This is a different kind of format than our typical short videos. We really wanted to put this up in one spot. So here it is a compilation of the entire trip. We took an epic American road trip from Spokane Washington to Chicago Illinois. We traveled along Interstate 90 for a total of 4090 miles across some of the most incredible landscape in the United States of America. This trip was special for many reasons. It was our last trip as a family before our children left for college. It was our first trip to visit Amy’s father she reconnected with after not seeing him since she was just a young girl.
We visited: Minnesota the Jolly Green Giant, The Geographic Center of United States of America, Mt Rushmore, Iowa’s largest frying pan, The World’s Largest Truck Stop, Washington Illinois, Chicago “Sears”Willis Tower Skydeck, The Original Mr. Beef in Chicago, Chicago Sunset Cruise on Lake Michigan, Chicago Millennium Park, Laurie Gardens, Chicago Navy Pier. The Future Birthplace of Captain James T Kirk and the Star Trek Experience, America’s largest wooden nickel, The Bridges of Madison County actual bridges, The City of Monuments Montezuma, The Ranch Store, Wall Drug, and Badlands National Park, and end with reflections of gratitude a The Garden of 1000 Buddha’s.
Seeing our country in this way, connecting with other Americans and spending hours in a car as a family was an adventure, a challenge and a truly once in a lifetime amazing experience.
We’re Eric and Amy, a married couple on a budget, based out of Washington state. In 2022 we celebrated 20 years of marriage and started checking off items on our travel bucket list. While working on our bucket list we hope to also accomplish our lifetime dream – finding/buying property to create an oasis for like minded travelers and digital nomads. We use this channel to share interesting facts we learn, cool sights, tips for traveling on a budget and more! We have a long term travel goal to be fully nomadic and visit all the major United States cities. In between visits to the big cities we’ll be highlighting some of the hidden and totally amazing Inland/Pacific Northwest sights to see.
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Here we are here we are we are heading off to Illinois wo Chicago here we Come all right we have made it to our first pit stop and one of our goals for this very long road trip is to not eat any fast food so we made a bunch of food in advance and right now we’re going to have some sandwiches on the tailgate at
Our favorite place to stop in Montana bries you can check out our short on them if you want as Well you guys would not believe this playground we found I know it’s kind of weird that we keep pointing out playground grounds cuz we have two adult kids basically but some really cool stuff like the truck slides and this cool rope course thing over here there’s
A zipline back there and there’s a kid chasing the zipline um this rope pyramid thing there’s there’s this four-way swing here the swings in the back there’s there’s swings for all size kids really really crazy playground yeah I wish I wish our kids were small at this
Point there’s some sort of like water park yeah where we’re from originally there’s a place called wild waters I think or Roaring Waters roaring wat yeah um but it’s like that yeah just like that and then right over here there a carousel just like the Loof in Spokane and it’s
Such a beautiful background we actually stopped here because we’re making ourselves Red Bulls we decided we were not going to waste our trip money this time around on food I don’t know if you guys have seen the price of food lately I’m sure you have you eat too um but it’s been crazy
So we’re taking a different route we’re making our own Red Bull just like the coffee shop stands you know and uh we got all sorts of yummy food that we made we’re going to be sharing a short about how you can save some money and avoid
Eating fast food when you’re on the road too so stay tuned for that we have this little bottle bag and we stuck the Red Bulls in there we’ve got ourselves some Huckleberry syrup and then of course ice and red bulls and travel cups and we’re just mixing them right in the travel Cups All right we have made it to our first destination on our road trip to Chicago from Spokane and we are in the dude Rancher motel in Billings Montana so let’s just take a look around real quick um it’s very rustic Charming very almost thematic for Montana and I’m okay with
It it was cheap super cheap right now because the air conditioning is out so they gave us like $50 off the room which is awesome and it’s even better cuz it’s actually really beautiful here right now and not hot at all so we have a double
Full bed this light in here is terrible guys sorry but um so here’s the beds there’s Amy there’s the other bed little bed table like I said very dated so we’re not like you know there’s no usb chargers or anything to highlight for you there is a TV it’s for aair when
It’s working but they just replaced the air conditioner and then in here there’s a nice Bureau and an ironing table uh iron all the good things you might need over here good size mini fridge which is nice to have a microwave which we’ll be utilizing uh for our dinner tonight
Because we’ve been cooking or well we cooked in advance for this trip rather than eating out at a bunch of places and so we’ll be having dinner in the room tonight so we definitely are happy to have that little place to take your shoes off that sort of thing check out
This bathroom it’s hilarious you guys look at that red so there’s the tiny little bathroom that’ll do it’s clean that’s what matters good morning Travelers I got the adventure hat oh hang on let me pause the music so we don’t get in trouble we checked out of the dude
