MichiGal: bison

Believe it or not, I'm still not done recapping our big Summer 2012 road trip! It won't be long now, but...if you'd like to catch up on past posts about the trip, here are the links:

After leaving Glacier National Park, we were exhausted from our day of breathtaking site-seeing. But we still had to get in at least a couple hours of driving because the clock was ticking. My mom was scheduled to be back to work on a certain day, so we couldn't linger. I purposely decided to take a different route heading east than we had taken while driving west so that we could see some different scenery. On our way back to Michigan, we started out on U.S. 2, which took us through northern Montana, and then transferred to I-94 before entering North Dakota. U.S. 2 was definitely a more rural route, taking us along a four lane highway very close to Canada. It was also flatter going, so not nearly as intense as driving through the mountains with a speed limit of 70! U.S. 2 does go straight to Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and I'd love to go that way next time!

Somewhere along U.S. 2 in Montana

There were lots of places I wanted to stop, and again it was difficult trying to have tunnel vision and driving past interesting museums and sites. The area is a hot bed of dinosaur fossils, and many little museums along U.S. 2 display remains. We didn't stop at any, and after spending the night in a little Montana town, pressed forward with North Dakota on our minds. Once in awhile we pulled over to read road side markers, like the one to the left, to learn a little about the local history. Under this particular sign, someone had so thoughtfully left a memorial in the form of a Crown Royal bottle.

Baker Massacre memorial

Around here, we typically see things like teddy bears and homemade signs at road side memorials. Artificial flowers adorned with ribbons too...but I don't think I've ever seen a Crown Royal bottle.

We also stopped to snap a few pictures of this dilapidated abandoned bridge. It looked pretty dangerous to me, and nothing was blocking it off. But hey, we were in the wild west. I'm not sure if this was in Montana or North Dakota. Actually, the drop wasn't too far down, but still! I wouldn't want to fall in that murky water. Or trip on those rusty iron beams.

Gas station somewhere in North Dakota

Check out this gas station art somewhere in North Dakota. Appropriate, don't you think? Also, there is a baby or small child in the dinosaur's mouth. Sort of disturbing, but still interesting. I love finding sculptures in random public places.

One place I really wanted to visit in North Dakota was the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. However, it just wasn't meant to be this time. But I had read that if we pulled off at exit 32 (off of I-94, eastbound), the exit for the Painted Canyon Visitor Center, that we could get a decent view of the park and maybe even see some wandering bison.

So we had to pass up this ------------------------>

But...we did see this ---
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right outside of our car! And at least 12 more like it, including a few babies. It was getting kind of late by the time we got there, so we didn't get out, but we did roll through and take some pics. Lots of other travelers were poking their heads out of their car windows and snapping photos too.

Where else can you see random, free-roaming bison just hanging out at a rest stop? I love the west! However, I just read some sad news. The Painted Canyon Visitor Center is supposed to re-open for the season on April 1st, but it is closed indefinitely due to budget cuts. This makes me sad, and really happy that we stopped! Hopefully the visitor center will be re-opened again soon.

Now, let's talk about sunflowers. I had no idea that North Dakota is home to field after field full of big, beautiful sunflowers. They are gorgeous. All last summer I wanted to find a field of sunflowers so I could take pictures of my kids in it. And here I was, zooming down I-94 going 75 miles an hour and passing who knows how many fields of sunflowers. There was no place to stop and get close enough. I was so bummed! I got a few shots at a rest stop, but we couldn't get close enough to the field for my liking. Just know, these pictures do not do the flowers justice, at all!

North Dakota sunflowers

Since this was our first time in North Dakota, I wanted to make sure we did at least one touristy thing. Jamestown just happened to be on our route. Jamestown is known as "Buffalo City", probably because it is the home of the world's largest buffalo at Frontier Village. Basically, Frontier Village is a compilation of several historical buildings, such as an old post office and church, that have been donated by local residents. And of course there's the buffalo...which is, by the way, a statue. In case you were hoping to see the world's largest live buffalo. It was fun and kitschy and super duper hot.

Frontier Village Jamestown, North Dakota

Fun at Frontier Village in Jamestown, North Dakota

We didn't have much time in North Dakota, but we had enough time to see and appreciate some of this beautiful state. Bison and sunflowers and Frontier Village: a few more reasons to love a road trip. We wouldn't have seen any of this stuff from an airplane. I'm getting nostalgic for our time on the road!

Next stop: Mall of America.

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We left Michigan early on a Sunday morning, and decided to high tail it through Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and half-way through Iowa the first day, which came out to about 550 miles. I had an entire big, overstuffed accordion file with me, which was full of maps, brochures, and notes for routes and fun things to do along the way. We had a few stops we knew we were definitely making, and then I had plenty of back-up ideas for any time the kids were getting restless and we needed a diversion.

I didn't necessarily plan on our first day of vacation being a long, boring stretch of pretty much nothing but driving, but that is what it ended up being. The weather was clear, there was very little traffic, and the kids weren't complaining, so we decided to run with that and get as far as we could right away. I hadn't made hotel reservations because I didn't know how far we would get, so when we started getting tired we pulled off the highway and found a Baymont in Brooklyn, Iowa.

