really heading home.
Robby stopped about an hour outside of Mitchell to pick up pizzas and for a potty stop. We ate our pizzas in the car while heading on to the Corn Palace. The kids finished their movie and played on their ipads the entire time. I looked at my calendar some and tried to make a mental plan for this weekend and next week and began to hyperventilate!
We changed on our minds on the way and skipped the Corn Palace tonight and headed straight to our hotel. The hotel was the big event of the day. The kids remembered it from the last time that we were here-a huge waterslide in the hotel. They didn’t know that we were coming here so when we pulled up they were thrilled. I have never seen people get out of the car so quickly.
The kids threw on their bathing suits, and we headed to the pool. They all went down the slide as many times as possible in the 2 hours that we were there. Robby unloaded the car while I watched them, then we switched and I worked on the room while he watched the kids. We even let them stay a bit longer than we had planned since everyone was having so much fun.
When we were back in the room, everyone showered while Robby ran down to do a load of laundry. Currently, the kids have just laid down, and Robby went to retrieve the laundry from the dryer. Hopefully, it is dry so I can fold it as soon as everyone is asleep. Tomorrow is a big driving day so we will need to get a move on in the morning!
Bucket List (as of June 4, 2018)
On this year's All 50 Road Trip, we have created a fairly decent Bucket List of places to go and things to see. Here is the current list:
- Overnight stay at Zion NP Lodge
- Overnight stay at Lake Crescent Lodge in Olympic NP
- Multi-night stay at Old Faithful Lodge in Yellowstone NP
- Overnight stay at Mt. Rainier NP Inn
- Drive all of the Natchez Trace Parkway
- Hot air balloon ride (Robby only)
- See the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
- Take the kids to Soarin' Colorado
- Raft the Colorado River with kids
- Overnight stay in Paris Hotel, Las Vegas with kid
- Multi-night stay at Lake George/Ticonderoga area
All 50 Road Trip-June 3, 2018, Day 23
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Hot Springs, South Dakota to Rapid City, South Dakota
At 6 this morning, Robby and I woke up. The curtains in this hotel weren’t very good because it was crazy bright in our room. We were tired enough though that it didn’t matter and all snoozed perfectly well. Everyone was still sound asleep when I went to take my shower. It took a bit of time to stir the kids before they really woke up.
Reagan, Anderson and Robby took a load of stuff to the car while the rest of us went to breakfast. We ate quickly because the old hotel lady seemed to be staring at us as we ate. The breakfast wasn’t all that so we didn’t stick around too long.
Once in the car, we headed straight to Wind Cave National Park. The kids somehow know when to be quiet. They were silent last night getting into the hotel. Then this morning when Robby got pulled over for going 46 in a 35, they were perfect. No one said anything, though Keaton got a bit upset since she thought Robby was going to jail. Thankfully, he was just given a warning which is nice since we could see the 45 miles per hour sign.
We soon and safely made it to Wind Cave National Park. We saw more buffalo and a coyote in the fields around the park. Then we walked inside to pick up tickets for the tour. It was first come, first serve, and as we walked towards the door, I urged them to walk quickly to get ahead of the people in front of us. Thankfully, we did beat them, and Robby jumped in line for the tickets. We snatched the last 8 tickets for the next tour which was great.
The tour guide could not have been any better. He was really great, and everyone was attentive. The tour was about an hour and a half. We walked down many stairs and through room after room decorated with intricate boxwork. The ranger turned off all of the lights at one point. Whitman stuck right by me during all of this holding my hand, but he wasn’t scared at all.
The cave was pretty neat to see. Afterwards, we headed to the car and pressed on towards a real lunch. After last night’s supper and today’s tiny breakfast, we needed something real-ish to eat.
We found a Subway in Custer, but before we stopped we did get the car washed. It was the longest car wash ever and quite possibly the loudest. I am not sure if all of the noise came from Campbell and Keaton in the back squealing with delight or if the noise was actually from the car wash. One the car was back to white or at least semi white, we went next door to Subway.