Rancher Motel this morning and we’re already on the road we are heading to M Rushmore woo we’re going to see the Black Hills and we’re on making our way through South Dakota today we’re going to get all the way to the other side of South Dakota but not before we see some
Pretty cool stuff we’re going to take you with us stick around Welcome to Wyoming so yeah we were uh driving down here to get back onto the 90 uh there’s a little hop down here um we are in Bell forche South Dakota I believe is what it’s how it’s pronounced um but we are actually uh at the geographical center of the United States and there’s a
Little monument and Museum and Visitor Center here uh so we’re going to check it Out Yeah so the center of the United States actually changed when we added alasa in Hawaii from Kansas to here in South Dakota did you see this Eric Eric for scale Eric for scale pretty big yeah yeah that’s uh that’s Hefty Hefty Boy We wanted to show you guys basically what to expect when you visit Mount Rushmore which is one of the national monuments if you’re not from America or you’re not familiar and it’s in South Dakota and we’re going to tell you some more facts about it but right now we’re
Walking through the parking garage which is um one of the things that you’ll do if you bring your vehicle rather than bring a shuttle and you’re going to grab a parking ticket at the front of the booth and then you will just pay for it before you leave the park so after you
Park your car make sure that you grab your parking ticket so that you can pay for it when you go out of the park there are quite a few stairs but there is an elevator and there’s a ramp for those that might need it there’s no pets allowed here so make
Sure you make some plans for your pets if they’re traveling with You we highly recommend coming over to the uh ranger station or the information booth and picking up the self-guided tour uh there is an evening presentation that takes place with the park uh Rangers and they do it up at the there’s like a little seating area when we walk
Up there you’ll see it we’re not going to stay for that and I’ve heard it’s kind of a little bit cheesy so let’s go get the facts and do it ourselves as you go around the presidential Trail there’ll be a location and each one of those locations will have a
Corresponding number okay so when you reach that location you’ll type in the number into um the screen with this keypad okay and once it reads it it will begin playing the audio 4 that location cool uh I think that should be all you need to know I’ll be the
Scribe okay come on when we reach the Avenue of flags that’s number three they’re in alphabetical order they were all donated a representation of us all being I So we made it here it is it’s pretty cool it’s even got eagles flying over the head which I think is hilarious we paid the $6 for the guided tour it looked like it was going to be you know a speaker that you could like walk around and listen to but no you
Literally have to walk around like you’re in the’80s on only one person can hear it what what they say so I don’t really recommend it plus it was just kind of rambling the same thing over and over so here’s the gist they started in 1927 they picked those presidents
Because they felt like they had left a mark on the country that wouldn’t be something that should be forgotten it’s one of the only monuments this large carved into granite in the world and it took them what 40 years 35 years somewhere in there they finished in like
47 we’ll do the as um I would not recommend going with the tour just come and see it it’s really pretty it is pretty and there’s info all around the place there’s a visitor center um which is named after the son of the original uh sculptor get uh Geron oh man hang on
Boram Borglum yeah um anyway there’s a visitor center here with a lot of info on how they sculpted It that’s cool it’s pretty fun there’s a trail uh that goes a half mile around um all of this here that um you can even take steps of the base uh of everything it’s it’s a it’s a neat place it seems like there’s not a lot to see but there
Actually is a lot more to see than just faces in a mountain and then one of the things that they said that was kind of made sense was like art is supposed to make you think like why they put it here we don’t really agree with it and and
The Lakota people didn’t really agree with it either but that’s a whole another story one of the really interesting things about the mountain is that the original sculptor actually wanted to put a vault in the back of the mountain with the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and
All sorts of things like that they never uh approved that for funding but they actually did end up working with uh Lincoln boram the son and building there’s actually a copy of the Declaration of Independence in there and there’s actually written biographies of all the presidents and and one of the
Borums is buried in there which is pretty cool yeah basically tough Bastards pen I hear a penny presser yeah yes yes and this one actually says Mount Rushmore on the back oh I love that that’s great so that was M Rushmore there you have it yeah it’s a it’s a beautiful Monument like you said may not agree with with you know why it
Was put here or where it was put but at the same time it’s a Marvel of engineering and it is it’s huge it’s it’s pretty cool to see and the light does hit it really neat so it’s pretty cool it’s pretty Americana if I ever saw
It yeah it’s one of those things you just you want to as an American you want to see it you know hope you enjoyed coming along and learn something definitely really just incredible Hells out here I know you guys can see those but man we’re good we’ll be back through here in
