A Gap, a Boat, and a Cave

Due to Covid19, our summer vacation plans got rearranged. We were planning a trip to Florida and Disney originally since I had to go to a conference down there in July. That was all canceled and so we looked at the map and decided to take a different trip this year. We headed north instead to Kentucky. 

Cumberland Gap and Cumberland Falls

Our first stop was to camp at Falls Creek Cabins and Campground in south eastern Kentucky near Cumberland Falls. Due to Covid19 it wasn't very busy, but this seemed like a nice place to stay. There are various campsites and many cabins for rent. The site also is home to an outdoor recreation center that includes zip lines and rafting/kayaking. They also have grubbing for gem stones/arrowheads, which the kids really enjoyed. We drove down the road a mile or so to Cumberland Falls State Park. The views of the falls and the river are really amazing, We enjoyed walking the trails and watching the falls. 

After Cumberland Falls, we headed over to Cumberland Gap. It's about an 1.5 hour drive over to the corner of Kentucky where it meets Virginia and Tennessee. Cumberland Gap is steeped in history. From its use by Native American tribes, to Daniel Boone and the forming of the Wilderness Road to open up the frontier to colonists, Cumberland Gap has played a key role in American History. Cumberland Gap National Historic Park aims to protect the land and teach future generations of the area's importance. Due to having the camper attached, we could not drive up to Pinnacle Overlook unfortunately. They do not allow trailers on the twisty road, and I didn't feel like leaving it in the parking lot of the welcome center. The cave tours were also not running due to Covid19. 

The Ark Encounter, Big Bone Lick SP, and the Creation Museum

After exploring the southeastern part of the state, we headed northwest. Our next campsite found us at Big Bone Lick State Park just southwest of Cincinnati, Ohio. The site is known for fossils and mammoth bones found there, and the welcome center has a lot of that history documented for visitors to view. There is also a bison herd housed here and they frequently have programs where you can get up close and learn about the bison. The kids really enjoyed the bison program and seeing them so close. The campground is nice and on top of a small mountain. It seemed to be a very popular campground and was full during the weekend. They were also doing a Christmas in July campground parade and decorating competition which made the campground super festive and fun. We definitely enjoyed our time here and the other campers we met were very friendly. The campground almost felt like a small, friendly town. 

While staying at Big Bone Lick, we ventured out to the Creation Museum and the Ark Encounter. I picked this state park due to it's location about the same distance from both of those attractions. We had bought combo tickets for both attractions. We visited the Ark Encounter first and it was a Friday. It wasn't too crowded but there is a lot to see and do. We spent most of the day there touring the Ark reproduction and visiting the outside animal exhibits. The kids even got to ride camels! We took our own lunch and bottles of water. The Ark provides kids a full experience of what things might have looked like and how they worked as well as providing adults with thought provoking statements and questions. We enjoyed our time there, and I definite suggest planning for a full day of maybe 5 hours or so. 

The next day we ventured to the Creation Museum. They had an outdoor garden area and animals that the kids enjoyed. Much of the main experience is inside the main museum. There is a 4D theatre and a long winding path through various rooms discussion creation, the flood, and other events from the Bible. I would say that the kids definitely had a more fun and engaging experience at the Ark. The Creation Museum is more thinking and reading focused, and I would not recommend for kids younger than middle school. Most of the younger kids I saw there were ready to move on to the next thing faster than their parents could read the content. So if you are interested in visiting these and have young children, stick to the Ark and save a little money. Adults would probably enjoy the museum more, but I do feel like a chunk of it was repetitive to what we saw at the Ark the day before. I think they could probably wrap the Creation Museum experience into the Ark Encounter and just have a single attraction. 

Mammoth Cave NP, Lincoln Birthplace NHP, and Lincoln Boyhood Home NM

We left Big Bone Lick and headed southwest towards Louisville. Our ultimate destination was Mammoth Cave National Park. However, we had a couple of stops before we reached it. We stopped at Lincoln Birthplace NHP and Lincoln's Boyhood Home NM. Lincoln was born and spent the early part of his life in Hodgenville, Kentucky just south of Louisville before moving to Indiana. The two sites are about 15 mins apart on opposite sides of town. Don't miss driving through Hodgenville though to see the town square with the boy and man statues of Lincoln peering across the square at each other. Lincoln Birthplace NHP is the site of the first Lincoln Memorial built around 1907. The well known Lincoln Memorial in D.C. has a similar exterior look to this one and was built after this one. After touring the sites and letting the kids complete their Jr. Ranger badges, we drove south. 

