We started our day in our quaint HGTV motor court with waffles and coffee. The breakfast area was a cute as the rest of motel.

We decided to take the surries out for a spin before we left. These two were definitely not going at a leisurely pace… more like nascar in the parking lot!

One more time, we loaded our Mom’s Cafe boxes and cooler and hit the road. We are crossing Iowa today with a couple a fun stops… although when we mapped out seeing everything we wanted to see, the drive was going to be 9+ hours, so we picked a few that were streamlined and hit the road.

Iowa is the number producer of corn in the United States, and I think we can say we saw a lot of it today. Here’s a few Iowa corn facts we learned: 99% of the corn grown in Iowa is field corn (not the sweet corn we all like to eat); there is one silk for every kernel that grows in an ear of corn; and the number of kernels per ear varies from 500 to 1,200, but a typical ear has 800 kernels in 16 rows.

There was corn rolling on every field… it really was peaceful to just see the rows planted in a line. We decided to stop and have lunch somewhere to stretch our legs and thankfully found the Grundy County Park.

The park was beautiful and hosted a pop-up Mom’s Cafe. The boys threw the football while I got lunch ready and we were all thankful to not be moving for a minute. This vacation has been fun but we have covered a lot of territory with a lot of driving.

We left the park and headed towards Brandon, Iowa, home of Iowa’s largest Frying Pan! It’s built to scale and could cook 528 eggs at the same time. (It was the world’s largest frying pan at 14 feet tall and 9 feet wide until Long Beach, Washington created one that was 9 1/2 feet wide). Either way, it was worth a 20 minute diversion, and some great pictures 😁

I always think of 2 things when I see this much corn… Children of the Corn (probably would have had a heart attack if I heard someone whisper “Malachi”) and Field of Dreams. I think I said “if you build it, they will come” at least 10 times today 😁 Might as well answer the call… since they built it, we went 🤪 (awesome Mom joke)

Fields of Dreams was really fun to see. Full disclosure, we aren’t a huge baseball family. But still cool to see where they filmed the movie and all the folks there, especially the little boys playing baseball on the field.

But, this was by far my favorite… this older couple played catch in the outfield. Just back and forth to each other the whole time we were there. It was the sweetest thing to watch. I’m not sure they knew anyone else was even there ♥️ #marriagegoals

Glad we stopped to make a few memories.

We grabbed dinner at Jenny’s Diner (and almost froze with the A/C! Seriously, I think the temperature was set to “meat locker” brrrr!) But we did get a beautiful picture of the sun setting behind the courthouse.

Tomorrow, we head to Chicago and our last full day of vacation.

Before we could leave Brandon, South Dakota, we needed just a little more sleep and some more waterpark. We were apparently wiped out from our mega-drive and slept right through the free breakfast. No worries, we still had pop tarts, cereal and milk from our VRBOs. We got most of our things packed up, and headed to the waterpark.

They played, and we had coffee. Mike and I realized that watching them laugh and play is just about the most relaxing thing in the world.

We rinsed off and hit the road, again. Not too far today though. As we edge out of South Dakota, we crossed back into Minnesota for a little bit… we knew we were in Minnesota because we started seeing lakes again.

As we neared Iowa, the scenery changed… field after field after field of corn and soybeans, and then here we were: Iowa!

We aren’t going far into Iowa today, but we did get to see the home of Indian Motorcycles

We headed to Arnold’s Park, Iowa – City of 5 Lakes but we were mainly interested in Lake Okoboji and Arnold’s Amusement Park.

Arnold’s Amusement Park started in 1889 with a water toboggan slide. Folks would rent wool suits to slide down it. Things grew from there and it became the community area. In 1999, the area was to be sold to a commercial developer who planned to put condominiums with Lake Okoboji views on the property. The citizens of Arnold’s Park started a Save the Park Campaign and within 6 weeks over $7.5 million dollars was donated to stop the sale, and create the Arnold’s Park Community area and green space. The amusement park is now the oldest amusement park west of the Mississippi River.

The Park is old fashioned and awesome! The rides had signs on them explaining their history.

It wasn’t too crowded or too expensive. Perfect place to spend a day!

We giggled at our teenager who “just had to finish this game” before he could do anything.

And we got really tickled by this young man and his dad who had season passes. They told us which cars went fastest in every division (single, double and junior). I think there are dreams of NASCAR stardom here!

We spent a little time on the go-cart track, and I may have scared Mike to death with my driving especially my drifting in the sharp turns. If you ain’t first, you’re last! 🤣

And we all had a flashback to Leo’s love of lions! If you don’t know, Leo loved lions when he was little. We prayed for the daddy lion at the NC Zoo, and we always rode on the lion at the Zoo’s carousel… waiting however long it took to be sure to get the lion. When we left the carousel, Leo would usually scream at the next rider of the lion to “jit off my lion!” So while he acted like he didn’t want this picture, I think he secretly did ♥️

It was a pretty perfect day at the Park!

But wait! What’s that across the street? Nutty’s Ice Cream. The only way to make this day better – Ice Cream!

We left Arnold’s Park and explored Okoboji a bit before checking into our hotel, Vintage Block Inn and Suites. It is an old Motor Court that has been HGTV’d, and it’s about the cutest place ever!