We devoured 4 sandwiches, chips and a dozen cookies. Most everyone had my favorite chicken teriyaki. We were there for a for a good little bit enjoying our food. Then we loaded up to head to Jewel Cave National Monument. They were out of tours until 4 so we didn’t stick around for a tour. We did however, walk around the Visitor’s Center, bought an ornament and walked a short little .25 mile circle trail that was uphill the entire way.
Now by the time we climbed back in the car, the weather was warm. I know that the weather is here is about 15 degrees cooler than it is at home, but the warm air has made my people a bit fussy. I tried to explain that this was still coolish, but no one agreed!
From there, we drove a short distance to Custer State Park. Robby and I have been there before on two different occasions. The first was just us, and we enjoyed it so much that we wanted to bring the kids back. We did bring the first 4 back at some point and even have a video of them here. Today, we a bit of a bust though in Custer State Park. We did see some antelope and a few buffalo. Before we remember seeing just herds of buffalo. Also, the big attraction here is the begging burrow, but today the burrow were off in some field being resting burrow. We watched them, we waited on them and even tried to call them, but they didn’t move at all. There was no feeding of the begging burrow today.
We then drove up the Needles Highway for bit. Then we realized that was not the highway that we wanted to be on. So we diverted to the Iron Mountain Road. That is the highway that has the tunnels that frame Mr. Rushmore. We tried to get a picture but it was so bright outside that the picture didn’t really work out too well. Some of the bridges on the highway are called the Pigtail bridges and they were definitely that because we made a triple loop going down. It was a pretty drive into Mt. Rushmore.
We walked around the exhibits at Mt. Rushmore and even walked what was open of a short trail in front of the the mountain. Of course, we took a few more pictures before heading down to Keystone for supper. We had a fear that it was already too late to find a supper spot, so we did stop at an overpriced BBQ place. Not only was it overpriced, but somehow we ended up with an extra kids meal. The food was decent so it still ended up being a much better meal than last night. Other than the cruise, we have only eaten at a sit down restaurant (not fast food) probably only 3 or 4 times. We have only had fast food maybe 4 times, but we sure have gone through 9 loaves of bread!
From Keystone, it was about 20 minutes to Rapid City. I have always enjoyed the drive outside of Rapid City because there are tons of touristy attractions to look out. Soon we were in our hotel room. It is a brand new hotel room with a complete kitchen and the price was just the same as last nights old lady hotel. As soon as we came into the room, Robby gathered the laundry and started on it.
Right now, Campbell is finishing up her shower with Keaton and Whitman being next. The clothes are in the dryer so hopefully we won’t be up too late tonight.
All 50 Road Trip-June 2, 2018, Day 22
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Glendive, Montana to Hot Springs, South Dakota + Roosevelt NP, North Dakota
Again we all slept well last night. Graham’s coughing was too a minimum, and everyone seemed refreshed this morning. Though when Robby says, “if you don’t get up now, you will miss breakfast,” it always does light a fire under the kids. No one wants to miss breakfast. Although the breakfast attendant probably wants for us to miss breakfast. We certainly do get our money’s worth out of a hotel breakfast. The boys each drink at least 2 cartons of chocolate milk, and everyone took a cinnamon roll to go this morning.
It was about 8:30 when we hit the road. We were on an interstate this morning which was nice after yesterday’s miles and miles of seeing no one on the road. Though the interstate was kind of deserted as well The kids played their ipads this morning until our first stop at Roosevelt National Park.
On the way there, we crossed the state line into North Dakota completing Whitman’s 50 state journey. We jumped out of the car for him to take his picture with the state sign. Then everyone joined him for a real “We’ve been to all 50 states” picture. The one in Alaska was a bit premature since Whitman had not yet completed his 50th state, which we knew, but it will make for a prettier Christmas card picture.