Our last destination of the trip was Mammoth Cave National Park. Mammoth Cave is the world's longest known cave system. There are lots of different tours available for various caves in the park, but the they were only offering self-guided tours of the main cave during our visit due to Covid19. There were limited numbers allowed, and they forced spaced entry by family. Get your tickets ahead of time! I got there early in the morning on a Monday and had to settle for 1pm ticket time. By the time we got back after lunch for our tour, they were sold out till Thurs of that week! I had made a poor assumption that due to Covid19 and it being a Monday it would be slow. Fortunately we were able to get in. The main cave is huge and splits off of the largest room in two directions. We headed down the longest side first and then returned to the main room to take the other path. It's not as muddy as some caves I've been in and there was plenty of room to spread around. 

They had rangers stationed throughout the cave off the paths to answer questions or help as needed. All the rangers we met were super friendly and helpful. Many of them had lanterns, but a few were sitting in the dark. It soon became a game with the kids of how many rangers can you spot in the cave. Make sure to take a flashlight or headlamp. (My apologies to the ranger hiding in the dark that got blinded by my headlamp light!) It's also cool down there though not as cold as I have seen in some caves. Since it was July, I was happy we were walking in the cave and not hiking outside it. 

Overall, we had a great little trip and were able to check some National Parks off our list. If you're looking for a little one week loop through Kentucky, these would be some fun options. 

A Trip out of this World in our U-haul Camper

With the wife in nursing school full-time this year, we don't have many options for traveling. We did manage to squeeze in a spring trip thanks to her and the kids being on spring break at the time. My son has gotten really into space recently so as an early birthday present, we planned a trip to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. This would be a 4 day trip.

Little River Falls

We left out on Tuesday with the goal of stopping by the Little River Canyon National Preserve. After a few hours behind the wheel, we made it and got the kids setup with the Jr. Ranger program (we're big fans of the NPS Jr. Ranger program). Little River Canyon is an incredible area along the Little River in Northeast Alabama. It's a great place for hiking and outdoor adventure. Little River Falls is close to the visitor center and the views are amazing. The park staff at the visitor's center were really great and friendly. On the way home, we would come back through the park and take part of a scenic drive as our last little adventure before heading home.

With potential storms and rain heading from Mississippi towards Huntsville, we pushed on after our brief stop to try to get into to our camping destination before the rain. We rolled into Monte Sano State Park around 6:30 pm and setup camp. With the rain expected to blow in that night, I opted not to setup everything (camp chairs and screen room included) until the next morning. I had packed most of the gear in the car or in the waterproof action packers on the roof. Monte Sano SP is located on top of Monte Sano Mountain and overlooks Huntsville from the east. It has lots of trails for hiking and mountain biking and even has an planetarium and observatory that's open on Saturday nights (unfortunately we left Friday so didn't get a chance to check it out). The campground and bathhouses are nice. Though our first campsite, (#18) was on a curve and had someone directly across from us in a much larger rig. The layout of the entrances to these sites made it impossible for even us to get our tiny camper backed in due to the sharpness of the turn. The camp hosts at check-in had even warned me to feel free to come back if I couldn't squeeze in. (So I'd avoid #18 unless you're setting up a tent.) We were moved over to #21 which proved to be a better site. After being at the campground, I'd actually recommend sites in the #44-61 range as many of those are on the ridge with great views of the valley. I'll definitely be looking to book there next time.

After unhooking the camper, we decided to grab some dinner. After driving all day, I wanted something quick; so we headed down the mountain into Huntsville. We lucked out and found a Ted's Bar-B-Q at the bottom of the mountain. I had been introduced to Alabama white Bar-B-Q sauce a decade or more ago close by in Decatur, Alabama at Big Bob Gibson's Bar-B-Q. White barbecue sauce is pretty awesome and different from many places you go. So if you're ever in Huntsville area, try out Ted's (or Big Bob Gibson's in Decatur, Alabama) and grab the white barbecue sauce.

Bedding down in the bathhouse during the storm.

