Road Trippin' to WI (and Back)

I'd have to say that this was the longest road trip I've ever taken, for sure. When you are on the road system for 3,684 miles you are sure to have many adventures. Our time spent on the road was amazing. Our time spent with family and friends was fabulous. The humidity--not so fun. It's funny to think that I lived in that type of weather for 22 years and I still seemed to have difficulty adjusting. Enjoy the photos...there's lots of them!


After driving for nearly 9 hours, we decided to set up camp at the Sitting Bull campground near Buffalo, WY. The most amazing thing about this site was hearing the elk calls throughout the night and into the morning hours.



I may be mistaken, but this looks like one very happy passenger.


We took a scenic detour to see Devil's Tower.


After driving through Deadwood, SD, our first stop was the Crazy Horse Monument. The man who initially started the monument as since passed, but the work is being continued by his wife and 7 children. This project receives no federal funding.


On our second night, we stayed at a campground about 5 minutes from Mt. Rushmore. This was the first campground we've stayed at where we had to pay a $2 pet fee. I wonder what they use that $2 for????



One of the greatest things about camping with Cooper is that it really tires him out, especially if he chases squirrels.



I love this photo!


We just had to make a stop at the Wall Drug store in Wall, SD. Afterwards, we stopped at the Badlands Bar. Two beers, one soda, a basket of fries and a personal-sized pizza only cost $12!! Now that's a deal!



As we were driving along Interstate 90 in SD, the sky turned an eerie purple color. We didn't think that looked good so we turned on the radio and found out that a tornado was spotted 10 miles southwest of where we were. Yikes! Thank goodness we stayed at our friend Angie's parents house near Mitchell, SD that night. It was great so see Angie and Natalie. The next morning, we all went to the Corn Palace. What a place!



We drove through Badlands National Park.


On our fourth night we stayed at a campground in Zumbroro Falls, MN. This was the most expensive campground we've ever stayed at ($43/night). As were were sitting around the campfire, we started to hear thunder. A couple of hours later it started to sprinkle. We didn't think it was any big deal. Throughout the night, however, we awoke to these amazing lightning storms. It lit up the entire sky for hours. The next morning my mom called and asked if we were okay. Of course we were, why? She said there were 5 tornadoes spotted near Austin, MN. This was a little scary because that was one of the last towns we drove through before setting up camp.



We went ATVing with my dad one day. We went about 30 miles and, boy, was that some dusty 30 miles.



Thank goodness for those handkerchiefs!


We spent a couple of nights up in Hayward, WI. We stayed with a good friend of mine and her parents (who live right on the lake). One day we took a boat ride across the lake and camped out at the beach for a few hours.



Cooper made 2 new friends, Korbel and Windsor. As you can see, Cooper towered over them.


My mom bought some land and will soon be in the process of building a house. Her next door neighbors are llamas. I could watch them for hours, especially when they chew grass. They've got some funky looking teeth.


This was our first stop on our way back to Utah--a KOA near Omaha, Nebraska.



The KOA even had a Kamp K9 where dogs could be off-leash. I tried to get Cooper to do some tricks but he wasn't very interested.


He did, however, enjoy playing mini golf.


Every 30 minutes or so we had to open the window so Cooper could get a shot of fresh air. Super dog!