The Ambitious Odometer: July 2019

Well, after driving through the night (which is actually kind of relaxing out in South Dakota & Iowa...you know, it's really only second to spending the night sleeping in a comfy bed, which is sooo overrated, really...ha!), we made it to Des Moines, Iowa with time to spare.

We explored the outdoor art in the John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park...

where we saw a lot of cool sculptures, but our favorite, by far, was the park's newest installation entitled "Urban Chaos"...

We grabbed lunch at one of our favorite stops, Zombie Burger + Drink Lab... I think it is so random that we've now eaten here multiple times over the years...

After lunch, we continued on to West Branch, Iowa and the birthplace of President Herbert Hoover. We spent the afternoon exploring the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site...

the street and home where Herbert Hoover was born...

his father's blacksmith shop...

and the schoolhouse...

The kids worked on their Junior Ranger badges...

before visiting the exhibits at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum...

and the president's final resting place...

Before leaving, the kids were sworn in as official Junior Rangers...

We concluded our trip by celebrating National Ice Cream Day at The Spotted Cow in Peoria, Illinois...

What a trip!

More {Road Trip} 2019 Fun

Day One - Horses, Hats, and a Heck of a Good Time at Churchill Downs

Day Two - Exploring the CITY in St. Louis, Missouri

Day Three - Covering A Lot of Ground...Like A Whole Lot!

Day Four - Yellowstone National Park Day 1

Day Five - Yellowstone National Park Day 2 + Helena, MT

Day Six - Grand Teton National Park Day 1

Day Seven - Grand Teton National Park Day 2, Yellowstone National Park Day 3 + The Beartooth Highway

Day Eight - Devils Tower & Rapid City

Saturday, July 20, 2019

{Road Trip} Day Eight - Devils Tower & Rapid City

This morning, we headed out to explore Devils Tower National Monument...

We took the Tower Trail and explored around the base of the monument...

We observed the climbers on the monument, counting about 8 total that we could see from the bottom...

M & B enjoyed climbing on all of the boulders that were piled up along the trail...

We enjoyed beautiful views of the Wyoming countryside...

along with several different views of the tower above...

and just enjoyed some time out of the car and moving around!

The kids earned their Junior Ranger badges...

and had fun with the prairie dogs on the way out!

Afterwards, we continued on into South Dakota...

and to one of our favorite little towns, Rapid City, also known as "The City of Presidents", due to the placement of life-size bronze sculptures of the presidents on major street corners around downtown.

We were last here back in 2014, but wanted to swing back by for a couple of reasons...

President Obama's statue was just unveiled last weekend...