Fun with Reality TV...

HQ for Antique Archeology... aka History Channel's American Pickers

On our adventure back to our home base where I work, we decided to visit Le Clare, IA. It is the home of one of our favorite TV shows, American Pickers. It is just one of the many adventures you can have on the cheap with your family on the road. 

One of the things I remember after starting my career was a comment made by an old friend named Max. Max was the guy who was just an older version of me. He was a geek, but with entrepreneurial spirit. He is the guy who got me into Amway (an old long story) and taught me how to chase dreams and my own unlimited potential if I just tried hard enough.

He had a dream of living in one of those Prevost Coaches and traveling the country. He could then teach his boys about history up in person. When he needed to teach about the Civil War, he would just point the coach in the direction of some of the great battlefields and away he would go. That was a dream. I shared that dream a little on my own terms.

I love to travel and the freedom of the open roads. I think that is why I like being a consultant. You get to visit new places and see many new things instead of being stuck in one place all your life. While, at the time I would never imagine having four kids, I wanted to fly to Europe and travel the country on my own terms without worry about my next paycheck.

Now, we get to do these things. While yes, I do have a job and must work those hours during the week, I definitely have much more mobility to hitch up and see the country. On our way back from South Dakota, we got the opportunity to experience something that we like to watch on TV. For the kids, it was like putting flesh on the bones in their imagination. TV and the people in it could be real. They could see and touch the things that people only talk about.

That is the real dream. To bring experiences and enriching our lives. I would rather have experiences than all the riches. That is something anybody can do.

Hello, Mr. President....

Mt. Rushmore

One of the major attractions and the purpose of our trip to South Dakota was to visit Mt. Rushmore. I have always seen pictures of it in books. I have read about it in reference to the history and its purpose as well as seen it in several movies.

White Mountain Goats at Mt. Rushmore

We wanted to head West. We wanted to go, do and see all there was. We definitely did not want to have a conventional vacation. It always seemed that traditional vacations were more labor than love. You find yourself overly busy, swamped in the details, and while you have memories and pictures, in the end, the holiday becomes so tiresome that you need a vacation from your vacation.

Mt. Rushmore up close

What we wanted was to travel West and see as much as possible but driven by our own ambitions and limitations. Some days we tried to pack it in full of sites and adventures. Others were more low key. I think you need a healthy dose of both to make it fun, keep the kids engaged, and to leave without feeling you have missed anything major.

We visited Mount Rushmore. As you pull up, you are mesmerized by its beauty. It truly is as majestic as you see in the pictures. It amazes me the amount of detail and work that went into building such a monument. It was also interesting to learn about those who built it and it's purpose.

The kids got to soak it in for sure. They got to see it up close, learn, discover, and reflect. It was truly amazing. The parks service was on hand to give guided tours and to teach you about the history. They had a small museum that gave you more background into the history and the building of the monument. Like the Indiana Dunes, they had a Jr. Ranger Program that the kids could be participate in.

In the end, we were blown away.

A visit to Reptile Gardens

Snakes, Gators, Turtles... Oh My!

One of the stops that the kids just had to visit was the Reptile Gardens in Rapid City, SD. It houses the largest collection of venomous snakes in the country, maybe the world. The kids are quite fond of their four pet snakes and thought it would be cool to visit a place that specializes in reptiles.

For me, that close, face to face with things that can kill you.... Ugh!

King Cobra

Needless to say, it made for a fun afternoon. We visited the Reptile Gardens and there was so much to see even in the after season. While crocks and alligators where not on display outside, they did provide great up close views of these wonderful beasts.

Their snake display is quite awesome. I truly have never seen so many different, and yet deadly snakes all in one place. Being only feet away and face to face from the King Cobra was a little unnerving. I truly expected that the snakes would try to strike the class and get me. However, I think that the snakes are rather tame at this point and are used to seeing so many humans in close proximity to them.

Getting Imprisoned at Reptile Gardens

After roaming about, we attended a snake show where one of the handlers brought out a display of snakes for the kids. It was fun to watch the kids get so excited. The handler asked questions about snakes and I was so proud that my kids had the right answer. Do you know the difference between poisonous and venomous? My kids do!

Face to face with a Cotton Mouth...

