We love stopping there. After seeing some of the bathrooms we did along the road, you really come to appreciate what you get at a Buc-ees.
-
Welcome to the WDWMAGIC.COM Forums!
Please take a look around, and feel free to sign up and join the community.
6,500 Miles With the Crazies - A National Parks Road Trip Extravaganza
- Thread starter HouCuseChickie
- Start date
We love stopping there. After seeing some of the bathrooms we did along the road, you really come to appreciate what you get at a Buc-ees.
So glad you gave us a heads up on the trip report forum this is out here!! Happily following along!
Is it wrong that this kind of makes me want to have my vehicle wrapped like the Mystery Machine?
July 18
We woke up bright and early for a LONG LONG LONG day of driving. We had to get from Wichita, KS to Fargo, ND.
After breakfast, we packed up and hit the road. See, I wasn't kidding about a corn field right across the street...
The visibility conditions were horrible when we set out. There was a ridiculous amount of fog. It felt like a solid hour before things cleared up. I remember passing through the Topeka area at some point, and we went by the plant that was recently in the news. All I can say is that the air smelled awful around it, and none of us could place the smell. It's really made me think twice about eating chips. Every now and then, I liked to look at the map to see how far we already were from home...
It wasn't long before we crossed the border into Nebraska. Kendall kind of messed up her line, but it's still funny.
I was trying to make this day a little more interesting, so I found a national monument in Minnesota, not too far from the South Dakota border. It didn't look like it would really take us too far out of our way, but it did change some of my preliminary mapping. After driving a bit through Nebraska and seeing all kinds of crop dusters doing amazing aerial maneuvers over their fields, we crossed into Iowa. We ended up going by some Lewis & Clark Expedition site that I wasn't expecting. I tried taking a picture, accidentally hit video, and wound up with this....
I knew the point of interest in MN would fall after lunch, so after driving through nowhere for longer than expected and finding a bathroom (potty break to help think straight) we decided to pick a stopping point in the Sioux City area.
I have no idea what the overpass art represented, but I thought it was neat and I can tell we're in the Sioux City area. Ultimately, we knew we'd have to turn off in a bit to push towards MN, so we just picked a Perkins along the way. We don't have them in Houston and the family seems to like it, so it seemed like a safe stop. Short story...everyone wanted pie, but with Kendall's allergies and some pies having nuts, we weren't sure if they'd be able to accommodate her. Turns out, our server has a tree nut allergic child and bent over backwards to make sure Kendall got a safe piece of chocolate silk pie. I think she assumed we were local because we started talking treatments and meds, she brought up who they go to and I'm like...Oh, we're not local. Just nice to connect with people along the way and get a homey feel.
We hopped back in the car...next stop...Pipestone National Monument in Minnesota.
(yes, this is the beginning of my growing bug collection!)
We picked up some animal safety tips in their restroom...
and then explored the Visitor Center a bit, since they were closing.
We headed out to check out one of the quarries near the building...
I think we all just really needed to move, so we decided to hike the relatively short trail through the monument. I want to say it was around 1.5 miles round trip...if that.
Coming up...pictures from the hike of Pipestone National Monument and our time in Fargo.
We woke up bright and early for a LONG LONG LONG day of driving. We had to get from Wichita, KS to Fargo, ND.
After breakfast, we packed up and hit the road. See, I wasn't kidding about a corn field right across the street...
The visibility conditions were horrible when we set out. There was a ridiculous amount of fog. It felt like a solid hour before things cleared up. I remember passing through the Topeka area at some point, and we went by the plant that was recently in the news. All I can say is that the air smelled awful around it, and none of us could place the smell. It's really made me think twice about eating chips. Every now and then, I liked to look at the map to see how far we already were from home...
It wasn't long before we crossed the border into Nebraska. Kendall kind of messed up her line, but it's still funny.
I was trying to make this day a little more interesting, so I found a national monument in Minnesota, not too far from the South Dakota border. It didn't look like it would really take us too far out of our way, but it did change some of my preliminary mapping. After driving a bit through Nebraska and seeing all kinds of crop dusters doing amazing aerial maneuvers over their fields, we crossed into Iowa. We ended up going by some Lewis & Clark Expedition site that I wasn't expecting. I tried taking a picture, accidentally hit video, and wound up with this....