They had an outdoor area with a mini basketball hoop, corn hole and giant dominoes.The boys liked the outdoor pool, and there were surries (with a fringe on top 😉) to ride around the property,. And they had the biggest and most beautiful plants I’ve ever seen!

I spent a good bit of time timing the “breath holding” which has become Leo’s thing on this vacation. He’s up to 55 seconds.

After we rested a bit, we walked back into town to have dinner at the Okoboji Store. The Store was originally built around an ice rink in 1884, then converted into a general store, post office, boat rental and livery. A restaurant developed for boaters and the restaurant stuck. They had live music (quite possibly the worst singer we’ve ever heard – non-Southern people should not try to sing with a southern accent), and one of the coolest “waiting areas” ever!

It got chilly sitting by the water but it was a beautiful view. Dinner was delicious, and Michael’s branded burger was too cool.

Tomorrow we head out for our last day in Iowa, and then start heading back to Chicago. But for now, we’re snuggled in our HGTV Motor Court for the night.

Today we are crossing the entire state of South Dakota… 5 and a half hours at a minimum but of course, we have a few stops to make it longer but way more fun 🤩

Before we left town, we stopped by Lynn’s Dakotamart for Mom’s Cafe supplies, and caught a glimpse of the Bulls of Custer – kind of like the painted jeans around Greensboro or the pigs in Lexington.

We left Custer and passed by Crazy Horse one more time

And then we were on the road again 🎶 but the speed limit is 80 miles an hour so you can do some moving!

First Stop: Wall Drug. Everyone who has been to South Dakota said we “had to go by Wall Drug” so we did. The town of Wall is literally this one main street that has t-shirt shops, and jerky.

We’re not sure how Wall Drug used to be, but now, its pretty much the South Dakota version of South of the Border. Complete with the signs on the highway saying “10 Miles Ahead.” All they were missing was the “Pedro Says…” part of the signs.

I did see a few signs I could relate to and got the boys to pose for a couple of photos

After Wall Drugs, we headed to Badlands National Park, and found our favorite little peeps – prairie dogs! This one even looked like he was posing for me.

The Badlands are unreal – hills and valleys from the rocky clay ground with the different colors of the soil showing through from years of erosion. It is so strange to go from the green landscapes to this barren looking soil. Every turn was a different view or mountain, and cooler than the last. There were rainbow colored rocks and some bleached by the sun. I can’t imagine what happens here in the winter when it snows.

Although I could have done without seeing this!

But we did get some great family pics for our Map and a few framers!

Remember a few days ago when I said you could see the end of the storm? Well, you can see the storm coming too.

Since we already had hours on the road, what’s 20 miles of backtracking to see a nuclear missle? The Minuteman Missile National Historic Site is in South Dakota and built on and near nuclear missile silos. The Historic site was built in 1999 to represent the Cold War, Arms Race and the development of intercontinental missiles. The missiles were stored in South Dakota because it was the center of the United States and could be in Russia within 30 minutes. The control center and the missile site (the one we were allowed to see 🤨) were about 10 miles apart. The primary museum is small but has a lot of information about the Cold War, and the arms race. Until this, I don’t think the boys really understood how scary it was growing up during this time. I can remember being worried that Russia would invade. Red Dawn was real to those of us growing up in the 80’s.

Anyway, the museum had great information on the arms race and the back and forth conflict with Russia, including the Cuban Missile Crisis. We watched a video on fallout shelters and what to do “if you see the flash.”

The silos and control center were manned 24 hours a day with several soldiers on duty. Any launch always required multiple levels of agreement. From the displays, it appears that there were several times that one person’s rational thought saved the world, and one time it was not too far from home…

From the museum/visitors center, you travel 4 miles to the control center, which is cleverly disguised in plain site. I wonder how many people drove past this area without ever knowing what was really there? The soldiers were stationed here for extended periods of time and had everything they needed on site – a cook, basketball court and eventually a satellite for television. This part you could only enter with reservations and tickets (and I’m sure a background check)

We left the control center and traveled another 9 miles to see the missile silos themselves. The silos are underground, but if you travel down this non-descript road, and up to this non-descript area, you’ll find missile silos. And I’m sure, based on the trust I have in my government, that everything is safe and disarmed 😏

This site was supposed to close at 3pm. As we were leaving at 2:45, the Park Ranger showed up. She locked the bathroom and then started locking the gate when Mike stopped to talk to her. (She reassured him nothing was still armed here but they inspected routinely and kept a dehumidifier running… um, why do you care if it’s humid down there if it’s not a working silo 🧐). But the best part was the people coming behind us, by now it is 2:50. And the park ranger says “hurry and I’ll let y’all in.” Um ya think? It’s not 3pm yet. 🤦🏻‍♀️

But still needed some family pics by the missile! Nothing says family vacation like warheads 🤣🤪🤣

From the silos we drove,

And drove…

and drove.

We did see a tractor trailer hauling one of the blades for the wind turbines. Wow! Look at the size of this thing! And notice the tires on the end, they’re operated like an RC car from the cab of the truck.

We also passed Porter’s Sculpture Park in Montrose, South Dakota. Think of a large collection of large animals and stuff made from scrap metal.

And then we drove some more. We have crossed the entire state of South Dakota today.

The hotel for tonight in Brandon, SD is great and includes a small waterpark. Since we have driven and driven and driven today, we decided to order dinner to go from a nearby restaurant, eat in the room and enjoy the water park until it closes at 10pm.

