RUN AWAY! (Bravely.)
But, first. Milestone! Today marked 30 days on the road. A month ago we left our campsite at Lake Mead near Las Vegas. We’ve seen lots of amazing things and been lucky enough to spend time with some great friends and family. We hope that this trip is something our kids will remember forever. (They better!)
Like I mentioned yesterday, there’s a big early winter storm headed to the northern US. To keep from getting stranded in the mountains under, well, mountains of snow, we scrapped our plans to visit Grand Teton, Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks.
Yesterday we left Jensen, UT (near Dinosaur National Park), started rolling toward Pierre, SD and stopped in Rawlin, WY. Today we looked further at the weather and decided that the better thing would be to scrap our plan to wait around in Pierre for 3-4 days. Instead, we’re now planning to head straight to the homestead where my mom grew up in Westbrook, MN. So, in addition to the National Parks, we’re also ditching our plans to visit the Black Hills and Mt Rushmore.
We’ll get ’em next time.
The weather in Westbrook is forecast to be fairly mild compared to pretty much anywhere in Wyoming, South Dakota or Nebraska. NOAA says it’ll get colder, rain a lot and then drop some snow. The temps should be below freezing at night, but not by much. That’ll keep our trailer safe. On top of that, instead of riding out the storm in a town where we don’t know anyone or have anything lined up to do, being at the farm will let me share some family heritage and childhood experiences with our twins. With some luck and the safe travels of others, we’ll also be able to share some great time with family.
So, there ya go. We tightened our seatbelts, filled our drink cups and made our longest drive so far on this road trip.
Wyoming. Nebraska. South Dakota. Check ’em off!
The drive started out with 40mph wind warnings. We smacked the wind around and saw some gorgeous scenery along the way. Besides the scenery, we also pulled over to let a massive dump truck bed by.
We stopped for lunch at a cool river-side spot called Miles Landing in Wyoming.
It was dark when we passed the Welcome to South Dakota sign, so we only caught the Nebraska sign. Since today’s nearly 500 miles took until way into the night, we decided to stay at a KOA. Normally, we try to dodge KOAs because they’re more expensive and have less charm/character/ma&pa. That said, they’re a great match for getting what you expect.
Tanya made the day-of reservation over the phone. When we pulled into the campground, our paperwork was there and they set us up with a super-easy site to pull in to. So easy, in fact, that we didn’t even have to unhook the truck.
The kids fell asleep on the way, so we carried them to bed…then carried ourselves to bed.
The farm tomorrow!