I knew the point of interest in MN would fall after lunch, so after driving through nowhere for longer than expected and finding a bathroom (potty break to help think straight) we decided to pick a stopping point in the Sioux City area.
I have no idea what the overpass art represented, but I thought it was neat and I can tell we're in the Sioux City area. Ultimately, we knew we'd have to turn off in a bit to push towards MN, so we just picked a Perkins along the way. We don't have them in Houston and the family seems to like it, so it seemed like a safe stop. Short story...everyone wanted pie, but with Kendall's allergies and some pies having nuts, we weren't sure if they'd be able to accommodate her. Turns out, our server has a tree nut allergic child and bent over backwards to make sure Kendall got a safe piece of chocolate silk pie. I think she assumed we were local because we started talking treatments and meds, she brought up who they go to and I'm like...Oh, we're not local. Just nice to connect with people along the way and get a homey feel.
We hopped back in the car...next stop...Pipestone National Monument in Minnesota.
(yes, this is the beginning of my growing bug collection!)
We picked up some animal safety tips in their restroom...
and then explored the Visitor Center a bit, since they were closing.
We headed out to check out one of the quarries near the building...
I think we all just really needed to move, so we decided to hike the relatively short trail through the monument. I want to say it was around 1.5 miles round trip...if that.
Coming up...pictures from the hike of Pipestone National Monument and our time in Fargo.
ajrwdwgirl
Premium Member
July 18
We woke up bright and early for a LONG LONG LONG day of driving. We had to get from Wichita, KS to Fargo, ND.
After breakfast, we packed up and hit the road. See, I wasn't kidding about a corn field right across the street...
The visibility conditions were horrible when we set out. There was a ridiculous amount of fog. It felt like a solid hour before things cleared up. I remember passing through the Topeka area at some point, and we went by the plant that was recently in the news. All I can say is that the air smelled awful around it, and none of us could place the smell. It's really made me think twice about eating chips. Every now and then, I liked to look at the map to see how far we already were from home...
It wasn't long before we crossed the border into Nebraska. Kendall kind of messed up her line, but it's still funny.
I was trying to make this day a little more interesting, so I found a national monument in Minnesota, not too far from the South Dakota border. It didn't look like it would really take us too far out of our way, but it did change some of my preliminary mapping. After driving a bit through Nebraska and seeing all kinds of crop dusters doing amazing aerial maneuvers over their fields, we crossed into Iowa. We ended up going by some Lewis & Clark Expedition site that I wasn't expecting. I tried taking a picture, accidentally hit video, and wound up with this....
I knew the point of interest in MN would fall after lunch, so after driving through nowhere for longer than expected and finding a bathroom (potty break to help think straight) we decided to pick a stopping point in the Sioux City area.
I have no idea what the overpass art represented, but I thought it was neat and I can tell we're in the Sioux City area. Ultimately, we knew we'd have to turn off in a bit to push towards MN, so we just picked a Perkins along the way. We don't have them in Houston and the family seems to like it, so it seemed like a safe stop. Short story...everyone wanted pie, but with Kendall's allergies and some pies having nuts, we weren't sure if they'd be able to accommodate her. Turns out, our server has a tree nut allergic child and bent over backwards to make sure Kendall got a safe piece of chocolate silk pie. I think she assumed we were local because we started talking treatments and meds, she brought up who they go to and I'm like...Oh, we're not local. Just nice to connect with people along the way and get a homey feel.
We hopped back in the car...next stop...Pipestone National Monument in Minnesota.
(yes, this is the beginning of my growing bug collection!)
We picked up some animal safety tips in their restroom...
and then explored the Visitor Center a bit, since they were closing.
We headed out to check out one of the quarries near the building...
I think we all just really needed to move, so we decided to hike the relatively short trail through the monument. I want to say it was around 1.5 miles round trip...if that.
Coming up...pictures from the hike of Pipestone National Monument and our time in Fargo.
