The Trip Out - Day 1

We started late in the evening, after Big Sprout returned from her first ever visit to Valleyfair. A wonderful gal at work loaned us her portable DVD player, so we set the Sprouts up with Avatar and headed out of town.

I tried to nap in the car while Mr. Barefoot drove, but with the excitement/nervousness of leaving home and the lack of possible comfortable positions in the car, I was still wide awake when we reached the North Dakota border and it was time for me to take over behind the wheel.

I drove as long as I could, making it until sometime around 3:30am. I finally pulled into a rest area off the highway, snuggled into my seat, and was asleep within seconds.

When we woke around 6:30am, this was the view that greeted us.

Without realising it, I had pulled into the scenic overlook at Theodore Roosevelt National Park!

We all got out of the car to stretch our legs, and I took pictures. It was cold and raining, and after being in the car nearly 12 hours, I don't think any of us were at our best, but it was really cool to see one of the great natural beauties of North America.



We continued to walk around the rest area when Mr. Barefoot noticed something moving over by the covered picnic area. Lo and behold! There was an American Buffalo grazing right up by the tables!

Even cooler, there was another Bison on the other side of the driveway heading out of the rest area. We were able to get a couple of really good shots without making them mad as we drove past.

Soon we crossed into Montana, Mr. Barefoot took over driving, and we continued our journey across the country.

After a few hours, the Sprouts were getting restless. We stopped in a little do-nothing town and found a park for them to play in. They ran off some energy for about half an hour before we got back in the car on our way to Billings, MT.

We got to Billings around noon. We couldn't check into the hotel room until 2pm, so we decided to find a park and have a picnic while we waited. The Sprouts were very happy to have a place to stretch their muscles! Little Sprout may not look it, but she was having a blast.

After lunch and a break from the road, we checked into the hotel. I think we were all asleep by 7:30pm, and woke around 7am. Refreshed from a night spent in a real bed, we helped ourselves to the continental breakfast and packed up the truck, ready for a day spent in Yellowstone National Park.

Stay tuned for Day 2!!