After dinner, we bedded down for the night and I listened to the weather radio. If you've seen my post on being prepared for bad weather, you know I always carry a weather radio. The storms were getting bad, and we were on top of the mountain so I prepared to move us to the bathhouse if things got bad. They did. I've grown up around thunderstorms all my life so they don't really bother me. But I know when they can get out of hand too. When the reports rolled in of the Huntsville airport seeing 70 mph winds, I woke up the wife and kids and moved us to the bathhouse. The NOAA weather radio broadcast antenna on top of the mountain went offline as the front edge of the storm hit the mountain with wind, hail, and rain knocking out the power. Several other campers joined us to weather the storm. As with most southern storms, they blow by pretty quickly. After about 30 mins to wait out the worst, the weather had settled into a calm rain on the back end of the front. No major damage was detected to campers other than a few that didn't get their awnings up and they tore in the gusts. Lots of limbs had come down but power was restored within mins. We moved back to the camper and slept calmly the rest of the night.

The cold front rolled in behind rain dropping the temperature to the 30F's. So we put on our warm clothes the next morning and prepared to spend the day at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center. This was my third time there and it was still as much fun as I recall from my childhood. The kids had a blast and we had a picnic in the car for lunch (because it was still cold and windy). We watched an IMAX movie about the space station that was incredible. The kids wanted to see another 3D movie so we were able to get a discounted ticket for one the next morning. Yes, you can buy tickets for the movies without buying admission, they'll escort you to the theater when you arrive for your movie. So if you're going to be there for a couple days, you may want to buy admission for one day and the movie ticket for the next day.

While we were in Huntsville, we also were able to meet up with my cousin that had moved there several years back. It's always good to see family. We also discovered a great market/grocery at the bottom of the mountain called the Star Supermarket. I wish we had one of these in our town. The people were so friendly and they really have a lot to offer. This is what a small town market should be. They even sell firewood bundles for about half what the state park does. On our final day, we packed up early. We left the campground and drove back down the mountain into Huntsville for breakfast. I love finding a good breakfast place for the last morning. We stumbled on Galen's. It's got plenty of parking room for a camper and the staff are really friendly. The breakfast was excellent!

With full belly's, we started the trek home. Cathedral Caverns was on our way so we made a stop so the kids could get their first cave experience! The downside to this park, like most caves, is that you can't do anything without a guide. You can see the mouth of the cave and the gift shop, but beyond that you have to pay to get into the cave on a guided tour. The cave tour is about a 1.5 mile (round trip) in and out hike that takes around 1.5 hrs. It has some really beautiful views. We enjoyed it and our guide was great. At about $20/adult and almost $10/child (under 13), it's not the most economical way to spend a couple of hours. However, it is comparable to Desoto Caverns and Ruby Falls tour prices. Check Cathedral Caverns website for tour times and rates before you go.

Even with the ranging weather conditions on the trip, we had a great time. I'd like to go back and spend more time with family and we'll definitely camp at Monte Sano SP again. It was good for us to get away and break up the monotony of our daily life. Adventure always seems to me to be a way to refill your cup. It puts excitement back in your life after the daily grind. Knowing how busy this year is and the minimal opportunities we'll have as a family to get away until next year, I'm thankful for the opportunity to get out and go. Hopefully, I can squeeze another trip in this summer between some renovations I want to focus on. More about those to come.

Epic Adventure 2: The Sun Sets... (Part 6 of 6)

(This is a continuation of a series of posts on our second long distance trip, see the first post if you want to start at the beginning.)

Sunset. It happens every single day. Many days we don't even think about it. Some days we look forward to it; others we complain we need more time. Some sunsets are uneventful, some are memorable. On this trip, we saw many sunsets that were memorable in many different places. It's hard to say which was the best. All were embraced for the fleeting moments they existed.

As we packed up to leave Acadia, we felt that we were nearing the sunset of our great adventure. We had a few more days till it was over, but the long haul home would begin when we pulled out of that amazingly beautiful place. We packed up the camper and hooked up prepared to leave. The ranger came by and stopped to check me out while I was finishing up so I wouldn't have to go by the office on the way out. We met a nice lady with 3 huskies who was also packing up and had been camping across from us. After a brief chat, we hit the road and pulled out of the Schoodic Penninsula headed down US Rt 1. After winding down Rt. 1 for a while we stopped for lunch and gas. A great little seafood joint, Carrier's Mainely Lobster, served us our last batch of fried clams from the northeast. This little place had a wall with buoys memorializing local fishermen who had died. It was quite a beautiful display.