Interesting about the Pipestone Monument, never been there. I mapped it out though and it is about 4 1/2 hours away. I also noticed on the map that it is near Walnut Grove, one of the homes of Laura Ingalls. I supposed you didn't wander over there?
I completely forgot that we saw some signs for a Laura Ingalls exhibit. I got all excited, but my husband couldn't care less and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get the girls into the shows. I have a work friend that moved to MN about 15 years ago. I think I scared him when he enlarged the map of the areas where they were looking for houses and I saw all of these Little House on the Prairie towns near the areas on the map. I didn't even bother looking into it, but now mapping it after the fact...I'm kind of angry with myself for not taking the hour drive from Pipestone to Walnut Grove.
July 18th Continued...
I'm just going to share a bunch of the better pics from Pipestone. I hadn't broken out the big cameras yet, so it was all from my phone. Still, it was a nice little trail and I took a number of pictures. The highlights...a waterfall with all kinds of markers showing the faces and symbols that Native Americans saw in the rocks, pretty plants, a doe, and while the color wasn't captured with the light and shadows, a cute little yellow finch.
I'm just going to share a bunch of the better pics from Pipestone. I hadn't broken out the big cameras yet, so it was all from my phone. Still, it was a nice little trail and I took a number of pictures. The highlights...a waterfall with all kinds of markers showing the faces and symbols that Native Americans saw in the rocks, pretty plants, a doe, and while the color wasn't captured with the light and shadows, a cute little yellow finch.
More Pipestone NM...
I'm glad we made the stop. It was good to get out and walk around, but it was also a very pretty spot. I'm not sure I'd go out of my way to see this national monument as we did for Devils Tower, but it was still decent.
After Pipestone, we drove into South Dakota, picked up the highway and headed north to Fargo, ND. David kept expecting a skyline, but I kept reminding him that it's a smaller city. At least the hotel was easy to find...
I'm glad we made the stop. It was good to get out and walk around, but it was also a very pretty spot. I'm not sure I'd go out of my way to see this national monument as we did for Devils Tower, but it was still decent.
After Pipestone, we drove into South Dakota, picked up the highway and headed north to Fargo, ND. David kept expecting a skyline, but I kept reminding him that it's a smaller city. At least the hotel was easy to find...
Arrival in Fargo...
The room was cute and the place seemed decent. The girl checking us in was also super excited that we're from Texas, as she's getting ready for a road trip to Austin.
The kids were hoping to swim after dinner and Sam realized she forgot her bathing suit (I can't remember how many times I reminded them). So our first stop was Target. While David was asking an employee where we could find bathing suits, I used me gut and had a suit all picked out by the time they found me. Sam approved, so it was on to find the neon theater sign that says 'Fargo.' On the way, we saw this interesting spot...
And just around the corner, there it is...
I've always wanted to see Fargo...but I blame the Electric Company and their Fargo North Decoder skits. I even had to take a pic of the water tower!
David wanted to get out and walk around while we were down by the theater. It looked like a cool area and so much of what we saw was kind of cool and quirky. Some of it even reminded me of Austin. Ultimately, I was just too tired and wanted to go back to the hotel. It was Sunday and places were closing early, so we wound up at a Culver's drive thru and ate dinner back in the room.
David and I rested for a bit, but the kids were ready for some pool time.
I think the pool closed at 11, so we shut things down and headed back to the room for the night.
Coming up...we go to our first national park of the trip and take part in a popular tourist trap.
The room was cute and the place seemed decent. The girl checking us in was also super excited that we're from Texas, as she's getting ready for a road trip to Austin.
The kids were hoping to swim after dinner and Sam realized she forgot her bathing suit (I can't remember how many times I reminded them). So our first stop was Target. While David was asking an employee where we could find bathing suits, I used me gut and had a suit all picked out by the time they found me. Sam approved, so it was on to find the neon theater sign that says 'Fargo.' On the way, we saw this interesting spot...
And just around the corner, there it is...
I've always wanted to see Fargo...but I blame the Electric Company and their Fargo North Decoder skits. I even had to take a pic of the water tower!
