This Ain't Your Average Road Trip

The following post contains the ramblings of our recent trip to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This will be a looooong post, because well, it was a long road trip. Just warning you now, before we even begin.

My sister, Jessica moved to Wisconsin two years ago when her husband, John began dental school. We miss them and their two kids a lot. They come out for visits at least twice a year, but we decided it was time to venture out their way. When I say venture, I really mean drive...yeah, we are nuts.

We wanted to drive for several reasons. First of all, flying six people to Milwaukee is a very expensive proposition which usually includes at least one long layover...ummm, I don't think so. Second, most of us had not seen most of that part of the country, so we wanted to experience it from the ground. And finally, we wanted to give our kids fuel for all the therapy they are going to need someday just for the basic fact that they belong to us. I mean really, who in their right mind drives four kids halfway across the country!!?!?

We chose the week of the UEA holiday so the kids wouldn't miss too much school. We were all very excited to see the family, but not so much about driving. But I have to take a moment here to say that getting ready for any kind of trip is not very enjoyable for me, but especially one where we are gone for so long and we are driving. The house has to be "vacationized" which includes straightening everything, cleaning out the fridge, removing all perishable foods and garbage, completely finishing laundry, and having a clean kitchen. These are the bare minimums because I HATE coming home to chaos. Plus, you have to clean out the car, then fill it back up with all of the CRAP we have to take with us.

I got each of the kids their own over-the-seat-put-all-of-your-stuff-in-and-don't-leave-it-anywhere-else-in-the-car organizers. They loved packing and organizing all of the activities that I bought them which included sticker books, travel games, magnet boards, learning activities, and play sets. We packed plenty of movies, of course, and the girls had their iPods. But let's not forget the snacks. The snack box was easily accessible and we had two coolers--one for Sunday meals and one for drinks and snacks. Whew!! We were finally ready to go!

For the first day and a half this is what we did:

Pretty exciting, huh? But the kids were SO good! Everyone stayed entertained for the most part and no one got car sick!! Yahoo! Throughout the trip, the kids said some pretty funny things, I started teasing them that they were going to be quoted on my blog. Here is the first of many:

CUTE QUOTE

DAD -- There's a prong horn over there

BRAIDEN -- What's a prong horn?

DAD -- Antelope

BRAIDEN -- Where's the cantaloupe?

We stayed in Omaha so we could visit the Winter Quarters visitors center. It was neat to see, especially having just experienced Trek. The kids liked it and the missionary was very impressed with how much the girls knew about the gospel and church history. The kids even got to pull a real handcart and realized how hard it really was.

It's amazing to think that we traveled the entire pioneer trail from Winter Quarters (Florence, Nebraska) to Salt Lake -- which took the pioneers months by wagon, handcart, and foot -- in just a day and a half. And, instead of grueling extreme hot and cold temperatures, illness, lack of food, etc., we arrived in relatively comfortable travel, including air conditioning, gas station stops, and movies. It's a lot to think about and to be grateful for!!!

We also walked around the cemetery and the temple grounds. There is a lot of history there. So many pioneers died that first winter before crossing the plains. It was a peaceful way to spend the morning.

After our little break, we were back in the car. And, after another full day of driving, we finally made it to Wisconsin! The drive was not as bad as everyone kept telling us. Nebraska was nothing but farmland, just as I thought, but it wasn't ugly or boring. The farms were pretty and I enjoyed the rolling hills (I assumed it would be flat like Kansas). All in all, not a bad drive, but we were thrilled to finally be there!

CUTE QUOTE

BRAIDEN -- I spy with my little eye something blue.....oh yeah, and it rhymes with BUNGLASSES!!

CUTE QUOTE

KATIE -- Nebraska is the Cornhusker State and all they have is football!

So we made it and received a warm welcome. Jessica's house was very cute and the kids were all very excited to see each other. We quickly started planning out our schedule. We knew we wanted to see Lake Michigan, but the rest was wide open. We decided to go to the museum on Monday, the Zoo on Tuesday, and the lake on Wednesday. We couldn't wait for the fun to begin!

