Day 6 of 18 (Iowa to Wisconsin)

From:Cedar Falls, IA

To: Green Bay, WI

Miles Driven: 414 Today / 2863 Total

Miles Hiked: 2 Today / 4.5 Total 

Alright, hear me out. I really do like our hikes. We try to keep them at 3 miles or less a day. However, hiking when you feel like poo is NOT fun.  If I took naps on the drive I find that I have a window of about an hour or two where I feel semi-normal.  So I napped. We went to Effigy Mounds National Monument for a gorgeous hike. Like really pretty guys, but about half way my body let me know it was done. This was our first hike of this trip that involved some pretty big elevation change right at the front of the hike too. Sally was not having it either.

SO Sally, Eli (just because he was "bored"), and I headed back down early. Justin and the other girls continued their hike and got some awesome pictures.

After our hike we headed to Milwaukee to eat at the Lakefront Brewery. Their garlic ranch is amazing. We crossed the grand ol' Mississippi river which I didn't realize was the Mississippi at first. I smart. 

Then to Green Bay to sleep. Oh dear pillow, we will be best friends tonight. I'm really hoping to shake whatever is going on so I can fully participate in this trip. Ugh.

Day 5 of 18 (Missouri to Iowa)

From: Kansas City, MO

To: Cedar Falls, IA

Miles Driven: 386 Today / 2449 Total

Miles Hiked: .5 Today / 2.5 Total 

We got off to a late start this morning since I accidentally messed up my alarm. I also woke up feeling poopy with thick green/yellow snot (awesome).  BUT we headed on our way to Elk Horn, Iowa.

Elk Horn is one of those places that you find on the internet that makes it seem like a lot more than it is.  It was very "small town" which isn't bad at all. However, things that were supposed to be open (so we could eat lunch) were closed which made for some rumbly bellies.

We were able to see the Windmill, Viking Cabin, and tour the Dutch Museum. Justin likes museum/history type thing about 500 million times more than I do so he probably enjoyed it more than I. And since I was quickly fading and feeling awful at this point that probably didn't help. There was a pretty "trail" through the town and meadows nearby, but I couldn't make it so we turned back about half way through.

Since we missed "lunch" we decided for an early dinner and headed to some random mall in Des Moines to get "Maid-Rite" for a "loose meat sandwich". Like a sloppy joe without the sauce. Many much websites that list the "famous food of Iowa" suggested it. It was fine. Elijah was sad it was sauce-less though.

I will say there were some beautiful areas on the drive. I also slept most of the drive trying to shake whatever it is that is creeping its way into my being.

I am also sad we missed our only "Iowa" friends by a few weeks since they just moved back to California.

Until tomorrow my friends!

Day 4 of 18 (Oklahoma to Missouri)

From: Oklahoma City, OK

To: Kansas City, MO

Miles Driven: 470 Today / 2063 Total

Miles Hiked: 0 Today / 2 Total (not really, but it wasn't officially a hike so who knows)

OK Oklahoma, you're not too shabby. I'm sort of sad we only had 2 days to explore.

Today we went to Salt Plains State Park. We started with a dip in the cool lake water. Well, not really a dip since we walked for like 5 years and it never got deeper than out mid thighs.  And that isn't really a fair "depth" since we were calf high in thick clay/muck/probably 10 years of built up fish poo. 

Don't let the probably fish poo deter you. Just keep telling yourself it is a free clay mask for your body and you'll be fine. 

Sally was NOT about that muck life and instead spent the time in a tree trying to tame cicadas. The other Davis kids decided to take that free clay mask seriously and cover themselves from the neck down and thick red/black muck...um... I mean clay.

A few miles away was the crystal dig site. We didn't start off great, but once we got the hang of it we found tons! However, we were all elbow deep in mud so no pictures ::cry:: It was cool, well it was sweltering hot, but spiffy. You should do it, bring a hat.

Then we drove through Kansas (that doesn't count as visited state) and ended up in Kansas City, Missouri (which also won't count since we are only sleeping here before we head to Iowa.

The kids all had a mandatory swim session to help get the grossness of the lake obliterated in the chlorine.  Not too shabby.

Day 3 of 18 (Texas to Oklahoma)

From: Canyon, TX

To: Oklahoma City, OK

Miles Driven: 417 Today / 1593 Total

Miles Hiked: 2 Today / 2 Total

YAY! A new state!  Our first stop in Oklahoma was Chickasaw National Recreation Area. Well, technically it was some random gas station in a town that looked like it was from a zombie video game, but we won't count that.

Chickasaw was much better than the zombie video game town. We went on a 2 mile hike to see Antelope and Buffalo Springs.  Both pretty, but Buffalo was particularly awesome because you could see the water bubbling up from the ground at the "start" of the river.  Almost the entire hike was shaded (humid, but shaded) so it wasn't bad at all.

BUT there was an extra half mile loop that I thought, "it's only half a mile, let's do it!"

I walked through like 8 spider webs. I don't care if it was gorgeous and green. Spider webs are awful. 

On our way back down Justin stopped a ranger to ask about this random bridge we saw over the river that looked covered in grass/bushes. He found it was a road forever ago that they closed off so it was all overgrown.  Most people hear that and think, "it's closed off, I should just admire from afar". Justin and Taylor thought, "let's hike through that overgrown path of possibly poison ivy and find the bridge".

It wasn't poison ivy. I exaggerate. Everyone is fine. Only Justin and Taylor went. The rest of us totally ditched them and continued our hike. Keep your judgement to yourself.

We ended the hike at "Little Niagara" to go swimming, but everyone was being lame and didn't want to swim. Eli and I dipped our toes in (it was freezing), but it was beautiful and also very crowded.

Next we headed to Oklahoma City to see the Oklahoma City Monument. Outside was pretty! BUT the museum was totally closing so we didn't get to go in.  We wondered outside for a bit then headed to Tuckers to get Oklahoma Fried Onion Burgers. They were pretty delicious, more places should have them. Texas should replace Whataburger with Tuckers, everyone would be better off.

Seeeee, we are doing things again. Yay us!

Day 2 of 18 (Arizona to Texas)

From: Williams, AZ

To: Canyon, TX

Miles Driven: 668 Today / 1176 Total

Miles Hiked: I promise we aren't lazy / 0 Total

Today was our last LONG day, 9 hours of driving (by 11 hours due to time change) resulted in arriving in Texas later than desired. Planned, but not desired.

We stopped in downtown Albuquerque for lunch. I actually wish we had time to walk around, but we were on a tight schedule if we wanted to get to our dinner destination before they closed.

So our first 'real' stop was Cadillac Ranch.  We were unimpressed. Poor ranch. Maybe if it had been the first 'cars sticking out of the ground' place we'd seen we would have thought it was cooler, BUT we've been to Carhenge in Nebraska and it was significantly cooler in every way.  So if you want to see cars sticking out of the ground, go to Nebraska.

A few miles down the road was our dinner destination.  We arrived at the Big Texan just after 8PM Texas time. 8PM and 2 hour quoted wait time means we just bought some fudge and are currently eating sandwiches and ramen in our hotel room. If you recall (I know you don't), we ate at the Big Texan last year on our trip so although some good steak sounded nice, it was not 2 hour long wait nice.

On a side note, we had to hit a grocery store and it was right by Texas A&M. The campus does look like it is pretty.

I know, boring blog. I'm sorry friends. Enjoy some pictures and a video of my kids being ridiculous.  AND a picture of Carhenge, the far superior "car sticking out of ground" destination.

And for your viewing entertainment... Carhenge