Further south we routed over to I95 to pick up some speed. We were targeting Rhode Island for the evening which was over 300 miles away with Boston traffic and plenty of road construction between us and there it was going to take a while. When we hit the bypass around Boston, I noticed the sign for the Minute Man National Park. While this had not been on the list of places to go, I could not pass up seeing where our nation was born. The bridges in Boston were all decorated with American flags from 4th of July just a couple days before. It was a beautiful sight. It was after the park visitor center had closed but I did get to the Minute Man Statue as the sun was setting.

We pressed on and found our second hotel stay in Rhode Island. Since Acadia didn't have a bath house, we were all in need of a good warm shower and more spacious quarters always are a treat after days in the camper. We crashed another Comfort Inn, this one had a nicer breakfast but the room smelled like a sweaty locker room. We also took the opportunity to use the coin laundry there to do a load to refresh our range of outfits.

The next day we made a brief stop at the Roger Williams National Memorial. This is a quick stop that educates you on Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island. He's also considered the father of the separation of church and state movement.

We then visited a friend of my son's whose family was summering in Rhode Island. It was a rainy day but always fun for the kids to have playmates for a few hours. We went down to the beach and drove around looking at some of the New England countryside.

We pressed on south skirting around NYC area and taking the Tappan Zee bridge further inland. We routed on south and made Delaware late that night to stay with my wife's best friend. We had a great visit and stayed through lunch the next day. The further south we drove the warmer it was getting. Then it was off again to the south crossing the Bay Bridge and navigating around D.C. down through Virginia and back to my cousin's in North Carolina. It was great to stop back in with the whole family. My kids getting so see their cousins they had not seen in a few years. I watched the kids pair up based on personalities. We went for a walk around their lake that is at the back of their neighborhood around to a local park. It had a new obstacle (read American Ninja Warrior) course. My son is a big fan of these and it had just opened.

After lunch we again hit the road for the last leg home. Coming home is always bittersweet. There's the enjoyment of sleeping in your own bed and getting to spread out after days of living in a tiny camper. The fun of seeing friends and family and coworkers. The comfort of life returning to normal. There also is some sadness that the adventure has come to a close. Our 16 day, 4000-mile journey had involved 2 countries and brought us lots of memories along the way. So as the sun set that evening, we crawled into our beds ready to get back to the normal life, but vowing to take another great adventure. And we'll continue to make taking adventures a regular part of our life.

Epic Adventure 2: Carved out (Part 5 of 6)

(This is a continuation of a series of posts on our second long distance trip, see the first post if you want to start at the beginning.)

With another dream stop on the way home and limited time, we pulled out of Prince Edward Island the next morning. We began to retrace our steps back to the Maine border. As we crossed New Brunswick, we stopped off at St. Johns again now that it was clear and were able to take in Reversing Falls. It's an interesting site and there's plenty of rapids and whirlpools. We went to a little park on the north side of the Reversing Falls Bridge. It's a nice area and there are 3 islands in the middle of the river upstream. Unfortunately, there's a giant paper mill on the opposite bank that kills the natural beauty of the area.

We headed back on the road and made the border crossing later than anticipated but without any issues. Back in the US we made a detour to St. Croix Island International Historic Site. The site is maintained by both Canada and the US as the actual island sits in the middle of the river on the border. You would need a boat to access it but on the U.S. side there is a visitors center. While it was closed when we were there, they have a self-guided tour with character sculptures that is quite good. It tells the story of how the French landed and began to build a settlement there. One of the first French settlements. A harsh winter killed about half of the men and while they did make some friends with local tribes, they eventually packed up and moved on to start another settlement that is now Port Royal, Nova Scotia.

After the brief stop we headed south winding through two-lane highways until we reached the coast. We ended up on US1 and stopped in Machias where we grabbed some dinner. We happened into town as the sun was setting and lots of folks were milling around. As we climbed back into the car to try to reach our campground destination, we heard pop, pop, pop. It dawned on us that we had just arrived back in the U.S. on the 4th of July after spending Canada Day in Canada. We had seen lots of little New England towns with their American Flags decorating the towns on the way north and thought about how nice it was to see the flag everywhere you looked. But it hadn't settled in that we would be returning on the 4th of July. The kids watched the fireworks out the window as I drove south trying to get to our destination for the evening.

