Nothing Short of Amazing: June 2010

Day 1: We were scheduled to pick up our RV at the RV world at 3pm. We took the kids out of Camp of the Oaks early to experience the check out process. They were so excited! James forgot and told his whole class we were going to North Dakota. The check out process was long…I sure hoped Matt got all of it. Of course Jill asks…is there a book that comes with it? All the kids cared about was where they were going to sleep and whether they were allowed to walk around while we were driving. I tried explaining to Noelle this is kind of like a plane. You are allowed to walk around but why would you?? She asks…”but the RV does’t fly, does it??” How cute. We drove it back to Stoughton to get packed up. Matt and kids did the hauling…Jill did the organizing. We left the house at 5:30 pm with plans to eat while driving down the highway. Not such a good idea. Jill opens the fridge and out comes all the contents. Truck stop parking lot it is. After a quick dinner we hit the road again. In the next hour is when it struck….Matt got sick. I’ve never seen him as sick. That meant Jill’s turn to drive. I have never driven anything this large. I had some hesitation but how hard could it be driving down a long straight highway. The first hour went smoothly. In the next hour we hit some construction. By that time Noelle had crashed on the floor in between the driver and passenger seats, James zonked out in the loft, and Matt was in the bathroom praying he would puck. No luck. By 11:15pm Jill was shot. Time to pull over in a Walmart parking lot next to several other RV’s. We made it to Albert Lea, MN.

Day 2: The kids woke us up around 7am. Unfortunately Matt wasn’t feeling any better. We headed into walmart for our shopping needs and to move around. We had some breakfast in our RV and hit the road. I’m amazed at the number of RV’s out here. Maybe I just wasn’t aware of them before we decided to do our trip. We stopped for gas and Jill decides to rid the kids of some energy…after a few running laps around the perimeter of the station with Matt laughing at me it was time to hit the road again. The next stretch of highway is where we starting seeing the Wall Drug signs. After each one, Noelle would go tell James how much farther to Wall drug. His response…..”Noelle I don’t care.” The kids were getting a bit restless after a few hours driving. Matt was napping so I decided to pull into the “Porter Sculpture Park”. Maybe not such a good idea. I guess they are right when they say no RV’s on off-roads. We made it out just fine. Matt was a little nervous at how remote we were….just to look some big bull head sculpture and a hand sculpture with a butterfly on it. In the next hour the kids were going very stir crazy. My goal was to make it to Mitchell, SD for lunch. We pulled into a lot, cooked up some egg white omelets for all…except Matt who still didn’t feel well. After lunch we headed to the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD. A palace made from corn and straw….built in the 1890’s. It was an okay tourist spot. I actually enjoyed the ice cream afterwards more than the palace itself. We hit the highway again. Jill drove the last leg of the trip. We hit some dark clouds. The kids sang songs to God (their idea) with hopes it would hold off the rain. It worked. We pulled into our RV site “Lake Park” in Rapid City, SD around 8pm. Everyone was a bit exhausted. Matt fell asleep by James, Jill by Noelle.

Day 3: The kids woke us up early around 7am. We gave dad his father’s day gift. James made him a card. We also gave him a coupon good for the purchase of a bag of dad’s choice. Next we hit the showers and got ready for the day. We decided to do a little paddle boating. James and dad went in one and Jill and Noelle went in another. Matt and Jill hoped we could swim in Canyon Lake…unfortunately the water is mountain fed….it only 45 degrees tops. We did have a contest who could keep his/her foot in the water the longest. Jill won…probably a result of all the dead nerve endings from miles of running. Next we decided to pack up and head to see Mt. Rushmore. Noelle was our co-pilot. Years ago that would have meant reading a map….not anymore. Now she was in control of the I-phone GPS. As we approached the road to Mt. Rushmore Jill watched Matt’s face turn white. What a climb! Not sure our RV was going to make it. It did. As we saw the presidents heads in the distance Noelle shouts, “I see Obama!” We spent the next several hours there…walking through museums, listening to tour guides and watching informative videos on how it was made. All in all it was pretty amazing! Matt enjoyed the history….James got to act out parts of the tour guide's lecture…and Noelle…she is still trying to figure out how to look behind the heads to see if we can see their bare butts. I suppose I should explain this one. Jill told the kids if we find the path leading to behind the presidents we can see their bare butts. Next we headed back down the mountain….Matt and Jill both praying our brakes would hold up. There weren’t too many RV’s our size up there…. We drove right through Keystone at the base of Mt. Rushmore. Too much of a tourist trap….if we wanted that we’d have gone 60 miles down the road to Wisconsin Dells. For dinner we went to a great microbrewery here in Rapid City….Firehouse. After dinner we weren’t yet ready to go back to the campground so we found a nearby park and went off on a bike ride. Noelle just learned how to ride her two-wheeler a couple months ago. You wouldn’t have guessed…6 miles later….she was all smiles! Only fell a couple times. But it didn’t stop her. I could just see the adrenaline pumping in that little girl! Matt and I were so proud! We topped off the evening with a trip to Culvers. No drive through with our 13 foot tall RV….this thing is huge! We are now back at the campground…a kid video (Shrek) is in. I believe the day will start early with some fishing.