David wanted to get out and walk around while we were down by the theater. It looked like a cool area and so much of what we saw was kind of cool and quirky. Some of it even reminded me of Austin. Ultimately, I was just too tired and wanted to go back to the hotel. It was Sunday and places were closing early, so we wound up at a Culver's drive thru and ate dinner back in the room.
David and I rested for a bit, but the kids were ready for some pool time.
I think the pool closed at 11, so we shut things down and headed back to the room for the night.
Coming up...we go to our first national park of the trip and take part in a popular tourist trap.
Songbird76
Well-Known Member
Yep, I have the same thing with anniversaries and milestone birthdays coinciding. I had originally told my husband that I wanted to spend our 25th anniversary at Disney, which is also the year my daughter turns 21, and the year that I turn 50. But since then he's said he doesn't really enjoy Disney much and he'd rather spend the money on something else. He asked if E and I would be willing to do Disney by ourselves next time, and then he and A could use the money that we would spend on their flights and Disney tickets to buy a gaming computer instead. He says it's a waste of money for A because after a couple of rides, he's done and wants to sit in the hotel room and play on the computer, which he could do for free at home. I get that, and my favorite Disney moments have mostly been E and I together without the boys because we enjoy it all....the food, the less popular attractions, the ambience...we love Carousel of Progress and the People Mover and all those things while my husband goes on them just because we want to do them, but he's not invested in them. We love the dining experiences like 1900 Park Fare, or 50s Prime time, while he's convinced he didn't enjoy a single meal on our last trip, even though he raved about the Bon Voyage Breakfast and we laughed to burst at Whispering Canyon. He can do without any of it and would much rather spend that money on a gaming computer, where I don't play computer games, so that seems like a LOT of money to spend on a computer. But if that's what HE loves, great...then I'd rather go to Disney with E and not have to worry about whether DH is enjoying it enough to make it worth the money, because I know he's not. But then for the big things like a milestone birthday, it seems selfish to say "I want to go on a trip, bye!" Now if HE said to me that my birthday present was a trip to Disney, I'd do it in a heartbeat, but I doubt he'd do that. For one, he's not a planner, so he'd have to tell me way in advance because I'd be the one doing the planning. For two, we're not extravagent gift people. He usually asks me a week or two before my birthday if there's anything I want, and if there is, then he tells me to order it. Usually it's a book or 2. We're not the kind to spend hundreds of dollars on a gift for each other....it's usually under $30, We don't even do Christmas gifts for each other at all, so a Disney trip wouldn't be his idea of a gift. I just don't see it happening.
What is there to see in Nebraska anyway? If you are into camping or hunting and fishing, you can visit Cabella's, but that's about the extent of its allure. There's not much there besides corn fields.
ajrwdwgirl
Premium Member
Maybe if you are ever back in Minnesota you can go. She also lived in Pepin Wisconsin, near the MN/WI border. That isn't too far (maybe an hour) or so from me. I haven't ever toured the Laura Ingalls stuff there. I like most of the books as a kid and remember watching the tv show so I tried to get my niece interested in it and she couldn't get into it so we never went.
We've had a couple of years where we've tried to split things up. I think it was the year when I turned 40 that I had a me trip without any of them, an anniversary trip with him to New Orleans, and then a family trip in the fall to Disney. Lately, I've just wanted to devote the time and $ to things we've always wanted to do vs. splitting it up like that. I am in the same boat on the trip planning. My husband is not normally our trip planner and unless he got outside help, there's no way we'd travel without my involvement. He confuses all of our special dates, so I'm lucky if he remembers. Case in point, yesterday was my birthday and I bought my own cake. Well, hopefully you guys can come to an agreement on travel that you can all enjoy.
While I couldn't see us making a whole trip out of Nebraska, if we had an itinerary that had us driving through the right spots, there are a few neat places for side trips. I think there's Scotts Bluff National Monument, Chimney Rock National Historic Site, and there's also some geologic park I recall seeing. When I just Googled things to do, I see a pretty cool looking pedestrian bridge. Still, it's a matter of if there's reason for me to be driving through.
