Crazy Horse, Mt. Rushmore and Flintstones

Friday 6/13/2014

Custer, SD

Up early with breakfast at the motel then off we headed for Crazy Horse and Mt. Rushmore.  The Crazy Horse Monument and museum was very interesting even to Todd and Zoey.  People wonder why it is taking so long to complete but the Indian nation is doing more than just making a monument; they are building the museum, a college, a medical training facility and they will not take government money.  Do you wonder why?  Think about it – can the Indian trust the white man or his government?  They are concerned that if the government gets any control the project will never be completed.  I believe they have the right mindset.  The local Indians had many tables setup with jewelry, dream catchers, pottery and other items for sale.  I know it is all for a good cause but just too pricy for my budget.  Leaving Crazy Horse we traveled on to Mt. Rushmore which was exactly what I expected.  Impressive but the whole region of the Black Hills is impressive.  Leaving Mt. Rushmore we headed out on Iron Mountain Scenic road which was beautiful with switchbacks, single lane tunnels and no guardrails and no animals other than the occasional deer.  Kids were wonderful however, we found out Todd gets car sick on the real curvy roads.  Arriving back in Custer by noon we ate lunch and then headed for the Flintstone Amusement Park.  So much fun things to do and ride; 2 hours or more riding trains, cars, swings, slides and more.  Don decided to skip this place and did the laundry instead.  It turned out very hot this afternoon and the kids wanted to get in the pool which is an outdoor pool and in my opinion cold but they had fun cooling off.  Kids are not interested in big dinners and in fact want spam, chips and cheese or a sandwich so tonight I walked next door to the Dakota Cowboy Restaurant and had a really good Rib Eye and a glass of white wine (they didn’t sell anything stronger).  I don’t mind eating alone and I certainly enjoyed the few minutes of me time.  Don has gone over to get dinner now.  Kids are really good during the day and riding but they seem to turn on in the evenings; punching each other and fighting.  They start out by teasing and then just don’t know when to stop.  I guess it is pent up energy plus the time changes we feel like we should be going to bed while it is still light and getting up in the dark. 

A good place for her!

Todd made it out of the dragon. 

Custer SD And We Are Still Doing Good

Thursday 6/12/2014

Custer, SD

We are one day ahead of schedule; we planned to spend 3 days here and thank goodness the hotel had a room tonight.  Going into another time zone helped giving us time to travel the Custer State Park Wildlife Loop.  Kids were so impressed with the mountains, the red dirt and the animals.  We spotted a momma deer with her new born baby; the little one couldn’t even walk very well and kept lying down couldn’t have been more than a few hours old.  We also saw Pronghorn sheep, wild donkeys and of course buffalo.  Getting back to the hotel we could finally unload just about everything and put some sort of order to our stuff.    The car looks like a tornado went through it.  Custer is a small town and nothing seems to be on the level of what I expect.  I don’t think I demand much but everything seems run down even the really high priced motels.  Well we want to see so much and then after walking around Don came back with information about kids’ amusement parks and magic shows.  I think we can fill 4 days without any trouble.

Ever Been To A Museum Where Everything Is "Please Touch Me"?

Wednesday 6/11/2014

Lincoln NE

We only had an hour to drive and the kids were excited; we were going to the Lincoln Children’s Museum and everything is “please touch me”.  Lincoln is a big city and the only parking was in a parking garage 2 blocks away.  Driving into a parking garage was a whole new experience for them.  Entering the museum stopped them in their tracks!  This place is awesome to say the least.  Three floors consisting of a tree house that reached all three floors; a vet’s office with pets to care for; a fire truck they could get in and pretend to drive with all the sirens and lights; a police motorcycle again with all the lights and sirens; a bank; a grocery store with carts and registers for check out; a small but real plane they can get in and pretend to fly; the cab of a tractor trailer with the sleeper they could drive; a train engine and even the space shuttle with the moon buggy to drive.  Most locations had the clothes they could put on.  We spent 3 hours going from one play station to another and up and down the elevator.  Getting back to the car I realized I had lost the parking ticket but the lady was so nice and only charged us half price.  Getting out of Lincoln we follow I80 and then take NE2 which is a scenic byway known as the Sandyhill Byway and this is not how I had Nebraska pictured.  Well over 200 miles of nothing but large hills with sparse grass and cattle roaming.  As I looked off in the distance it reminded me of the desert locations we traveled through in 2009.  And the wind – oh my goodness – the wind was just like in the lower states as we traveled cross country in 2009;  blowing from the south and strong enough to move the van.  We noticed tumbleweed blowing across the highway.  Trains are the major means of transporting coal; we must have passed 20 + trains with more than 100 cars each all hauling coal.  Well, most towns on NE 2 are not more than a cross roads (not even a traffic light) and we wanted to get as many miles down as possible so we opt for a motel in Thedford.  Little town has a gas station, 2 motels but only one looks decent, a bar and grill and about 5 houses.  It was either stop here or travel another 100 miles so here we are and what a surprise!  A very nice, clean motel and they even have a guest laundry.  We are trying to stop no later than 4 every night to give the kids time for baths and to play a bit.  And they are doing very well.  Oh no trains are going past the motel and blowing their whistle.  Wonder how sleeping will be. 

