Quinn asked if we could go to Mount Rushmore after her kindergarten year. We said that would be so much fun but require planning, so we planned a road trip the following summer.

First Day

Our epic summer road trip started with an eight-hour drive to Billings, Montana. On the way to Billings, we stopped in Clinton, Montana, to eat lunch and stretch our legs. We went to the local school and played on their playground. We then stayed the night in Billings an got up early to head towards Mount Rushmore.

Day 2

On our second day, I was the one driving, and there wasn’t a lot of prominent signage. I missed the exit we were planning to take. But it was perfect because we went right past Crazy Horse Memorial. We stopped and did their bus tour and museum. It was well worth it and indescribable. This memorial is not yet finished, but its story is incredible, and its grandeur takes away words.

After that, we kept going to Keystone, South Dakota. We had some time to kill before going to Mount Rushmore to walk the trail, see the Monument in the daylight, and watch the lighting show. So we did the alpine slides and tubing hill in Keystone. We also went to the Presidential Wax Museum. We finally made it to Mount Rushmore, where we got to walk through the Hall of Flags. I was pleasantly surprised with Mount Rushmore. I had been told by most people that Mount Rushmore was small and underwhelming. It wasn’t. Teddy Rosevelt’s intricacy of his glasses was terrific. The lighting show is underwhelming, but I’m glad we did it. We then drove to Rapid City, South Dakota, to stay the night.

Day 3

On our third day, we woke up early to surprise Quinn with her birthday gift- a trail ride in the Black Hills. She was ecstatic!! I had secretly packed her horse gear, so she was shocked. The trail ride was amazing with our guide, Grace. We got to see the highest point, east of the Rockies. We then went to Bear Country USA to drive through and see bears and other wildlife. But the bears were the best part! We then went back and stopped in Keystone at the Keystone Museum, where they had some of Carrie Ingalls’s belongings and Ma’s China Shepherdess. Thus starting our Little House on the Prairie part of our trip. We returned to our hotel in Rapid City and went to the indoor waterpark connected to it. We also watched a massive lightning storm before we went to bed for the night.

Day 4

The next day came quickly; we got up and headed for Walnut Grove, Minnesota, the farthest east, where we went on our trip. We visited Walnut Grove to go to the Ingalls’ homestead on the banks of Plum Creek. We also went to town and did their self-guided tour of the on-site buildings. Walnut Grove would’ve been a bust, but visiting Plum Creek and then going to the Laura Ingalls Wilder Pageant that night. The pageant was amazing. Locals put on the show, and the sets were fantastic.

Day 5

The next day, we headed to De Smet, South Dakota. We stopped at the Ingalls’ homestead in De Smet, which was a fantastic experience. They had a lot of homesteading activities that Quinn got to take part in. We also visited the De Smet Little House Museum. This was a guided tour, and we got to see the Surveyor’s House, the original schoolhouse that Laura and Carrie attended, and Pa and Ma’s last house they lived in. This was a fantastic day, full of lots of memories.

Read more about our Ingalls Homestead Tour here.

Day 6

On our sixth day, we headed to Cody, Wyoming. This was an eight-hour drive, so when we got to our hotel, we went straight to the outdoor pool, then to the indoor pool and hot tub, and then back to our room to shower and get ready for dinner. We went to Buffalo Bills Hotel and ate dinner in the original bar. The cherry wood bar is so beautiful. That night, we went to the Cody Nite Rodeo. Cody puts on a rodeo every night in the summer season. It was such a fun atmosphere. We saw time records for the summer, broken, and new PRs for up-and-coming rodeo stars.

Day 7

We headed to Old Faithful Inn the next day to get Huckleberry pancakes then toured Yellowstone. We got to wade in the river to see bison, and we even saw a black bear. It was very busy but we stopped in Mammoth Hot Springs and toured that on their boardwalks. The most magnificent thing we noticed was the Lower Falls. Standing right at the brink of the falls was powerful and scary. The hike to the brink is worth it. We also went to the upper viewpoint to see the waterfall’s glory.

Last Day

We headed to West Yellowstone to stay the night and head home the next day. Our drive home was six hours. We were gone for a whole week. It felt like a two-week vacation in the best way! Jordan and I thought this vacation would go down in our family history as one of the most memorable vacations we would have. We all had such a fantastic time. There was so much laughter and a lot of memories made. We are so thankful we got to go on this amazing road trip. We are so grateful.