Wandering Through the West

We got up the next day and headed on our way.

Next stop is Colorado. We stopped at the Alamosa visitors center to get some stickers and sign the visitor logbook. We went to visit Grams at her place. The road made our car look browner than black! Fun times. It has been a few years since we last saw her, and she has never met Ezra.

After we left Grams, we had some really hairy roads to deal with. Might be the worst I’ve ever driven on, and definitely the worst that I’ve driven a minivan on. Parts had brushed against the sides of the car and under the van. I was worried we would have some damage, but thankfully we avoided any.

We drive north through Denver. Stopped at Buc-ee’s and had dinner. Before dinner, we probably spent an hour finding Ezra’s lens for his glasses (the kid keeps ripping them off and throwing the lens in various places in an already overpacked van). Then we walked in to grab food and were met with a huge thunderstorm.

The rest of the night brought rain and thunderstorms (including a nice lightning show).

The next day, we headed into South Dakota.

We drove by the Midwest’s largest Bicycle Sculpture (and possibly the world). I didn’t consider SD Midwest, but apparently it is. We turned around and took a photo, because why not?!

Then we passed Crazy Horse, the statue that honors the Oglala Lakota warrior Crazy Horse and Native American heritage. Didn’t have a chance to go, as we asked how long it would take to visit and were told it would probably be a good 8 hours to see everything.

Maybe if we return!

For now, the goal was to visit Mt. Rushmore.

We came and saw and conquered.

Ended up taking photos near the state signs they had up too – one for each state. So the kids decided to take photos next to their birth state.

Last stop?

Well, not quite, but the last stop before the next state?

The Dinosaur Park!

This was a park the kids had wanted to visit since they learned about it. We figured since it was so close to Mt Rushmore, we could stop and finally see it. It was a hit.

Next stop?

Nebraska.

See the photo below. Ezra was sleeping beforehand, which I’m pretty sure you can tell from his expression.

After this sign, we stopped next at McDonald’s for dinner. The food was fine, but they got our order wrong. We ordered a 40-piece chicken nugget. Driving off, we discovered 20 were hot and spicy. We returned, and they gave us another 40 pieces to correct it (so we ended up with 60 pieces). We ended up with too much, which I suppose isn’t the worst thing… and then we got to our hotel, where the kids begged and pleaded to go to the pool.

We relented.

just Pray.