In about a week we’re going to we’re going to stop and poke around so should be Fun Welcome in this is glow by Best Western uh in sou Fall South Dakota this is uh the one at Dolly farms and uh it’s a nice little room pretty basically appointed as you can see it’s it’s uh you know there’s there’s not much to it other than just
The the single room obviously with the bed but or the beds uh but um yeah very nice comfortable beds um the pillows were not as comfortable but they were still uh very nice nice and clean uh everything is brand new as you can see the artwork on the wall was picked just
For us JK lots of storage there’s H three drawers in here you got a nice desk with uh plenty of USB ports in in the whole room there’s two on the nightstand there’s four over here on the desk uh lots of plugs nice cured coffee maker for your your morning nice fridge to
Store your leftovers from last night yeah the AC worked fantastic we were nice and cool all night great tv in here a nice big Smart TV there is this lovely mirror and barn door very nice very clean bathroom all the amenities hair dryer sink makeup remover wipes shampoo and conditioner nice roomy
Shower with a rainfall shower head and then of course we got our closet over there with the mess in the bottom um with the uh safe and iron and ironing board in there um so yeah again pretty standard you know uh stuff but it’s all brand new it’s all fancy uh which is
Really nice the the the decor is is really cool and yeah the breakfast was wonderful um you know there’s lots of stuff like yogurt and uh eggs and sausage and cereal you know all the normal Continental stuff but it was all served up nice and hot and fresh and was
Good stuff so yeah definitely recommend we highly recommend this place it’s uh it was affordable it was only 134 for us last night so during the holiday weekend yeah I mean we’re we’re really close to July 4th weekend so not bad Minnesota guys we just ch in
Minnesota we are here in Blue Earth Minnesota uh which is apparently where the last four miles of Interstate 90 were paved and they were joined together basically I90 began in 1958 when it goes from Boston to Seattle um which obviously we know and it is the longest
And the northernmost east to west coast to coast interstate and if you were going 70 M hour the whole way it would take you 44 hours to drive the whole thing oh ho we are in Blue Earth Minnesota that is the Jolly Green Giant he’s the one
From the commercials if you around all Right he was put in place to celebrate the completion of the I90 connection they still can peas and corn here today he is £ 8,000 lb his smile alone is 48 in wide he’s 55 1/2 ft tall and he wears a size 78 shoe folks and every winter
They put a little red scarf on him so let’s go take a look at Him after you check out the playground and the giant make sure to stop into the visitor center to see the displays and get yourself a sticker and a press Penny it’s free to Enter we just pulled off of the freeway so we could see Iowa’s largest frying pan ready here it is it’s actually iron um it was built in 2004 there’s a there’s a casting place uh up the road we saw as we were coming in to promote Brandon’s Cowboy Breakfast which is an
Annual uh breakfast that they they um hold the third Sunday in September they average a thousand people a year um that come in and do this breakfast so the Cowboy Breakfast they actually use the funds from the Cowboy Breakfast over the course of 10 20 years to build this
Awesome little Community Center over here um which is right by Iowa’s largest frying pan so it’s pretty cool this thing is uh it’s massive it weighs 1,020 lbs whoa don’t uh don’t let that fall over on you while you’re cooking the rose dust for dinner it is humid out
Here I feel like I’m being steamed yeah it is it is crazy humid I didn’t realize Iowa was this humid did you no not at All so we’re in Iowa we have stopped at the world’s largest truck stop to heat up our no fast food dinner for tonight we’re having bean burritos that we made at home and froze and look at this we have killed a lot of bugs guys sorry Bugs [Applause] Oh Welcome to Illinois that’s the Mississippi and she is Mighty I never it welcome to Chicago our first stop of the day is going to be at a really important one got to fill your belly we’re going to Mr Beef you might have seen them on Hulu Mr Beef is cash only and they have some specific rules when you visit no bathroom no change no credit cards or
Debit no meal deals no trays no free anything no red sauce no Ranch no reaching over the counter no slowing down the line no ball busting no money no food make no comments about the rules hey it’s on the sign This is so cool they don’t they don’t mess around in here this is kind it kind of reminds me of Ben’s uh Chili Bowl in DC but it’s obviously not chili sweet and hot load it up see how they go see if there’s any room back
There we did our best not to hold up the line we did our homework before we got Here This is so Cute well we drove 2,000 miles to have some Mr Beef here the original uh here in Chicago and uh this is where we landed for lunch and they was everything we expected it was so good first meal in Chicago successful The entrance to Sky Deck at Willis Tower is located on the bottom floor in the catalog shopping area down two escalators prices vary but are about $45 for adults and $35 for kids 11 and under you can also book them with a City Pass we booked through Vater we’ll put the
Link in the description below if you have time to see the whole city consider the City Pass option also available on vator we’re heading into the Sky Deck experience here um in the the Sears Tower or the Willis Tower um right now there’s some history of Chicago stuff which is kind of cool
Chicago is actually an elevated city um the the whole city was built on swampy ground so they actually hoisted whole blocks of the city up in uh the 1850s to run sewage pipes to prevent flooding and stuff like that so so uh in 1871 uh
