Indiana to Utah with some wonders in between

During the last part of June and first part of July I spent 5 days driving with my friend and three of her young boys through the states of Indiana, Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, South Dakota, Wyoming, and finally, Utah.  We made many memorable stops along the way and spent plenty of time in the car.  The boys did impressively well all things considered, and that was without the threat of stopping the car and grabbing their ankles, as would have happened in my family while growing up!  

Our first official stop was Nauvoo, Illinois.  We stayed at a great little place kiddie-corner to the temple.  The location was ideal, and the room--or should I say rooms--were really nice.  Our best mishap of the entire trip happened here.  We checked in after hours and picked up our key and packet in a little drop box.  We thought it was a little strange that there were already some suitcases in the suite.  We hadn't realized that we would be sharing a bathroom and kitchen area.  Well, we started unloading into our empty room and decided that since we were sharing a bathroom, we had better use it before anyone else got there.  So I stripped down the three boys and got them in the tub.  When my friend realized that there weren't any locks on our bedroom door, she decided to make a phone call.  By the time my friend was off the phone, I was frantically handing little boys towels, getting them dressed and wiping down the bathroom to make it look like three dirty boys had never bathed there.  I believe the exact words of the hotel manager through her laughter were "You'd better make a run for it!"  Laughing with panic-stricken faces, we made a fast exit to our assigned room.  It turns out that our room key was actually IN the packet, not the other room key that happened to be in the drop box.  We are just grateful we were able to make a clean escape.  I later snuck up and placed three neatly folded towels in front of their door.   Below is a picture of our hotel, which also happened to be fun little shop and tasty restaurant.

We had ideal weather in Nauvoo.  The temple was beautiful and the whole town was peaceful and restful and a lovely place for an evening stroll.   
After a morning temple session, I joined Rebecca and the kids in Old Nauvoo for some pioneer games and dress-up!Other Nauvoo highlights included the Adventure Zone, a large warehouse designed to entertain little boys with lots of pent-up energy.  We spent many hours passing rows and rows of corn fields.  It felt like I had traveled back in time to a simpler, quieter life.  The landscape was primarily tree-less except for the quaint little farm houses and barns and were surrounded and partially hidden by clusters of trees.  Most of the two thousand miles we crossed were really beautiful to look at (luckily we drove through most of Wyoming in the dark).

In Minnesota our destination was Pipestone National Monument, an important and sacred site for many Native Americans.  The red rock and prairie lands were interesting and beautiful.

Leaping Rock

Handsome boys!

South Dakota brought with it all sorts of randomness--such as the one and only Corn Palace!  This building in Mitchel, South Dakota is entirely covered and decorated with CORN in all shades and varieties.  It was advertised for miles on the freeway, and we really couldn't pass up the opportunity to check out this wonder.  They were still in the process of decorating when we showed up.  The Corn Palace has been in place since 1892!  And, I might add that it is adjacent to City Hall.  Quite the wonder.  

Who knew that corn had such potential?

South Dakota also blessed us with the undescribeable Wall Drug.  I really don't know where to begin with this one.  Here you can buy western wear, art, gemstones, toys; eat at the cafe; visit the traveler's chapel, play in the arcade, be scared by the giant T-Rex that comes alive every 12 minutes, visit a mini-Mt. Rushmore,  climb on a giant jackalope's back, watch a mechanical gorilla play the piano, mine for gold, and so, so much more.  The boys could have spent hours playing in the water fountains...

The Badlands National Park was also a South Dakota treasure.  It reminded me some of what you might find in southern Utah.  We spent a morning hiking up, down, and around the red rock formations.  It was really a fascinating place .


Mt. Rushmore--a very American monument.  We actually got caught in a huge hailstorm and rainstorm when we pulled up to Mt. Rushmore.  We waited it out in our car and made a dash for the visitor's center when the rain started to let up a bit.  I thought it was really interesting to learn about how and why this famous monument was built in the first place.

Devil's Tower in northeastern Wyoming was a couple hours out of the way, but definitely worth it!  It was fascinating and beautiful, and I was thrilled to be in crisp, cool, mountainous air.  The legends surrounding the tower are wonderful, and we all enjoyed the mile walk around the tower.  




After the Devil's Tower, we focused all our energies on getting to Utah.  We gave the kids some "sleepy juice" and drove late into the night sharing music and swapping music.  We made it to Provo early the next afternoon.  I had so much fun with these boys and with Rebecca.  I loved Noah's "Ugh!" and Joshua and Michael's creativity.  I won't miss listening to "Warriors" audiobook and it's nice to eat home-cooked meals again; but overall, the trip was a true success!