Our destination was the new campground on the Schoodic Peninsula of Acadia National Park. We pulled in late and found our reservation information on the bulletin board. We found our site and proceeded to setup the minimal essentials to get everyone to bed. It had been a long day of driving from PEI to Acadia, about 360 miles. As I was getting stuff setup a couple of park rangers pulled up to check on us. They were the friendliest rangers I've ever run into. They asked if we needed any help setting up since it was so late and told us to swing by the office in the morning and they would give us some keys to the best spots to visit and how to get around since there was apparently a lot of road construction going on around Bar Harbor. We laid our heads down for some much needed rest with the anticipation bubbling inside to see what Acadia had to offer the next day (well at least my excitement was bubbling!).

The next morning we had breakfast and then headed over to the office. We picked up Jr. Ranger books for the kids which is a must at any park. I strongly recommend the Jr. Ranger program. It's free and it really gets the kids deeper into the history and science of the parks. After getting the low down on the constructions and hints on what to check out, we disconnected from the camper and climbed in the car to explore the Schoodic Peninsula. Schoodic is about 45mins north of the main part of the park, Mt. Desert Island. As such it's quieter and the campground is super nice since it is only a couple years old. The campground is very wooded and secluded with lots of trees between sites. There are no showers at any campgrounds in Acadia but Schoodic has nice restrooms and electricity and water hookups for campers. The Schoodic Peninsula has a loop road that you can drive around and eventually wind your way out to the point. the views are amazing. the rocks are incredible and while we were out there at the point the crab/lobster boats were pulling in pots not more than 100 yards offshore.


After a wonderful morning on Schoodic, we headed down to Mt. Desert Island. This is the main area of Acadia National Park. Scientists believe that diversity in landscapes were caused by a glacier carving it out, moving and depositing rocks and boulders from further inland. Thanks to the rangers we were able to by pass traffic and construction and move along fairly easy to the loop road. We enjoyed all the stops along the loop. Jordan Pond is simply gorgeous though this was busy season and the wait to get into the Jordan Pond House (at 2pm) was almost an hour. We drove to the top of Cadillac Mountain and had a great time. We ran into a NASA volunteer who had his telescope setup to view the sun. The kids really enjoyed looking through it with it's special filter and learning about what they were seeing. It was an incredibly clear day and you could see for miles from the top of Cadillac Mountain. Back down off the mountain,we left the park and wound our way to see some more of the coast and the Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse. The kids did complete their Jr Ranger program and got their badges. Over all it was an incredible day. I want to go back and spend some time doing hiking and fishing. Maine in the summertime is a wonderful experience.

That night we slept at the campsite and I was a little sad that we would be leaving the next day for the long trek home.

The adventure continues with Epic Adventure 2: The Sun Sets.

Epic Adventure 2: The Soloing Stride ... (Part 2 of 6)

(This is a continuation of a series of posts on our second long distance trip, see the first post if you want to start at the beginning.)

I titled this the Soloing Stride since I was going to spend the next several days with just Zelda (our dog) and I making our way north. I can typically drive longer and later when I'm by myself. I was going to be working during the days and driving a lot in late afternoon/evening.

I had planned to leave the DC campground late afternoon on Tuesday, so as to get an early start and use the evening to put some miles down. I was hoping that navigating traffic would get better as it got later until I could into some more rural areas. The plan was to head north around Baltimore and then head toward Harrisburg, PA inland. I was going to wind north on an inland route that would take me through a few states and end up in New Hampshire on Friday.

As I wound north toward Baltimore, traffic wasn't too bad except when I got to some of the interstate transition points where things tend to go down to one lane. (I never understand why they take 3 interstate lanes and compress them to 1 to merge into another multi-lane interstate.) I took the I-95 North to the I-695 around Baltimore and then joined up with the I-83 headed towards Harrisburg, PA. As I crossed into Pennsylvania, I pulled off at a rest stop to stretch my legs and walk the dog. The rest stop had a nice wooded area that was quiet for walking the dog. My dog doesn't like a lot of commotion around her when she's doing her business. So places where you can walk back away from the cars are the best for her. She is definitely not one of those dogs that will use a tiny green grass island in a parking lot. Can you blamer her though? I like my privacy too. A little further north I pulled off for gas and dinner and stumbled on a little donut shop called Maple Donuts with 58 choices. It was a fun distraction from the driving. After loading up on food and fuel, I hit the road for Harrisburg.

I passed through Harrisburg on the interstate around sunset. It was a beautiful site of the downtown sitting there on the side of the Susquehanna River. I connected with I-81 and headed northeast into the night climbing through some hills and ending up in Wilkes-Barre for the evening at a quiet Walmart parking lot. Zelda and I bedded down for the first of 3 nights on the road.