For the first 30 minutes of each hour, the slide runs and you can’t use the pool or basketball goal, then the last half hour, the slide is closed and the basketball goal/pool is open. Meanwhile there is a large whirlpool and splash/play area.

It was a great way to get rid of some energy and wear them out. The hotel is booked solid tonight and no rollaway beds, so the boys are sharing a sleeper sofa. espeut thanks to the waterpark, they are snoring away right now.

Tomorrow we have a short drive (100 miles) and then a day at the oldest amusement park west of the Mississippi.

We spent Tuesday in an ATV from Adventure Rentals (thanks for the recommendation Dana!)… to ensure specific it was a Polaris RZR 1000 and It. Was. Awesome! ATVs are street legal in South Dakota so we scooted around all day.

The weather did not cooperate for the first half (maybe 2/3) of the day, but it ended up being nice. South Dakota may beat North Carolina for a one day weather swing… 50° and cold drizzle until 2:30 and then sunshine and 80° by 4:30!

We decided to explore Custer State Park first and the trails later in the day when the State Park got crowded. Custer State Park is as beautiful as any National Park we’ve been to, and it is huge! 71,000 acres… for a state park! And we had a ball exploring every bit of it.

And guess who else like Custer State Park? Our old friends the Bisons… now if you think they seemed close while confined in a car, they are some kind of close in an ATV!

And the little prairie dogs just patiently wait for the bison to move along and then they pop right up.

We continued on through the park with some only the sharpest turns we’ve seen!

We kept an eye out for wildlife and just enjoyed some of the off-roading that the ATV let us do.

Due to some road closures, we got diverted and ended up really close to Mount Rushmore, so why not check out a few other views of the mountain?

We made it all the way to the Norbeck Overlook (one mile across from Rushmore) named for Peter Orbock the Governor of South Dakota in 1930 who chose Iron Mountain for the location of Mount Rushmore. It is very high up and with the weather as chilly as it is with drizzle, it was COLD up there, but the views made it totally worthwhile!

As we headed away from the top of the hill, we loved the tunnels and bridges. They’ve clearly been rebuilt but tried to stay with the original designs.

We made our way back down the mountain and kept seeing different views of Mount Rushmore.

As we came out of the Mount Rushmore area, we decided to go ahead and visit the Crazy Horse Memorial. I wasn’t sure what to expect but it was really interesting. We watched a short film on how the sculptor, Korczak Ziolkowski, was selected by the Native American Tribes… He was a Polish orphan from New York who taught himself how to sculpt, and became famous after winning a competition at the World’s Fair. The leader of the local tribes, Henry Standing Bear sought out Ziolkowski to create the Crazy Horse Monument. It took several asks but Ziolkowski ultimately came and lived just in front of the memorial so he could work on it… climbing 700+ steps with each ascent. (Heaven help him if his air compressor stopped working or he forgot a tool.).

The project was started in 1947, and Ziolkowski said at the time that it would not be completed within his lifetime. He was right, not only did he work on it, but his wife worked on it after his death, and now his children do as well.

And look, Mom’s Cafe has a satellite location in the Crazy Horse parking lot!

We headed out of the Crazy Horse, and hit the trails! There are trails ALL over Custer! Some with packed dirt (to go fast) some with rocks (to jar your teeth) and some with cows (who clearly are used to seeing ATVs and people and had no fear of either).

Every now and then you cam up to a fence that you had to open and then close behind you. And some of us may have had a little trouble with this

We rode for hours making it all the way up to the fire lookout. You could see for miles and miles – good spot to spot fires. It was breezy chilly, and beautiful!

We spent hours running the trails and had the best time. And thankfully we found some mud!

And someone may have gotten a little driving experience on the trails… 🤫

We headed back into Custer to turn in our ATV… just a bit muddier than when we left this morning 😉

We did a pretty job covering Custer State Park and the trails for one day

Then we headed back to hotel to shower and relax a bit… and have a 2nd day of laundry

One of my the ladies at Adventure Rentals suggested we check out the Pizza Mill for dinner. Holy Moly! We have now traveled to 31 states and this may be the best pizza we’ve ever had! And they had a beer that cracked us up! We wondered if it came in a white truck that said “truck” on the side 🤣

We obviously needed to end this almost perfect day with some ice cream, but not before this nut did some parking lot dancing, which made his brother laugh and his daddy cringe 🤣

Bellies full (again) we spent some time in the pool and crashed. Tomorrow is our longest drive all the way across

We woke up for our last day in North Dakota. Our 80’s flashback hotel was still just as groovy with its little breakfast nook. If we drive straight through, we will end up in Custer, South Dakota in 4 and a half hours… but when have we ever gone straight through?

These 2 decided to spend a little time in the pool and hot tub while we got packed up and ready for one of our longest drives.

We headed to Theodore (Freddie) Roosevelt National Park for a little sight-seeing, and maybe a quick trail or two since we have a long drive today. Theodore Roosevelt NP is absolutely beautiful. The landscape is sort of a mix between rocky cliffs and green pastures.

Our first animal encounters were the prairie dogs. Oh my gosh, the cuteness. And then their communications. They stand straight up, put their arms out and just scream, and then they fall down as if the yell took all their energy. We watched them for at least 10 minutes and giggled every time!