When the handler brought out the venomous snakes, it was interesting to watch how he tried to interact with the crowd, keep an eye on the snake, and keep it all entertaining. At the end, I did see him start to sweat and it was pretty cool outside. I think the snakes where a little testy, and the crowd filled with kids were asking him a million questions. In the end, no snake handlers were injured in the production of the snake show.

A day of over vacationing...

Wanna' go for a ride?

I never thought it was possible, but maybe....
just maybe....
we did too much in one day.

After visiting Wall Drug in the morning, we had good drive to reach our RV park in Black Hills, SD. This is a small town right outside Rapid City. We had several recommendations for RV parks from our friends on Facebook Groups but we had a hard time getting into some of them. We found a Roadside America campground where our $40 membership allowed us to have a steep daily discount.

The campground boasted a playground, free wireless, and fifty amp service. All these are pluses. The campground wasn't pretty per say, but it did have a laundry and clean shower facilities. Having shower facilities is nice. It keeps humidity down in your camper (a must during the cold months), and with a family of six, keeping a bath schedule can be tough.

our campground

On the downside, the campground didn't have a playground. Not much for the kids to do except roam around and take in the sunshine. The owners said that they did have a playground once, but since it wasn't being used, they just took it down. To me, if you boast a big wooden play set for kids on your website to attract families and then take it down, wouldn't you want to update the website?

It really didn't become a big deal. We were out adventuring and enjoying our vacation. We were only coming back to Arrakis to crash. However, we found in our adventure this week some really cool camp grounds I wish we had chosen over the one we chose. So, our first full day in Rapid City was filled with a visit to Dinosaur Park, The Rapid City Museum, A game of disc golf, seeing the presidents in downtown Rapid City, and a little bit of shopping.

Jen reliving a memory

The dinosaur park, a park that has statues that look almost cartoons is way up in the hills of Rapid City. You can see them from miles away if you know where to look. Jen had visited Rapid City when she was a girl. She had fond memories of getting to climb the dinosaurs with her siblings and it was something she wanted the kids to experience as well. We got there bright and early, and were the first people to climb and explore the park. The kids had a blast, and I got some wonderful pictures to capture the moment.

After the park, we headed to the museum. Museums are great places to visit on vacation. Normally they are inexpensive. Often times if you buy a membership to a museum, they often partner with other museums that allow free access or reduced prices. You also get to learn about the history of the area, attractions that you might want to visit, and the kids get to discover, learn, and experience new things.

Mammoth on display

This museum was a little odd. The front desk person was a little abrupt and the directions and layout of the museum was so convoluted that it took a few minutes for us to figure out just how to get 'in' the museum from the reception area. Once we made a few miss turns, we were 'corrected' and directed to the closed doors which represented the 'entrance' into the museum. Once we were oriented, we got to wonder around and take in the different displays. They had a 'planetarium' which amounted to a video projector and a movie. It was an interesting video, but Tayla taking on the persona of T-Rex decided that it was not for her.

After the museum, we had lunch at some picnic tables near the museum. I was getting a little frustrated with the minions as infighting began. After a quick lunch, I decided on a detour to a disc golf course. This allowed us to expel some pent up energy, and for me to get a quick round to help relax. The park near us was old. Which is hard to find. I believe it was one of the first courses in the country dating back to 1975. It reminded me of playing real golf at the refinery where my dad worked. There were all kinds of man made obstacles such as construction equipment and patios in the way. It did provide some difficulty especially trying to steer clear of Rapid Creek and other tributaries. In the end, we only played five holes because they didn't have public facilities easily located and wouldn't you know it? All of the kids, at the same time, had to use the restroom. I think they got bored and were tired from all the walking.

President Reagan

After moderately good behavior, we decided to head downtown. We took in the 'Art Alley' which is an alley where you can find awesome graffiti and colorful artwork combined. We saw a few of the president statues they have on every corner followed by ice cream. After a little shopping and picking up a t-shirt from a bike shop eloquently named 'Cranky Jeff's', we headed to Stavkirke Church. Afterwards, we were ready to head home and prepare our self for another day of adventure to Sturgis and Deadwood.

Stavkirke Church

A visit to Wall Drug....

I remember from my days in college having to review the business case for Wall Drug. I thought the history and the marketing genius of this family was representative of the entrepreneurial spirit I had. Being able to bring a successful and booming business in the middle of no where was very inspiring.