After jumping back in the car, Robby and I discussed that we have probably been to all 50 states at least twice now. We finished our 50th state with Reagan and possibly Anderson were babies. Now, we have gotten 4 more kids to all 50 state so I guess that means that we should have us a sign reading “we’ve been to all 50 states at least twice!”
It was crazy windy when we were taking our picture. The sky was filled with clouds, and the temperature wasn’t too chilly. The wind, however, was wild! Ar Roosevelt NP we drove around some of the park loop road stopping at Prairie Dog Town to take a picture or two. It was pretty difficult opening the car doors due to the wind.
Then we walked through the Visitor’s Center. We watched the movie, walked around the museum, and took our picture with Roosevelt, his wife and son Quentin. When we left, Campbell asked, “is he crazy?”
Then we were back into Montana to head towards Wyoming for our next stop. The road was just as straight as last nights road except it didn’t feel straight because Robby was fighting the wind the entire time. We would swerve all around the road. The kids didn’t notice too much since they were watching a movie while we listened to an old church service.
Whitman has had 2 bathroom accidents in the car so now whenever he mentions that he needs to potty, we pull over. I was the one that got out this time with him. It was so, so windy. I thought for a good while trying to figure out which way they wind was blowing and which way I wanted to aim Whitman. He was facing in the right direction and we didn’t get wet, but he water the grass for at least 10 feet in front of him.
We hadn’t gone that much further when Keaton said that she needed to potty as well. There was nothing for miles. We could tell this because we could see at least 5 miles in front of us at all times. We pulled over and she went. It was much more of a challenge than when Whitman had to go. Anderson and Graham also decided that they should go as well. Whitman didn’t want to be left so he climbed out of the car as well.
After everyone was back in the car, I quickly looked at the GPS to see how much longer we had to go before we made it to a real stop. It was 2 hours! We probably should passed out the kids water bottles and lemonade so quickly this morning.
We were less than an hour away when we saw it, an oasis. A gas station that looked open. It was my favorite thing that I have seen all day long. Campbell, Keaton, Whitman and I rushed in. We all pottied and eve marveled at probably the whole town of wherever we were inside the gas station having Saturday lunch. There were just 8 of them but everyone seemed to know each other.
After our blessed potty stop, we jumped back on the road. I passed out lunch, and everyone ate while we listened to a podcast about Devil’s Tower. We soon were at the parking lot at Devil’s Tower. We walked through the Visitor’s Center. Then we did the short little trail around the tower. It was a bit over a mile, and all of the kids enjoyed climbing over the boulders off of the trail.
Then it was back on the road to Sundance. We listened to a podcast on the way there about the film festival. We listened to most of the podcast when we discovered that the Sundance Film Festival is not in Wyoming, but it is in Utah. Oops. Now, we know more about Sundance at least.
We listened to a podcast about Wild Bill Hickok on the way to Deadwood. He was actually killed and buried in Deadwood. We stopped to watch a man carving things out of wood. Campbell and Whitman were sleeping so I stood by the car. I have always wanted one of those bears at my house. I did see the price tags so maybe another day.
We then walked through Mt. Moriah Cemetary to see the graves of Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane. Then we headed to find something to eat. Robby had found a spaghetti place. The kids and I jumped out and waited to put our name on the list. Robby was back from parking the car when the man finally came. I told him we had 8 but could do 4 and 4. He told us it would be over an hour and pretty much said nope.
So we headed out to look for something else. I found another spot but there kitchen wasn’t open. Then we walked through another restaurant, actually two more restaurants, not to find any seating at all. Possibly having a few less kids might have helped, but we weren’t looking for a huge table, we would have just taken a table for four. We continually struck out on places to eat and eventually ended up back in the car. I was starving when we made it to the car and was pretty sure the kids were. I handed out their ipads though and surprisingly that sufficed and no one said anything about eating.
As we were driving towards Mt. Rushmore, we drove past another restaurant, pulled in the parking lot even, and it was closed. We finally decided that it would be a snacky supper so I started pulling out food. Unfortunately, our food choices are getting a bit slim. I did manage to pass out peanut butter crackers along with squirt cheese and crackers, followed by cheese sticks which were then followed by cookies.