Legend has it that a cow kicked over a lantern in a barn and uh caused the Great Chicago Fire which you can actually see here on this cool Map Oh I’m getting myself psyched up guys I don’t do Heights but you know me I want to experience the whole thing so here we are okay so we are in the Willis Tower we’re on the Sky Deck we’re on the 103rd floor and I’m standing by the window for
This standing by the window your trip to the sky deck will only take about a minute that means your elevator is traveling at a speed of more than 24 ft per second the tower opened its doors in 1973 and held the title of the world’s tallest building for 25 years the West
Antenna reaches 1730 ft above the Chicago Streets just we’re now passing 850 ft in San Francisco’s Trans Am pyramid 970 ft and the Yokohama Landmark Tower Japan’s tallest building 1,62 ft and paris’s stunning Eiffel Tower the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong 1250 ft in the empire ST
York I thought I was going to like launch off or something that was that that was definitely something else oh my God all right guys so unfortunately Canada’s Wildfire smoke has taken over this region pretty severely so this is our view so leave a comment and tell me
You’re proud of me please cuz I am terrified of heights you all know it she’s doing really good so the Sears Tower is uh 110 stories tall according to the owners it’s actually 108 stories tall counted by standard methods the building owners count the roof and the
Penthouse at the top as two more floors so we’ll give them 110 stories it opened in 1973 so we’re actually here for the 50th anniversary of the Sears Tower uh it’s now known as the Willis Tower but uh when it was constructed in 1973 it surpassed the World Trade Center as the
World’s tallest building and it held that title for 25 years until 1998 when the petronis towers were built which is just crazy like we didn’t build anything taller until then for 25 more years it’s wild um my glasses are fogging cuz I am like full body sweating so yeah I’m
Doing okay though he’s got me by the back so that’s uh so it’s called the Sears Tower because until 1994 the lower half of the building was occupied by Sears headquarters um and now the largest tenant that they have is uh as of 2018 is United Airlines oh that’s
Pretty cool too and the building is pretty fun to come in um if you haven’t had lunch for the day we stopped at Mr Beef um but if you haven’t had lunch for the day they have some great uh food options uh Shake Shack and sweet and
Sushi and places that we’ve never seen out west so um you could make a whole day of it and then make sure you get a trinket from the gift shop we’re going to have to find a magnet yeah it’s time to go see which magnet we want to add to our Collection Navy per is right down there behind those buildings and this is a Millennium Park right down here oh look guys you can see the sculpture um look at the beautiful oh yeah see that oh yeah there’s the Auditorium it’s time that’s anybody otherwise I can get you than other way other way eyeball in the camera cheese cheza I need to get hurry um can we get off here [Applause] please like Michigan holiday in Chicago River North is centrally located it’s just 12 minutes by foot from Chicago Riverwalk this hotel is 1.2 mil from Willis Tower and Sky Deck ledge experience breakfast comes at a fee it’s about $5 for children and $10 for adults when you book direct room rates on non-event
Weekends range between $200 and $300 a night the property includes an indoor pool a coffee shop a bar and a Restaurant Welcome this is holiday in at Wolf Point in Chicago come on in and check it out of course right at the entrance we have a nice open closet no door um but that’s okay it hides behind the the big door um there’s a safe of course and then a nice
3/4 length mirror here and right off to the right as you come in is the bathroom it’s got a nice uh rain faucet shower head and uh if you look off to the left there there’s some Dove soap which is pretty killer nice lighted mirror um
Which is great for doing your makeup in the morning or if you need to shave um and a nice fancy moded sink here and then the room uh this is a double standard room um nice big TV and uh work area mini fridge down there a couple of
Drawers here of course the standard cury and then lots of room for activities over here on the other side um one thing I’m noticing that I’m not seeing a lot of which is kind of weird for a more Modern Hotel there’s no USB Outlets um there there’s a few regular Outlets
Hidden here um but they aren’t they aren’t USB um that’s a little disappointing but we have adapters so we can make that work AC of course our view is nothing to write home about um that’s that’s our view uh out looking over the pool uh in the in the center of this
Building here but if you come with me check this out it’s a lovely view of the courtyard including our little big there so yeah nice place nice Decor great place to chill and hang out down there and then you come back up here to your room and
Get some rest so we are here on the weekend of the NASCAR races yeah and it’s about to be July 4th so we’re in a really rough spot pricewise the enire City of Chicago was very expensive so you definitely want to um you know take that into account and summer is really
Like the peak time to travel in Chicago which you guys know this is not our typical way to do budget traveling and now we have saved some money but if you’re coming just be prepared because the prices will knock you out we also paid UH 60 bucks for the Sky Tower
Parking just for the parking for the parking and the parking here per night is50 so be prepared be ready to pay to park yep and we are in a prime location we are at the the fork of the Chicago River um right in downtown this is where all
