Home sweet home

We did it!

We drove 4,621 miles....

Lin took this gem early on in our road trip while I was driving.

We made it home just before 11:00pm last night and were pleasantly surprised to find our lawn mowed. A big thank you to whoever did that for us! We also found our cats well cared for thanks to Grant and Tommy. Argos is still at Matt's (another ex-K9 handler) but Lin will grab him today. Argos is not the easiest house guest so we really appreciate the fact Matt and his family were willing to put up with him for just over 2 weeks.

We drove through nine states: Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, South Dakota and Wyoming.

We visited seven national sites: Stones River National Battlefield, Badlands National Park, Minuteman Missile National Historic Site, Jewel Cave National Monument, Mount Rushmore National Memorial, Devil's Tower National Monument and Wind Cave National Park.

We camped in seven different spots: Ferne Clyffe State Park (IL), Lake Vermillion Recreation Area (SD), Cedar Pass Campground in Badlands National Park (SD), Game Lodge Campground in Custer State Park (SD), Lewis and Clark State Park (IA), Lake of the Ozarks State Park (MO) and Old State Fort Archaeological Park (TN)

Here of some of our best of:

• Best campsite for view - Lin, Emily and Aaron: Cedar Pass at Badlands National Park Aidan: Lake Vermillion Recreation Area

Cedar Pass Campground view 

Looking another direction from the Cedar Pass Campground

A view down to the Cedar Pass Campground from the Notch Trail.

Lake Vermillion View 

• Best campsite for facilities - All of us: Lake Vermillion Recreation Area
• Best overall campsite - All of us: Game Lodge in Custer State Park

Such a great campground it is constantly booked up. We booked our site 365 days in advance.

• Favorite activity - Aaron: Minuteman Missile National Historic Site Visitor Center and tour of the command center. Aidan: Going to the Moonshine Gulch Saloon in the middle of nowhere (Yay! My infamous bike trip got a vote!) Lin and Emily: The hike to Little Devil's Tower in the Black Hills.

Taken inside the Minuteman Missile Control Center

Aidan on the way to Moonshine Gulch Saloon

View from the top of Little Devil's Tower Photo credit: Lin

• Favorite animal sighting - Lin: Bison Emily: Chipmunks - I miss the cute little critters but they are hard to get pictures of. Aidan and Aaron: Burros

Taken right before Lin accidentally made the truck beep which did not make the big bison happy!

• Best Resturant: Lin and Aidan: Cousin's Pub and Pizza at the Big Chair Emily and Aaron: Black Hills Burger and Bun Co. Both of these are in the Black Hills.
• Best local drink - Lin: Crow Peak Brewing 11th Hour IPA Emily: Prairie Berry Winery Red Ass Rhubarb wine. Both are located in the Black Hills.
• Favorite car activity: Rubberneckers game
• Best Rest Areas - South Dakota and Missouri
• The boys favorite picture - A pronghorn peeing on a prairie dog burrow. It is the one squatting in the middle.

We are all speaking to each other. I think we all had our moments of frustration etc (except Fred - he remained is happy go lucky self the whole time. Even Dizzy got a little snippy at times.) but overall it was a wonderful experience not only to see other parts of the country but also to visit with my Dad and Gail. None of us wanted the trip to come to an end and all of us would do it again...maybe not tomorrow...but for another summer adventure.

Dizzy is tired from all this traveling!

There is so much to do in South Dakota. Lots of people looked at me like I was crazy when I told them where we were going. I think the only ones who didn't look at me that way were the people that had already been. I can't say enough good things about their parks, the people we encountered and the beauty of the state. If you haven't been I recommend you add it to your list and spend some time there. We were in the state for nine days and I still have a list of things we didn't get to do that we're saving for our next visit.

We didn't get lost much. Actually I think we only had two real mishaps. One was on our way to South Dakota when we got turned around trying to find Stones River National Battlefield and another in Missouri when we were literally driving in circles until the boys pointed it out to us. We are still laughing about that one. Traffic was amazingly good until we hit Atlanta on our way home. I think we only saw two major crashes and only had a few slow downs due to construction.

Atlanta traffic jam

We have a new appreciation for rest stops and truck stops. Rest stops were great for picnic lunches that not only saved time but were often healthier, cheaper and tasted better than the fast food we could have stopped for. The last two days we didn't have access to rest stops at meal times and we definitely missed them. Truck stops generally had better and cleaner restrooms than regular gas stations and were easier to maneuver the camper in.

Fred and Aidan chilling at a rest stop in South Dakota

One of our many picnics during the trip. This one featured White Castle.

As for the camper we love it and are all so happy we made the change before going on the trip. We had everything we needed and got good at set-up and breakdown. As I mentioned several time we love the big back window and the increased interior space.

Turning off my phone was a great decision and I think I will do it again. For the most part I had notes so didn't need internet access to figure out things like restaurant options but did use Lin's phone for that sort of thing a few times.

As noted in my last post I plan (yes-plan) on embracing my planning skills in the future. It worked well for us to have campsites booked. As for activities I can be flexible about those but think having the options researched to some degree helped us decide what to do.

Speaking of planning - Yes, I do have our next adventure planned. On October 12th we will be heading to Topsail Hill Preserve State Park in the Florida panhandle for the weekend. I'm going to be running the 30A Half Marathon with Team FTC and the boys are all coming along to enjoy a beach weekend - and cheer me on if they make it out of bed that early. Over and out until October!