Day 4: Happy 8th Birthday James! Unfortunately James will remember this day…the day he couldn’t stop pucking! James woke up dad at 4:50am…ready to fish. No such luck….2 hours later they didn’t catch a single fish. Jill went for a run…was going to try and get to the top of dinosaur park… a bit too far and too warm for that today. James unfortunately got what Matt had…stomach cramps. Only he had it worse…with vomiting. We decided to spend more time in the car today…maybe allow the kids some chill time. We headed south to Hot Springs. We first went to Mammoth Site…the home of fossilized mammoth remains. James was too sick to go in so I stayed out in the RV with him while Noelle and dad toured the place. On our drive we saw some wild antelope, bison, prairie dogs and deer. A few times we had to stop the car to let the bison cross. Noelle would stick her head out the RV and call out “prairie dogs want a treat?” If she wasn’t doing that she was singing out the window. Next we stopped at Legion Lake. Noelle and Jill swam and made some sand castles while James and dad hung out in the RV. Next we headed back to the campground. We had some dinner and hit it the sack.

Day 5: This morning James woke up feeling a little bit better. The kids hung out in the RV watching videos while Jill biked to the store. We decided to go to the Crazy horse memorial today. The kids were hoping to be able to meet their mom’s uncle Thurston who works there…unfortunately he was busy working on the mountain. We did a little bus tour to the base of the mountain and watched a video on the history behind the memorial. Fortunately the kids passed on taking home a rock….the smallest one was at least 10 lbs. Next we stopped in Hill City. We saw the giant t-rex fossil at the geological museum and did some window shopping. We sat outside for lunch at a cute restaurant. We had our usual treat for the day (ice cream) and got back in the RV. Our next stop was Sheridan Lake. Dad and Jill took turns swimming while the kids played in the sand. Afterwards the kids did some fishing. No luck. The kids love the idea of fishing but when it comes to being patient and respecting the silence of those fishing around you….they aren’t so good at that. Jill cooked up some dinner in the RV. We had ourselves some salmon and potatoes. The park ranger drove by and gave us an update on the radar. A big hail storm was headed our way. Dad drove FAST back to the campground. We just beat the storm. We watched a movie and all fell fast asleep.

Day 6: The day started out not so hot for Jill. Matt and James were over their illness. Now apparently it was Jill-Jill’s turn. We started with a bike/roller blade ride. Boy did James take a digger. He scraped up both knees…never fails. Next we decided to pack up and head out for the day. Our plan was to drive to Devil’s tower in Wyoming. It is a rock-ridged tower known as Bear Lodge. The ridges on the tower represent the claw marks of the bear who was disappointed after the creator helped two boys escape his hungry attack. Noelle loved the long story behind the tower. “Will you read it to me again?” She would recite it back and back again. We decided to do the 1.3 mile trail around the base of the mountain. The kids survived the loop and wanted more so we headed down another trail with views of the Belle Fourche River. Dad had fiber one bars packed…but only after we earned them (according to dad). Noelle did a bit of whining about half way through. It only took Matt singing a few songs with her and she was back in the game again. Days like today are so precious with these kids. Such inquisitive questions and interesting insight. Noelle says at one point…”James if you keep doing wild things I’m going to copy you and then I won’t get a good job.” Another time in our trip when James wasn’t feeling well she says, “You know what I do? I close my eyes and memorize everything from the day (as she is doing this she is doing a hula dance) then when I open my eyes I feel much better. The best was when she said to dad, “Are you going to remember that, because you often forget more than you remember.” James had a few cute comments as well. He has a buddy Reese who is staying here in Montana for the summer with his grandpa. They kept pointing to every ranch wondering if that was where Reese is. Matt and I have no clue where abouts Reese is. James wanted to write out postcards for his friend Logan. He got the idea of writing a message with only a few words on each card. He asks Jill-Jill, “Do you have a stapler so I can send them all together?” Noelle’s postcard story is just as cute. She wanted to send one to her boyfriend Jacob. She was asking me how to spell certain words. She got mixed up and instead of writing “I hope you have a good time at Martin Luther” she wrote, “I have”…now what was she going to say after that? “ I have you in my thoughts, Love Noelle”. The kids imaginations are amazing as well. When dad was off on a swim we organized a skit. “The Grumpy Old Neighbor”. Noelle and I were singing in our swim suits standing on a rock and James played the grumpy old neighbor. Another skit….James dressed up in my wetsuit and surprised dad with a few strokes of the American Crawl. Back to the day’s activities…after hiking 3+ miles it was time for our usual afternoon treat…ice cream. It was only 4pm and we didn’t want the day to be over so we hoped in our RV and headed further west in WY. Our trip there was the most adventurous thing we’d done thus far. Maybe not the smartest. We took a gravel road way out in the boondocks. It was the most remote I’ve ever felt. We never saw another person or another car….just beautiful WY countryside and abundant wildlife and farm life. We stopped at Keyhole State Park. We found an awesome swimming beach and reservoir. Dad and I each took turns swimming while the kids let their imaginations run. Matt and I both agree the more natural and less touristy the attraction the better. We decided to cook up some supper….steak and corn on the cob. The place was so gorgeous we opted to stay. We pulled together some sticks and pine cones and made our first campfire. Next we roasted some smores and talked inquisitive talk. Noelle asks, “ where does fire come from?” By 9:30pm it was time to put the fire out and hit the sack.

