The whole family got negative tests except Dave (who had the faintest of second lines) and he wasn’t planning on going anyway. So we decided to hit out on the road and make the best of what we had left. My original itinerary called for a 23 day road trip. We now have 12.
I sat at the computer for awhile and cut big things and small.
Glacier National Park? Out
Oldest Cache in Idaho? Out
Hike to highest point in South Dakota? Out
Deadwood? Out
Sioux Falls? Slashed
Geocaching I’m general? Heavily reduced
Lots of little tourist trap or roadside attractions remained as options but we won’t be able to hit them all and stay on track. Most of us remained backs from our false start more than a week ago but we gathered the toiletries and such we’d pulled out to get us by. We loaded up the cooler, stashed the sunscreen & bug spray and stacked it all in the back of Falkor.
We hit the road around 9:30 PM waving goodbye to Dave who now has the place to himself. He is staying behind to work and attend virtual summer courses. I reset the trip odometer on the van intending to heavily increase the mileage we’d put on it so far (just 68 miles since the dealership at that point).
We pointed it North and didn’t stop till the Omaha area. I had targeted a few caches not far off I-29 to get counties and such. I took everyone to a lookout tower we had stopped at 9 year ago when I did this leg with Dave, Alex and Phaedra. Alex and I stood at the top and with our combined ~500 lbs swayed back and forth making the girls nervous rather.
When we stopped for gas and lunch Alexander ordered wings which somehow took nearly a half hour to get them and eat. Among the notable caches was a nano embedded into a rock and the farts of a unicorn. We happened to meet the CO (SoDakZak) while still cleaning glitter off. He seemed very nice and we exchanged stories for a while before he gave some suggestions for food in the evening.
We headed off the the falls from there and discovered a very hot park peppered with muggles. The kids enjoyed playing and exploring them. We really missed Dave at this point since this is one of his favorite places. Alexander got attacked by an angry mama bird who apparently thought he got too close to her nest.
From there we ate at a nice sandwich shops that was suggested to us before retiring to our hotel. The Waterpark was just too inviting for the kids so we shut that place down before the kids decided to break out the electronic and play Roblox. Mom and I went out for a couple of hours of geocaching/Pokémon before calling it a day.
I feel a little stressed but am optimistic we can make the most of the time that remains. Tomorrow we head West!