Road Trip America!

We wanted to visit Conrad’s family in Nebraska, but the flights and car rental were outrageous. I got the grand idea to do a little family road trip. We don’t get much vacation time with Conrad, so this was a great opportunity for us!

Of course, 7 miles out on the road we got a flat tire! Seriously! Luckily, it was early enough that we were first in place at the tire store. An hour later we were back on the road.

We drove to Devils Tower in Wyoming. By the time we made it and could see it in the distance we figured we could continue on to South Dakota, but since we were so close and it was on the list we decided to go. What a good thing we did! WOW! It was so beautiful and so incredible. We didn’t get to spend much time there, but we definitely want to go back. After seeing the tower, we went to Tower View, this tiny little restaurant right by the monument. We were the only people in the restaurant, but that made it even better! Conrad had a buffalo burger and Sophia and I shared a regular burger. Maybe it is because we were starving to death, but they were awesome! For dessert Conrad got Rhubarb pie (boo) and I ate some of his ice cream (yum!). After dinner we drove to Spearfish, South Dakota.

We had a really nice hotel, but I don’t think any of us noticed, as we were all so tired we just passed out! The next morning we drove to Mt. Rushmore. I have always wanted to go, but it is sort of out of the way. It was awesome! First of all, the monument was empty. I cannot believe that someone thought of the idea of Mt. Rushmore, let alone created it! After Rushmore, we drove to see Crazy Horse. It was a beautiful drive, and beautiful from a distance; however we didn’t want to pay $25 to drive in and drive out! Well, after Crazy horse we drove through a million jillion corn fields and made our way to Columbus, Nebraska!

We always look forward to our visits to Nebraska. It is always so much fun visiting with family, not to mention the food is always so delicious! Conrad really enjoys playing golf while we are out there. We took Sophia to the course, but she really wanted to play. Since that wasn’t going to happen I happily took her to the mini golf course. We had a blast! We pretty much had the place to ourselves. She did so well too. The only sad thing was that it was so hot! It was 94 degrees and super humid. We had a fantastic dinner; I am telling you Ron and Ann make an awesome steak dinner! The only down side to the night was someone drinking a little too much and keeping Sophia away. In doing some research for something for Sophia and I to do I found that Omaha has one of the best zoos in the country. We decided to go. Conrad even decided to not golf and join us. It was a great day! The zoo was super crowded, but it didn’t take away too much from the fun. Highlights were the aquarium, the butterfly dome and the lions!

On Sunday, Sophia and I relaxed while Conrad golfed. It was such a nice morning. The downside was that we didn’t get on the road until 1p.m. Our plan was to drive straight home, but with such a late start we had to stop overnight. Wouldn’t you know, the first town we stopped in had zero rooms due to a local rodeo! We stayed in Rock Springs. Yes, it’s only 3 hours away from Salt Lake, but we didn’t dare risk it.