2020 Trip Out West - Day 1 (South Dakota)

Matt has been mentally planning this year's trip for the last few years. Our original/main plan was to head out to Matt's parent's house in Oregon. We knew that we wanted to take our time heading out and explore as we headed back home. The more that we planned, the bigger this trip became!

Early January, Matt & I sat down and put together a basic itinerary - trying to figure out what all we could accomplish each day. At that point in time, our trip was 14 days and 5200 miles.

Our itinerary was initially like a "choose your own adventure" book. We wrote down options and mileage, trying to figure out ways to see as much as possible! We added Seattle as our northernmost point. We then added Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef and Canyonlands National Parks - our initial plan was Zion and Arches. 

By mid-February, we had the dates set aside with the Oregon family, all hotels reserved, etc. Now, we just needed to wait!

March 2020 - America shutdown thanks to the Coronavirus Pandemic. All plans were up in the air at that point. Spring Break trip to Ohio & Kentucky was cancelled (everything we were going to do was closed!). We decided to "wait it out" before making any decisions in regards to our summer vacation. While most things were open again by the end of June, we still debated. We knew that there was a possibility that the trip could be cancelled up to the day that we would be leaving. We prayed, discussed our options and took as many precautions as we possibly could. We are so glad that we decided to go. It was a strange trip in many ways, but so very worth the time and effort that we put into the planning. 

Early morning of the 10th, we finished packing up the van and headed West. We were well on our way across the state of Iowa before the sun made its appearance. 

I keep meaning to get a picture of "Lucky". He is Maddie's travel buddy. She sets him up like this every trip we take - he often falls to the ground whenever the door is opened from the outside. I love seeing him back there - a part of her childhood that lives on!

Aside from quick pit stops, we had no plans to stop in Iowa. We ate breakfast in Missouri Valley, got gas and used the restroom, then headed into South Dakota for a handful of touristy stops.

Porter Sculpture Park (right on I-90)

We had the kids count "Wall Drug" Signs...

We stopped at the Salem Westbound Rest Area on I-90. Felt good to get out and stretch our legs!

We finally got to stop at the Mitchell Corn Palace during the day! We've driven through Mitchell a handful of times but always at night! 

At one point, during our long day of driving, Matt was talking about the drive through South Dakota, saying: "Kids, we're going to see the Mitchell Corn Palace. Because no trip is complete without seeing a Calace of P . . ." Yes, he mixed up his words. Lack of sleep, driving brain. We aren't sure, but it was funny none the less! As soon as he started to say it, he knew he couldn't finish the sentence. However, the kids quickly realized and didn't let him hear the end of it! This shirt that Kaitee found seemed to be fitting to the moment. Of course, Maddie & Alex were slightly embarrassed by the shirt and our endless laughter.

Leaving Mitchell, we ate inside at a restaurant! We would find this to be a rarity for this trip. We continued West, stopping at the Chamberlain Rest Area to see Dignity (statue). On our way there, we thought for sure we were going to get soaked. Somehow we missed the whole storm!

We crossed over the Missouri River and loved seeing the rolling hills and beautiful blue skies with billowy white clouds.

Another fun stop - Badlands Ranch Store, to feed the prairie dogs. Unfortunately, they weren't hungry. We literally put the peanuts to their mouth but they wouldn't take them! Little Buggers...

The story behind the next picture: The prairie dog was right next to Alex's offering of a peanut. He turned and walked away from her only to plop down on the ground. As the picture clearly shows, Alex felt the sting of rejection.

After feeding the prairie dogs, Matt & I decided to make a change to our plans for the day. We needed to purchase a National Parks pass for this trip - we planned to do that at Devil's Tower the next morning. We didn't know what to expect for crowds (at Devil's Tower) so we decided to drive 2 more miles down the road to the Northeast Entrance of Badlands National Park to purchase the parks pass. We were able to purchase the pass with no issues and continued on our way, driving through the park to Wall.

As we got closer to Wall, we saw more dark storm clouds as well as lightening streaks. The sky was stunning!

We left Badlands National Park and headed into Wall - to walk around Wall Drug and  to get our free water, of course!

We grabbed dinner and headed to Belle Fourche, where we would be spending the night. One reason we chose this town - it is the Geographic Center of the Nation (and had a great monument to honor that!)

We arrived at our hotel, tired and ready for sleep. Unfortunately, we had more work to do before that could happen. At every hotel, we would ask for new bedding. This guaranteed that the bedding was clean. We sprayed EVERYTHING down in our hotel before everyone came in. It was a lot of extra work, but it gave us peace of mind during the pandemic.

Day 1 numbers - up at 2 am, leaving the house by 3. Drove approx. 900 miles, then checked into our hotel at 9 pm. We were beat!

Favorites of the Day:
Maddie & Will - Prairie Dogs 
Alex - Badlands 
Kaitee - Wall Drug 
Matt - Center of Nation Monument 
Becki - Dignity (Statue)