This past week we were “Pod People” we were one of those families that travel across state lines with a big pod on the roof of the vehicle.  We were on a family vacation and it was wonderful.  I don’t know how many people will be interested in reading about our vacation but I thought this would be a good way to take all the swirling memories in my head and sort them on to the paper or aka computer.  About a year ago my in laws asked my children where they would want to go on vacation.  The kids decided they wanted to see the wild west.  Grandma and Grandpa decided that South Dakota would be a wonderful place to take the kids to see the wild west, wildlife and mountains.  During this last few months the farm economy took a hit and my husband who works for CASE IH was laid off.  Now that he was home for the summer we were invited to come with on this vacation.  I was excited about seeing part of the country I have never seen before.  I was asked if I was nervous about traveling with my in-laws and that was never an issue.  I believe we get along well together and we had a wonderful trip and no complaints from me at all.  The only issue I had was the unknown.  I like a plan and I have a problem with anxiety so not knowing what each day would bring for us was anxiety producing at first for me.  I had my little fit before we left our home of just the what ifs and why can’t we have a plan.  This trip went fabulous and made me realize that we can go where the wind blows us and we can have a great time with out an itinerary.  Not saying I want to do this all the time.

The first day we left Minnesota around 7:30am and hit the road.  Our first stop was the little town of Henry.  My son, Henry, loved that a town had his name.  It was like he was the president of a town.  He loved this claim to fame.

After we left my son’s town, Henry we continued on to Miller South Dakota.  We found a park and thought we would let the kids play.  Much to my amazement my husband joined right in.  He climbed and played on the slides.  We laughed and he laughed with the kids.  I loved seeing him have so much fun when this has been a very stressful time for our family.  It was a welcome break with lots of smiles and laughs.

We continued on our journey and stopped in Pierre, South Dakota the capital of the state.  We found a hotel staying at the Governor’s Inn.  We all drove to the Dam that is in Pierre.  It was a beautiful area.  Huge rolling hills and so green.  A fun place to drive and take pictures.  A storm was rolling in and the clouds were memorizing

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We had dinner together and then Henry decided he should play cards with his grandparents.  I love that he wanted to spend a little time with them.  Chad and I took Greta exploring the capital.  We found the Capital and the grounds.  It was beautiful.  We explored the capital and the Flaming Fountain which is a hot spring fed fountain where the water is always a constant 92 degrees.  It was beautiful and fun to learn and explore together.

Off to bed so we could start day 2 of our journey.  Wall Drug was uttering on the kids lips as they drifted off to sleep this first night.  They were so excited to get to this oasis of everything.  It was a good day 1 of our family trip.