Allow me to go off on a bit of a tangent for a minute here. This trip was a major learning experience because I had never done anything like it before. I had made two hotel reservations for the first leg of the trip, and we decided to wing it the rest of the time. Sometimes that worked out okay and sometimes it really sucked. The nights we had reservations were much less stressful than the nights when we didn't. If we had been working with an unrestricted schedule, maybe it would have been fine, but we had to be at certain places on certain days, which really put on the pressure. Now I have a better idea of how many miles of driving in a day is reasonable and doable*, so I think when (not IF!) I do this trip again, I will make more hotel reservations.

Which brings me back to....

Brooklyn, Iowa doesn't offer much to the weary traveler. Our dining options were restricted to two mom and pop type restaurants within a couple miles of our hotel. We chose one, hoping for the best, and ate an overpriced, underwhelming meal and then found out payment was cash only. Grrrr. The food was okay and it was clean enough. I suppose that was the best we could hope for. Our hotel wasn't exactly a bargain for the money either. Again, it was okay. Clean enough, friendly staff, and a freezing cold pool I refused to swim in because I'm not a fan of submerging myself in ice water (admittedly, I'm a wimp!). But it was our only option unless we wanted to keep driving further down the highway, which we didn't. So it worked out okay, but could have been better.

Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge in Prairie City, Iowa

Monday we were due for some fun! I had read about the Neal Smith Wildlife Refuge in Prairie City, Iowa and thought it would be an interesting place. I knew which exit and had directions, but there were signs posted, so I thought it would be a safer bet to follow the signs. Which turned out to be stupid. Get directions ahead of time, and stick with that. The signs took us on a circuitous route, miles out of the way. When we finally arrived, we were rewarded with an awesome, clean, air-conditioned, and modern facility, AND we pretty much had the place to ourselves.

Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge in Prairie City, Iowa

The Prairie Learning Center was a kid-friendly museum. I actually think the only other people there were employees and a few people shopping in the gift shop. It is kind of out of the way, although not too far from Des Moines (about 30 miles east on I-80). And, it was FREE. I am a huge fan of free, who isn't? My kids loved it. My mom and I loved it. Never mind that all tourist attractions are more fun when you don't have to share them with any other tourists. We learned about prairie animals and the prairie habitat.

The absolute coolest part was the "underground" tunnels. We got to feel like little animals living underground in dirt tunnels. See that cute little groundhog in the picture? Well, it was a little creepy and Lucy wouldn't get near it. As you can see, Mattie wasn't exactly thrilled to be near it either. But it was a really unique exhibit and we got a kick out of it. Those of us not terrified by it, anyway.

Bison ears from Neal Smith Wildlife Refuge, Prairie City, Iowa

After walking through the museum, we got down to business with our first souvenir shopping of the trip. The gift shop has a nice selection, including several reasonably priced options for kids who are foaming at the mouth to BUY SOMETHING!!! Bethany and Connor picked out adorable bison ears. I then spent the rest of our vacation trying to find these in every gift shop we visited because I realized I should have bought them for my godson too. But no luck. Lucy bought a pink slap bracelet snake, which she played with endlessly for days. Seriously.

Free-roaming bison @ Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge

After shopping, we drove around to find the stars of the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge: the free-roaming bison. The driving paths could be marked a little better, we found them to be a bit confusing. Parts are unpaved roads that require frustratingly slow driving. Just when we were about to give up and find our way back to the highway, we struck bison gold. We couldn't get that close, but we spotted the bison, huddled around a relatively shady spot, trying to find some relief on the 100+ degree day. I took pictures through a fence, but later when we made a turn I realized I could have had some unobstructed shots. However, at that point, I was too focused on trying to turn the van around on a very narrow gravel road. The bison were far enough from the road that we didn't feel endangered at all, but they were free-roaming, and could have very well decided to hang out in the middle of the road. How awesome is that? You won't find free-roaming bison in Michigan, that's for sure.

If you're every driving through Iowa along I-80, I would highly recommend a stop at the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge and Prairie Learning Center in Prairie City, Iowa.

Other places I had noted as possible stops in the vicinity include the Pappajohn Sculpture Park in Des Moines, and the actual covered Bridges of Madison County. While we didn't get a chance to visit these attractions, we were really happy with our choice and are keeping these other options on file for next time.

Outside of the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center

When we left the wildlife refuge, we continued west on I-80 until we were almost in Nebraska, and then went north on I-29 to Sioux City. We pulled off the highway to check out the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center, which I had read about. Unfortunately, it was closed that day. But it was still a nice place to let the kids get out and stretch their legs for a short time before continuing on our way. The outdoor grounds are lovely, and adorned with statuary. There is a playground as well, which we somehow, thankfully, managed to sidestep and avoid (did I mention the 100+ degree temps?), as well as the Sargeant Floyd Welcome Center (which comes in the shape of a big, land-parked ship - also closed when we arrived), restrooms, and picnic tables.

Our final stop Monday night was Sioux Falls, South Dakota. There happened to be some big college sporting event going on, and a big wedding, which meant driving around to several hotels before finding a vacancy. Luckily Sioux Falls is a pretty big city (for South Dakota) and there are tons of hotels. We ended up getting a room at a Super 8, and it was a really nice room, with a good breakfast the next morning. There are also many dining options in Sioux Falls, including familiar chains like Cracker Barrel, where we ended up having dinner.

This was the day our road trip really started feeling like a vacation. We had fun. We saw things we had never seen before. It was a good day.

* I found that for me, personally, 500-600 miles a day of driving is possible but grueling. Especially considering that I was the only one driving. I think 300-400 miles a day makes for a much more enjoyable experience, especially if you want to stop and smell the roses along the way.