Four Presidents and a Buffalo

We had another amazing day. After a late start due to a few boys who needed to catch up on some rest we headed out for breakfast. You know you're getting a late start when the restaurant you walk to a hundred feet from your hotel is no longer serving food from the breakfast menu. After a hearty late morning meal we set off for Mount Rushmore, a mere three miles from our hotel. We walked the Presidents' Trail which offered great views from a variety of perspectives. Helpful plaques along the way gave great insight into the original concept, the design phase and the construction. After about an hour there we left for Custer State Park to search for wildlife. We stopped along the way beause some boulders forming an arch had fallen and we decided the Scout thing to do would be to put them back up

From the title of this post you can already guess the highlight of the day. We had seen a deer or two, and a donkey that had its head in a car eating snacks from children's hands, but the real attraction was just around the bend. One car length ahead of us walking down the road the same direction we were travelling was a huge buffalo. We got some great pictures from behind and as we passed the buffalo but apparently he did not appreciate having his photo taken. After we passed he took off after our car (or should I say the Stanton's bird attracting, buffalo inciting minivan) I sped up a bit and he kept coming. I got well out of range and stopped the car and got out and took a few more pictures. There were cries from inside the car for me to get back in which I promptly did. The only woman I heed more than Rebecca is Sherrill. I put a little more distance between us and the still sauntering buffalo and decided to take a few more pictures. I grabbed the camera and held it out the window aiming it behind the car. It was difficult to get the correct angle while steering so I asked Sherrill to take the wheel. I got the shock of my life when she did. She later indicated that she knew I was going to take the pictures with or without her help and helping to steer while I aimed the camera seemed the prudent thing to do. The second picture of the buffalo was taken this way. With the camera safely back in the car we zoomed ahead and on our way.

Our next stop was a visit to Crazy Horse, but the boys were wanting to keep the visit short and the admission price was 27 dollars. Now I know why they called him Crazy Horse. Sherrill clicked a few pictures as we joined a few other cars making a U-turn to head out of the park. We're off to dinner and Black Light Mini Golf in a bit.

Total distance traveled: 2157 miles

Total police radar traps: Still stuck on 7

Tickets: Still 0 but I am parked illegally because we went out to a Black Light miniature golf course and when we returned there was no parking left at our hotel. The front desk says we're in the clear but the sign in the adjoining shopping center says we'll be towed. There is no alternative so I'm hoping for the best. My streak of never having a parking ticket is in jeopardy. My lifetime speeding ticket count is 1. (Martha's Vineyard during the summer of 1985)

Wildlife sightings today: all mentioned in blog

From the Badlands to Mount Rushmore

Today was another great day. It looked like it was going to rain when we first got up this morning and it did sprinkle on us a bit during a ranger-led geology walk. One of the boys was not too thrilled with the lecture aspect of the walk and was predicting torrential downpours and tornadoes if we did not seek the comfort of the car immediately. The rain clouds went away from the sky and the child within a few minutes and all was well.

I was struck by the fact that we were encouraged to climb all over the rock formations. I was especially glad when the ranger himself said that it was fine to climb on the formations because Sherrill was skeptical in spite of printed literature I showed her. If the Badlands were in Maryland they would be roped off with "No Trespassing" signs. The fact that a gentle slope up to the top of a hill can lead to a precipitous drop on the other side led me to believe I should approve all ventures before they were undertaken. The boys proved to be extremely adventurous with a healthy dose of caution when they climbed. There were very few times when I had to decline the request to climb higher. The daredevil of the group is Conner. Nathan is a very protective big brother and there were many times last night and today that he would yell out "No!!" when Conner asked to scale a hill. The times when I overruled Nathan, he turned his back and told me that he refused to watch.

We hiked a trail last night after dinner and the first three pictures were taken on that hike. If you click on the first picture and look closely you can see people up in the hills. That is the top of the Notch Trail which we hiked today. I got some great pictures from that same spot. The second picture is of a deer that was about twenty feet away from us having dinner in a thicket. Conner is holding the moon in the next picture. The picture further down that has what look to be bird's nests made out of made are in fact bird's nests made out of mud.