Move forward to our vacation, Wall Drug was definitely a stop on my 'to do' list. We arrived late in the evening and Wall Drug was closed. They close at 7 PM for those interested in stopping by. No matter, we found a pub across the street and ordered Pizza. The little ones where anxious to let some energy out and Jennifer and I had hit our limit of road travel. We just wanted something to eat and find a place to sleep.

While we waited for our food, we called around for RV Parks. Worst case, we would sleep at a Walmart or Flying J and hit the road after having breakfast at Wall Drug. Who could pass up five cent coffee? We were happy to find a RV park just three blocks from Wall Drug. After dinner, we parked our camper, hooked up, and went right to sleep. Special thanks to Good Sam Club and Roadside America which provided nice discounts for our stay that evening.

Early in the morning, we sprang into gear and headed to Wall Drug. I was amazed at all the original western art work they had everywhere. The breakfast buffet was reasonable and not too expensive. Coffee was still a nickel and they had plenty of free ice cold water. The big draw was the shopping and activities they had available for the family.

We walked through the shops, played games, and bought some fun mementos. I have always wanted a sterling silver turquoise ring and even found one my size. I was very happy with my purchase and the kids walked away with souvenirs and plenty of memories.

Laura Ingalls Wilder Homestead

So our vacation began...

Working a full week and getting off a little early on Thursday afternoon, we packed up the camper, hitched it to my truck, and headed west. After spending over a year without a vacation, I was ready for some adventure. We considered Disney World however knowing how well tempered our youngest was, it was best to wait another year or two before we tackled the talking mouse and his league of comical friends.

Our decision was South Dakota, land of Wild Bill, Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Sturgis, and the badlands. I have always wanted to go and see Rushmore. Even before the movie National Treasure 2 made it's debut. I always enjoyed seeing pictures of it, even more so after a bike trip made by my Dad and his motorcycle riding friends.

So, we were planning our trip and looking for fun things such as the world's largest ball of twine. We discovered that Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of all those 'Little House on the Prairie' books had her home in De Smet, South Dakota. It was a two hour trip off of our normal route, but they offered four RV spots. We called, and they had one opening.

The homestead is about 160 acres. It has passed from the Ingalls, to farmers, to families who wanted to give back to the world, a picture of what homesteading was like for families in the late 1800's. It truly is a living museum and very family friendly. Learning is hands on. The kids learned about living in the rugged prairie, and what it took to scratch out a living.

They got to see replicas of what the homes looked like at different periods of the homesteading process. From creating a dug out home, cold room, and about making do with what was available. One thing that impressed me was the ingenuity of 'Pa' when they experienced a rather cold winter while wood was scarce for heating. 'Pa' took the prairie grass and twisted it in such a fashion to make burnable logs to keep the family warm.

My minions had a blast. From reliving events from the 'Little House on the Prairie' books, while learning about one of their favorite authors. There were horse rides, tours, and a general openness to explore the area which included a church, an old school room, barns, two homes, and a workshop.

In the workshop, the kids learned to make rope, husk corn, and grind wheat. It is amazing to see the ingenuity that went into the early tools and machines they used that made their lives simpler. You often take for granted how easy it is for us to buy these things at our local stores oblivious to the effort it may have taken to produce it.

The only down side of the experience was the RV was a primitive hookup. We had water which was enough. Everything else we ran on battery. What we didn't expect was the weather. It gets pretty cold in East South Dakota in late September. It was cold enough to freeze our water lines. I was worried that we might have busted a water line in the camper after waking up to use the facilities only to find that no water was running. After careful inspection, I found that we were safe and only the water line itself had frozen up. Running the furnace in the camper overnight provided enough warmth for us, and the pipes underneath.

So, we had breakfast, explored the grounds all morning and headed out around noon to visit our next stop... Mitchell's corn palace.

Stay tuned for more...

Back from Vacation from South Dakota

Mitchell Corn Palace

Well, we are back from vacation to South Dakota. What an adventure. Sure it was a long drive and a first for me pulling a trailer for any distance over three hundred miles. While I will surely post more details into our adventures we shared, I will highlight a few...

Mitchell Corn Palace

Mt. Rushmore

'Loser' Buffalo

Crazy Horse

Chipmunks eating out of our hands

Antique Archeology

Chasing dreams

Are you on the road?

