Back in September, we hosted the 2019 Fulltime Families Canada Rally with the Andersons. After the rally, we spent a week in Michigan with my business partner and his family at St. Clair TT. After the week was done, it was time to make an epic cross country journey.
After being fulltime for the past 17 months and traveling fulltime for the past 9 months, we are in a season of life where we need to be at least semi-stationary for an extended period of time for Philip to receive some necessary medical treatments. We will be on the West coast for an undetermined period of time. With all of that said, we needed to get from Michigan to the West coast.
Day 1
We left Michigan on Monday morning with reservations at the TT park in West Salem, WI the first night. 614 miles was a lofty goal for the very first day, but we made it! We even managed to take a short break and visit the Jelly Belly Jellybean Factory in Pleasant Prairie, WI. For most of our crew, this was our second visit to this particular factory, but we had a fabulous time that always ends with a sweet surprise.
Day 2
Tuesday’s goal was to go 652 miles from West Salem, WI to Hart Ranch in Rapid City, SD. We really didn’t make any spectacular stops during Tuesday’s journey, except for a really cool scenic pull-off. I was able to get some pretty spectacular pictures based on the time of day we were there.
Hart Ranch was pretty cool! I wish we had had more time to stay there at the park. They have tons of amenities available there at the park. All of the sites are paved and mostly level. I look forward to being able to visit there again in our travels.
Day 3
After we arrived on Tuesday night, we really spent some time re-examining our plans for Wednesday. We realized that we were only 30 mins from Mount Rushmore and 45 mins from the Crazy Horse Memorial. We decided to hit both of them on our way out Wednesday morning. After talking with some people about both monuments, we were told that Mount Rushmore was not really worth paying to visit since you can see the carving best from the highway passing by.
As you can see from the picture above, they were not wrong. This picture was taken from inside our truck while we were driving down the highway.
Crazy Horse
Our next stop was the Crazy Horse Memorial. If you are unaware of the Crazy Horse Memorial, allow me to give you a brief history. Crazy Horse was a Native American who is credited in defeating Custer. One of the carvers, who was working on Mount Rushmore, was approached by a Native American chief to carve a monument to Crazy Horse. The monument has turned down federal money multiple times and is being completely funded by personal donations and funding.
We arrived just in time to see a Native American interpretive dance demonstration. The talk and demonstration were very powerful and moving. The speaker explained how Native Americans got their names, the significance of different animals, and about the different subgroups and dialects of the Sioux tribe.
We also ate lunch on the site, visited the museum, watched a movie about how the monument came to be started and visited the gift shop. What really struck my kids, was at the pace the work is going. The monument, which they started in the 1960s, only has one part completed. We spoke with our kids about how they could come back with their grandchildren and the monument still will not be completed. While that is hard to understand, the video at the site does a great job of explaining the family continues not to accept public funding.
What the monument when look like when it’s finished What the monument looks like today
Devils Tower
That afternoon, we made our way to Devils Tower. Again, we didn’t pay to go in the actual park. Instead, we found a perfect pull off to take pictures and explore.
We ended up traveling 426 miles that day. That night we arrived at Cracker Barrel in Billings, MT just before closing time. We were able to fill our belly’s with some yummy dinner before retiring to their parking lot to rest. The next morning, we were able to get a good hearty breakfast before taking off for another long day.
Day 4
Thursday night’s destination was set for Coeur d’Alene, ID, 504 miles away. The exits on the interstate in western Montana were few and far between so we had to really watch our gas gauge. Overall, it was a fairly easy day. We started getting some beautiful sights of the mountains on Thursday’s trip.
Day 5
Friday morning, we woke up with only about 5 hours to go. After 5 straight days in the car, we were all ready to officially reach our destination and the adventures that awaited us. It, honestly, wasn’t a terrible trip at all! We made it across the country without any mechanical malfunctions, flat tires, accidents, etc. and that’s huge!
Be sure to stay tuned! We are not done adventuring!
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