On The Road Again: Racing Time, Heat and Corn

As July draws to a close, we’re into full drive mode as we make significant headway across the Northern Plains. Not only are we on a time crunch to catch our flight to the UK in September but we are racing across the country to catch Metallica in Minneapolis!

This post isn’t the most exciting as we make fly-by stops in some unique places and stock up on multiple weeks worth of food and other items but some memorable moments did come up which are worth noting.

Our first stop was the historic Battle of Bighorn, also known as Custer’s Last Stand. It was an eye-opening experience learning about the armed engagement between the Lakota Sioux, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes and the 7th Cavalry Regiment. We wandered around in the scorching heat, listening to an inspiring ranger bring the battle to life. Tilly, however, had a different battle of her own, throwing tantrums the whole time. And Maggie? She decided to do a big ol’ stinker right in the middle of the talk, adding an unexpected (and smelly) challenge to our history lesson.

Next, we spent a few nights near Theodore Roosevelt National Park, part of the Badlands. While not as awe-inspiring as Glacier or Yellowstone, the park’s connection to the great Theodore Roosevelt was fascinating.

Evening drives through the Dakotas followed, where we discovered some of the straightest roads we’ve ever driven. One memorable stretch was a 36-mile, bone-shaking drive along a dirt, rocky, and washboard road. We prayed our tires would hold, and thankfully, only our inside fan and shoe cabinet took a slight hit.

At Fort Abraham Lincoln, Alice and the girls enjoyed an evening bike ride, cycling around the old cavalry marching grounds while Will explored the historic buildings.

The relentless heat tested our solar setup as we had to run the air conditioning throughout the day and night. We found a great spot at a small town fairground where we could play outside with water to cool down, making the hottest part of the day a bit more bearable for the girls’ bedtime.

As we turned south into South Dakota, we drove through endless cornfields. Fun fact: The size of the UK could fit into all the cornfields in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Iowa, with room to spare! Trust us, we did the maths!

Our final part of this week was exploring Sioux Falls, known for the Falls themselves which were beautiful. We enjoyed walking around the museums and learnt about the local history, a dip in the campsites lake helped burn some of the girls energy but its fairly algae-fied state wasn’t especially nice so we didn’t last to long.

It has been a whirlwind week, but I have to share the unexpected highlight: our dinner at The Pizza Ranch. Having been in the US for a while now, I’ve had a few classic American experiences, but this place was….if you can remember the Pizza Hut buffet, its similar to that mixed with unlimited access to everything…

In the corn-filled state of Iowa, with limited food options and a desire to get out and explore, we indulged. There was pizza, of course, but also mashed potatoes, fried chicken, potato wedges the size of my face, pasta, and a salad bar. And then came the desserts—endless ice cream from the ice cream machine, cookie pizza, apple pie pizza, blueberry pizza, cinnamon pizza… the list goes on. It was truly an unforgettable feast!

With our stomachs three times the size and a busy week behind us, we’re looking forward to a slower week as we drive into Minnesota. Not only will we explore more U.S. history, but we’ll also dive into the origins of the Jaebs and Hagens. What will we discover next? Stay tuned!