Cross Country trip: all the rest

I am finally getting around to blogging some things from Austria and realized I never published our last pictures from our 2017 drive across the country. This is just a crazy mix of places we stopped along the way, and some attempts to amuse ourselves on the very long drive! One place we stopped was at Wall Drug in Wall, South Dakota. The kids got to pick out some sweets for the drive and we had dinner at the diner. We also checked out some of the wacky creatures in the courtyard...

 

Next stop was Mt. Rushmore where we took the time to stretch our legs and see the sights. Unfortunately they don't allow dogs here so Greg had to stay back with Scout and walk him around the parking lot. Other than that it was a nice stop-- but it wasn't really much of a detour and we were quickly back on the road. 

 

We did detour just a bit to travel around the great lakes. Instead of the direct route which have taken us south through Ohio and to Virginia, we turned north and traveled up around Lake Michigan. This allowed us to stop for a day and explore the lovely Mackinac Island in Lake Huron. We rented bikes and explored just about everywhere we could. We ate ice cream and stopped in quaint shops and gardens. It was a great day, and well worth the detour and the extra day.

Next stop up was a short cut through Canada, and then back over the boarder at Niagara Falls. We were here on Conor's birthday and took the day off of driving to be tourists and explore the Falls, including a ride on the Maid of the Mist!

Is this the exact moment Conor was growing taller than me? Somehow I didn't realize.

Happy family. 

Even after two weeks in the car together, we were still smiling-- that's got to say something!