Monday, July 14, 2008

Day Two- SD, WY, and MT

Wall Drug...what else can I say?
Full service in every state for the Dirkse van!
And they do more than windows...

After a great night sleep (I LOVE Holiday Inn Express--they have the best bedding), we got up while the kids were still sleeping and put in a few miles in the fitness room. A requirement for the added licorice(redvines of course) and chocolate that will be part of our diet the next few weeks. :) After breakfast we piled in the car for the 5 hour trip to Rapid City...half way for the day. That has the first Starbucks since WI so we really look forward to it. Oh yea, it is also home to the Badlands and Mt. Rushmore. It's a sad day when Starbucks beats out a National monument (actually we have seen it several times already). We eventually made it to Billings tonight in time to swim in the pool. Yay! Highlights from today:


  • Reading quietly in the passenger seat while John drives. Just finished Persuasion and brought Northanger Abbey (both Jane Austen's) for the trip.

  • Seeing mountains again!

  • Doing a crossword puzzle with Lauren. She sits in the passenger seat while I drive and we work on it together. Where's John you ask? In the middle seat between 2 girls reading, sleeping, reading, sleeping, etc. :)

  • Wall Drug????? Actually, we had never stopped here before. It is advertised for about 400 miles beforehand and we usually just laugh at the signs. This time however, John decided that we were going to stop. It's sort of weird...this little town of Wall, SD has a gigantic tourist-y block of stores and attractions. It's in the middle of nowhere and there were hundreads of cars packed in to see it. Go figure!

  • Great conversations with John. All the way from theology to laughing so hard I was crying, he is a delight to talk with.

  • Driving 75 miles per hour without a trailer or a pack on top of the car. We cruised!

  • Full service at the gas station....by the Dirkse family. What is it about kids and wanting to clean the windows(and doors and mirrors and hood) with the squeegee? Back in the day I would have freaked out about all of the drips running down the sides of the van but...not anymore.

  • Listening to my kids laugh hysterically at Gilligan's Island and The Cosby Show.

  • Talking and texting with Jon and Jill as we were both on our way to Mecca...oh I mean Lake Chelan. :)

Well, off to bed and still having technical difficulties with blogger and pix. I'll try again once we get to our camp spot(they have wifi in the park...how's that for camping?). More later.


4 comments:

bean said...

Wall Drug! We totally stopped on our trek from Seattle to Ohio a couple of years ago (how can you not with all the signs?). I agree - it's weird. We partook of the free ice water, which tasted very weird, looked around for a little and were back on our way.

That trip is when we got to experience the water-park-inside-hotel attraction as well, and it was super fun! We're thinking about driving next summer too, and that's one of the requirements. :)

Julie said...

Ahh - you are heading West! Your trip sounds like our trips out there!! Such a fun trip, isn't it? We didn't head West this year because of the baby, but next year I'll need some tips on packing for 7 for our 32 hour drive West in our mini van. How ever did you do it? I am impressed! We just got back from camping in upper MI for only a few days and our van was loaded to the ground with no room to spare! I'm gonna need some serious mommy of 5 help on that one, Bets!

Miss you guys and will pray for a relaxing trip West! Enjoy every second! I know what a blessing it is to be far away from life back east! :)

Julie

Andy Tobin said...

Glad to hear the trip is going well! We're looking forward to having you back though :)

Anonymous said...

Hey Bets. Loved the run-down.
Much to tell from my side.
Miracles.