Yes, we did stop at Wall Drug

Yes, we did stop.  We had our Buffalo burgers, free ice water, and 5 cent coffee.

We also looked around a bit at their shops and displays.  The had some interesting displays about westward trails and such, and a conestoga wagon display. (and a T-Rex, and a singing bear, etc.)

De Smet: Little Town on the Prairie

We made a point to visit De Smet where the Ingals family lived for many years.  We stayed in a nice little RV park up the road, braving steady high winds and looking at bird nests. :)


In De Smet, we visited the Surveyors house where they spent one winter, then drove to their house in town where they lived later, then to their gravesites, then out to their original homestead in the country.

The surveyor's house and town house:

The gravesites, and truck/trailer on the prairie: (Who knew that Pa was a Mason??)

Ellie playing school:

The original homestead:

Bonus picture:  I'll bite your back if you bite mine!!!

Madison Country Bridges

We were staying over near the Madison country bridges, and were told that we "Had" to go see them, so we drove back country gravel roads through nice farms and found a couple. (all of which looked alike)

We had ice-cream along the way and made a night out of it...

Creationist Museum

We spent one day at the AIG Creation Museum in northern Kentucky.
Everyone had a great time.  They had exhibits on biology and live animals, exhibits on paleontology and history, and also a great Planetarium show.

We walked through the "history" section from beginnings to present time, then went through the dinosaur exhibits.

After the walk-through, we visited the animals and were able to pet and feed some of them.
Dad's favorites were the Zorse (Zebra-Horse cross breed) and Camel.  (Everyone loved the camel, he was very friendly)

At the end, we watched the Planetarium show and had a great time seeing how vast the Universe is, and how our sun compares to other stars.
This was the first planetarium show for the children, and they were pretty amazed!

Hershey / Amish Country / Lancaster County

We finally really drove west, and landed in Lancester County.

We spent one afternoon visiting the Hershey company visitors center / simulated tour.

We then spent the next day visiting the Lancaster / Bird in Hand / Intercourse area.
We shopped at the crafts center, sampled bologne and cheese from the area, etc.
The sewing was amazing, the food was excellent, and the people were friendly.
We drove through the country, and saw the horse buggies and horse drawn farm equipment.  however, we were careful not to take any pictures of the people.  I will share one from the "back" which I think is OK.

Plymouth / Plymouth Plantation

We spent one day visiting the Plymouth Plantation, the town of Plymouth, and the Mayflower II.
the Plymouth Plantation was enjoyed by the whole family.  At the Wampanoag village, we checkout out their housing, talked to some native people, and watched one of them do a partial skinning of a deer.  We also watched another native do some burning-out of a canoe.

The Plymouth plantation recreation had people in full-character, and spoke / acted / interacted as if it were the 7th year after the Mayflower landing.
They were raising goats and chickens, repairing fences, cooking food, etc.  Matthew was able to help cut a log and place it.  At the end there were demonstrations of some pottery and woodcarving. 

the Mayflower II was neat to see the living quarters, and wonder how they fit over 100 passengers and 30 crew together with their stores / food / equipment for colonization!  (PS, they landed on Cape Cod FIRST!)

That evening, we ordered steamed lobsters for dinner, and they were fun to eat and tasted pretty good.

Boston, MA

We spent one day in Boston, walking the "Freedom Trail".  It was long, but we saw some neat sights and were walking through history.  (JFK grew up here as a child, so we were able to relate to his childhood bio)

We climbed the Obelisk on Bunker Hill!  200 feet / 20 stories of granite steps:

At the end, we visited "Old Ironsides" then took a water taxi / more walking to get home.

Salem

On our way home from Gloucester, we stoped in Salem for a bit and for dinner.

There was a nice ship in the harbor, but the office was closed.  Also found a nice Russian Orthodox church which has really neat architecture.

Gloucester, MA

Visiting Gloucester has been a goal of Jason's for a few years, ever since he read Captains Courageous and the Sea Wolf.  We had a stormy / rainy day, so he decided that it would be a good time to visit there instead of doing nothing or going on a walking tour.

The rain was torrential, the roads were covered in water, and traffic through Boston was slow. But out on Cape Ann / Gloucester, it was better.  Lots of fog, and it was easy to imagine what the sailors went through as they went out to sea, and many never came back.

Cape Cod, MA

We spent a few days on Cape Cod, and saw a good portion of it.  We experienced sunny and nice, stormy with lightning and thunder, etc.

We saw the Atlantic ocean from a sunny beach:

We also saw horseshoe crabs and unusual shells from the beach near our RV park.

One of the coolest things that they had was a windmill from 1680. (moved and repaired of course)