Day 7: We woke up early to get back to our campsite back in Rapid City. Today we had a car delivered to us so we could do some driving on roads our RV couldn’t go. We packed up our gear for the day and headed to Needles Highway. The road was named from the needle-like granite formations along a 14-mile stretch of highway. We also drove through Custer State Park. We stopped at Legion Lake Cafe for some lunch. Unfortunately today Noelle got her share of the illness we had been passing around. She pucked. Fortunately it was short lived and we were back on track with our day’s adventures. We stopped to do a 3 mile hike at Cathedral Spires (more needle formations). James and Noelle were troopers hiking in the blazing sun and rugged terrain. Next we drove to Sylvan Lake. The kids played in the sand, caught some minnows (or tried), and leave it to Noelle...she met a few friends. Dad and Jill each took turns doing some open water swimming. Next we headed back to our campground in Rapid City for some dinner…chicken patties and French fries. We watched part of a movie and went to bed.

Day 8: Our plan this morning was to head out early and have breakfast at Wall Drug. We couldn’t skip the famous place since there were only a million signs advertising it the whole way here. The kids had all you can eat breakfast buffet, Matt had pancakes with bacon and Jill had oatmeal. We toured the many gift shops and each bought the kids something. Each day we told the kids they could have $5. If they didn’t spend it they could carry it over to the next day. Sounds like a great lesson…I think it actually made more headache. The kids got so stressed about it. They continually asked one another…”how much do you have left?” James got a Wall Drug sweatshirt and Noelle got a pink cowgirl hat and matching belt. Next we spent a good ½ hour watching Noelle play in the water fountain….trying to avoid getting wet by the shooting water that was in sync with the music playing. Next we headed to the Badlands. That is when it hit me. It was my turn once again for the bug going around. I was too weak even for a short hike at the badlands. My only viewing of the awesome sight was while lying flat in the back bed of our RV. I slept most of the day. Matt drove and drove. We got to Sioux Falls and stopped to make some dinner….chicken tenders and French fries. A mile down the road we stopped at MacDonald’s for our ice cream cones. The kids went to bed by 8:30 and we keep driving. That is until we hit the hail and wind storm. We had planned on making it to Albert Lea, MN but instead pulled into a Walmart in Worthington, MN.

Day 9: Last night I didn’t sleep too well. I cannot believe the amount of people who shop at Walmart in the middle of the night. It was pretty loud between the sound of the carts and the generators from the RVs around us. We got going around 6am. Garmin says we will be arriving home around 12:30pm. All of us are finally feeling 100%...thank goodness. I think everyone really enjoyed our trip. The RV definitely had its advantages. Matt enjoyed the challenge of hours and hours of driving, Jill enjoyed not having to pack and unpack for each day’s adventure, and the kids loved the luxury of space while on the road. I think the best part of it all was the ability to “just go”. We are already thinking about next summer’s vacation….flying to San Francisco, renting a jeep and tent camping while driving up the coast line to Oregon?? Until next time...