Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Father-Son Cross Country Adventure!

This post was supposed to happen a few weeks ago, but I was going to have Dan help me with it, (since it was 'his'  trip and I wasn't with him), but I finally realized that's just not going to happen, so I'm just going to post some pictures and have KJ help me with some captions!  

Dan bought an old 1970 International Scout, the car he's been wanting for a long time.  The only problem was that it was in Virginia!  Dan didn't see this as a problem at all, he instantly thought that it would be a fun adventure to have him and KJ fly out there and they could drive it back across the country together.  Not my idea of a good time, but he loves road trips and thought it would be fun for the boys to have a week to themselves to see parts of the country that they haven't ever been to.  Here are some pictures they took along the way.

The first day in Virginia with their new 'toy'!



Can you believe there is really a SPAM museum?!  Yep, they had to stop here.  What?!

They also went to the BadLands Park.  KJ says that "this is where some dinosaurs used to live a long time ago".

The next couple of days they didn't take any pictures, (but they are male, what can you expect?).  They stopped at Dan's old college buddy's house to sleep and left early the next morning and made it to Dan's parents house in Illinois and were able to spend the day with them.  It's too bad they were on a tight schedule to get back that they didn't get to spend more time with Grandma and Grandpa.  KJ really loved getting to see them, plus they got to go eat at their all- time favorite pizza place so that was a bonus!


The day they spent in South Dakota, they got to do the most 'touristy' things.  This was Mt. Rushmore.  KJ loved seeing "the presidents HUGE faces cut in to the mountain."



Another one of their South Dakota stops was the Wind Cave.  This is one of the world's oldest caves.  It was regarded as sacred by the American Indians because when the wind blows thru it, it makes a whistling sound.  The wind is still felt at the caves entrance.  KJ thought there were going to be bats in the cave, but once he found out there wasn't he was very relieved!





As any boy would, KJ was also fascinated by the Mammoth Site.  He said that he got to watch the "people still dig up the bones in a big mammoth pit.  But it was roped off so he couldn't help them.  Some of the mammoth skeletons were 14 feet tall.  It was good to see all the bones."


KJ tried a fried pickle and actually really liked it.  I didn't even know they existed, guess I'll have to try one sometime.



One of KJ's other favorite stops was Evan's Plunge.  It is the world's largest natural hot spring swimming pool.  It has waterslides, tube rides, and kids pools, plus the water is around 87-90 degrees.


They also went to Jewel Cave which is, according to KJ, the world's largest cave.

Devil's tower used to be a volcano.  Wyoming.

KJ loved seeing the buffalo or 'Tatonka' in the road.  Just a little delay in the trip!

KJ said when he stood here he felt 'funny' because of the elevation!


This is how KJ was welcomed home!  Do you think he was missed?! 
We were so glad to see them again, safe and sound, a whole week is a long time.

5 comments:

Alex said...

I still think that is such a special trip he got to share with his dad! How neat, and I love how he described hit stops!

McCandless Co. said...

That looked like such a fun trip for those two! They must have had fried pickles in the south, they fry EVERYTHING!!! That really will be fun pictures for KJ to look back on, and tell Dan when he is done with that truck I want it...it is awesome.

traci said...

That looks like fun! Chad would have just driven really fast to get back and not stopped at all the fun places. That's great they got to do so much!

Tiffani said...

that is so cool all the the stops they made on their way home! they will never forget that trip together! cute pictures and you can tell by kj's smile he was lovin it!

Mandy said...

What a fun adventure! I bet They made a lot of memories together that they will never forget. KJ got to take a trip that a lot of adults have never done, what good a sport!