It's All in the Details!

I pride myself on organizing and planning, but Michelle’s husband, Mark, blew my mind with the plans he came up with for our trip! He has created both a daily schedule and an hour by hour spreadsheet of our trip. Here’s a quick look at our trip:

  • Day 1: Let’s see how far we get the first night! (possibly Dahinda, Illinois) 355 miles, 5 hours There’s a Spoon River Rest Area Westbound that comes highly recommended!
  • Day 2: Sioux Falls, SD - Kevin’s brother lives there and offered to let us camp on their farm for the night! Added bonus: we get some quality time with Baby Nola :) 515 miles, 7.5 hours
  • Day 3: Badlands 283 miles, 4 hours
  • Day 4: Wall, South Dakota 35 miles, 1 hour and then Deadwood, South Dakota 94 miles, 1.5 hours
  • Day 5: Cody, Wyoming - (Benny’s 12th & Charlie’s 10th Birthdays!) 347 miles, 5.5 hours
  • Days 6 - 10: Yellowstone National Park 94 miles, 2.5 hours
  • Days 11 - 12: Grand Teton National Park 57 miles, 1.5 hours
  • Day 13: Mt. Rushmore 470 miles, 7.5 hours
  • Day 14 - 15: Sioux Falls, South Dakota 390 miles, 5.5 hours
  • Day 16: After niece’s baptism, we’ll be heading home! 862 miles, 13 hours

Grand Total : 3,522 miles, 133 ½ hours of drive time!

When planning a trip I love having the structure of our time away set up (sometimes down to the half hour! haha) and then we can decide each day whether we feel we can do it all or just some of it. Chances are, we probably aren’t going to make it back out this way again anytime soon. Let’s make the most of it!

Our niece Magnolia Mae, six weeks old 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Majestic Beauty, Unmarred

Image
July 24th, 2017--We all had had enough of granola bars and cereal for breakfast. It was decided that we'd have the brunch buffet at the Colter House the next morning. John Colter was part of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. He broke off from the group on the way back and settled in this area for three years. The server gave all the kids paper cowboy hats while we waited for our table. It was nice that the times we went out the dinner they tended to sit the seven kids together and then the four adults. Everyone over-indulged on the variety of breakfast meats, eggs, pastries, and fruit they offered. Afterward we headed to the beach by both the restaurant and marina we were at yesterday. The rock beach wasn't very deep, but it was enough for the amount of people there. For the most part the kids had no problem getting in the water even though it was cold! Benny, tested out his GoPro by diving into the cold water! You couldn't ask for a better setting. The moun...
Read more

An Unforgettable Outing

Image
July 26th, 2017--The second straight day of rain. Luckily it involved a lot of driving and not hiking. We were headed to Wind Cave National Park. Like a rainy day at home, this involved a lot of movie watching. At first all four kids watched the old Super Friends episodes. Later, the boys wanted to watch the Back to the Future trilogy and I taught Mere how to make a friendship bracelet. As we get closer to Wind Cave we enter into the thriving community of Prairie Dog Country. And by that I mean on both sides of the road was a dusty grassland and everywhere you looked little prairie dogs were poking their heads out, looking around; wrestling with other dogs; diving in and out of tunnels--it was a sight to see! Finally we get the Visitor Center of Wind Cave and while Michelle whips up a lunch of barbecue, beans, mac 'n cheese, and chips, the rest of us went to get our tickets for the tour of the cave. If I haven't said it enough, PLEASE take advantage of the Every...
Read more

The Rain Didn't Spoil Our Day

Image
July 25th, 2017--Christmas in July Day! Planning for this trip I had it in my head that as we get into the second week we may need some things to shake it up and what better way than to wake up to Christmas carols, decorations, and my favorite candle scent--Christmas Eve? The kids were a bit disoriented when they woke up but I have to say they did get out of bed quicker than most mornings on the trip. Later, when everyone was dressed and had breakfast, we met the Vonder Meulen boys out at the picnic table and opened up a little gift--a water gun. We were headed out of Grand Teton today, going to Casper, Wyoming, by way of Jackson Hole. But before we left we had one mission: to see a moose. The Rangers at the Jenny Lake Visitor Center were very helpful and suggested we stop at the Blacktail Ponds Overlook on our way down to Menor's Ferry, one of our destinations on the way to Jackson. Pulling into the parking lot I was bummed to see so many construction workers rehabbi...
Read more