Chocolate Chip Cookies and a Swimming Pool

Tuesday, 6/10/2014

Winterset, IW

188 miles put us in Winterset by 11:15 AM.  Where we grabbed a quick lunch at Hardee’s and then a few blocks more and we were at John Wayne’s birthplace.  Now John Wayne doesn’t mean much to Zoey or Todd but he does to Don and I must admit I like his movies too.  However, Todd was paying attention to the guide and said he had a good time.  Traveling on I was impressed with the vastness of the fields all around us.  Corn and more corn as far as the eye can see.  I wouldn’t call it mountains but rolling hills are everywhere with what looks like fuzzy snakes twisting and curving down the hillside joining here and there.  A closer look shows these to be drainage ditches throughout the fields.  And windmills dot the hills; some locations have lots of windmills that obviously supply electricity to a town or region and other places we see one or two servicing the local farm.  And the distance between farms – wow you have to drive several miles down dirt roads to reach your neighbor.  Tomorrow we will be visiting the Lincoln Children’s Museum where everything is geared to kids and hands-on.  How cool will that be!  We wanted to get within an hour of the museum so we wouldn’t have too much riding to do and we have stopped for the night in Council Bluffs at a really great hotel.  Room is nice, clean and spacious but the cool part is they have an indoor pool and make homemade chocolate chip cookies every night at 5:30.  Kids are impressed.  Hope Zoey didn’t get any water in her ears – just praying daily that we don’t have to deal with an ear infection.

National Motorcycle Museum

Monday, 6/9/2014

Anamosa, Iowa

Back on the road by 7:20 AM and reached Anamosa by 12:30 (crossed our first time zone – try to explain that to a kid!).  Traveling through Iowa we see lots of open space with field after field of corn.  Indiana was very flat but we are beginning to see rolling hills again and lots of dirt roads.  Anamosa is a very small town; really just a cross roads with a McDonalds, 2 hotels, a Subway and one family restaurant and then the largest national motorcycle museum.  This place was packed with history.  All the manikins are freaking Zoey out.  She said she didn’t like all those people staring at her.  When she walks around a corner and comes upon one suddenly you hear a little gasp.  We are in the hotel right now and Zoey is in her glory because the TV has Sponge Bob.  She is tucked under the covers after eating her fill of grapes, carrots and an apple; and it’s only 5 PM.  Well I guess her tummy thinks it’s 6.  Don and Todd have run to the Walmart – yes even a town of less than 300 people has a Walmart.  Well the first 3 days we traveled over 300 miles per day and the kids have done very well.  The next few days we will travel 200 give or take a few and then stop to see things.   

Our Little Grease Monkeys

Sun, 6/8/2014

South Bend, IN

The hotel last night had a window seat with a nice cushion and Todd insisted he was going to sleep there.  He did and about 2 AM we heard a thump and he had fallen off the window seat into the floor.  Awful way to wake up!  On the road by 7:10 AM and traveled through some pouring rain for several hours.  With only one stop for lunch we reached the Studebaker Museum by 2:15 PM.  Very interesting and the kids liked seeing the old cars, trucks, tanks and horse drawn wagons but what they really liked was the small hands-on garage for kids where they could change tires; replace mufflers; fill the antifreeze; drain the oil; and do all types of automotive work.  There were work orders and a desk with a phone to take customer’s calls.  They had a ball.  Reserved a motel yesterday near the museum and it is a roof over our heads and that’s about it.  I’ve stayed in worse but not very often.  Kids are doing great!  I couldn’t have asked for better kids today riding 374 miles. 

 

 

 

 

Cross Country Again - With Two Kids - Are We Crazy?

Sat. 6/7/2014

Full day of driving; car was packed yesterday afternoon and we were up by 5:30 AM and pulling out of the driveway at 7:09 AM.   Stopped for breakfast just before the Bay Bridge just like we always do on the bikes.  One or two more stops to stretch and we arrived at the hotel by 3:30 PM.  Would have been a little earlier but we are off the freeway and in town so we had to deal with some traffic delays.  I sure wouldn’t want to live in a city as crowded as Pittsburgh.   One of our rest stops was in Hancock where we walked by the Canal.  And we had to use a “port-a-potty” which was something Zoey was very interested in. Had the GPS set for shortest route for a while so we got off the interstate and traveled a few miles on great mountain roads – could almost make the van lean – until Don made me stop.  Zoey was in the back saying “wee”.   Kids were impressed with the mountains and that we were riding on top of some and going through tunnels to get through others.   Nice motel and kids were impressed the room even has a bathroom!  They don’t remember staying in a motel last year.  Toys are all over the room right now as well as popcorn.   Kids traveled good; took 3 short naps in the car.