The ACT uh activities and major tourist attractions are yeah so it’s a it’s a prime place but you do end up paying for it which is I mean it’s okay every once in a while it’s really special and this is one of those bucket list destinations
For us when you look at our website and we’re listing off those big cities we know the van would not do D in this was definitely a choice uh this was the right choice 100% this brought a van here it’s it’s bad enough with an Chicago yeah so uh it’s the next morning
This is the cute little lobby area um there’s a nice bar over here um there’s a restaurant over there called water view um which is that back those back tables back there and then uh over here there is a continental is $15 and then there’s another one that says voco
Buffet which is another hotel in the same building uh it’s $25 so uh yeah um breakfast is not included here but um yeah makes up with it makes up for it for you know in some other ways so the bar is not open in the morning you like
A bloody mary or a mimosa that’s not happening for you and there’s a little shop over there they sell like donuts and Continental to go grab stuff this garage was from the Batman this one in Batman where he drops down on the van and smashes the roof a lot of
Batman was filmed in Chicago so yeah this is actually Lower Wacker this is uh where um the the big freeway tunnel chase scene was was shot in Batman Begins um a lot of stuff was was shot uh over the course of Nolan Batman movies in Chicago uh It just fits the aesthetic
Of of Gotham other than Batman Chicago is also the filming location for Steve McQueen’s the hunter where the car comes crashing out of the side of the building into the river Ferris Beer’s day off has a scene in the Willis Tower now you can’t go to the top
Without an entrance fee but you can view the building from outside and walk around the lobby without a fee Save the Last Dance with Julia Styles has a scene outside the Chicago Theater as well as multiple other locations such as the Riverwalk and then the bear from Hulu
Starring Jeremy Allen White has the opening scene from season filmed at the original Mr Beef on Orleans Street to check out a full video on that there will be a link in the description below so leave us a comment and let us know what other movies or TV shows are filmed
In Chicago that you Loved There’s a whole Orchestra in there right now behind that class they’re sitting there playing their instruments in there [Applause] W we’re at Millennium Park in Chicago and we are checking out the cloudgate also known as The Bean can’t come to Chicago without checking out the bean and this is formed out of a bunch of Steel plates yeah computer cut steel plates they they cut them all out and
Put them on this Frame and then polished it all so it looks like this and uh the city hates it residents hate it there the uh artist actually got kind of like a spat with another artist about using a color that he had developed and uh he
Wouldn’t let him use it so he said fine I’ll make it myself and I’m going to let it be for everybody and after he did he also made a color just to spite the artist that developed this which is the brightest pink that exists pinkest pink the pinkest pink and people actually
Come here and vandalize the bean so you’ll see there’s some security here to watch it but you can’t come without at least visiting it a little bit so let’s go so Sorry Did you see the bead lady trying to get me yeah yeah the original Buddhist monks just a little tip for y’all don’t ever take something that they’re handing you they’ll try to make you pay them money for it you can’t even you can’t even see where they put it all together they
Polished the handprints off every oh my gosh that’s crazy I love that they’re all inside yeah all AC in There this is the lur Gardens in Millennium Park in Chicago this is a free attraction and I highly recommend everybody come by and look and it’s really neat if you want to know what something is you can just take a picture and there’s even a place where you can go and identify it
On their website and it’s right in the heart of the city which is really cool it’s very humid and Smoky today so sorry about the wet faces but we really can’t help it y’all check this out though oh beautiful wow You’ be surrounded in all of this
Concrete and so this is just an oasis right here in the center it’s really really neat Look at the little buzzies oh I got to try I think every bee in the city is eating right Here A All right guys we’re here at uh the Navy Pier in Chicago this is actually where when the Navy used to operate on the Great Lakes this is actually the pier that they operated off of but now it is just a family tourist attraction so it’s filled with all sorts of yummy food and
Carnival games and a great view of Lake Michigan yeah and there’s uh also the the Great Wheel here at Dy Pier the Paris wheel so and uh we will put some footage in from the Riverboat tour where we were looking at it from the water it was beautiful we’ll ride it today stick Around What’s even funnier is This is all with this [Laughter] Yeah We have acquired a Chicago dog y yum okay so the locals recommend Portillos but we’re at the Navy Pier today and we were able to find America’s dog and burger America’s dog and burger uh it’s got everything that you’re supposed to have on here neon relish peppers a
Pickle tomatoes onions mustard and the dog itself and Chicago and say that you really don’t have to like a Chicago dog but just don’t order your hot dog with ketchup ever yep it’s sacr here but you want to know a secret I love just ketchup and mustard that’s what I like