The museum was a lot of fun. We saw many displays of ancient civilizations, dinosaurs, and animals. We watched a hilarious movie about dinosaurs that we all giggled over. They also had a butterfly garden which I think the kids liked the best.

They had these cultural scenes where music was playing from that particular area. The kids loved the music and danced really silly.

After the museum, we drove to Uncle John's dental school at Marquette University. During our visit, he introduced us to the "Tooth Fairy".

Really??!!? That's the Tooth Fairy? Why any kid would want THAT thing to come into their house and snoop around for loose teeth is beyond me! Talk about freaky!! But the kids weren't freaked out--they actually really liked her.

The next day was Braiden's birthday. When we realized that we were going to celebrate Braiden's birthday in Milwaukee, we were excited. Braiden chose to go to the zoo for his special day. Milwaukee has a great zoo and because it was a weekday, we had the whole place pretty much to ourselves.

Some of the highlights were the bears....

And the penguins....

It was a beautiful fall day and we enjoyed it very much. We even got to take some monkeys home with us!

That night, for Braiden's birthday dinner, we found out about a "spy" restaurant. It sounded fun, so off we went. It is in an alleyway in downtown Milwaukee and it is disguised as an exporting company. We knew right away that this was going to be an adventure!

When we walked in, there was a tiny entryway with a lady sitting there. She asked us for the password, which we didn't have. So we had to perform a task to enter. She knew it was Braiden's birthday, so we had to sing to him and he had to do the chicken dance. It was so funny! When we completed the task, the fireplace opened up to reveal a passageway. At the end of the passage was a dead end. But another wall opened and we were finally inside the restaurant. It was then that we found out that the whole restaurant had been watching us on TV screens singing and doing the chicken dance. They all laughed and clapped for us!

While we were waiting for our food, there was lots to do and places to explore. There were spy posters everywhere (mostly Bond movie posters) and secret passage ways. You could hide in the girls bathroom and spy on people in the hallway. We also discovered a passage way that led to the outside and you couldn't come back in except through the front door. We ran back in the restaurant before the door closed on us.

Our birthday boy enjoying his dinner...

We went back to Jessica's for a quick birthday party. My little boy is seven now! I can't believe how fast the time has flown by. But I don't have time to be nostalgic, that is for another post. Right now we just need to keep moving on with the rest of the trip! But first, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Braiden!!

On our final day in Wisconsin, we went to see Lake Michigan. We visited a really neat nature preserve. The kids got to get their wiggles out, we saw a few wild turkeys, went hiking on the trails and enjoyed an absolutely beautiful fall day!

We climbed this big tower and enjoyed spectacular views of the lake.

Then we walked down to the beach.

Yet another beach that the kids loved to play at. And to think that we have never taken them to the beach in California! Guess we need to put that on our list.

Here are some more pictures (nice one of me sporting the double chin!)

It was sad to think that our visit to Milwaukee was over! We had had so much fun and played so hard. Now it was time to hit the road and sit and sit and sit. We reluctantly said goodbye and headed West, but this time we drove up through Minnesota and South Dakota. We had two very long travel days and the weather was terrible. I actually thought the wind might tip us over a time or two. We stopped in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and stopped to look at the falls. Well, everyone did but me because I was too cold to get out of the car, but Ryan got a picture of the kids.

That day, I discovered I left my swimming suit at Jessica's. Knowing that we were planning on swimming in the hotel the next night, we stopped at the local mall to find me a suit. It was raining pretty hard when we all got out of the car. Suddenly, Katie tripped on something and fell face first right into the biggest puddle in the whole parking lot. She wasn't hurt, but she was drenched from head to toe! We ended up getting her some new clothes along with my new suit. After the initial shock wore off, we told her that years from now she would think the whole experience was pretty funny. She finally laughed with us and we teased her about it the rest of the trip.

