Epic Road Trip Part 1

Last summer was the summer we decided to take an epic road trip with our 3 teenagers.  This trip was to last 14 days across the middle of our country and include  nature,  scenery along with love and togetherness. Fourteen days with three teenagers.   Four national parks, 7 states, 9 different places to sleep all planned and reserved by  my husband. He had been to most of these places as a child. The only request I had to offer was Glacier National Park.  Why? No idea. I had never been there. Seemed like a cool place to be. Turns out I was right.  My request was added to the agenda. Everything down to the picnic stops were meticulously planned. He did a fabulous job for 98 percent of the trip.  I was only worried about possibly being murdered in one location. Last minute adjustments had to made only once, and strangely enough, not for the murder cabin.

The Epic Temple Family Vacation began on July 3rd as we rolled out in our overly packed vehicle. Not with just luggage either. Oh no. Not for EPIC Temple Family Vacation. We had the travel refrigerator wired in a worrisome manner. Worrisome to me, but not anyone else.  My hubs also built a drawer to hold all the non-perishable foods for our two week, cross country trek. We picnic in style. The kids were beyond ecstatic to begin this Griswold family style trip with their parents. They were getting along marvelously and singing merrily in the backseats, only stopping long enough to thank us again for exposing them to as many different environments as possible.  Now may be a good time to interject that it has been a year,  so my memory on certain aspects may not be exactly correct. In some instances I am straight out lying to protect the innocent.

The first day and half were travel days with no  “planned” points of interest. If you have not had the opportunity to enjoy the scenery of the middle of our country, you owe this to yourself. Northern Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa, have a specific, geographical beauty. For many people, probably most people, it is a vast area of complete nothingness. I personally think Kansas is a time warp because nothing changes for hours. However, as we traveled toward our first point of interest,  the hours of corn fields had, for me at least,  a bit of therapeutic beauty. For hours on end,  there was literally nothing to do but entertain complete thoughts that did not include what’s  for dinner, what needs to be cleaned, and what meetings did I need to prepare for.

July 4th, as we were still making our way to the first destination, we celebrated by stopping at St. Derion, a ghost town in the corner of Indian Cave State Park. As luck would have it, there were  live demonstrations. What? LIVE DEMONSTRATION, shut the front door! The Epic Temple Vacation had so far fulfilled all of the kids highest expectations.

We continued to meander through St. Derion and came to the old school house complete with an actual, metal merry-go-round propelled by dad power. We have taken our kids to Disney World, and Universal Studios multiple times. We have been to the beach and waterparks more times than I care to count. To see your teenage children drop the protective armor required to survive, for just a moment, and actually laugh just because, is worth driving to middle of the country. Sweating your ass off while watching both a cranky lady make soap and a very skilled blacksmith mold iron is just an added bonus. Memories people.

The very next  day brought us to our first planned destination. Even though my husband had mentioned the Badlands of South Dakota many, many, MANY times as a vacation destination, this was our first trip.

When I think of  the ultimate family vacation destinations, South Dakota did not immediately jump its way to the top of the “must go” places. My husband is wise and expertly used my love for history to lure me north.  Having  been married for about 137 years now, he wove tales of the Lakota Indians, Theodore Roosevelt, and Mt. Rushmore. The beauty of the Badlands may not be for everyone. The heat is complete nonsense. COMPLETE NONSENSE. If you are brave, and somewhat heat resistant, take yourself, your kids and anyone else you can find to this unadulterated land. It truly was like visiting another planet. No buildings. No stop lights. No Starbucks. No McDonalds. There are bison and prairie dogs and landscapes that look like they were imagined by Gene Roddenberry. The heat really did suck. Our bread for picnic turned to toast due to the heat and complete lack of moisture. My memory may not be accurate about all the details of this epic journey, but I do remember, specifically, it being 2000 degrees in the Badlands.

The evening following a walk on the sun found us lodging in a Custer State Park cabin.  On multiple occasions I have been accused of  “lying” while we were dating by saying I “liked” camping. I really would like to review the transcript in which this alleged conversation took place. Fall and winter camping, let’s do it. If the temperature is above 80 degrees during the day, I am out for camping. I went to college and made sure I could place myself in situations to not have to sweat at night and be bitten by whatever rabid insect finds its way into my sleeping quarters. This first cabin reservation was quite adequate. The cabin was a bit “cozy” with the one room containing  two bunkbeds. The device  in the window resembled an air conditioner, but as far as functionality it was,  at best a handicapped fan. The bathrooms were a short walk through snake valley. This may be an overly dramatic picture  I am painting. This campground was actually very nice, well maintained,  and clean.  The winding drive through the park may introduce you an occasional bison. There is also a small camp store not too far away from the campsites. If you are in the market,  I would  highly recommend this as alternative to a tent or even some hotels.  Custer State Park.

Just outside of Custer State park, and before heading toward Mt. Rushmore, we stopped in Custer, the town. Be warned,  at first glance this appeared to be  a typical tourist town with souvenir shop on every corner and a visitor center sharing history for anyone interested enough. We did particularly enjoy the differently decorated bison about the town. Also, the Blackhills Burger and Bun Co. was touted to be one of the best places to buy a burger in the US. I will say these burgers were very yummy, however, after waiting over an hour, I would have been happy with pretty much any food. Stop by, if you are in the neighborhood, and judge for yourself.  The sweet potato fries are almost worth the stop by themselves.  If you have to wait, stop by the visitor center to see a very odd statue of General Custer. Well, statue may not be an accurate term. Art is subjective. In my humble opinion, this conglomeration that has a bust of General Custer on top looks like the friendly neighborhood artist cleaned out his storage building and piled it by the curb.

Granted, Mount Rushmore does not contain many surprises. You can see the faces from the interstate without having to pay and park and deal with mass amounts of people. However, the path leading to the entrance that contains all the state flags may spark that national pride just a bit. Also, looking up George Washington’s nose was oddly entertaining. The model in which the artist worked from is on display and as well as many facts and tidbits about the project. As I will say over and over, the drive was truly stunning. The total amount of time we spent was just shy of two hours. Just do it, even if it sounds boring and cheesy.

We were just getting started. So many more miles to go.

… to be continued in Part II…

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