But here we are and we’re going to dig in let’s go really Good 99208 lb almost as much as the world’s largest passenger Jet W oh here Eric take one of our rolling selfies wait till we go back up I guess huh do we go back up once more I think so for 20 bucks ahead we better be going back up around one more time a few times for 20 Bucks What If you can hear us if you can even hear over this insane wind and rain and there’s literal green I don’t know if the GoPro is catching that but the clouds are like I’ll tell you though when we got stuck when I was a we lad I was on a
Road trip with my parents and we got stuck in some crazy storm actual hail was dropping and we stopped behind a car under an overpass and the car was like a state of I forget where we were it was like you know a state vehicle and mom
Was like oh pull over he knows what he’s doing pull over and so that’s that’s what we did and we wrote it out um but yeah that that was those clouds were as green as these bushes on the side of the road like US1 West River Drive toward Mus all right so we are here in Riverside Iowa this one is super special because obviously this is the uh you know for the Star Trek fans out there birthplace of Captain James T Kirk um right here in Riverside Iowa so um it’s it’s really cool there’s all sorts of
Stuff their little street signs even have the Enterprise and there’s all sorts of Little posters and stuff everywhere and signs all down the road now we’re just missing the Vulcans yep but yeah there’s a there’s a museum and a History Center right down here um
Which I think has a little bit more uh stuff in it I know how to work doors I promise would you guys like to sign in there behind so heck yeah look they got a bat lift back here guys oh and the oh my gosh one of these is
Harry Kim’s I know that’s amazing Harry Kim Musta that’s it’s got to be this one here that’s the Voyer uniform yeah so we have this joke that we actually watch Star Trek every single year all the series basically we actually count how many times Harry Kim is the subject of
The alien abduction or the alien torture and stuff and we have a running joke that Harry Kim must suffer that is so cool that that’s here look at all the fun little toys oh they have the plates like Papa wait we can go up there oh my
Gosh oh that’s cool it’s FL back this is the yeah oh yes you’re not even in ready position there you Go this was donated by JG herzler Chancellor Marto and Robert O’Reilly oh my God that’s amazing like right across from the captain’s Chair that is so good oh my God and then it’s all decked out out that’s intense man oh my gosh there’s a captain’s chair back here oh my oh there’s seven make it so and Bren Spiner was there so Jenny had taken this picture of him sitting at
The desk and explained how we had the desk so he signed it thanks for taking care of my desk take a picture of for you of course we have our magnet for our collection long and prosper Riverside Iowa Tre fest.org okay and then for my darling got something special probably never wear
But I don’t care it’s your own science division pin yeah that’s going on my hat with my Google reviewer yes I figured you would I got myself since I’m a systems engineer I got myself an engineering one I and I am a huge Deep Space 9 fan
And when I saw this I love I love planes and military patches and stuff like that when I saw this I could not say no that is the defiant development patch from Deep Space 9 that’s the one that they had and it it’s It’s cool cuz it’s
All stylized like the old old school like test pilot patches it says assimilate this um and then look at this cool bag it’s like weird Star Trek material it’s really neat yeah it’s like something Diana would wear yeah yeah so that was the Voyage Home uh Riverside
History Center here in Riverside Iowa um which and it’s free display and it’s really cool you come in the last week of or the last weekend last Saturday of June yeah you can be part of their Festival Yeah all right so next up on the world’s largest or Iowa’s biggest or who knows what this one classifies itself as we have so here in Johnson County Iowa just a few miles off the I80 uh it’s a quick stop it’s obviously it’s right here in a
Farmers field but yeah just one of these fun things you can see on your way through Iowa and let’s get back on the Road on Highway 80 on your way back West if you’re coming from Chicago is stop over in monuma it’s the city of monuments yeah it’s just about 10 minutes south of I80 on off of exit 191 um and uh right behind us you can see the the Bill of Rights Monument um which
Is a the first 10 amendments to the Constitution and then all around us a bunch of monuments there’s a civil war Monument there’s a honor rooll here of of uh soldiers that lost their lives in World War I and two and uh monuma is actually named after the last Aztec
Emperor and the reason for that is because this city was founded by Veterans of the Mexican-American War I thought that was pretty neat yeah um and then also just something fun it looks like there’s a lot of really great places to eat so if you haven’t had
Lunch yet stopping through here I would stop there’s a great taco place on the corner and then some other really yummy looking stuff so this is a cute little place very historic Vibes there’s tons of brick buildings yeah I would make this one of your stops super quick off the freeway Oh wow this is one of the covered bridges used in the uh movie Bridges of Madison County which is a Clint Eastwood film he produced and starred in with the amazing Merill strap and I got bugs on me y’all the bridges were built in the 1800s and only about five of them still
Stand today most of them have been destroyed due to fires and stuff like that they were covered because it was cheaper than to actually replace this Lumber that they were built With and the movie premise if you haven’t seen it is basically a photographer comes to the area to photograph these Bridges and he falls in love with a married woman and so it’s all about their little romantic love affair it’s very very good movie but it’s not real