After we left the prairie dogs, we came up on a lone wild horse… which worried Michael because he was afraid he lost his herd. Leo meanwhile said, maybe he wanted to lose his herd. 🤪 These boys couldn’t be more different.

The view was different on each side of the car. The rocky cliffs were huge, and then we saw a beautiful green pasture with a big ol bull bison.

And THEN we took the next curve, and saw the an entire herd of wild bison!

There were so many of these guys. The coolest part were the bulls standing guard. They stood at what looked like the four corners surrounding the herd, and just kept watch… at least that’s what we thought they were doing.

We were just mesmerized. They are so big but could move so fast. But when it is time to cool off, or get rid of bugs, they would roll in the dirt, and by “roll” I mean waller until they make a rut in the ground and a cloud of dust. Honestly, it reminded us all of Otis.

We finally moved on and saw a few pronghorns playing in a nearby field.

We drove on to see some of the different areas of the park and did some quick hikes to a few spots for pictures.

Of course, these two had to go higher and higher, and look who they got up there with them!

We could still see the herd and the bull standing guard.

We drove on through Freddie Roosevelt Park, only missing one section of the Southern Unit because of road construction. It’s a beautiful park with lots of trails but also lots to see just from driving and stopping at the overlooks. Due to the road construction, we had to go out the same way we can into the Park. As we started making our way back, we realized we had a bit of problem… the herd that we had watched before were now walking along and crossing the road that we needed to leave the park.

We definitely practiced our “no sudden movements” and “no loud noises” instructions… because it seemed like these guys were coming in the car with us a few times.

As the herd grew less, the prairie dogs popped back up.

We left Freddie Roosevelt National Park and started making our way to South Dakota. One of my favorite things about this part of the country is the patriotism. It is everywhere from the world’s largest flag to hay bales covered in red, white and blue.

The scenery continued to be just as beautiful but began to change back to more grassy fields and cattle.

And then Bam – South Dakota!

Oh my word, South Dakota may win the prize for the longest roads… I mean just miles and miles and miles.

Months ago when I ordered our South Dakota book from the South Dakota Department of Tourism, I thought it was a little strange that they inclulded a paper map… um yea, they knew exactly what they were doing. The GPS signal out here is touchy – at best. But we noted a little dot by Belle Fourche, South Dakota as the “geographical center of the United States.” Well now we have already seen the geographical center of North America, so we would obviously want to the see the center of the US, so off we went to find it. Found it – and a plaque!

What we also found was an awesome little museum, the Tri-State Museum and Visitor Center, that is beside the Geographical Center of the United States marker. The museum was really cute with artifacts from the area – literally all the artifacts. Dinosaur bones, old ironing boards, washing machines, hair dryers/curling sets, military items, hats, shoe x-ray machines and a doll collection… literally everything!

Oh my word, these two!

Out back we found a little bit of home, and then we took turns standing in the center of the United States!

We fueled up and hit the road. This time with a stop in Deadwood, South Dakota. Deadwood is where Wild Bill Hickock was finally shot and killed in 1876.

The city has some interesting stores and signs, but it is very touristy now. It was worth a stop to stretch our legs and grab an ice cream, but it seemed like a little Las Vegas with the drinking and gambling.

Although, we did get a picture with Kodi the world’s largest grizzly bear, and found some pretty cool legs, even if they were the world’s tinest legos.

After Deadwood, we headed into the Black Hills National Forest. The Black Hills are gorgeous! And we even found a giant Smokey the Bear.

We really wanted to see the Mount Rushmore Lighting Ceremony, so we decided to go ahead and see it tonight, because we may be wiped out tomorrow (lots planned for Tuesday). So we checked into our latest Holiday Inn Express – this time it is a free stay using points!! – dropped our bags and headed out to dinner at the Our Founding Fathers Brewery. It was a great place for dinner, bar on bottom floor with live music and restaurant upstairs with outdoor seating. Mike and I had some great bison burgers and locally made beers, Blackhills Gold and a Rutherfruity Haze. We also enjoyed our new bison dice game… good think we were outside because the dice were noisy on the metal table!

Then we headed to Mount Rushmore. I have always wanted to see Mount Rushmore, and it was just as cool as I thought it would be… although the speeches at the lighting ceromony left a lot to be desired. The sound quality itself was terrible but the speakers were just bad. You would think for something as grand as Mount Rushmore, you would have James Earl Jones or Morgan Freeman reading an eloquent speech on patriotism and freedom. However, for everything negative about the speeches, the lighting and Mount Rushmore itself were everything we could have imagined!

At the end of the lighting ceremony, the Star Spangled Banner was played and everyone sang. Then they asked all veterans and active duty military to come on stage while they retired the flag (properly) for the night. It was very cool. 🇺🇸♥️

We headed back to the hotel to get to bed. Tomorrow should be great trail riding and exploring Custer State Park by ATV.

Before leaving Bismarck, we had to take stroll through the capital grounds. We came in backwards, and initially were a little disappointed in the capital building…

And then we realized our mistake. Turns out the capital is beautiful. We especially loved the flowers the flowers that spelled out North Dakota.

