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.

Getting Ready

We are in the process of packing up for our trip out west. We'll be leaving on July 3rd and returning on August 4th. There's a lot to get ready before we go. I'm going to post a picture with a map of our route in the next few days.