By the time I cleaned up, we came to a town full of food choices. I think that everyone had enough to eat though so we pressed on towards the main attraction. Tonight they were to light Mt. Rushmore at 9:30. We arrived just a bit before 9. Parking was breeze, and then we pottied before getting out books stamped.
Then we went to see the presentation. At 9, the ranger started talking about Francis Scott Key and then recited the Star Spangled Banner poem. Then they played a video about Mt. Rushmore. Near the end of the video, the heads all become lit up as America the Beautiful played. It was pretty impressive.
Following that, we all stood and sang the Star Spangled Banner. We thought it was over, when the ranger asked for all of the military men and women to come down and help take down the flag. The stage was full of men and women and the crowd clapped and cheered as they went toward the stage. Then we all stood in silence as they lowered the flag.
All of that was just wonderful. Earlier in the day, I had told the kids that I thought we could probably put away our coats because things were warming up. Things weren’t warm tonight at Mt. Rushmore. We did have our coats but were still chilly.
Robby had thought that we were just 20 minutes from our hotel, but when he turned on the gps, he discovered that we were an hour from the hotel. We would have still probably gone to Mt. Rushmore even if we had known our hotel was an hour away, but gracious we were a bit disappointed about the drive ahead of us.
The kids never noticed since they had their ipads. As we left Mt. Rushmore tonight, the ranger told everyone to be careful for deer on their way home. So we drove a bit slower than normal with Robby and I both looking for deer. We have seen at least a hundred today, but didn’t see a one tonight.
We also didn’t see any elk or buffalo tonight. The signs were everywhere about them, so we crawled to our hotel scanning the side of the road carefully. I hope the animals are out in the morning though when we head back the same way.
Now, getting to a hotel is always, always crazy. Robby checks in while I work on the car. I collect everything that goes in, the kids straighten and then Robby is usually back with the cart. We load up and head quietly into the hotel. Quietly is the goal, but usually my people start losing their mind when we pull into a hotel parking lot.
Tonight’s hotel is a small, older hotel. We usually park at the side and go in that way. Why? Well, there are lots more of us than should actually be in a hotel room. We usually get a room with 2 beds and a couch but that still leaves 2 folks above the limit. As we were unloading, I asked Robby if I needed to go in with some of the kids first. He said that there was an old lady at the front who had to buzz us in so we might as well go all together.
I tried to tell the kids to act like less people and we headed to the front door. I knew she was counting us as we walked in. Robby, who was pushing the cart, had to ask about the elevator. The old front desk lady said that there wasn’t one and then she said, “now how many do we have?” Of course, Whitman is proud of the number 6 and quickly shouted it out.
She said, “well, you will need another room.” By this time, we knew there wasn’t an elevator, so kids were grabbing bags off of the cart without being told. I replied to the lady that we would just squeeze and up the stairs we quickly went.
The kids were absolutely perfect during all of this. Couldn’t have been any better. We thought everything was going to be fine, but Robby’s key didn’t work. So he left us all standing in the hallway holding all of our luggage. Sure enough the lady came upstairs to try out the new key! I should have stood in front of a few kids. She was able to open the door, we thanked her and quickly rushed into the room. Robby said that we will have to go to breakfast in shifts in the morning!
Whitman had a shower, but everyone else just put on their pjs. After a drink, it was time for bed since it was nearly midnight. That is late for my people, and we hope to get an early start in the morning.
Current Dennie Kid State Count (June 2, 2018):
Reagan-Complete at 12 years old-May 22, 2018, last state Alaska
Anderson-Complete at 11 years old-May 22, 2018, last state Alaska
Graham-Complete at 9 years old-May 22, 2018, last state Alaska
Campbell-Complete at 8 years old-May 22, 2018, last state Alaska
Keaton-Complete at 6 years old-May 22, 2018, last state Alaska
Whitman-Complete at 5 years old-June 2 2018, last state North Dakota
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