We will ultimately end today in Medora, North Dakota, but on the way, we have few stops along the way. We loved the Totem Poles along the road in the town of Mandan, and the beautiful landscapes as we drove to Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park

Fort Abraham Lincoln was established in 1872 on the banks of the Missouri River. The Fort and its troops were to provide safety for the expansion into the Northern Pacific Railway, and ultimately the troops from here were involved in the Battle of Little Big Horn… a mere 340-mile horseback ride.

There were several buildings on the grounds, the Custer House – home of Lietenent George Custer, the solider barricks, stable and commissary.

Someone may or may not have paid attention to the “do not cross” and “do not touch” signs.

The barracks were huge and would be home to 24 or more soldiers. The Barracks were warmed by huge potbellied stoves and fireplaces, but I still couldn’t imagine being in here during a North Dakota winter. Although, they did have their own kitchen and mess hall, so life wasn’t all bad.

Yikes! We found a left over soldier!

The boys wanted to put their feet in the Missouri River so now we can say we had our feet in the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers on this trip.

The stables were rebuilt as well, with room for 50 horses and room for soldier who made sure they were cared for during the night.

The State Park has several campground, as well as hiking and bike trails. We were all really impressed with bike repair station. It had all the tools you would need to fix you bike and air hose for flat tires.

Connected to the Fort is On-A-Slant Village. The Slant Village of the Mandan tribe was here long before the Fort and was center for trade along the Missouri River. When Lewis and Clark made their trek, they found the village abandoned. The Mandon Tribe has worked with the State of North Dakota to rebuild the Village as it would have been. The site is still considered holy to the Mandan people… although it says a lot about human beings that you would even need this sign on appropriate behavior.

After On-a-Slant Village, we headed to the original outpost of the Fort. The building we really cool, but the views were amazing! No wonder they built here. You can see for miles and miles!

From Fort Abraham, we headed on to Medora. We passed fields of sunflowers about to bloom.

And then as we were scooting along, we got a ding for a “tire pressure change” in our back tire. We pulled over to check, and it was a bit low. Air added, and a can of “Fix a Flat” purchased (just in case) we were on our way. We stopped several time to check the pressure again, but each time we were good – thank you Jesus!

We headed on toward Medora… passing the Enchanted Highway.

And signs of the latest boom here in North Dakota… OIL

As we neared Medora and Theodore Roosevelt National Park, the topography really started to change… pretty drastically and quickly!

I think we need to pause and mention the size of the bugs in North Dakota… take a look at the windshield. When you hit these bugs, it sounds like a bird has hit your windshield. Its so dirty by the end of today’s drive, that it is comical!

We arrived at our hotel, the AmericInn in Medora, North Dakota. The Stewarts stayed here last yesterday and recommended as clean but like a step back in time… they were not kidding! But it was clean and comfortable with a good breakfast, so check! Works for us.

We arrived in time to walk into town to explore before headed to tonight’s event. Medora is literally a town created to celebrate cowboys and an amphitheater. The town of Medora has about 125 permanent residents. The amphitheater holds 1,500 so yea, you could say they love their tourism. During the summer, the Medora Musical has been performing since 1965, and now they have added concerts, as well as a gospel brunch, musical theater and a Christmas show. The town of Medora is set up for tourists -cowboy hats, boots, taffy, belt buckle, whatever you need to feel like a cowboy. They even had a shooting gallery.

These two caught a ride on a double-seated zipline.

We headed back to the hotel to wash up and head to dinner and our show. We worked our way up the windy hill (so thankfully the lady at the hotel said not to try to walk it)

And made our way to the Tjaden Terrace for te Pitchfork Steak Fondue. What is a steak fondue? Think of the one way to make a 12oz ribeye less healthy… deep fry it for 3 minutes in boiling lard, and then let it rest 10 minutes.

Oh my goodness, these were delicious! I could literally hear my arteries hardening but it was so worth it!

Everything was so good, and the view was so beautiful that Mike starting searching for plots of land to buy nearby.

After dinner, we played a great game of cornhole, mom and dad versus Leo and Michael (Dad and I won in the final round by 1). Our spirits weren’t even dampened when the hover rounds came searching for Mike.

The back drop was just beautiful.

We found our seats and got ready for the Medora Musical… it was a little bit hokey, but a lot of fun. But as we waited for the start of the show, the sun began to set and you couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful backdrop.

It was really nice to see a show so openly patriotic, especially as they asked everyone to stand and remove their hats to sing the National Anthem. The show had everything, a little patriotism, a little clogging, a little disco, and a whole lotta costume changes

One of our favorite parts was the group BAM who performed. Think Blue Man Group but a little sillier with a minion-like language. They were hilarious!

Another favorite part was the patriotic finale with a flag carrying horse riding up the mountain with fireworks! 🇺🇸♥️

The boys also loved Sherriff Bear – for soe reason, he cracked them up, espcially when he danced!

It was a great show and we made it back down the mountin without too much trouble. Tomorrow, we hit Theordore Roosevelt (or Freddie Roosevelt as Leo keeps calling him) National Park and then head to the great state of South Dakota.

We said goodbye to our cozy studio in Devils Lake and headed to Minot.

