Can we say "Road Trip"!!!

13 Days - 11 States - 4000+ miles - 1 In-Van Movie player - Does that say we just finished a massive road trip or what?

Yes we are crazy! I'm sure that thought is passing through any sane person's mind right now. My mom and I planned this road trip several months ago. My brother and his family moved back to TN over a year ago and their son was getting baptized. I hadn't seen my dad and stepmom Pat for a while. So the TN part of the trip was initiated. Then only a few weeks before the trip, I was talking with my older brother who lives in Minneapolis with his wife, telling him about the trip and about my idea of going to Mt. Rushmore on the way back to UT since my mom and my kids had never seen it. He jumped on that idea, invited us to Minneapolis for a few days prior and then he and his wife would go with us to Mt. Rushmore. Itinerary complete.

I do have lots of photos but still need to get them organized. Here is a breakdown of the Trip.

Day One: Drive Utah/Colorado. By far my favorite scenery of the drive was the western half of Colorado through the mountains. I don't think I would have the same opinion had I had to drive it in the winter. Stayed overnight at a cheap hotel with a pool, a couple miles from the Kansas border and time change to Central Time.

Day Two: Drive Kansas/Missouri. Only bad weather was in Kansas City, which by the way we got "mooned" by a girl on the back of a motorbike. She was wearing "low rider jeans" so bending over didn't leave much to the imagination. The kids thought it was hilarious. This was also the start of many road construction areas that we would encounter.

Day Three: Drive Illinois/Kentucky/Tn and arrive in early afternoon in Nashville. I sure did forget about the humidity and bugs that the south has.

Day Three - Day Seven: We spent with family, going to the science museum, swam a lot, visited with a few high school friends.

Day Eight: Drive TN/KY/IL/WI/MN. The longest drive EVER! We left at 6am and got to my brother's house at 10pm. Tons of road construction - ie 45 mph. There are signs warning you that if you hit a highway worker that you will be fined $11k and serve 15 years in jail.

Day Nine - Day Ten: Visit with brother and sister-in-law. Mall of America and Minneapolis Zoo. Of course we had to get some golf in too.

Day Eleven: Drive MN/South Dakota to Rapid City. Luckily, my brother found a great deal on a hotel with a waterpark in it. Kids loved it. We even got both he and my sister in law to go down the water slides (the 2 to 3 story kinds) a few times. I think we all have a couple of bruises to prove it.

Day Twelve: Tour Mt. Rushmore/Custer State Park/Chuckwagon Dinner and Entertainment/More Swimming. Definitely a very full day for all of us. The parks service have really improved the touring part of Rushmore in the last several years. I came over 25 years ago with my Dad. Luke, when asked what he learned about the sculptures of the 4 presidents, he replied "That they are dead!". What more can we say? We saw lots of buffalo up close in Custer State park and got to pet wild donkeys. That night we went to a Circle B Chuckwagon. Lasso practice/pistol shooting/gem panning, and a live gun fight/show. Really good food according to Ethan and some really great Western music. I thought the kids would be exhausted but no, we had to hit the pool one more time since we would be heading back early in the morning. So Erik braved it with me for some more slide fun and the kids tried to gang up on him and splash him but instead Uncle Erik tidal waved them several times.

Day Thirteen: Drive South Dakota/Wyoming/Utah. I didn't mess around and got everyone in the car and off by 6:30 am. On our way through Wyoming, not my favorite driving scenery state, we did end up stopping at "Martin's Cove". The pioneers that pulled handcarts and got stuck in an early storm. It tells the story and all. We stopped there for a break. Finally pulled into our driveway at 7:15 pm. Glad to be home.