{Road Trip} Day Nine - Heading HOME!

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

{Road Trip} Day Two - Getting Corny

Today we made it from Des Moines, Iowa all the way up to Bismarck, North Dakota with a couple of short stops along the way...

First up, we stopped at the grave of Vice President Henry A. Wallace...

Henry A. Wallace served as the 33rd Vice President of the United States under President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

He was born on a farm in rural Orient, Iowa, where the home still stands...

From there, we continued on past many, many of these...

and even passed one being moved (in several parts) along the highway, which the kids thought was super neat...seeing each part up close and realizing how huge they are!

In Omaha, Nebraska, we made a stop at the birthsite of President Gerald Ford.  Though the house is no longer standing, there is a lovely memorial garden in its place...

complete with an interpretive area narrated by President Ford...

We ate lunch at a local burger restaurant that was nearby...

before continuing on to Mitchell, South Dakota to visit the (World's Only) CORN PALACE...
 

So, my dear friend, S, made me promise we'd make a stop.  She couldn't believe that we neglected to pay homage last time we were in the area...

Now, the Corn Palace was something...  There was some construction going on, and I believe that they were in the process of stripping it to prepare for the new murals that go up annually...  I'd say that the best time to visit would be in late summer or early fall when the new corn is up and it's at the height of it's amazing corn glory, but the kids thought that it was the coolest thing everrr...

 

We enjoyed wandering around looking at the exhibits and especially at all of the photos showcasing the corn decoration themes used over the last 100+ years!

We even ventured out onto the front balcony for a great closeup view of the murals, plus a neat view of everything down below...

It's free to visit, but the gift shop will get you if you need (or don't really NEED) anything related to corn...and kitchen gadgets related to corn?  Who knew that there were so many???  My word...  To commemorate our visit, we came away with a fabulous ornament for our tree and a metal corn stalk for our yard come the fall...

From there, we pushed on through to Bismarck, North Dakota for the night...

On into Canada tomorrow...

More {Road Trip} 2017 Fun

Day One - A Presidential Start

Day Three - Oh, Canada! + Happy Birthday, Hubby

Day Four - Alaska Highway - Dawson Creek, BC to Muncho Lake, BC

Day Five - Alaska Highway - Muncho Lake, BC to Whitehorse, YT

Day Six - Well, Hello ALASKA!

Day Seven - Icebergs, Glaciers, and Fjords, Oh My!

Day Eight - All Around Anchorage + the Parks Highway to Fairbanks

Day Nine - Denali National Park & Preserve + Go UAF Nanooks!
Day Ten - Into the Arctic
Day Eleven - JUNEAU
Days Twelve & Thirteen - Driving for Days
Day Fourteen - Hello, Seattle!
Day Fifteen - A Couple of Capital Cities with Capitol Steps to Climb
Day Sixteen - Out and About in the Portland Area
Day Seventeen - Idaho
Day Eighteen - Utah, and a Goodbye
Day Nineteen - From the Mountains to the Plains
Day Twenty - Canvasing Kansas
Day Twenty-One - Good Bye, Kansas + Hello, Missouri!
Day Twenty-Two - Finishing Up Truman's Missouri
Day Twenty-Three - Kicking It Through Kentucky and HOME!

{Road Trip} Day One - A Presidential Start

Sooo, we didn't exactly get out of town as early as I had wanted to (Wednesday night).  It was actually more like 6 hours later (earrrly Thursday morning)...  Sadly, we had to cut most of our planned stops en route to Des Moines, Iowa, but...

amidst several rounds of both the ABC Game and the License Plate Game, and after 3 audio books and a movie later...

{our well loved license plate game}

 we did make time to stop among the miles and miles of cornfields in the middle of nowhere Illinois at the birthplace of President Ronald Reagan in Tampico, Illinois...

and I've decided that this little spot with just under 800 residents is just about the nicest little town ever in the middle of the cornfields in Northern Illinois...

So, we knew we were rolling into town a couple of hours after the "museum" had closed for the day, but I just wanted to stop and take a few photos outside.

 {the window to the room where President Reagan was born in 1911}

President Ronald Reagan was born in an upstairs apartment above a Main Street bakery in tiny Tampico, Illinois.  Over the course of time that the Reagans lived in the upstairs apartment, the bakery closed and reopened as a bank.

Well, I guess that this much action on Main Street on a Thursday night in Tampico can cause quite a stir...

Soon, we'd met the owner of the restaurant next door who informed us that pretty much everyone that volunteered at the museum was inside for a party (probably pretty much everyone that lives in a 5 mile radius, too) and he was sure someone could come over and show us around.

Well, of course, we wanted to go inside the building where the president of my childhood took his very first breaths, but we certainly didn't want to cause anyone any extra trouble!

Before we knew it, another person came out of the restaurant asking if we'd had a tour yet, and she assured us that so and so was just playing dominoes, but she could certainly come give us a tour if we didn't mind waiting a bit.  So, while we waited, we met another couple who shared their surefire way to repel bugs with Listerine in a spray bottle (file that away for Alaska) and how they were "doing" an outdoor wedding recently and had sprayed all the hostas and it just worked like a charm!

As soon as they disappeared into the restaurant, a car pulled up and out popped our tour guide!

I mean, the nicest ever...  It was like 6:00 at night and we got the FULL tour of everything!

 

 {in the room where President Reagan was born}

B even got to step on a rug where President Reagan once stepped...

AND, got to climb through the window into the apartment next door, just like President Reagan did as a child!

 

So did, M...

Fun Fact:  We also learned that in 1872 Admiral Joseph M. Reeves was born in Tampico, as well.  I hadn't heard of him before, but when our tour guide mentioned that while at the Naval Academy in the 1890s, he was credited with inventing the modern football helmet, a certain someone's ears perked up!

After leaving Tampico, we hightailed it on to Des Moines for the night and grabbed dinner at Zombie Burger + Shake Lab.  It has a very weird vibe, and the zombie decor totally creeps our kids out...

 but I've been thinking about the breaded portabello mushroom "burger" that I got last time we were in town ever since, and it didn't disappoint, yet again!

Back on track tomorrow...

More {Road Trip} 2017 Fun

Day Two - Getting Corny

Day Three - Oh, Canada! + Happy Birthday, Hubby

Day Four - Alaska Highway - Dawson Creek, BC to Muncho Lake, BC

Day Five - Alaska Highway - Muncho Lake, BC to Whitehorse, YT

Day Six - Well, Hello ALASKA!

Day Seven - Icebergs, Glaciers, and Fjords, Oh My!

Day Eight - All Around Anchorage + the Parks Highway to Fairbanks

Day Nine - Denali National Park & Preserve + Go UAF Nanooks!
Day Ten - Into the Arctic
Day Eleven - JUNEAU
Days Twelve & Thirteen - Driving for Days
Day Fourteen - Hello, Seattle!
Day Fifteen - A Couple of Capital Cities with Capitol Steps to Climb
Day Sixteen - Out and About in the Portland Area
Day Seventeen - Idaho
Day Eighteen - Utah, and a Goodbye
Day Nineteen - From the Mountains to the Plains
Day Twenty - Canvasing Kansas
Day Twenty-One - Good Bye, Kansas + Hello, Missouri!
Day Twenty-Two - Finishing Up Truman's Missouri
Day Twenty-Three - Kicking It Through Kentucky and HOME!