Our first big family road trip is finally here! But first, it was 80 degrees at 7am before we hit the road, so why not take a swim before starting our long drive.
We pulled out of the garage at 8:37am headed for our first night in Pierre, SD.
Jimmy couldn't split town without indulging in his Crumbl habit. Next stop was about 2 hours away in western Minnesota. Dawson is a town of about 1500.
Their claim to roadside attraction fame is a gnome park and tiny church.
I was most impressed by how cool it felt inside considering it was very hot outside. We played briefly at the nearby playground before stopping for a bathroom break and to grab the lunch I packed.
Next stop was a little more than 2 hours in Huron, SD. We stopped at Putters and Scoops for an ice cream snack. Parker is not a big ice cream fan, but Esme ate more than enough for both of them. It was here that she asked if we could have ice cream every day on holiday (as she calls our vacation). Of course I said "Yes!"
Huron is also home to the World's Largest Pheasant!
Back on the road for the last 2 hours of the day. Esme fell asleep 10 minutes before we got to our hotel. This was one of our few meals eating out on the trip, but we treated ourselves to Pizza Ranch!
Parker has developed a heightened awareness of severe weather this year. Esme and I were stuck at church longer than normal at one point this spring due to a tornado warning. He was very concerned about our well being during that time. We had a brief system roll through after supper and he kept a close eye on the window until it was all cleared up. We "mostly" slept well after that.
Tuesday morning brought cooler weather. We packed the car back up and made a quick visit to the SD state capitol building before heading on our way.
Off to Wyoming!
Our morning snack and bathroom pit stop was in Sturgis. Obviously, there wasn't a ton happening on a mid-week morning in June. Parts of it reminded me of going to the state fair grounds out of season. You can see the fun that must happen there once the party is really started.
Just over an hour later we got our first glimpse of Devils Tower. It was just as odd as everyone told me it would be, tower sticking out in the middle of nowhere.
We reached the main parking area about 11am (not in mountain time) and it was already packed. I bucked the traffic controllers a little and decided to loop the lot to see if we could snag a spot. We lucked out on the second loop and got one. This was one thing I was most excited about and would have been bummed to miss it. We ate our lunch in the car before starting the 1.3 mile hike of the tower trail.
It took Esme about 5 minutes to start complaining about being tired. We'd spent the whole morning in the car, so I knew that wasn't true. Our round trip walk to our local park is about the same with a little less terrain.
We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day.
We stopped to watch the prairie dogs before stopping at a souvenir shop just outside the park.
Ice cream number 2 secured! She even shared it with dad.
We took a slightly different way bad in to South Dakota so we'd see some different scenery. We drove through Deadwood, which was pretty much a big casino. Jimmy did spy a pastie shop that also had giant caramel rolls so he stopped to grab one.
We rolled in to Hill City a little after 4:00. We stayed at Black Hills Luxury Suites which was run by the Best Western. We had a two bedroom unit which might be a prerequisite for multi-night stays in the future. Here is a little tour of our room(s).
The kids were eager to swim, so Jimmy took them to the pool while I went grocery shopping and prepared supper.
A great first two days and so much more adventure to come.
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