Top 10 Tacky Tourist Traps

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Devil's Tower

 

First year in review

It has been awhile since I, Sunset the Snake gave one of my reports from the road. So since I do not have as much to do I thought I could report on the first year the Martin family has spent on the road. Yes a snake has put together a video, made the map and compiled the stats! If you do not believe this then you're imagination is seriously lacking and I am afraid you may suffer from serpent prejudice! Sorry about the lack of sound on the video, youtube has been having fits accepting the music, but we are trying to replace the sound with an audio swap but youtube is also having fits with that!

So here is the adventure by the numbers:

• We started in Cambridge, IL and ended the year in Pittsburgh, PA.
• We traveled over 35,000 miles between the RV and the vans.
• We visited 22 states
• Over 100 Walmarts and 1 Target
• We replaced eight tires.
• We visited 17 Zoos/Aquariums.
• We lost a total of 7 teeth.
• We explored 49 National Parks.
• We soaked up the sun on 10 different beaches.
• We ate at over 70 unique eateries and 25 different McDonalds and 95 other national or regional restaurant chains! 
• We saw at least 277 different species of animals.
• We toured 27 workplaces.
• We went to 6 different amusement parks.
• We spent time in two different countries.
• We traversed through 42 state parks.
• We stayed at over 120 campgrounds!
• Celebrated 7 birthdays.
• Expanded our horizons in over 40 museums.
• All in 372 days (this is from 9/23/10 - 10/1/11)

more...

Check out the basic path we took on our trip in the first year!

Boys Town

“Our young people are our greatest wealth.” – Father Flanagan

 

We are sorry, but we have removed this post because it is a part of our new book entitled Napkin Dreams..

Campground Review - Pine Grove RV Park

We stayed three nights at Pine Grove RV Park in Greenwood, Nebraska and had a great time there. This included Tanner's birthday and he said it was the best ever. Of course he says that every year!

Nearby attractions - 8 - In between Lincoln and Omaha.

Staff - 8 - Staff was nice enough. Owner makes sure rules are followed, which was OK with us because it meant no drunks at the pool.

Natural surroundings - 6 - Trees on sites, but close to I80. Some sites had no trees.

Value - 7 - We paid $37 a night for for a pull-through gravel site with full hook-ups.

Bathrooms - 6 - Bathrooms were average, no soap at sinks and water stream in showers was weak.

Roominess - 9 - About as big as we have seen for an RV Park.

Facility fun - 8 - Swimming pool and large playground. Lots of activities on weekend including bounce house, squirt gun fights and Christmas in July party.

Cleanliness - 7 - Decent enough, freshly mowed grass. Bathrooms were worst part,

Facility usefulness - 9 - Dump station, laundromat, small camp store, free wifi, restaurant on site.

Overall - 9 - Lots of fun stuff to do.

Henry Doorly Zoo

You can now read this post and much more in our new book Napkin Dreams! Click here http://www.amazon.com/Napkin-Dreams-ebook/dp/B00AZR24LG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358194928&sr=8-1&keywords=napkin+dreams

Surprise Party

By Patsy

My husband and I have always had a secret passion for throwing fun birthday parties. Our goal is to make ‘em big and make ‘em cheap….um, I mean cost effective. From the first Scooby Doo party way back when my oldest son turned 5 and my husband hid in a bedroom closet in a homemade caveman suit until all the children solved the mystery and captured him. (Who knew 10 five year olds could inflict that much damage on a full grown man?) Through the In diana Jones party where everyone had to excavate the smoking and spewing volcano shaped cake in order to find the treasures (silver dollars) buried deep inside its bowels. And finally, on to our Star Wars adventure where the mission was to save R2D2 (the cake) from carbon freeze (the refrigerator) which culminated in a light saber duel with Darth Vader in which his hand was cut off. We’ve had a lot of fun coming up with these over the years, maybe even more fun than our kids.

However, since we are on the move and living in a RV this past year, we had had to cut back a bit on the elaborate parties for our boys. Lately, birthdays have been celebrated a bit more traditionally with a cake, presents and a loving family in Howard, our RV. The one thing that I have been able to continue has been making a fun cake for each of the boys. But, on this birthday…things weren’t going well at all.

