Summer vacation!! We’ve been talking about several places we want to visit with the kids, but have put many of them on hold, saying we’d wait until we saved more money or they were a little older. Well, it hit us recently that the kids are doing just that. Getting older! And by just waiting, we’re missing out on valuable time. We made a goal long ago to get the kids to as many states as we can before they leave home. So, this year, we decided to do our first real road trip with the kids. Yes, we’ve been on many road trips before - Ohio, the beach… but the places are always the same - one destination, where we drive straight through. This summer, we spent six days on an adventure through Iowa, South Dakota, and Nebraska, stopping at many places along the way, making tons of memories.
We got up bright and early on Saturday morning and headed out. Our first official destination was Sioux City, Iowa. Driving up in a rental car made the vacation even more of an adventure. The kids had fun goofing off with the windows down in the backseat, and Riley learned how to made passing truckers honk their horns. We arrived around 12:30 and went straight to a children’s museum called Launchpad. We were a little disappointed when we got inside and saw how small it was, but the kids were just excited to be out of the car and we made the most of it. They pretended to be on the news and did weather reports, worked together with Daddy to get blocks stacked high enough to make the little balls at the top pour down on top of them, went ‘grocery shopping’ and made us pizza at the little restaurant, played with a life size Light Bright and water table, and more. When we finished, we got back in the car and drove to a nearby nature center where attempted a little hike and playing on the playscape, but we were being overwhelmed by moths and finally decided to cut our visit a bit short. Once we got checked into our hotel, we ventured back out for dinner and SoHo, a NY themed restaurant, stopped for frozen yogurt, and then went back to the hotel to swim for a little while. We were all exhausted! It was definitely a long day. The parts we saw of Iowa were very flat and industrial. Not much to see out the window while we drove, and once we got into town it was filled with factories.
Sunday morning, we again headed out early. As we crossed the border into South Dakota, Jarrod and I watched the sunrise out one side of the car and a lightning show out the other side. It was quite amazing. We ended up stopping in Mitchell, SD and had an awful breakfast at Perkins. The pancakes weren’t even cooked through. How crazy is that? We realized that Mitchell is the home to the Corn Palace, but they weren’t open while we were there so we just explored the outside. The building was covered in murals created entirely from corn and other grains. This year’s theme was Rock of Ages, so there were musicians on display made of corn. So cool! But, after our short visit, it was back on the road. We played the alphabet game as a family - definitely brought back memories of being a kid myself on road trips!
Our next stop were The Badlands. I feel crazy for even admitting this but they weren’t even on our original agenda. I don’t really know why….maybe because they were farther away from Mount Rushmore than I though would make for a good adventure, but someone mentioned it and we realized they were actually on our way so we made that a pitstop. Oh my word. I am SO glad we did. The Badlands are completely breathtaking! Gorgeous is an understatement! We did a couple little trails out to see into the canyon and took tons of pictures. We even got to FaceTime with Mimi and Beepa and showed them the beauty we were experiencing.
After the Badlands, we headed to Wall Drug. We read about Wall Drug in a book we go from the library. It started as a small drugstore that advertised free ice water for visitors going to and from the Badlands and Black Hills and has grown into a huge tourist attraction with shops, restaurants, panning for gems, and more. That was an interesting place to walk around, but it was probably the best burger I’d had in a long time. After we explored there a little and tried to shop for some souvenirs (no luck) we hopped back in the car and made the final drive into the Black Hills and got checked into our hotel.
We said we were going to just rest once we got to the hotel before dinner, but that was short lived. We were all eager to explore, so we headed out and found a trailhead to try. It was A LOT of steps and steep hiking up a hill, but we got to see a few deer along the way and a beautiful overlook. After coming back down the trail, we found a pizza place to sit down at for dinner, opened the front door, and saw you had to walk up stairs to get to the counter. Riley didn’t miss a beat when she shouted, ‘Ugh, more stairs!’ We all laughed so much. She never fails to make us life…our comic relief for sure. Dinner was yummy, and we enjoyed swimming afterwards before bed.