I read a great book this week called 'The Pilgrimage' by Paul Coelho ...

This is one book that has challenged me and inspired me. It made me realize some of the things that have led me and my family to hit the road in our little home on wheels. As you can read about many families who have decided to change their lives and hit the road, there is one overwhelming common denominator, we want to live a life more fulfilled.

That isn't to say, you cannot have a fulfilled life living, and working as 'normal' people do. Often you will read about families who have lived on the road, and then came to a conclusion that it was time to leave the road and live more conventionally. For reasons all their own, they decided that it was best for them to stop the nomad lifestyle. They experienced what they needed from life on the road, and now they can return to normality with a sense of accomplishment. I applaud those who have achieved this and feel that they have found what they are looking for, and settle down to a normal paced life so that they can apply the experiences and knowledge they gained on the road.

finding a geocache

The experiences achieved is like our own pilgrimage. We 'knew' that the conventional life had changed us somewhat. The idea of the open road, living on less, and experiencing more became a rallying point for our ideals of 'freedom.' This can be deceptive too.

The ideals of freedom are just that, an ideal situation. Little do they realize that cramped spaces, inconveniences of living on the road, can and will set you back. My brand new camper was all shiny when I picked it up in July. It didn't take too long before perfection revealed its flaws. So you really have two responses when such things happens. One is to learn and adapt, and use it as part of the experience. The other is to let it get you down, frustrate you, and diffuse your dreams of an ideal perfect experience on the road.

We really dig home schooling

Learning to adapt to change is part of the process. Like in the book, the author had an intellectual ideal of his purpose of the pilgrimage. He had a purpose which was to find his sword, a symbol of mastery in his walk in life. Little did he know of the pains, the suffering, and the battles that awaited him. What was intellectual became experiential. What was an ideal, became a hindrance, yet molded him to achieve mastery in a way he never imagined. We too, who chose a life much different will face many challenges. It will question our very choices to live on the road. How we respond and answer these challenges will mold us and change us, for our own benefit if we allow it.

For my family, we have had things broken. We experienced inconveniences to normal things we thought were a necessity. We had to be creative and adjust our well thought out plans. In the end, we have grown in this short time. By no means have we mastered this life on the road, however we have grown stronger as a family. We have had experiences that will last a lifetime. We put wheels and feet to our dreams in hopes to experience more. Ultimately these experiences will teach us that our dreams are possible, tangible, and we are worthy to pursue them.

Come along for the ride...

I truly thing that is why people do what we do, to experience something extraordinary such as climb mountains. We want a life more fulfilled. We just needed to get out of our normal day to day life in order to define it. Why we go on the road is less important than what the road leads us to discover. The challenges, the experiences, and what we learn form us, change us, and teach us what is truly our own prize.

The other response is to let it agitate us, conflict us, and defeat us. There are some who have chose to leave the road due to hardships. They leave the road because the idea of freedom felt overwhelming, unattainable. That is part of the human condition, simply to allow life to get us down. To allow others or situations to define us. Little by little, we give up our dreams and 'settle.' Of course, we all have the freedom to make our own choices, to determine our own happiness and far be it from me to condemn those who 'settle' down and find contentment. I only challenge those who give up, to find another dream, another purpose, because it was what led them to the road in the first place.

A road less traveled...

So, we continue on the road a few more months before the harshness of winter sets in. We will winter at home for a time to connect with family and friends, and for the practicality of it. However, it will not keep the road from our hearts and inspire us to dream.

Hoosier Outdoor Experience and Disc Golf

Enjoying a day at the park with a picnic and disc golf

This weekend was chock full of minion goodness and experiences. First and foremost, we had a great time at the Hoosier Outdoor Experience. It is something that the Indiana Department of Natural Resources puts on every year to get Hoosiers out and interested in our public lands and resources readily available to us. For me, it was a way to introduce my kids to many different outdoor activities and see which ones they gravitate to. Little did we know that we would be picking up a new sport/hobby along the way!

One of the most important things to note about the Hoosier Outdoor Experience is that it is absolutely free. You don't pay for parking, nothing inside the park other than concessions cost you a single dime. Everything is either donated or sponsored and brought into the park for you to experience. That is a huge plus for us. As you can tell with a family of four kids, it can be expensive to do ANYTHING. Just a night out for dinner and you are dropping some cash. I cannot remember the last time I was able to walk out of McDonalds for less than twenty bucks!

