Everyone loves a vacation. It's a time for fun and adventure! This June we traveled through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Colorado. 4,600 miles of driving the highways and byways of America, visiting friends and family and taking in all the sights.
This is my home town, Davenport, Iowa where we have family and lots of friends. We spent a week there with the highlight being my grand-
daughter's graduation party.
LeClaire, Iowa is a short distance up the Mississippi and we always stop by and visit the site of "American Pickers." They have two vans now and this is the older one parked at the site. We traveled one day with friends to the Amana Colonies and had a delightful lunch at the famous "Ox Yoke Inn."
After a week in our home community we traveled to Milwaukee for my grandson's graduation party. Great time at both events!
We then traveled West on I-90 through Wisconsin, Minnesota, and South Dakota. The drive across SD was beautiful and we visited the Corn Palace, the famous Wall Drug, Badlands, Mt. Rushmore, and Crazy Horse. We spent all afternoon driving through the Badlands and it was a great experience. You can see those photos
here. Besides family and friends, Mt. Rushmore was the highlight of the trip! It's a sight that every American should enjoy.
South Dakota showed us a great time, and then we were off to visit friends in Ft. Collins, Colorado. It was a relaxing time riding the new "Max" bus to downtown. Visited the farmers market, and had a lunch at the "Welsh Rabbit Cheese Shop" that I'm still raving about!
We spent one afternoon touring the devastation caused by a 100 year flood that happened last September. The ride on Rt 34 through the canyon to Estes Park was very sad to witness, even though a tremendous amount of repair has been accomplished.
Thanks to our hosts in all three cities!
After three weeks it was time to head home and we always love seeing this sign and clear skies at the New Mexico-Arizona border.
All photos were taken with my Samsung Galaxy S4, and you can click on the photos for a larger view.