The Notch Trail was rated as strenuous but we were ready for it. It was just difficult enough that the boys exerted themselves scrambling up and down over hills and boulders but was short enough that we didn't overdo it. The frequent signs to be on the lookout for rattlesnakes gave Sherrill some pause but we didn't see any as it turned out.

After the hikes were over we bade farewell to the Badlands and headed west. A few miles up the road was one of the sites for a Minuteman Missile. There was a guided tour given by cell phone. We called a number and put it on speaker and hit keys for different spots along the way. It was very effective and informative. The man narrating the tour did not sound like the kind of guy you would want with the launch codes but he did seem well informed.

From there we were off to Wall, South Dakota for some lunch. There are over 300 signs for Wall on Interstate 90 (I asked at the counter when we were ordering) but it seemed like we saw more than that. Our lunch was delicious and afterwards we explored the myriad of shops adjoining the drug store. Christopher bought a really neat looking pocketknife, and Nathan and I went mining for gemstones.

After that we headed to our hotel for the night a few miles away from Mount Rushmore. We got checked in and watched National Treasure 2 since part of it takes place here. Tomorrow we are going to visit Mount Rushmore and a nearby state park.

Trip Statistics:

Total distance travelled: 2080 miles

Radar traps seen today:0

Tickets so far on trip: 0

Wildlife sightings last night after dinner and today: one deer, three rabbits, and one desert squirrel (at least that's what it looked like)

Most disturbing billboard message: "I scream, you scream, we all scream for pork loin"

To the Badlands

We had a very relaxing day today. We got up and went to the Corn Palace which is a massive structure covered with all manner of corn products in various colors to form pictures. This year's theme is everyday heroes. We took a tour inside and learned about the history of the buiding which was really interesting.

After that Chris drove us a few hundred miles to the Badlands. We are eating dinner now and I chose this restaurant because it was the only one I could find and it had free wireless internet access. The Badlands Inn does not have internet so this will be short. Dinner just arrived. If you're on the tech team at Calvert and reading this I am turning off the computer and putting it safely away from all food and drink products.

We are going to watch the sun set from an overlook and do a few hikes tomorrow. Then we head off to Mount Rushmore.

Trip Statistics:

Total distance travelled: 1953 miles

Radar traps today: 1

Wildlife sightings: I saw a few prairie dogs and Chris saw a bird as it flew into the front of the car. Luckily the car survived without blemish. The same cannot be said for the bird (In lieu of flowers please send sunflower seeds)

A great day at the Zoo and Waterpark

We were fortunate to have another fantastic day. We got up and had a great breakfast and hit the road for the renowned zoo in Omaha, Nebraska. We had read great things about it and were happy that the high praise was well deserved. The highlights of the zoo would have to be the Desert Dome pictured, the Rainforest which had a cool rope bridge that we are seen standing on, the Butterfly Pavilion, and the shark tank walkway in the aquarium. We had a blast at the zoo.

I took over 200 pictures which made choosing a few to post very difficult. The habitats for the animals seemed like the perfect balance of allowing the animal to be in its natural habitat while affording people great access in a non-obtrusive way. The only zoo I have been to that rivaled this one is the Miami Metro Zoo which has moats instead of cages. Sherrill and I went there many years ago just after we were married but before our boys were born.

