Week 6 ~ Iowa and Beyond

The first half of this week was full of travel for us as we crossed Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois , Iowa and into South Dakota by the week's end!  We left Kentucky early Monday morning and spent the day on the road, stopping late in the evening at a rest area for the night and hitting the road again the next morning.  Thankfully, our long days were broken up with little stops such as this one at an overlook tower. The stops made the traveling a lot more enjoyable as we were able to explore the area we were going through a bit. 

We had a lot of movie-watching and iPad playing going on.  The two older boys were recently given permission to purchase iPads to use on the trip.  Of course,  Kaden and Bethany are mesmerized by them. We are currently in the throws of trying to find a balance between the older boys iPad usage as well as the younger two's obsession with them. After this week I've become a firm believer in no childhood electronic use, haha

Alright Trinity readers, who knows who this picture goes to? :)

Another huge event during our travels was Bethany losing her first tooth!  She's had an exciting growing up week.  As she puts it she "lost her first tooth, can ride her bike without training wheels, and can swim underwater!"

Mid-Tuesday we took an overnight travel break at a KOA campground.  The afternoon, evening and following morning we explored the campground, swam in the pool, tackled some laundry and prepared to leave again mid-Wednesday.

David and I took our cameras out Tuesday evening to capture the beauty of the vast farmland.  In the previous post, I mentioned my surprise at the fact that where we were in Kentucky didn't seem to have endless fields I had expected.  Well, Iowa certainly made up for that. We drove through Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois into Iowa, seeing plenty of farmland.
(All of the following photo credits below belong to David)

Wednesday afternoon we packed up and hit the road again, making one last stop in an old ghost town (post to follow). By mid-afternoon we were oh-so-close and caught our first glimpse of the intense wonders of Badlands National Park. Oh Badlands, words simply cannot describe you and photos fail to do you the justice you demand. 

Even so, I shall try.  

Stay tuned - a post on the Badlands up soon.