The next morning I drove the short distance to Scranton, PA. Yes, you'll know it as the home of Dunder Mifflin from the tv show The Office. It's also home to another site that was on my list to see: Steamtown National Historic site. Steamtown is sort of like the adult version of Thomas the Train. It's a working locomotive museum based in a roundhouse with an actual working turntable. I spent several hours working and doing meetings in the parking lot but found a break after lunch to venture in and explore. I happened to walk in at the time they were about to start a volunteer led behind the scenes tour and joined the group. The volunteer was extremely knowledgeable and I learned a lot that I didn't know about the different types of trains and how they function "under the hood."  The behind the scenes tour takes you into the shop where they still have guys who work on the trains to keep them running and are renovating other trains. You get to see all the equipment they use which is really neat. I think kids would have a great time here walking around looking at the trains, but they'd need to be middle school or older to really get the behind the scenes tour. Younger kids are not probably going to be able to hang with listening to an old guy talk for an hour. And once you go into the shop, you're stuck because of safety issues they can't let you just leave without walking everyone out. There are a lot of real tools and sharp objects and heavy equipment in the shop too. So best to avoid with little ones. For the adults though, it's a real treat!

From there I headed to Albany, NY on a pretty uneventful path winding from I-84 to I-87 (the first toll road I had hit on my route).  North of Albany I planned to stay in Troy, but the Walmart had signs stating no overnight parking so I drove on another 30 mins on NY Rt. 7 to Bennington, VT where I spent the night in a grocery store parking lot with a few other RVs.

The next day I found a truck stop on the 2 lane highway with good cell signal in the mountains and worked and did conference calls for a few hours. I took a break and decided to check out the local area a bit.

On the NY side of the border near Bennington is a small town called Hoosick Falls, it has all the charm of small New England towns. And was decorated for the Fourth of July with American Flags like a lot of other small towns I had passed through. Hoosick Falls is also famous as the last place where Grandma Moses lived (and died). You can definitely see where some of her inspiration came from in and around the little town. (Drive down Main Street in Hoosick Falls.)

Northeast of Hoosick Falls as you wind toward the Vermont line again headed towards Bennington is the Bennington Battlefield State Historic Site. This provided a great opportunity for the history buff in me to check out a Revolutionary War battlefield. The battle, and park, happened just outside of Bennington in Walloomsac, NY. Part of the Saratoga campaign, the battle was a key component to the American's winning the battle of Saratoga. Around 2000 militia men under General John Stark routed the British force that was looking for supplies to bolster the army at Saratoga. Without those supplies, Burgoyne eventually suffered defeat. The great thing about battlefields is you get to mix some history with stretching your legs and walking your dog.

After a late lunch in Bennington, I drove out across the Green Mountain area of Vermont and wound my way into New Hampshire. As evening approached, I found a quiet truck stop on a 2 lane highway south of Concord, NH to spend the night. Tomorrow would be the big day for me to meet up with my family after a week on the road.

The story continues with Epic Adventure 2: Not where we're supposed to be (Part 3)

Taking our U-haul Camper to South Dakota

So after a year with the U-haul camper, we decided to take our first long trip. This was not going to be a simple weekend trip. This was going to be a trip of memories: 10-days on the road, 3500 miles round trip. We had always wanted to see Mt. Rushmore, SD. It's on our bucket list. Now with the camper, that door to opportunity opened. So we packed up the camper, kids, dogs, and headed out the second weekend in Oct. We almost weren't sure it was going to happen. The government shutdown was in full swing as the monkeys in Washington got lost in arguing rather than listening to the people. The Black Hills had just had the worse blizzard ever in Oct in history there. People at the campground we were going to were stuck there without power for 4 days. So we were second guessing whether we should even try, but we stuck with it. I knew the Governor of South Dakota was trying to work out a deal to open Mt Rushmore. I knew that people were fed up with all the push from the executive branch to make it as painful as possible by shutting down the parks and the policing open air monuments that you'd never seen a park police person around ever. I felt like the tide was turning and I took chance.


