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“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” – St. Augustine
We haven’t been everywhere yet, but it’s on our list! Meanwhile, you can read about the places we have been, what we thought, learned, and did, as well as more practical tips like campground reviews. So please, explore!
US Roadtrip 2012 National Parks Campground Reviews
Most mornings, when Emelie wakes up, she asks the same questions: Is it morning? Did the sun come up today? Where are we? Where are we going today? On the day we were leaving Billings to drive to Yellowstone, she was very excited by the answer to that last question. “Yellowstone! Yay! That sounds very, very fun!” We thought it……
Why Billings? Because with just a short detour off of our planned route, we were able to visit with friends that we hadn’t seen for years. We met their kids, introduced them to ours, and had a really nice time catching up. We met Julia when we were all working at Kirkwood together in 2000. The next year, when she……
Leaving South Dakota, we continued west into Wyoming. The plan was to drive to Devil’s Tower, spend a little time exploring there, then continue on to Gillette to camp for the night. We had plans to meet friends in Billings, MT for the weekend. Native Americans and other early settlers developed many legends and folk tales around the Devil’s Tower……
Our home in the Black Hills was at the Spokane Creek campground. It’s definitely a place we’d recommend! Here’s our review: Price: $22/night, off-season rate. Location: A bit difficult to find, so believe what they say on their website. It’s easier to call and get directions from them or get it straight from the website than it is to find……
Continuing west from the Badlands, we came to the Black Hills region of South Dakota. Starkly different from the arid, rocky landscape of the Badlands, the Black Hills have lush forests and plenty of opportunities to see wildlife. We started our visit with a tour of Bear Country, a drive-through zoo where the animals roam relatively freely and are often……
Any Rich Mullins fans out there that recognize this title as a line from his song “Calling out your Name”? I must confess that other than this song lyric, I’d never even really heard of the Badlands. They weren’t along our original planned route, mostly because we didn’t know they were there. But we’re so glad we changed our route……
We are not much for tourist traps. The more billboards I see placed along the highway, the less I want to stop at whatever is advertised. It provokes in me the opposite reaction to the one intended. So when we were looking for someplace to stay on our way between Minnesota and the Badlands in South Dakota, Al’s Oasis was……
Writing tonight from a campground in western Montana. As of today we have been on the road for exactly ONE MONTH! We’re still loving it and looking forward to two more months of adventures. But now to pick up the story where we left off… Heading west from Minneapolis, we stayed one more night in Minnesota on our way to……
For a lot of Swedes, Minnesota is the first state they hear of or learn about. To an American, this seems strange. New York, maybe? California? Texas even? But when you consider that over a million Swedes emigrated to the United States in the late 1800’s and that most of them settled in Minnesota and its neighbor-states, it’s not so……
We’re not exactly mall enthusiasts. This shouldn’t really surprise anyone. But when we happen to be in the area of America’s largest mall, we had to check it out. And when this mall has a program called “Toddler Tuesdays” and we have toddlers and happen to be in town on a Tuesday… done deal. So we decided to brave the……
Needing a bit of respite from our campground experience outside of Chicago, we were willing to pay a little bit more to have a few extra amenities the next time. What we found was a Kampground of America (KOA) in Madison, Wisconsin, en route to the Minneapolis/St. Paul area of Minnesota. It was just an overnight stay. A chance to……
Though there was an 80% chance of rain and thunderstorms the whole day, we spent the Saturday of Labor Day weekend in downtown Chicago, pleasantly enjoying the other 20%. Chicago is a city with a lot to offer… so what to do with one day, during which it will most likely rain, and two little ones? Traveling with toddlers, less……
When last we left our fearless adventurers, they were in Michigan. Sorry things have gotten a bit out of order, but I’ll try to get back on the chronological path we’ve taken and see if we can catch up with where we actually are. So while we were in Michigan, I realized that the upcoming weekend was Labor Day weekend…….
I think I can safely say, without exaggerating, that we have recently experienced one of the starkest contrasts between churches available in the U.S. today. We have committed to attend church on Sundays during our time on the road. This is important to us for many reasons, but we also feel it will add to our overall experience to meet……
Thought I’d take a pause from where we’ve been and what we’ve done to talk a little bit about what daily life is like for us these days. If you’re curious, I’m writing this from the Badlands in South Dakota, and still have posts coming about our travels in Chicago, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. I’ve started writing this post several times,……