It’s it’s totally fictional but there’s a book about it too and people think it’s real so this is a real place that you can come and visit though and it’s beautiful I’m going to sign our guest book Oh we didn’t See oh my God nobody can burn it hey that’s cool we just drove across a bridge of Madison County y’all that was Fun St Back Wow Iowa you are killing it with these rest Stops all right so last night we stayed at the uh da in Windom at the sou Falls airport location this is a remodeled location it’s older property but um the room are cute and clean the beds were very comfortable comfort and the showers were great and the breakfast was awesome
There’s also a gym and laundry facilities if you need them so I would highly recommend this location yeah it’s a good place price too yeah yeah it really is for us um this is a popular travel weekend right before 4th of July weekend it’s also stures coming up and a
Bunch of other you know people just going on summer vacations with their families so we only paid 116 for the night and uh I would say that’s a pretty great deal out here so check them out if you’re out Here It says please be sure door is closed when you leave welcome let’s see this is the Little Chapel look there’s little seats oh my gosh please join us for worship Sundays at 10:00 a.m. in person via Facebook live one of my favorite things about being out here in the Midwest is
Hearing the different birds seeing them flying around and like it just sounds different you know what I mean yeah we were talking about how they may not have the big old Majestic mountains and you know towering Pines and Evergreens but the amount of different uh wild flowers and birds so
Colorful vibrant and like really different than anything we’ve seen before has made this very interesting I think people don’t give it enough credit they’re like there’s nothing to see in these corn States yeah but there really is open your eyes it’s PR land there’s like 3ot flower fields and stuff it’s
Gorgeous yeah it’s really easy to imagine what this looked like before all the corn too you know but yeah it uh it’s definitely uh a unique experience for sure Yeah All right so we are in South Dakota we’re about 20 minutes outside of the Badlands National Park and we are in the Buffalo Gap National grassland which is actually a large Conservancy area um that basically they’re trying to preserve the the old Prairie that used to be out here
In the old grassland that used to be out here um before we started farming everywhere and it’s really neat because we’ve been driving through a ton of farms and we got into this and it’s literally just Rolling Hills of grass basically as far as you can see I think it’s interesting because it’s
It’s kind of the most like what we would have seen uh you know at at the uh Buffalo Conservancy you know over over in Montana and if you haven’t seen that video check it out here but um it it this is the kind of stuff that you would
Expect to see um you know back in the day obviously not with a freeway intersecting it but yeah um this is probably most like what the Prairies out here used to look like so I just thought it was going To so here we are we’ve stopped on our way to the bad lands because we saw a sign for the Ranch store and they said you can feed prairie dogs yeah feed prairie dogs we’re going in to get some food and maybe some drinks for ourselves too but
Yeah petrified Li Jew right some change for the penny machine yes um so here’s it’s really neat it’s not like they have them in boxes or cages like people are just out here there’s prairie dog Mounds everywhere and there the Prairies are just coming up and eating so why not I
Guess right when in Rome you’re so cute you didn’t want that free these guys are so stinking cute oh there’s a whole family over here oh my God I think that’s a Mama and two babies guys that was mama over there my shoelaces you can’t have my shoelaces you can’t have
Them oh my gosh you can’t oh my God you too cute he’s trying he took my peanut and then he grabbed my shoelaces aren’t you cute those noises you going to get those oh my gosh you can’t have those oh my God you you’re too cute he doesn’t
Want none of them he’s guarding all of them though he’s so sweet’s tin oh are you big fat fat guy he’s like uh oh [Laughter] oh you can see they call it the bad lands and that is a direct translation of the Lakota word and then the French
When they settled here they also called it bad land to travel Through so this it’s a 35 M Driving Loop right babe 39 39 but there’s also some places for you to get out and go on short little hikes you can climb around on the different formations and it looks like there’s some that uh resemble or very like marked points and people seek
Those out so I don’t know if we’ll have time for all of that today but it sure is Fun so the Lakota used this area primarily for hunting they’ve got a lot of um archaeological evidence of butchering of animals and fire and weaponry but no signs of like living here which makes sense and this would have been a pretty uh confusing place to try to navigate just look out
Here all these different little mountaintops are going to change as the wind moves and the water rushes over them and so it’ be really difficult to find your landmarks also this is mostly clay so once it rains which it’s already sprinkled on us since we got here and
The humidity levels are out of control uh it’s going to turn into a real slippery clay-like substance that would be difficult uh to get around in yeah because it was so muddy and slick and difficult to navigate in here is a perfect example slick mud look at that you step on that you’re
Going to slip or get your feet knocked in real good like after the land was seized from the Native Americans United States actually used this as bombing and artillery testing grounds which is crazy to think about and in here there’s evidence of many many fossils from dinosaurs that roamed the
