The Journey Continues...

Just passed by JOHN WAYNE’S Birthplace…Desoto, Iowa…my kids are missing out…mental note to self ~ rent a John Wayne Movie for these kiddos, when we passed the sign, several of them said, “Who is John Wayne?” Oh, I’ve failed!!!

One thing we’ve loved looking at are all of the water towers as we’ve driven through all of these states. They funnest things you can imagine, others have created! We just passed by one that made me smile…It was a giant smiley face, even yellow to boot! Wish I had taken photos of all of these fun water towers. Another silly thing we’ve noticed is the difference in the windmills here compared to the ones we’ve seen previously. The shape, size and height all differ. These are much shorter with very thin, pointed blades and the blades appear to be attached to what looks like a little airplane. Kinda funny! But they are still white. We just passed a sign showing a Danish Museum with a Danish Windmill, but we’re not exiting off…too many things to do, so little time to do them all in and worse yet, not enough money to do all that is available. Have to be choosey and this one didn’t get the thumbs up from the crowds!!! Bummer, I think it would have been adorable…

Spent last night in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The kids went swimming, I did some blogging. This morning we ventured out to The Sioux Falls Park to see the falls. Beautiful place. The water was raging. Danielle spoke to a lady who lived there and she mentioned that they had been experiencing some pretty serious flooding and that it was unusual to have the water flow we saw. How lucky we’ve been each place we’ve visited! (not so lucky for them to have the flooding, just for us to see the benefit of it) We got some great shots of the kids having a good time. (I'll be uploading them soon, still in the camera and the camera is in the car and I really don't want to head out in the dark and can't have anyone else, like my sweet hubby, do it for me, cause they are all snoozin' ~ the snores are happenin' in this room tonight!!!)

We are on the road again and the next stop we’re planning is to hit the World’s Only Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota. AMAZING!!! They actually rebuild the outside of this palace each year with corn cobs that have been cut in half and then nailed on. Sounds kinda silly, but I’m telling ya, it was pretty impressive! Seeing it up close is the best, because the detail is outstanding. (Photos coming on this one, too!)

Off to Rapid City…it’s a Loooonnnnngggg way…well, not really, but to our kids it’s feeling like a loonnnnggggg way. We’re trying to work on our books of Nauvoo and all that we’ve seen and learned over the past few weeks. I’m loving the work our kids do…so sweet and they really have paid attention and gained so much from being here.

Another stop along the way…we are famous for stopping to see all the cool things that are along the way. It’s not about arriving to your final destination, it’s about the journey there. We just visited an amazing place…The Pioneer Auto Show in Murdo, South Dakota. Not just an auto show, but a fantastic world of antiques! You name it, it was probably there! And right smack in the middle of…nothing! So many treasures, the boys were in boy heaven looking at all the Muscle cars, Danielle just loved all the old trucks, the little kids ran around doing a fun little treasure map following clues that led them from one building to another looking for the most exciting things little people can search for…kept them busy the entire time while everyone else had a great time seeing their favorites! (lots of great photos coming here, too!)

Okay, I have officially found my very favorite fields ever! Fields full of giant sunflowers, they are starting to die off, but with my imagination I can “see” just how miraculous this must be as they are in full bloom! Someday, I’d love to see that, I’m sure it would just take my breath away! Why don’t we have these in Idaho? Maybe that would be a fun thing to start!

We’ve arrived in Rapid City…biggest city I’ve seen in a long time…makes me a little more ready to be back to the Boise area…we could see lights for the longest time before we actually arrived. Cannot wait to sleep tonight and tomorrow will be a fun one ~ we’re off to see Mt. Rushmore and a huge array of other sights. Should be a fun one – and we’ll be back to the mountains, it’s been a long time since we’ve all seen mountains.

Well, time for a little shut eye...sure hope I can sleep with all these little snoring bodies all around me! If not, I'll be up and back at it and maybe I'll even venture out in the dark to retrieve the camera for all the great shots I left out of this blog. Until then...keep smiling!