Minnesota Road Trip: Day 2 and 3, On Our Way....

A collage of only a few of the many ads we saw for  Wall Drug, South Dakota during our 2nd day on the road.

 Our second day of driving transitioned quickly from the green trees, rolling rivers, and mountains of western Montana, to the drier and flatter grasslands of central Montana, northern Wyoming, and western South Dakota.  We arrived at our reserved campsite at the KOA near Belvidere, South Dakota and were welcomed by a beautiful sunset and a calming breeze.  It was a lovely campground surrounded by a very pretty prairie landscape.  Clear skies through the night were speckled with millions of brilliant stars, and the humid air and serenity were so familiar.  They made me feel so close to home...Minnesota, just a half day's drive westward.  As much as I love the mountains, the peaceful and colorful prairie is also home to me.  It felt good to be over half way to our destination, and so close to so many loved ones.

The kids again found the playground and other ways to amuse themselves as our camp was set up.  Greta got a kick out of finding rocks on the gravel lot.

 The morning of our final day driving to Minnesota, we got ready, packed up camp, and drove 1/4 mile down the road to the eye-catching train diner that we'd passed the night before, claiming to have great breakfast deals.

 Though the "deals" left much to be desired, it was a quaint (though a bit muggy) experience to eat an overpriced, average tasting breakfast inside an actual train car.  We felt a bit bamboozled to have fallen into the roadside bargain trap, but...oh well.  It made us feel a bit like the Griswold family.

 We reached Sioux Falls, South Dakota by lunch time, where we met my parents (Grammy & Papa) at a Culver's for a bite to eat before getting our wiggles out at the Great Plains Zoo, also in Sioux Falls.  The following photos were taken there -- and much fun was had by all, as you can see.

This was Greta's 1st ride on a carousel.

Carousel Collage - great memories!

After the zoo, the boys asked to have their booster seats transferred over to Grammy & Papa's Jeep.  So they got to visit with them from Sioux Falls all the way to Marshall, MN.  We met up again at Hy-Vee where Mom, Greta and I stopped for groceries, and Dad, Gary, and the boys went on to the farm.  They wrapped up the evening by going on an evening ride around the lakes in the Ranger.  The boys were elated to see fireflies or "lightning bugs," which is something we don't see in Idaho.  It was a wonderful relief and great joy to have arrived at Grammy & Papa's farm!