On our way to Rapid City, we drove through Badlands National Park. Now, if you have ever been to Bryce Canyon NP, it looks similar to that, only Badlands lacks color. It should be named Blandlands if you ask me. I wasn't extremely impressed, but again, I was FREEZING and the wind was brutal. We only stayed for a very short time. If you ask me, the best part of Badlands NP was watching all of the Prarie dogs bobbing their heads up and down!

Ethan and I trying to stay warm, but still looking cool in our matching Disneyland jackets and sunglasses...

Our hotel in Rapid City had a waterslide at the pool. The kids thought this was the best thing ever and we spend the night having a wonderful time. It may not look like much, but the slide was pretty fast. It occured to me that night, that our family gets along so well when we take them swimming. It is complete and peaceful bliss the whole time, every time. It was the perfect ending to a very long two days.

I know it's hard to see, and even harder to prove, but this next picture is me flying down the slide. Katie couldn't take the picture fast enough, but I promise it's me. I had a blast!

CUTE QUOTE (after washing his hands with the hotel soap)

BRAIDEN -- What's that smell? It smells like cookies....but mostly soap.

The next morning, we were off to Mount Rushmore. It was neat and we all enjoyed it. The weather was cool, but dry. We were so glad the rain and the wind had stopped and we could experience this neat monument.

My big noggin is covering up Teddy and Abe...oops! I didn't have the heart to ask the sweet old man taking our picture to try again.

But we all know that my head really does belong up there as indicated in this next picture...but there's that horrible double chin again!!

There was a nice walking trail that allowed us to experience the monument from different angles and vantage points. We had a brief discussion with the kids before proceeding that the trails were put there for a reason and we were to stay on the trails at all times and to not disturb the nature around us. The kids all nodded in agreement and then....

CUTE QUOTE (to a nice young gentleman who just wanted to get a picture from on top of a large rock)

ETHAN -- Stay on the trail, DUDE!!!

CUTE QUOTE (after viewing the monument from the vantage point in the following picture)

ETHAN -- Whoa! Two heads fell off!!

Right next to the visitor's center were two beautiful mountain goats grazing. There were people all around and they were perfectly content to stay right there! I guess Critter Watch '09 was back in full swing!

After Mount Rushmore, we went to Jewel Cave. Again, maybe I'm just partial to all things Utah, but compared to Timpanogos Cave, this was just a big hole underground. There weren't even that many "jewels" which were really calcium crystals. But still, it was interesting to see.

Outside, they had a cement block where you could see if you could fit in the tight spaces you typically find in caves. All of the kids made it through, of course....

Ryan, not so much. His shoulders were too broad. And here we thought his true calling in life was to be a cave explorer. I guess it's back to the office for you, Honey.

The drive home through the Black Hills was absolutely stunning. I had no idea that there were mountains this pretty in South Dakota (sorry to think that, Grandpa!). We drove on the Needles Highway and saw some spectacular fall foilage and beautiful rocky mountains. We even drove through several VERY small tunnels blown out of the granite.

It was so nice to get out of the car and spend a few hours enjoying nature. What a beautiful world we live in! I was so glad we could discover a new part of the country together.

CUTE QUOTE

LAUREN -- I keep losing my glasses!

MOM -- Honey, they are on your face!

LAUREN -- Oh yeah! Thanks, Mom

I mentioned Critter Watch '09 being back in full swing. We had had a pretty successful Critter Watch up in Jackson and Yellowstone in September, but that doesn't compare to how many wildlife we saw outside the Black Hills coming home. Buffalo, Pronghorn (aka Canteloupe), elk and deer were EVERYWHERE! It was so cool!

We finally made it home safe and sound. It was kind of brutal getting thrown back into the real world of work, school, laundry, and taxi service after such a fun trip. I am grateful for this blog, because it allows me to capture these memories before they are forgotten. I learned a lot about my family on this trip, but the most important lesson was that we have good times and not so good times, but through it all, I love spending time with them more than anything.

Our trip to Milwaukee recap:

3198 miles

Ten days, nine nights

Seven states (Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and South Dakota)

Five hotels

Little bit of fighting

Lots of laughing

Tons of memories