Yellowstone and Mt. Rushmore, June 2025

I thought our road trip would be filled with hours of idle time, lazily wasting the day away and then comfortably continuing our journey onward. Instead, I learned that driving from point A to point B can easily take up the entire day.

For example:

  • Portland to Coeur d’Alene should’ve taken six hours, but we detoured through Walla Walla to get burritos with Andrew and Charlotte.
  • Coeur d’Alene to Yellowstone should’ve taken seven hours, but we stumbled upon a really cool Old Montana State Prison we had to check out.
  • Yellowstone to Billings managed to take the expected three and a half hours.
  • Billings to Mt. Rushmore should’ve taken five and a half hours, but Ava and Charlie were having too much fun in the hotel pool.

Thankfully, we had a few great audio books (Space Case was our favorite) and an endless supply of Extra Watermelon gum.

Ava’s trip highlights:

  1. Mt. Rushmore
  2. Jewel Cave Historic Lantern Tour
  3. Grand Geyser
  4. Presidential Wax Museum in Keystone
  5. Jamaican food in Rapid City, South Dakota

Charlie’s trip highlights:

  1. Hiking to Lone Star Geyser
  2. Mt. Rushmore
  3. Grand Geyser
  4. Jewel Cave
  5. Earning Junior Ranger badges

My trip highlight: countless hours exploring with my kids.

IMG_3579 IMG_3589 IMG_3594 IMG_3653 IMG_3657 IMG_3717 IMG_3733 IMG_3856 IMG_3890 IMG_3913