I know I read some of the books as well, but the show always sticks out more in my mind. I think it's because my friend's mom always had it on for us when she watched us after school. Of course, it was so big back then...hence all of the prairie style fashions that became all the rage at that time. I seem to recall either our 2nd or 3rd grade class picture where all of the girls were in LHotP style dresses with more rustic looking dress shoes. You're at least closer, so it could be a little road trip visit if you ever feel so inclined.
ajrwdwgirl
Premium Member
Happy Belated Birthday!
Thank you!!!
MinnieM123
Premium Member
X2!! Happy Belated, HouCuseChickie.Happy Belated Birthday!
July 19th
The girls were hoping to wake up early and get one last swim in the pool before we left. Yeah, that never happened. We did have high hopes though, because our next hotel was part of the same chain and the pictures appeared to show a really similar set up.
We had our complimentary breakfast, got some gas, and then hit the road. Today was a relatively easy driving day. We were going from Fargo to Medora and we'd be gaining an hour, shifting to Mountain Time, as we approached Medora. I had been having allergy and sinus issues, which is always a concern when we travel. My meds were starting to kick in, so David took over driving and I was out! I think I may have woken up briefly while we were driving through Bismarck, but that was it. By the time I woke up, we were on Mountain Time, and were just outside of Medora. We decided to stop at some trapper themed restaurant for a late lunch. Well, actually, first I needed more gas. I took a pic because it's my friend's name and I was joking with him that he owns a gas station in western North Dakota.
The restaurant was next door, so very easy to pop in for lunch.
This was the first place we encountered with reduced hours due to pandemic related staffing shortages. While we'd see this in a lot of places, a woman from the Houston area stopped to talk to us and apparently, many of the small towns up there are just starting to die away from people leaving. Apparently, Medora and the little areas around it are suffering from this as well. I'll spare you her long story about family moving up there and the RV they got, but she said even before Covid, people just started moving away for other opportunities. David was wearing his old Astros baseball cap, so it sparked this whole winding conversation. Honestly, a lot of it reminded me of the random people we meet at Disney....we were just doing the same while on the road all over the country. I thought about incorporating something about this into the trip report title...in such divisive times, it's nice to see how similar and friendly we all really are...but I didn't want to have it turn into a thing.
In any event, we were seated and I took some pics.
David and I have a long-running joke about Jackalopes, so this was pretty funny.
Lunch was OK. It was pretty hot in Medora and I was hoping to do a little bit of hiking, so I got a salad. Everyone else at heavy, so I knew we weren't going to be up for as much as I'd hoped. Oh well...no time like the present. We moved on to our first national park of the trip!
This is also where the pictures start becoming more of a challenge for me with a trip report. Up until this point, it was just me using my phone, but both DSLRs came out when we got to the park. In the early stages of the trip, I was hoping the kids would use my old one and I'd use my new one. We weren't really settled in anywhere, so when the kids pushed back on using the other camera for this park, I was good. Still, I had my main camera and phone going at the same time...since I can get some wider angle shots of landscapes with my phone and it's easier to post to Facebook that way so that my mom would know we were still alive. LOL
So, first observation...it is hot. It jumped to 106 shortly after I took the pic. This wound up being the hottest day of the entire trip...and that's saying something with some of the destinations in our lineup.
Second observation was actually a series of comparisons against Badlands NP. I'll be honest...I think the geological features of Badlands NP are more impressive. The colors are bolder and there are more peaks vs. domed tops, which make it more visually striking. That being said, there is a considerable amount of history with this park and Theodore Roosevelt. When you consider the entire National Parks Service and what he did to preserve and protect these kinds of lands, his beautiful place to seek refuge surely deserves the same care. I regret that we wouldn't have time to make it to the north unit to see some of the structures in use back when he came to these lands, but it was still very cool to know you were looking out on a place that was dear to him.
The first overlook is right off of the highway and requires no payment or formal entry into the park. Which also reminds me, like most national parks, much of the land around it is also protected. I could probably find the name on a map, but I believe it's a national grassland surrounding the perimeter. Oh yeah...something else around the perimeter...a fence. I can't recall fences at other parks, but they do it to keep bison and feral horses from moving out of park boundaries. Other animals can pass freely.
There were a few more in this area, but at some point, it starts to blend. We made a quick stop into the visitor center and gifft shp along the highway, and I took a moment to acknowledge one of my favorite groups of "literary" works...