We started out and drove up through Tennessee and Kentucky and into Illinois. We slept at a truckstop; it was nice to have our room with us. One of the things we had to do for this trip was to prepare for the fact that the U-haul camper couldn't be the storage bucket on the back end. Usually, we just pile our gear in the camper and unload when we get to our destination. However, we had to think differently this time because we had to be able to sleep in the camper on the way. And shuffling a ton of gear between the U-haul and car didn't sound fun to me. So we packed as much as we could in the Acadia. We made up the beds before we left the house. I had the top bunk made up but folded down. The goal was to pull into rest stop, truck stop, or Walmart and get everyone to sleep quick. I was going to drive as far as I could. Our children are great sleepers in the car so letting them fall asleep and then moving them to their bunks was a key part of our strategy.

I managed to cover almost 600 miles the first day before we stopped (just east of St. Louis). The downside to sleeping at a truck stop is that the truckers all leave really early in the morning. We got up, ate breakfast, and hit the road. Our first time to St. Louis was quick. We decided we'd stop on the way home if time permitted but we needed to get to South Dakota. Custer was on the opposite side of the state from where we were going to enter South Dakota. We drove through Missouri, Iowa and into South Dakota. I had planned to break up our trip with a couple nights in hotels. I had researched and found a nice one in Mitchell, SD that had good reviews and allowed dogs. So that was our next stop at the Kelly Inn. Late on a Saturday night we rolled into Mitchell (home of the Corn Palace) after another 720 miles. It was nice to have a real bed and a hot shower; the kids loved having cartoons in the morning while we got ready to go. Later that day we finally rolled into Custer State Park. It was amazingly beautiful and we immediately laid our eyes on the wildlife that we'd heard and read so much about. On our way to the campground we had to stop for wildlife several times including buffalo and mountain sheep.

Campsite at Blue Bell Campground
in Custer State Park

We stayed at the Blue Bell Campground and really enjoyed our stay. We would definitely go back there. The lodge was really nice too; we ate dinner there one evening. It was cold the entire time we were there. We stayed for several days and the day after we got there, the pressure from the public finally broke through to the government. A deal was struck with the Governor and people of South Dakota and Mt. Rushmore opened! It was really neat to visit and the kids had a blast. The next day we went to the Crazy Horse Monument it was Native American Day and they let us in with a food donation to their food bank. They were also blasting a part of the mountain and serving buffalo stew. While we were there, it started to snow. We found this great little restaurant one evening in Hill City called the Alpine Inn. They only serve one thing: filet mignon!  (well and hot dogs or pasta for the kids) It was delicious and I highly recommend it if you are ever in that area. Be warned to get there early; the line forms before they open and is backed out the door and down the porch (so you know it's good).

Ingalls Homestead

After several days enjoying the Black Hills we decided to start home with a few detours. We took off across the state and made a short detour through the partly closed Badlands. We stopped for our second hotel night at the same place in Mitchell because we enjoyed our stay there on the way up. The next morning was cold and rainy. We took off for De Smet and the Ingalls Homestead museum. My wife is a huge fan of Little House on the Praire and had been reading some to our kids on the way up to SD. It was a lovely place and they happened to have a tour group there and they let us tag along on the covered wagon tours. It was so cold and windy and wet out there it wasn't hard to imagine the brutal life on the prairie back then and how tough those folks had to be to eek out a living there.

We left De Smet heading south and about 500 miles later pulled into a Walmart parking lot east of Kansas City, MO to sleep. During the drive from De Smet we heard on the radio that the government shutdown was finally over and that the Gateway Arch would be open. So we set off early the next morning for St. Louis, MO. We found some RV parking on the river and walked down to the Arch. It was an incredible view from the top. We could see the stadium getting ready for the final playoff game. The Cardinals were hoping for a chance at the World Series if they could win game 6. I loved being in a town where you could feel the electricity in the air of baseball fans. Reminded me a lot of Atlanta in the 90s. We had a wonderful time at the Arch and set off later that day to begin the trek home.

Visiting Superman in Metropolis, IL.

We drove across the river and into Illinois and headed south for Kentucky. But we had one last detour to make: Metropolis, Illinois. I had promised Noah that he could see Superman. So late at night we rolled into Metropolis and woke up the kids for a short stop to see Superman. Then it was back on the road. Somewhere in Kentucky, we stopped to sleep at another truck stop. We awoke the next morning and drove the final haul home to Georgia. It was a trip full of memories and we had such a wonderful time. We also decided to tweak our packing some more the next time we take a long trip. I think that 10 days with 4 people and 2 dogs in the tiny camper is about our limit. I'm not sure we could handle more. Perhaps if we did it in warmer weather, we could squeeze a few more days in.