Originally we had planned to head to Jamestown, North Dakota and stay in a pioneer tent. It was a large canvas tent on a raised wooden floor, with beds, a table and wooden chairs. BUT after our time at Lows Lake and the bugs, we decided maybe now (without flashlights and other camping gear) wasn’t the time to try a tent. So instead, we switched it up, and decided to head to Minot and visit the North Dakota State Fair, and then head to Bismarck for the night. We actually had to go to Bismarck because the State Fair is huge deal here and there were no hotel rooms for about 50 miles surrounding Minot.

We put Minot, North Dakota in the GPS and this is our direction… go straight for 118 miles and turn right. 🤣 We’ve had several travel days like this… go straight for a gabillion miles and then turn.

We had a little rain as we started torward Minot, but a big advantage to big sky is you can actually see the end of the storm clouds.

The drive today was beautiful with lots of old farming structures. We saw fields of yellow flowers that will eventually become canola oil.

As we were driving, we saw a sign for the Geographical Center of North America. Well yes, that sounds like something we would live to see! Here’s a little background we learned from a plaque: In January of 1931, a US Geographical Survey determined that this is the center of North America. It was moved across the street when the road expanded in July of 1971, so it’s technically slight off the exact center now but close enough for government work).

We passed a few more canola fields…

And then we made it to Minot. The North Dakota State Fair is BIG deal here. It wasn’t just cars waiting to get in to the fair.

State Fairs are awesome – they have something for everyone… Rides, animals, farm equipment, and fair food!

When we arrived, they were having a parade of, well, everything. There were big work trucks, farm equipment, and churches. It was pretty cool, especially with the older man and woman announcing the parade entrants. “Here’s a truck from Sam’s Concrete. Didn’t they do your driveway?”

Oh NO, the hover rounds have found Mike all the way in North Dakota!

When we couldn’t find Mike, Leo said “Mom, he’s looking at farm equipment. He loves that like I love sneakers.” LOL, he knows him well.

We ventured into the livestock area to see some of the cows, and of course the pigs. None were as cute as RockyNoel and ApolloSuzanne, but we loved the fact sheet. And we were all giggled at this lamb who did not want a haircut.

They must put something in the hay up here, because these were some of the biggest horses, I’ve ever seen! But they had some of the littlest ones too.

There aren’t many things I love more than fair food. The smells, the variety and just the all around celebrated unhealthiness of it. It’s just the best! We all got different items: Nachos, quesidillas, burgers, fries, corn dogs and friend pickles. All we deliciously fair food! And we loved this one, “All wrapped Up in Bacon” – although we didn’t order from them… we are bacon snobs now.

So now you don’t buy tickets for rides. you purchase “credits” on a Magic Money card that can be reloaded. Each ride and game scan your card, and these two fully enjoyed their credits!

We tried one ride, Back draft, and the spinning combined with up and down motion proved a little too much for this guy.

But after about 15 minutes and a big ol burp, he rallied and was ready to spend some more credits on game. Big surprise, we did not leave the fair with any prizes. But they had so much fun just playing.

Credits spent, we headed for ice cream and one more things we wanted to see… Daryl’s Racing Pigs! Oh my gosh, they were the cutest!

And we even won a prize for coming from the furthest place to see the racing pigs! Actually, we shared with another family from NC. We ended up talking to them afterward, the wife was from New Bern and married a guy from North Dakota. They were here visiting family.

As we waited for the races, to start they played music. As “Whomp, There It Is” came on, we got distracted by these three women. We decided that when your rap song is played at the North Dakota State Fair and 2 older women are singing and danced along, we can definitely say you have crossed all the boundaries of success!

Oh my word, these little piglets were too cute and so fast! Well at least some where. Others were perfectly content to just jog along.

We decided to finish our day with a couple of glasses of fresh lemonade, and then call it day.

We headed south to Bismarck. And no matter how many times we see wind turbines, I am always amazed by how huge they are.

We could see for miles and miles, and the view ws beautiful, especially as we passed over Lake Sakajawea.

We made it to Bismarck, checked into our latest Holiday Inn and let the boys head to the pool. Meanwhile, we headed to the laundry with a whole week’s worth of dirty clothes. $4.50 later, we are good to go for another week with clean laundry!

Clothes clean and energy out, we headed to dinner at a place recommended by the hotel, Charros & Tequila. Holy Moly! We have been all over the United States and we all agreed – this was some of the BEST Mexican food we have ever had… that is all except Michael who always likes to be a contrarian when we all agree on a best restaurant 😏 But seriously, the table side guacamole… Oh. My. Word.

Somehow, despite full bellies, these two still had energy to burn… thank goodness for hotel swimming pools!

Tomorrow, we head to Medora North Dakota and I’m sure a few stops along the way.

We spent today on Devils Lake in North Dakota fishing with our guide, Ancil Reynolds. Today was definitely the opposite of our lazy day on Lows Lake. We were up the fishes but as the pictures will show, it was totally worth the effort.

We all slept like rocks in our VRBO last night. There are 2 sets of bunks beds in the apartment – with full mattress on the bottom and a single on top. Mike and I decided to “bed divorce” and sleep on the two bottom bunks and I think we liked having the extra room to spread out because we were all sawing logs last night.