Our next morning started out with breakfast at the hotel and we ventured out to see the some sights! First up - Crazy Horse. We didn’t know much about Crazy Horse when we headed to South Dakota. It was listed as an attraction to see, but most people go to SD to see Mount Rushmore as it gets all the publicity. Well, Crazy Horse was awesome. It’s a work in progress, and has been for quite some time! It was began in 1948, and is still decades away from being complete. Mount Rushmore is about 60 ft. high; when complete, Crazy Horse will be almost 600 ft. high! It’s quite amazing and we loved hearing about the original sculptor and his family, and how his children and grandchildren are still working on the mountain. We took a little bus tour of the area, and saw lots of woodchucks along the way.
Next up - Mount Rushmore. A couple years ago, Riley learned a song on ABC Mouse about Mt. Rushmore and has been singing it ever since. This past winter, after learning about Washington and Lincoln during President’s Day, she stared talking about Mount Rushmore again and was really the inspiration for planning this roadtrip. She was really excited when we arrived at Mount Rushmore and could see all the faces. It was really neat to walk up to the monument and see the walkway with the flags of all the states - very patriotic. We took the Presidential Walk throughout the property to view the monument at different places, visited a little workshop and saw what the sculpture was supposed to look like, and of course, visited the gift shop.
After leaning Mount Rushmore, we decided to try one of the scenic drives we’d read about - Needles Highway. We followed the directions to find the start of it and were surprised to learn we had to pay for a pass to drive the highway. I thought it was kind of crazy at first until I saw how amazing that drive was! Needles Highway is a narrow and windy drive up and down the mountain with some insane tunnels to drive through. At one point, you stop the car to get out and explore the rocks and find that one rock is actually shaped like a needle, with a hole as the ‘eye.’ The kids and Jarrod started climbing all the rocks without hesitation, even Riley who is afraid of heights. I will be the first to admit that I was very nervous about them climbing, especially since Riley was leading the way up some of the rocks. She was braver than I have seen her be before and I probably should have kept my fears to myself but I couldn’t help it. I’m a mom, after all. ;) The beauty that surrounds you all throughout the Black Hills is so hard to put into words, and this scenic drive was no exception.
We headed back toward town and headed to dinner (not the best choice - a Mexican joint on the main strip in town, which ended up being SO expensive and not that great). Riley fell asleep at the dinner table, and after dinner, we went on one more drive to see where the Wildlife Loop started for the next morning. On our way, we found four bison, just hanging out on the side of the road. So amazing to see them just chilling not far from cabins and homes. We headed back to our hotel and swam for a little bit with the kids before turning in. There were storm warnings that night in Custer (of course, right?! It was the first time since 2010 that they were in a moderate risk for hail and tornadoes.) The kids watched a movie on the laptop while Jarrod and I watched some tv and monitored the storms. Gavin fell asleep early (like 7!) while watching the movie, but woke up around 10:30 not feeling well and threw up. Stupid Mexican restaurant! But immediately after getting back into bed, he started asking about breakfast, so I knew he couldn’t be too sick. Ha!
We woke up the next morning and had breakfast at the hotel and made a last minute decision to check out a day early and head to Omaha later that day. We packed that hotel room up fast and got on the road to do the Wildlife Loop. Originally, we had reservations to do an open air Jeep safari of the Wildlife Loop area, but it was pricey and after seeing so many animals just while we were out driving, we decided to cancel our tour and do the loop on our own. We didn’t see quite as many animals as I had hoped, but we did see lots of deer, pronghorns (speed goats), prairie dogs, and donkeys. We saw a herd of buffalo in the distance but couldn’t get close. Just as we exited the Wildlife Loop to get on the road to Nebraska, we saw traffic was slowing, and bam! Buffalo everywhere. Babies running alongside their mamas, crossing the road and making snorting noises. It was amazing! We could have reached out and touched some of them, they were that close to us. It was the perfect ending for our South Dakota experience.