We left the zoo after a four hour visit, grabbed a bite to eat and headed to our next stop for the night in Mitchell, South Dakota. We had to find a Red Box video dispenser. If you haven't discovered Red Box yet consider this your official welcome to a great service. For a dollar a night you rent a movie and take it back the next day to any Red Box in the U.S. We had rented two videos the day before at a McDonalds a few states ago and had to drop them off, but that proved to be a little bit harder than I imagined. We stopped at a McDonalds in Iowa (we didn't even know we'd be going to Iowa but that's where Rebecca said we needed to go to get to Mitchell, S.D. so we listened) and I ran in and asked a worker if there was a Red Box in this McDonalds. She got a very confused look and looked at me as if I was not the sharpest tool in the shed since I had apparently misplaced my red box. A helpful manager intervened and told me that Red Box hasn't gotten this far north. I was relieved that someone in Iowa had heard of Red Box but not so happy that it apparently was no where nearby. Sherrill called my mom who went online and discovered that in Sioux Falls, S.D. at at Hy Vue or some such name (Think Safeway) there was a Red Box. We plugged the address into Rebecca and set the Hy Vue as a way point and off we went. Rebecca and my mother saved the day. While dropping off the videos I got some Crazy Glue for my sneaker and the boys and I picked out snacks that could conceivably last us the rest of the 20 plus days left on the trip. We headed back out onto the road to get to our hotel. We pulled in to the saddest looking Econo-Lodge that you could ever imagine. I would say its best days were in the past but I'm not sure if it ever had anything that could be referred to as its best days. What made it worse was that we had passed a Comfort Suites two miles before that boasted in large letters,clearly visible from the highway "We Have A WATERPARK!!" Sherrill had given me the address of the Econo-Lodge as we left in the morning but she had gotten the information from a hotel confirmation letter and not from the master itinerary list. As it happens I called all of the hotels on July 1st to make sure that they knew we were coming and to make sure that the room could fit all five of us. When I called the Econo-Lodge they said that there was no room in the whole hotel that could sleep five. I went online and found a good deal at a Comfort Suites not even realizing that a waterpark was awaiting me. We realized our mistake while consulting the master itinerary list before we went into the Econo-Lodge. We hightailed it away from the Econo-Lodge and made a dash for the waterpark. The waterpark consisted mainly of a tube slide that can be seen in the picture. The tube exits the building, makes a few spine-tingling turns and dumps the unsuspecting rider into the pool at the bottom. It was out of this world. For forty five minutes the three boys and I (and Sherrill a few times) sprinted from bottom to top to slide over and over again. I was the only one to sustain any injury, and it was of course my own fault. I flipped off of my inner-tube while going backwards down the slide without holding the tube. I got a little bump on the head, but that didn't stop me from sliding many more times. I did take a break to get my camera from the car but there were no towels, so I ran up to the room and then out to the car in my bathing suit. I explained myself as I hustled by startled onlookers. Their expressions reminded me of the McDonalds worker from earlier in the day. The pictures show a fraction of our joy.

That's about it for today. Sherrill and the boys are fast asleep as I type this and, I will join them soon. We're sleeping in a bit tomorrow because our main attraction, The Corn Palace, is quite close by. Who knows what adventures await? I am sure there will be adventure though.

Trip Statistics:

Total distance travelled: 1731 miles

Total Police radar traps: 7

Tickets: 0

Wildlife sightings today: 0 or a few thousand if you count the zoo

The Arch!!

What a day. We started out at Sherrill's parents' house and left a little before 7:00 AM. We drove 400 miles to St. Louis to the Gateway Arch. On the way to St. Louis we stopped by and saw the house where we lived for three years in Louisville, Kentucky. Conner was two weeks old when we moved from that house to our house in Kingsville. Needless to say his memories of the house in Louisville were a bit fuzzy. We showed the boys the Fire Station where we walked and saw fire engines, the railroad tracks where we sat and watched trains and the park that the older two boys played in. It was great to see sights from many years ago. After a whirlwind trip through Louisville we headed west again. Before we knew it the Arch was in sight. It was spectacular to see from the car and even more magnificent up close. I was surprised by how many people picked today to see the Arch, but perhaps I shouldn't have been since 4 million people come to see it every year. Fortunately we had purchased tickets to ride the tram to the top online so we didn't have to wait in line. We bought tickets for the 2:00 tram and we got there at 1:30. The timing was perfect. If we had bought tickets today we would have had to wait in a long line to buy tickets for the 3:30 tram because all the earlier ones were sold out.