Ancil is a really nice guy who works Monday through Thursday in Minot, North Dakota as a construction supervisor. Friday, Saturday and Sunday, he does what he loves… fishing! He was an awesome guide, smart, patient and funny. He had lots of fishing tall tales, and we all got a bit tickled with his Minnesota accent and dialect. “Oh yah” and “I says”

We met Ancil at 7am at Ed’s Bait and Tackle. We had our handy vacation cooler loaded with sandwiches, oranges, waters and pop (Minnesota and North Dakota for diet coke, coke and sprite). The weather today is supposed to be crazy hot for North Dakota… 90 degrees, but without the humidity, we weren’t terribly worried about it. We loaded up in Ancil’s truck and headed to the West side of Devils Lake…

As we drove, Ancil was telling us about the drought they had here last year. He said it got so bad that there was no hay to feed the cows so they ended up baling cattails and using as cow feed! Not only was it bad enough that they feed the cows the tough cattail, but the ground was dry enough to get baling equipment into what should be the marshy areas where cattails normally grow.

This two weren’t too happy about the 6:30 wake up call but they still gave me a couple of pictures

It was absolutely gorgeous on the lake!

We started off using spinners and bottom fishing. Mike and I had a good bit of luck with these, but the boys didn’t… they got lots of nibbles but couldn’t land the fishes. With the rocking of the boat like a bassinette, Michael decided to take a nap.

We spent the morning fishing and got a pretty good start to our limit of 25 walleye for the day

We headed in around lunch time for mom to have a bathroom break (unlike the boys, I can’t just “go off the back”), washed our hands and broke out our sandwiches as we headed to another spot to try our luck with bobber fishing… still fishing for Walleye but now we were using leeches instead of nightcrawlers (Yuck!)

The bobber fishing was more hit or miss. We would hit a spot and everyone was pulling in fish left and right or it was absolutely dead.

In the afternoon, the really nice breeze of the morning disappeared and the sun started getting hot… still without the North Carolina humidity but 90 degrees on a lake without a breeze is still pretty warm. Eyelids were getting pretty heavy whenever we moved to a new spot and the wind whipped around up.

It was really fun out on the lake and we caught almost our limit… 21 walleye, 1 perch and 1 white bass.

Now to the part I was dreading, the cleaning. Part of Ancil’s fee, includes cleaning and packaging the fish, but I wanted the boys to see how much work was involved in cleaning and preparing fish from the water to the freezer. We headed to the local “cleaning area” and got started. The cleaning station isn’t fancy but they’ve got everything you need. Boys were in charge of washing out basins and filing with cold water.

Not a bad haul for one day from 4 novice fishermen

Ancil showed boys how to lay the fish out,

To get the perfect picture!

Then the work began. Ancil got out his electric knife, and went to town. Wow, that electric knife makes all the difference! He sliced at the neck, flipped it, did the same thing, and then went straight down the backbone. He would then flip it again, cut the skin off and then do the same thing the other side. Then he dropped the filets into one of the basins of clean water.

And then after you have a stack of heads, tails and guts, into the grinder it goes.

One more step, Ancil took the fillets back out, cut the ribs out and put into the clean water.

All total we ended up with 48 filets, 8 of which we will be eating tonight. The other 40, Ancil will package and send to us via FedEx when we get home. Can’t wait to eat walleye that we caught in North Dakota later this year. Leo kept saying “can you believe we caught this?”

We cleaned up the cleaning station – spraying the table off and squeegeeing the table off into the grinder. And then we headed back to Ed’s Bait Shop to grab a souvenir for our travel tree and our car. Since we all stunk, we had the windows down, and after such an early start and the hot sun, some of us were sleepy, and some of us made pictures

As we got to Ed’s Bait Shop, we noticed how crowded it was and

As we got Ed’s Bait Shop, we noticed the crowd and asked if it was it normal for so many people to be at the Bait Shop at 5:30 on a Friday? Yes, when half the bait shop is a bar, and on Fridays they do a “Meat Raffle.” What’s a Meat Raffle you ask? A Meat Raffle is when the owner of the bar goes to WalMart and buys all different kinds of meat, and then they raffle off the packages for a $2 ticket. Maybe you’ll get a ribeye steak, maybe you’ll get a pound of ground beef, BUT you’ll come into the bar, buy a drink and have a great time with buddies on a Friday night at the Meat Raffle. Ancil said since the owners started this, they’ve had a great crowd every Friday afternoon/night and it sure sounded like it when I went in the Bait Shop.

We headed back to the grocery store for a few items for our fresh dinner of fried walleye. MAN! These were delicious, and like Leo said “Can you believe we caught this?”

Bellies full, we tried to watch a movie, but this mama was asleep by 9:30 and the boys were close behind at 10:30. Apparently, fishing is hard work. Tomorrow, we leave Devils Lake and head to Minot, North Dakota so we can experience the North Dakota State Fair!

We woke up to our last morning at Lows Lake, and this little squirrel was tickled to see me go. Every morning, I’ve written the log on the back deck, and every morning this guy has squacked and screamed at me… to the point that this morning I wondered if he was having some kind of squirrel seizure.

So at least he was happy to see us leave the cabin.

We leaded a bit northwest to see the Chippewa National Forest and to Parks Ridge, Minnesota to see the headwaters of the Mississippi River. As we headed to Park Ridge, we crossed into Leech Lake Reservation.

Minnesota is absolutely the Land of 10,000 Lakes, if not more. Every corner we turned was another lake, and they were all beautiful.

Finally we made it to Itasca State Park.

The drive was absolutely gorgeous with some of the largest pine trees I have ever seen!