Earth back then kind of sad to think we were just bombing it all eh don’t collect fossils plants or rocks either oh man but with the addition of the national park we no longer do that obviously but you can still find little bits of armaments throughout the park up
Here we’re coming on the notch I believe oh oh guys no warning it’s as far as this go this girl goes we need to salie here guys yeah the native plants here real prickly pair Cactus so beautiful Wow wow oh my God Look at them look at they live in these little mud that’s the M oh he’s right there looking down oh my god oh how sweet there’s one in here yeah oh are theyers yeah find fossils you can tell oo apparently there are rattlesnakes on this Trail fossil Mound oh look
A so there’s that’s like a likely place for a bunch of them to be see that’s what that’s supposed to be oh look here’s another one of those Mounds oh you can almost see where stuff might be patches see like the smoother mhm bits that’s where I’d be Digging Let’s go to The Visitor Center there’s penny look at that look no living relatives of this guy oh my goodness oh God those are cute s magnet switch magnet kind of like the the park symbol one that one there I really like that you like the photograph one yeah okay let you pick this one I
Picked all the others oh I love this cuz it’s like a picture I took oh yeah and the sunflower that we love so much I love it okay that’s super cute that’s super Adorable so we’re actually out here in the backyard of the Wall Drug Store it started as just a little Pharmacy store now it’s basically I don’t know a wild west Disneyland yeah yeah um you know pretty [Applause] Wild they were offering free ice water to Travelers who were coming through the this lonely stretch of highway and hoping that they could get them into their Pharmacy there and since then it’s expanded it has a full the cafe seats 350 people yeah yeah which I believe fully Yeah look at these coffee filters three ice water we got the T-Rex jumping jets in the backyard get a soda get a ro be so you get in line you order your food it’s kind of like Disneyland or something like that and then you wait for your number to get called they have
All the condiments and stuff up there and a little soda fountain area here we go let’s try This m that is straight comfort food that’s exactly what I needed today I got the barbecue beef sandwich and it is ground beef but it looks good um looks like lean ground beef and it smells delicious so let’s see it’s kind of like a sloppy Jer mhm
Mhm that’s basically exactly what it is really good spicy beefy really good so we had to try the 5-cent coffee it smells amazing um if you want coffee to go it’s uh 89 but if you just want coffee while you’re here having a snack uh at the at the
Western Art Gallery Cafe um yeah it’s 5 cents and refills are 5 cents there’s cream and sugar up there there’s uh Splenda if you’re into that sort of stuff smells amazing looks pretty good too yeah So I’m a sucker for these stupid press pennies man we get this one yeah wal Dr 5cent coffee didn’t turn out too bad yay Cool I think we might buy some f I’m getting One no that will be all ooh those are cute bookmarks by a local artist oh oh my gosh look at the wedding bases those are gorgeous oh look they have it all done they have more of it so Amy loves incense now we have to pick flavors Zen
Oh we’re getting two of those oh I like those songs too o Berry and I just love that lemon one so much 10 oh yeah yeah good fine that is an excellent fine I get to enjoy it too yeah you do and the fudge let’s be real it reminds me of
Nevada that is so my it’s only SS I know we can’t and we don’t have any room for art cuz we downsizing we’re down to get in our van our plan for artwork is to take our favorite pieces and and our magnets and stuff like that
Bring them with us um our photos and stuff that we take we’re going to epoxy into a surface in the van yeah and our favorite paintings are going to become cabinets yes yes they are oh my gosh look at that I love it it’s only $2.98 the
Vintage Wall Drug poster get it for the Office I got bug marbles there’s little bugs in them they’re Awesome all right guys so got my very own rattlesnake eggs let’s see what’s inside we can this one it’s fun little gag and then I saw this and I was just taken by the colors in the bad land and I cannot say no to this and it was only five bucks but yeah
Look at this this is my new Badlands South Dakota mug and there’s the sticker five bucks yeah basically all the same colors just love it just love it Excellent also stop and get yourself some homemade ice cream this is the soft serve all righty we are back on the road we’re all done with Wall Drug that was a lot of fun that was a lot of fun it was a wild experience
Um yeah a lot of people a lot of stuff um a lot of parts that seemed like they were different stores but somehow we’re still part of Wal drug um yeah it was it was really cool got you to really kind of explore the little nooks and crannies
Of the stores too so yeah literally every Walk of Life there clearly the um marketing campaign that started it all is successful it also got us I mean I noticed that it’s kind of like a theme out here now in South Dakota to do the signs down the road until they get to
The attraction cuz that’s how we ended up at the what was that other one we went to the ranch store where we saw the prairie dogs and fed them so um really just fun we just had a great time and the hot beef sandwich I think was the
Best part of the lunch but everybody had a great lunch so I would recommend going if you come out this way happy traveling Oh [Applause] [Applause] oh [Applause] J
1 Comment
What a fun compilation! Love the hail story, prairie dogs, and Star Trek! Love me a good road trip!