Nice quote...
And adding our pins to the map.
We're also maskless at this point. It wasn't until later in the trip when the CDC changed its guidance and masking requirments were put back into place in the parks.
We hopped back into the car and it was time to head into the actual park part of the park. It would also be my first time using my new annual pass!
We basically went from one visitor center to the next.
We mainly went in because the kids wanted another stamp for their book and I'm shopping for ornaments for my new National Parks themed Christmas tree. A friend was looking to rehome her old tree and I gladly took it off of her hands. While in the center, we saw this really cool representation of Roosevelt...and it was wearing his actual clothes.
OK...well, the kids need to use the non-work computers for school stuff, so I'm going to stop here. Coming up...our tour around the park.
The girls were hoping to wake up early and get one last swim in the pool before we left. Yeah, that never happened. We did have high hopes though, because our next hotel was part of the same chain and the pictures appeared to show a really similar set up.
We had our complimentary breakfast, got some gas, and then hit the road. Today was a relatively easy driving day. We were going from Fargo to Medora and we'd be gaining an hour, shifting to Mountain Time, as we approached Medora. I had been having allergy and sinus issues, which is always a concern when we travel. My meds were starting to kick in, so David took over driving and I was out! I think I may have woken up briefly while we were driving through Bismarck, but that was it. By the time I woke up, we were on Mountain Time, and were just outside of Medora. We decided to stop at some trapper themed restaurant for a late lunch. Well, actually, first I needed more gas. I took a pic because it's my friend's name and I was joking with him that he owns a gas station in western North Dakota.
The restaurant was next door, so very easy to pop in for lunch.
This was the first place we encountered with reduced hours due to pandemic related staffing shortages. While we'd see this in a lot of places, a woman from the Houston area stopped to talk to us and apparently, many of the small towns up there are just starting to die away from people leaving. Apparently, Medora and the little areas around it are suffering from this as well. I'll spare you her long story about family moving up there and the RV they got, but she said even before Covid, people just started moving away for other opportunities. David was wearing his old Astros baseball cap, so it sparked this whole winding conversation. Honestly, a lot of it reminded me of the random people we meet at Disney....we were just doing the same while on the road all over the country. I thought about incorporating something about this into the trip report title...in such divisive times, it's nice to see how similar and friendly we all really are...but I didn't want to have it turn into a thing.
In any event, we were seated and I took some pics.
David and I have a long-running joke about Jackalopes, so this was pretty funny.
Lunch was OK. It was pretty hot in Medora and I was hoping to do a little bit of hiking, so I got a salad. Everyone else at heavy, so I knew we weren't going to be up for as much as I'd hoped. Oh well...no time like the present. We moved on to our first national park of the trip!
This is also where the pictures start becoming more of a challenge for me with a trip report. Up until this point, it was just me using my phone, but both DSLRs came out when we got to the park. In the early stages of the trip, I was hoping the kids would use my old one and I'd use my new one. We weren't really settled in anywhere, so when the kids pushed back on using the other camera for this park, I was good. Still, I had my main camera and phone going at the same time...since I can get some wider angle shots of landscapes with my phone and it's easier to post to Facebook that way so that my mom would know we were still alive. LOL
So, first observation...it is hot. It jumped to 106 shortly after I took the pic. This wound up being the hottest day of the entire trip...and that's saying something with some of the destinations in our lineup.
Second observation was actually a series of comparisons against Badlands NP. I'll be honest...I think the geological features of Badlands NP are more impressive. The colors are bolder and there are more peaks vs. domed tops, which make it more visually striking. That being said, there is a considerable amount of history with this park and Theodore Roosevelt. When you consider the entire National Parks Service and what he did to preserve and protect these kinds of lands, his beautiful place to seek refuge surely deserves the same care. I regret that we wouldn't have time to make it to the north unit to see some of the structures in use back when he came to these lands, but it was still very cool to know you were looking out on a place that was dear to him.