We stopped to buy our pass and learned that we had to go through the East Entrance Visitors Center, and we are so glad we did, because it was Smokey the Bear Day at Itasca State Park!

After getting an ornament for our travel tree, we headed to the North Entrance to see the brook that becomes the mighty Mississippi. Before we headed out, we decided to make sandwiches for a picnic. And thankfully, Mom’s Cafe has a Parks Ridge, Minnesota location!

A little history on the creation of the Mississipp River… the Mississippi River is created from the Red River of the North, the St Croix River and Lake Itasca. These waters all join up south of St. Paul, Minnesota, and become the Mississippi River. And you know its true, because – there’s a plaque about it!

We walked along the trail and the boys and I can now say “I crossed the Mississippi on foot”

But watch out for the Itasca River Bridge troll!

After a quick walk, we made to the spot where “here above 1475 feet above the ocean, the mighty Mississippi begins to flow on its winding way 2552 miles to the Gulf of Mexico.” The sight was absolutely beautiful. So beautiful that some of pictures looked fake.

After playing in the water for a while, we enjoyed our picnics lunch along the banks of the Mississippi and then headed back headed toward North Dakota. Along the way, we decided to stop for milkshakes at the Dairy Land in Bagley, Minnesota, and then decided to take a 15 minute detour for a smaller but older version of our town

And then we crossed into state number 30 – Hello North Dakota!

North Dakota is gorgeous and so flat that it seems like you can almost see the curve of the sky

We loved this, farmers grow hay up to the state Right-of-Way. This serves multiple purposes: People don’t litter because its a farmers’ land; the farmer mow and collect the hay; and the state doesn’t have to pay someone to mow. So there are hay bales littered along the side of the road, waiting to be collected. Such a great use of resources.

We made it to our next VRBO location in Devils Lake, ND. It is really cute and is the upstairs of a family’s shop. The Varilek family is extremely nice and welcoming. We have met some of the nicest people through VRBO.

After dropping off our luggage, we headed out for dinner at The Ranch Steakhouse. We found this gem on a great travel website called “Only In Your State.” The Ranch has been operating since 1946, and as you can see, the outside hasn’t changed all that much in that time. The steaks and salmon were fantastic and the tater tot appetizer was delicious!

After dinner, we ran over to the nearby WalMart to replenish out lunch and snack supplies. We didn’t get anything for dinner tomorrow night, in hopes that we will have fresh fish for dinner. We have an early wake up tomorrow for a 7am put in on Devils Lake for a whole day of fishing for bass, trout and walleye. 🎣

In years past, I have been accused of “overscheduling” our vacations.  Shocking, right?  So I’ve included some down days in recent trips and today was about as good as you get. 

Let’s first show off Cabin #1 on Lows Lake

Its nothing fancy, but it has 2 rooms, 2 bathrooms, kitchen, and living room, and one of the prettiest views I’ve ever seen

When we finally all got going… around 11am, Mike gave the boys lessons on how to put on weights and bobbins to the new fishing rods that the owners had for us to us.

And off we went for a little fishing. I think everyone caught something, but nothing large enough to keep. But it was still fun and we loved being on the lake.

Lows Lake is a private lake, so nothing motorized is allowed.  I cannot believe how that changes the “sound” of the lake.  It is so quiet… just birds chirping, and of course us!

After fishing, the boys and I decided to try the rowboat. I don’t think Michael knew how hard it is to row. He very chivalrously refused to let me row, and Leo didn’t really offer. When I asked why he didn’t offer to help, in true Leo style said “’cause I didn’t want to row.” I thought for sure we were going to end up in the lake and trying to pull a row bat back to shore, but we made it back relatively dry.

After the rowboat adventure, the boys did a little swimming but then decided it would be more fun to take photos. Some of these turned out really cool

I think my favorite is Leo’s Superman (he seriously looks like he is taking off from the dock)

And Michael’s Michael Jordan pose

I think they climbed in and out of the lake at least a hundred times. After that we grabbed lunch, and were lazy again, playing cards and laughing as we taught the boys the art of card-playing-smack talk.

Later in the afternoon, the boys headed back to fish with Mike while I got dinner in the oven. 

It has been really nice to have a kitchen again and not have to eat out… although dinners have had a little bit of an Iron Chef feel as I made do with whatever ingredients we had with us. Once dinner was in the oven, I joined the boys on the lake and we headed out on the canoe and kayak. Both of which are SO much easier to navigate than the rowboat… although these 2 getting the canoe in the water was hilarious!

After an hour on the lake, we decided to head back in for dinner. Although the boys had to go back out to “free” the unused worms that we bought for bait… Love that they will beat the crap out of each other but want to save some earthworms

Finally, we watched what the boys called an old movie (it was from 1993!) and then crashed. Being lazy makes you tired.

We have thoroughly enjoyed our time at Lows Lake.  The only negative… the bugs! Lawd, the bugs!! Apparently yellow flies are bad this year, and their normal June-only season has extended itself long into July.  (We had a night in a “Yurt”-style tent planned later this week, but we changed our reservation last night, because those suckers will drive you mad!)

But its going to be hard not sitting out and enjoying this view…

Tomorrow we are meandering to another lake, Devils Lake in North Dakota (#30)… can’t wait to see what oddball things we can find along the way!