Getting Ready To Play Disc Golf

So, we arrived and were bused into Fort Harrison State Park. For those of you who haven't visited this park, I highly recommend it. It is beautiful and the playgrounds for the kids are absolutely awesome. That said, we got off the bus and followed the map to our first stop... the bathroom. Yes, that is four kids for you. 

Afterwards, we went to our first booth and found out some interesting fun facts about disc golf. They had setup a course for us to play and gave us the basics. It amounted to about a minute of lessons and basically picking up our discs and go out and have fun. I am glad they didn't get all 'technical' on us and just left us to go and have fun. I found out later that they had over 1047 people play their disc golf course over the weekend. With over twenty thousand people visiting over two days, I think that is quite an accomplishment. 

Being instructed in Geo Caching

Next we spent some time learning about Geo Caching. I have done this before with the kids, but since we no longer had our handheld GPS and other things, we stopped doing it after our first adventure as a family. So, this was a good time to try it again to see if there was any interest. For us, it was fifty-fifty. It seemed that Jayelle and JJ were interested while Evie and Tayla wanted to play in the monster playground they had. Jen and I split up and went our separate ways. I was quite happy with the demonstration. The Geo Cache guys were very helpful and provided us with easy 'cheap' ways to get started geo caching without having to spend an enormous amount of money on a GPS. Good thing about iPhones is that they allow for a pretty good novice/newbie GPS absolutely free.

Riding the Trolley

Because Ft. Harrison is a large park, they provided tractor pulled trolleys to take you to different locations in the park. It provided an easy way to see everything the park had to offer without getting worn out. Sure it sounds lazy, but a trolley ride is quite fun and for little ones with little legs, they just cannot walk forever before having a melt down.  Thus our rides to different areas were a time for everyone to take a break and have fun going on the ride.

The minions make a new friend at Critter Chat

There were all sorts of things to see at the park including animals. The minions got to see several different types of snakes, a tortoise, and other creatures during the Critter Chat demonstration. It was fun to see that our kids knew the difference between poisonous and venomous animals. They were also able to answer many of the questions posed by the demonstrator about snakes. Small win for home school, check! Other things that the kids learned was about the different fish we have in our areas, and how the DNR collects fish using some old school techniques combined with new technology to effectively capture and record species.

Kids also learned how to trap! Trapping is something that I taught myself to do the year after my dad passed. It was a way for me to do something new in the outdoors that I hadn't ever tried. Well, at the Hoosier Outdoor Expo, they had great demonstrations on the different traps and even taught kids how to set them. It was a good demonstration about the humane way trapping has evolved and how easy it is to get started.

Tayla Takes Aim

Gruesome Twosome learning to shoot

Of course, I cannot forget to mention archery. That was the one thing the girls wanted to try. I was even a little excited about it myself. Due to everyone in the family reading the Hunger Games, they wanted to see if they had the mad skills of Katnis and fling arrows. Everyone got to try, even little Tayla! I was very impressed with the volunteers and instructors who safely and efficiently taught people the proper and safe way to practice archery. Each of the kids did great and were able to hit the target!

Playing a round of Disc Golf

We finished the weekend out with an afternoon of disc golf at the local park. We had a nice picnic lunch and bought our discs from a local vendor. We learned about the Hamilton Disc Golf Union and the many parks where there are free courses you can play. After buying discs for everyone, we headed off for our lunch at a very pretty park and a great beginner course.

We found the course challenging and fun. We played a non traditional game of disc golf to keep the action moving and preventing long waits between throws. Basically, it was whoever had the best throw, everyone would play their next shot from that location. That was an easy way for the kids to stay involved and not become too frustrated while teaching them the basics of throwing and the mechanics involved. After our first round, the kids wanted to play on the playground which allowed Jennifer and I time to play a round for ourselves.

After a day in the sun, we headed to my brother's house for dinner. He made vegetable soup, hot dogs, mac n' cheese, and it was enjoyed by all. We finished the evening with sitting by the fire in the back yard. We burned marsh mellows to a crisp and have fun just kicking back and relaxing. My brother's wife introduced me to Paulo Coelho, by letting me read one of her books while the kids ran and played in the yard.