July 1 – Niagara Falls to Chicago
In the morning we went over to the Ontario side of the falls to get a better view. We sat on a park bench and ate our grocery store breakfast as the sun got hotter. The Canadian side of Niagara was much more beautiful and it was a clear day so the view was amazing. We considered hiking down to the shore to really get wet but, unlike coming into Canada, it took over 2 hours to get back over the bridge to the US side. So, we decided to keep going since Liam had fallen asleep (finally a car nap success!). Today was the longest drive of all, about 12 hours including the wait at the boarder. We saw the sun set over the farmlands of Indiana, swarms of fireflies in the fields, and early fireworks in the distance. It was almost midnight when we drove through downtown Chicago and found our hotel. We still hadn’t had dinner so we thought it was appropriate to order pizza – that was a good decision! We could tell by the weight of the box that it was true Chicago-style (super thick!). We all sat in a circle on the floor of our hotel room and enjoyed every bite.
July 2 – Chicago to Minneapolis
We got an early start and drove straight through (about 7 hours) to Minneapolis. We were staying with Phil’s mom’s cousin Rita and her husband Jeff at their beautiful little house that they have spent years fixing up themselves. We had a wonderful dinner out on their back porch and then they took us for a drive around the city. I had no idea how beautiful Minneapolis is. We finished off the day with ice cream at a little neighborhood shop with an outdoor patio. It was a great day.
July 3 – Minneapolis to Mt. Rushmore
I hated to leave Minneapolis after such a short visit with Rita and Jeff but we had reservations that night at a campground outside of Rapid City, SD. It was about 10 hours and by far the most boring scenery so far. We were pretty tired by the time we arrived but the campground was pretty great so it was worth it. There were plenty of trees, a pool, hot tub, mini golf, playground, basketball court…and it was minutes from Mt. Rushmore. We went to the monument right away because the sun was setting and we wanted to see it lit up at night. We walked around for a little while but didn’t stay too long because we all wanted to get some sleep. We cooked dinner over the campfire and looked at the stars for a while before going to bed. They are so bright out here this far from the city.
July 4 – Independence Day at Mt. Rushmore
It was so nice to have a day off from driving. We were up by 6:30 because it was already too hot to sleep inside our tent. The campground serves all-you-can-eat pancakes for $1 each morning! We sat on picnic tables by the pool and enjoyed a big breakfast. Then we headed back to Mt. Rushmore and took the short hike to get a closer view. After exploring for a while we went down to Keystone, the western town at the base of the mountain. Liam rode a coin-operated horse and we watched the train pull in to the depot.
After lunch and a failed nap attempt we went swimming at the pool. Soon the temperature dropped and big thunderclouds began to roll in so we decided to head in to Rapid City where the fireworks show would be later that evening. On our way there we decided to check out the Black Hills Caverns. While we waited for our tour to start the air grew thick and electric and we started to see lightning and hear thunder. It was still pretty warm out so the coolness of the caves felt good. The caverns were fun and Liam was much more interested that I thought he would be. When we came out it still wasn’t raining so we went to check out some big dinosaur statues we had seen up on a hill over Rapid City. I have no idea why they were there but Liam sure thought they were cool. He kept exclaiming with delight and wanting to touch all their toes and kiss their noses.
After that we picked up some dinner and headed to the park where the 4th of July Festival was. We spread out a blanket on the grass and had a picnic. We walked around the festival and Liam danced to the live music while we waited for the show to start. It was a pretty good fireworks show and Liam was amazed because this is really the first time he has seen them (he fell asleep last year). It was a great 4th of July and the rain never came!
July 5 – Mt. Rushmore to Denver
After another pancake breakfast we packed up and hit the road again. Today we were headed to Denver to stay with a couple that Jonathan knew from college. They have an 11-month-old son so it was fun to be in a kid-friendly home. They made us a great dinner and then we went for a walk to a park where they kids played on the swings.
We put Liam to bed in their nursery/office and hoped for the best. Both kids seemed like they were ready to fall asleep so we turned out the lights and went to play a board game. After an hour or two we could hear giggling coming from their room and then Liam, in a very concerned voice, started yelling “Daddy, uh-oh Daddy.” Phil went back to discover that Liam had managed to reach the drawers of their desk and empty out the entire contents of their file drawer as well as their office supplies. There were papers and files inches thick inside of his crib and underneath his sheets were stained with ink (luckily not their carpet!). The floor was covered in paperclips, staples, pens, and everything else. He had unwound a spool of white-out corrector tape and it was stuck all over his feet and everything else. Somehow their baby ended up with all of Liam’s blankets and sleep toys thrown into his crib, and he was jumping up and down laughing at the whole scene. Liam knew he was in trouble, which was good because we were laughing too hard to scold him with any seriousness. Luckily our new friends were very understanding!
July 6 – Denver to Moab
After a yummy breakfast we were on the road again. The drive through Colorado and Utah was probably the most beautiful scenery of the whole trip. The 6 hour drive to Arches National Park didn’t seem far at all. I was so glad we had decided to change our course and stop here. It was a place I had always wanted to see. We could have spent days exploring the huge park but we only had a few hours so we decided to take the trail to “Delicate Arch”, even though it was one of the harder hikes, because it was the most famous and impressive arch. The hike was only 3 miles but it was difficult because it was fairly steep with loose rock and nowhere to hide from the sun. It was about 98 degrees and I had to keep reminding myself that I had survived the Cinque Terre hike in Italy when it was 108 degrees so I should be able to do this one no problem right? I was glad I did because the view was well worth it.
After the hike we went into the town of Moab and had dinner at a little Mexican café. It was perfect. By the time we finished it was 9:30 so we tucked Liam in to his car seat and he slept as we drove a couple more hours to a hotel about halfway between Moab and Salt Lake City.
July 7 – Salt Lake City to Nampa
We stopped at In-N-Out Burger for lunch, which is a requirement of Phil’s anytime we are in a city that has one. Then we continued up to Idaho where Phil’s dad and his wife Joy live. It was Joy’s birthday so her daughters and granddaughters came over and we all had a big Indonesian dinner to celebrate.
July 8-9 – Nampa and Boise
It was nice to relax at the end of our vacation and spend a few days visiting with family. We rented paddleboats at the park, went to the Boise Farmer’s Market, and just spent time hanging out. Liam loves his “Papa” Dave and followed him around the whole time.
July 10 – Nampa to Seattle
Home at last!
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