Homeward bound

the last vacation post.

the trip home. 

we left in the evening again after dinner so we could go through the night. 

all ready to hit the road

with the traveling gnome (one of these trips he is going to actually travel in the van, along with the green man -inside joke between my sisters)



wishing Grandma D could have traveled in our van too.

saying good bye makes us a bit crazy

the trip went super smoothly again.  the girls loved going through Seattle at night (as did the parents, such a beautiful city!)  we drove straight through until mid afternoon the next day when we stopped in Buffalo, Wyoming.  Buffalo boasts an amazing and huge city park and free pool.  while we did not utilize the pool we did hang out in the park while waiting for our cabin to be ready. 

there was this cool tire swing thingy

which they all loved

talking on the phone to Grandma D, she misses her.  A LOT.

no fear in this one

so the cabin we stayed at was "interesting" to say the least. nothing like our KOA experience.  the girls thought it was pretty cool.  the parents were less than impressed.  i will refrain from naming the place cause maybe i was just over-tired and a smidge cranky.  the important thing is that it functioned for us as a place to rest our heads and that is what we needed.  i just wouldn't recommend it as a "vacation destination" as i would the Missoula KOA.

anyhoo, moving on.

the next day we promised a trip past Mt Rushmore.  we figured our lunch stop would be there and we could eat our packed picnic lunch nearby and view it from the road. 

wrong.

this was our view:

yep.  we are the lame-o cheapy parents who didn't want to pay the money to go in the parking lot to get the full view since we would be staying only for a quick bite to eat.  we did drive by it three times hoping to find a place to park along the road with a better view. that state of South Dakota is rather smart though and has almost all of it blocked off by cones and the places that could maybe work were filled up with Sturgis attendees on motorcycles.  we managed to get a few pics from our moving vehicle.  nice, right?

i promise someday we will allow our kids the experience of actually going in and seeing the whole thing up close.  this particular day was just not that day.

onward through South Dakota we drove, amongst many motorcycles and RV's hauling motorcycles.  that certainly makes the drive across what could be a very boring state much more entertaining. 

and then

home sweet home.  the last pic of vacation:

time of arrival

can't wait for Road Trip 2014!