We were so happy with our decision to pack up and get on the road early. There were more drives and hikes we could have done in South Dakota, but it definitely made our time in Omaha more enjoyable. We arrived around dinner time and checked into our hotel. It was an amazing hotel! Even Hotels…there aren’t very many of them but they are part of the Holiday Inn family and geared toward the ‘active’ traveler. The rooms all have workout equipment in them, the gym is amazing, there are water machines for filling water bottles in the hallways. It was so neat! And, the hotel room had two super comfortable king size beds. Not too shabby! After unloading the car, we headed to the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge. It’s the longest pedestrian bridge over a body of water (about 3000ft long over the Missouri River). In the middle of the bridge, there’s a marking in the middle to indicate the state line, so we were able to stand in both Nebraska and Iowa at once. It was pretty neat! And, once again, Riley proved how brave she was and conquered her fear of heights on that bridge. I was so proud of her! We headed to the Marketplace to walk around and find a restaurant for dinner, and ate at an old Spaghetti Warehouse type place. It was a really good meal for the cost. After a long day, we were all ready to head back and get to bed, but stopped and grabbed a cupcake on our way for dessert.
We were so happy with our decision to pack up and get on the road early. There were more drives and hikes we could have done in South Dakota, but it definitely made our time in Omaha more enjoyable. We arrived around dinner time and checked into our hotel. It was an amazing hotel! Even Hotels…there aren’t very many of them but they are part of the Holiday Inn family and geared toward the ‘active’ traveler. The rooms all have workout equipment in them, the gym is amazing, there are water machines for filling water bottles in the hallways. It was so neat! And, the hotel room had two super comfortable king size beds. Not too shabby! After unloading the car, we headed to the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge. It’s the longest pedestrian bridge over a body of water (about 3000ft long over the Missouri River). In the middle of the bridge, there’s a marking in the middle to indicate the state line, so we were able to stand in both Nebraska and Iowa at once. It was pretty neat! And, once again, Riley proved how brave she was and conquered her fear of heights on that bridge. I was so proud of her! We headed to the Marketplace to walk around and find a restaurant for dinner, and ate at an old Spaghetti Warehouse type place. It was a really good meal for the cost. After a long day, we were all ready to head back and get to bed, but stopped and grabbed a cupcake on our way for dessert.
The next morning, we were up early to find it was pouring…which wasn’t in the forecast. Thankfully, the rain was moving out quickly, so we headed to a bakery for breakfast that the front desk recommended - ended up being the most expensive meal of our trip…ridiculous! Back at the hotel, we boarded the hotel shuttle and were dropped off at the zoo, which was our reason for staying in Omaha to begin with . It was an a wonderful zoo! We were really impressed with it, and enjoyed exploring for the day. Both kids got to touch stingray, and Gavin and Jarrod tried feeding one (both freaked out and just dropped the fish into the water). We really lucked out because the rain kept the temperatures down for the early part of the day, and it didn’t start to heat up really until after noon. We snacked all day at the zoo, and headed back to the hotel to change and head out for an early dinner. The shuttle driver recommended a brewery to eat at in the Marketplace district that was phenomenal, and our waitress there told us about a little ice cream shop around the corner that we stopped at before heading back to the hotel to swim one last time. Again, we were in bed at a decent hour and ready to travel home the next morning. In true Jarrod fashion, he woke us up around 3:00 and we all got dressed and loaded into the car to head home.
This road trip was absolutely amazing! It was something we’d talked about for a long time, but kept putting off because I didn’t know if Riley was old enough, and because I was worried it would be an expensive trip. It turned out to be perfect, and not too expensive at all. The kids were fantastic travelers and we made so many memories. It sparked a fire in me to do more road trips and explore more of our country with the kids. We traveled around 2100 miles over the six days, visited three states, and saw cars from 42 states. As soon as we got home, we put the pins in our map to document all our stops. I can’t wait to add more!
This road trip was absolutely amazing! It was something we’d talked about for a long time, but kept putting off because I didn’t know if Riley was old enough, and because I was worried it would be an expensive trip. It turned out to be perfect, and not too expensive at all. The kids were fantastic travelers and we made so many memories. It sparked a fire in me to do more road trips and explore more of our country with the kids. We traveled around 2100 miles over the six days, visited three states, and saw cars from 42 states. As soon as we got home, we put the pins in our map to document all our stops. I can’t wait to add more!