The first overlook is right off of the highway and requires no payment or formal entry into the park. Which also reminds me, like most national parks, much of the land around it is also protected. I could probably find the name on a map, but I believe it's a national grassland surrounding the perimeter. Oh yeah...something else around the perimeter...a fence. I can't recall fences at other parks, but they do it to keep bison and feral horses from moving out of park boundaries. Other animals can pass freely.
There were a few more in this area, but at some point, it starts to blend. We made a quick stop into the visitor center and gifft shp along the highway, and I took a moment to acknowledge one of my favorite groups of "literary" works...
Nice quote...
And adding our pins to the map.
We're also maskless at this point. It wasn't until later in the trip when the CDC changed its guidance and masking requirments were put back into place in the parks.
We hopped back into the car and it was time to head into the actual park part of the park. It would also be my first time using my new annual pass!
We basically went from one visitor center to the next.
We mainly went in because the kids wanted another stamp for their book and I'm shopping for ornaments for my new National Parks themed Christmas tree. A friend was looking to rehome her old tree and I gladly took it off of her hands. While in the center, we saw this really cool representation of Roosevelt...and it was wearing his actual clothes.
OK...well, the kids need to use the non-work computers for school stuff, so I'm going to stop here. Coming up...our tour around the park.
X2!! Happy Belated, HouCuseChickie.
Thank you!!!
MinnieM123
Premium Member
Always enjoy your TRs. You're lucky to be able to travel to so many places, and it's great that you and your family always make the best of everything.
Your pictures add a lot to your various descriptions as well. Aside of bigger attractions, etc., I tend to pick up on minor details as well. For example, the Conoco sign caught my attention. Don't think I've ever see that in my area before (or it was years ago, if it was there). I read that Shell and Phillips are more or less under Conoco. It may be that different parts of the country display any one of the three, but, in specific areas. (None of that is particularly exciting, but I sometimes focus on lame things. )
Your pictures add a lot to your various descriptions as well. Aside of bigger attractions, etc., I tend to pick up on minor details as well. For example, the Conoco sign caught my attention. Don't think I've ever see that in my area before (or it was years ago, if it was there). I read that Shell and Phillips are more or less under Conoco. It may be that different parts of the country display any one of the three, but, in specific areas. (None of that is particularly exciting, but I sometimes focus on lame things.
)
Songbird76
Well-Known Member
Happy Birthday!! I hope the cake was delicious! My husband is great at remembering those important dates, but he's not a planner. I still have to make my own cake and everything, but I would have to do that here anyway, since they don't have cakes like back home.
Oh yeah, I forgot about scotts bluff and chimney rock. I've been to those. We also went to a church camp in Nebraska....Beaver Valley and if I remember correctly there was an old stage coach line and a civil war era fort near there? Fort Robertson or something....let me look it up. Fort Robinson...I was close. We went there when we picked up my brother from Church camp. My mom always liked to hit historical and natural sites on vacation. With my dad, it was cattle ranchers...we had to stop at every cattle ranch we came across so he could talk with the rancher about breeding, etc. It made for a very boring trip through Nebraska when I was 14. Nebraska just makes me think of that trip...it was awful. We came back through South Dakota, too, but we had been going to South Dakota since I was knee-high to a grasshopper, so I knew all the sites there and it didn't leave as much of a bad taste in my mouth, though we did stop at one rancher friend's house, and that was traumatizing. They were VERY nice people, and I think he was a former South Dakota state supreme court judge, and his wife was the sweetest woman, but they had their 13 year old grandson staying with them and he was in the barn doing some work and they were about to go get him to introduce us all since my brother and I were similar ages, and my dad said to me "Now don't you be drooling all over their grandson. These are good people and the last thing they need is you using your feminine wiles on their grandson!" I was sooooooo embarrassed. I was only 14 and really conservative and pretty much a prude. Well the woman must have seen the tears in my eyes and she said "You know what? I was going to go into town and pick up the mail. Maybe Susan would like to keep me company while you boys go out and shoot!" So I never actually met the grandson at all. She took pity on me and saved me from more humiliating comments from my dad. And then I came home with a really bad ear infection, and it was followed by the trip to my dad's lawyer so he could discourage me from going to college, because women don't belong in college and it's a waste of money. But Nebraska doesn't really bring about fond memories because of that trip.
Last edited: