Cross Country with the Hursts: Maine to Washington

 Starting out this summer, I had grandiose dreams of blogging regularly to preserve the memories of this road trip almost directly after they happen. Boy was I dreaming! It's been 7 weeks already since we left Portland, Maine and started out on this adventure. With three little kids, a van, and a summers worth of luggage...we got plenty of crazy looks when we told people our summer plans. But in the end, the trip here was pretty fantastic. All the planning and preparation really paid off, and the kids were total troopers the entire time. And the sights and pit-stops were awesome memories for us; ones I never want to forget!

Riley's goal was to take a picture of every new state sign we passed, and he got pretty darn close! 

We started off in Maine, crossed through New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and New York the first day before landing in Rochester, New York for the night.

 We spent a day in Palmyra, New York visiting the historical sights of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This was one of my favorite places! The Sacred Grove, Hill Cumorah, Smith Farm, and Grandin Press all had a special spirit and my testimony of the restored gospel was strengthen! And of course, the temple was beautiful!

 The next day, we started out early heading to Niagara Falls and checking out the amazing views.

We continued from Niagara for about 9 more hours of driving. The kids tolerated it pretty well, with the help of plenty of bathroom breaks and pit stops! Not the least of which was the beautiful Kirtland Temple. We drove through Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, before landing for the night in Chicago, Illinois.

 

 By the time we arrived in Illinois, it was too dark to get a decent road sign picture , so we had to settle on this blurry mass to remind us of Chicago (or the Illinois toll plazas, rather).

 The next day we took it easy, driving just a few hours to Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. Did you know it's the water park capital of the nation? Neither did I, until my sister gave us the scoop. This place was AWESOME and a total highlight of the trip for the kids and us. The hotel we booked had three pools/waterparks attached and we spent a good 18 hours enjoying every second!

 The next day, we drove through Minnesota and South Dakota to get to the Hepworths in Miller, South Dakota. (that deserves a post all it's own, though). The exciting stop of this day was at the Corn Palace. It was just as it sounds...a palace made of corn!

 

 After spending a glorious few days in the company of my sister and her cute family, we hit the road again. 11 hours from Miller, South Dakota to Bozeman, Montana. The wide open spaces were breath-taking, something I definitely miss on the east coast!

South Dakota has a lot of fun tourist attractions. The famous Wall Drug! What a funny, quirky place! We also saw the badlands, but from a distance and decided we had better see it up close on our return trip!

 The mountain scenery driving into Bozeman at sunset was Riley's favorite part of the trip. I think he shed a tear or two.

At this point, we were only a few states away! The rest of Montana, cut the corner of Wyoming, panhandle of Idaho....

... and we're there! Washington state! Home sweet home!