We had a great time riding the 5 person tram to the top of the arch. As it turned out we were in Tram #5. The tram looked a bit like a space ship and rode like a roller coaster in slow motion. It took four minutes to get to the top of the 630 foot structure. Windows at the top gave an amazing view of St. Louis and the surrounding vicinity. On a clear day the view is thirty miles and we were fortunate to have a very clear view. We rode up the north side and rode down the south side. Ironically we were assigned to Tram #5 on the way down. I should have guessed that five would be our lucky number when we sat at a table at McDonalds in the shape of a pentagon. If you have never had the cinnamon pastry at McDonalds you should try it; it is out of this world. The pastry alone is reason to get out of bed before noon.

After the trip through the arch we piled back into the minivan to head to our hotel for the evening in St. Joseph, Missouri. As you can see from the picture, Christopher drove part of he way. He is an excellent driver; only three near misses and one trip through the hedges. He did insist on decorating the car with a few bumper stickers to give it more of a teen feel. Check out the before and after pictures of the minivan. (Actually we saw that decorated minivan at a rest stop and had to get a picture)

We eventually made our way to St. Joseph and got to the hotel in time for an hour and a half swim in the pool. We had it all to ourselves for most of the time. It was very refreshing after a long day of driving. Fortunately our drive times will be getting much shorter in the next few days.

Trip statistics:

Total Distance Travelled: 1341 miles

Trips Through Police Radar: 5 (none today)

Tickets: 0!!

Wildlife sightings today: Sherrill saw a rabbit at the children's play park in Louisville

Somerset, Kentucky!!

We have arrived in Somerset, Kentucky at the Stantons' house (which is pictured here) and are having a great day. We got a bit of a late start from our house but had a great time in the car. We had a lot of fun with Rebecca (the name we gave to the GPS unit I borrowed from my mom) She gives us instructions with a British accent (we changed the setting) which we feel gives our trip a sense of dignity. When we stop for a bite to eat or get gas Rebecca does not like it at all. Commands like, "Make a U-turn at the next possible chance," and "Make a left, then a left, " have provided much mirth in the car. We love talking to Rebecca and telling her that we are not going to follow her instructions.

We got to Somerset a bit after midnight and unloaded the car into the Stantons' living room. The picture below shows all of the things we brought on the trip. Sherrill did a masterful job fitting all of this into her Subaru Outback. We are now in the process of packing up the minivan we are borrowing. It will be great to have a bit more room to stretch out in the car. The boys did a great job in the car on the way here.

This morning we went to a fantastic Putt Putt course but after the third hole the heavens opened and it poured rain. We retreated to the clubhouse and played a fun balloon pump game at which Conner proved to be very adept. Notice that in the picture my balloon came off the nozzle. In my attempt to make a stunning comeback I pulled the handle out of the pump and finished in last place. It was a blast though.

The highlight of the day was a trip to Fazoli's which is an Italian restaurant with great food and even better breadsticks. The boys were too full for dessert!!



Tomorrow morning we are off bright and early to head to St. Louis and tour the famous Arch and surrounding attractions. We will head a bit further after that and stop in St. Joseph, Missouri at our first hotel.




Trip statistics:
Total Distance Travelled: 630 miles
Trips Through Police Radar: 5
Tickets: 0!!
Wildlife sightings: Sherrill saw a deer beside the highway in West Virginia

Packing Day

We are busy packing up the car for the big trip which starts bright and early tomorrow morning. The plan is to drive Sherrill's car to Somerset, Kentucky, stay with her parents for the 4th of July, and then head on to St. Louis on the 5th in the Stanton's minivan.

Nathan had to do some prerequisites for a wilderness survival merit badge he will be taking at the Scout Camp in Utah, so today we started three fires without using matches. The first was easy, using a lighter (which seems like the easy way out, but the merit badge requirements actually suggest a lighter.) The second way was a bit harder but still possible using flint and steel to cause a spark to ignite dryer lint which then lit paper and twigs. The third way was a bit unusual. He used steel wool and a 9 volt battery. The battery causes sparks which then ignited the dryer lint. In the first picture the white stuff near the battery is lint (it kind of looks like smoke, but it isn't) Way to go Nathan!! There are pictures of the 9 volt battery technique below and also the map of our route.