Our son Tanner was turning 12 and I was busy working on his birthday cake. Unfortunately, the weather was making it a little more difficult than normal. The heat and the humidity were causing the cake to crumble more and more each time I added frosting. This wasn’t good since the cake was chocolate and the frosting was white. Not only were there large crumbs of chocolate cake sticking out of the frosting every few inches, but the entire cake was beginning to crack and the frosting was being sucked down into the center resembling a mud slide in the middle of a snowy avalanche. In short, it was ugly.

As I contemplated the mess in front of me and tried to staunch the flow of tears from my eyes, my husband suggested that we just run out to a bakery and pick up a ready-made cake for Tanner. I was heartbroken. Not only were we not going to give him a fun party, but now I couldn’t even made the poor guy a homemade cake. As the night wore on, I got more and more depressed. Finally, as I got ready for bed, an idea came to me. Why not cut the whole cake up into chunks, drizzle frosting over the chunks and then top it with more drizzles of chocolate sauce? It might not be a master piece, but at least it would be something that I made for my son with my own hands. Slightly consoled, I went to sleep wishing that Tanner’s birthday could somehow be a little more exciting for him. I needn’t have worried.

The campground we were staying in was having a Christmas in July party on the same day as Tanner’s birthday. We knew this, and we had planned on attending the pot luck dinner they were holding. What we didn’t know was that the dinner was the least of their plans. They had inflated a bounce house down by the pool area and were rounding kids up to go on a hayride. But this was to be no ordinary hayride. This time the riders on the wagon were to be armed and dangerous.

As we climbed aboard, we were each given a super soaker squirt gun and pointed in the direction of the massive barrel of water that was placed in the middle of the wagon for handy re-loading. My sons were thrilled, my husband was thrilled, and I was going to have to watch my back. Finally, as we all prepared for battle, the loud speakers attached to the wagon started to blare out the music for the Ride of the Valkyries and we began our journey through the campground. Riders were instructed to load their weapons and prepare to defend the wagon. Campers on the ground had already been given strategic vantage points throughout the camp where they could sneak out and pelt the riders with their own water guns, buckets of water and even hoses. It was every man for himself. By the time we were finished we had all screamed and laughed ourselves hoarse and there wasn’t one square inch of ”dry” to be found anywhere.

As we stepped down from the wagon and wandered over to the bounce house and pool, I peeked over at my son Tanner. He was wearing a wide, happy grin on his wet face. My heart sang! I was so afraid that he would be disappointed in his birthday. His cake wasn’t what I had wanted to make, but he thought it was so cool! His party wasn’t going to be anything more than the simple ones we could plan on the road, but he was having the time of his life. He was happy, but more than that. It occurred to me that out of our entire family, Tanner would have been the one to be happy with the simple birthday. He sees more love in a messed up cake than most people see in one that took hours of tedious preparation. This may have just been the campground’s idea of a Christmas in July celebration, but in Tanner’s eyes, this was a wonderful surprise party that he never expected.

Deep in my heart, I know that God set this whole thing up for Tanner. We weren’t even supposed to be in this particular campground on this day, but I think since He knew Tanner didn’t expect much, He wanted to give him a little extra surprise.

Alotta Brownies

We found a wonderful little jewel of a place in Fremont, Nebraska called Alotta Brownies. Of course you can get an incredible number of different flavors of brownies here! Our family opted to try several types including Snickers, Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, and Rocky Road.

They were truly a piece of chocolate heaven and really should properly be eaten with an ice-cold glass of white milk, or in the least some coffee. The owner was there and talked to us and was very nice, giving us some ideas for places to visit in the Omaha area. Besides brownies they also sell cookies, muffins, cupcakes, bars and a bunch of other sweet delights! A totally scrumptious place. Definitely recommend visiting there if you are in the Omaha area.

Lake Minatare Lightouse

When I first read about the Lake Minatare Lightouse, I wondered why in the world a small lake in the middle of Nebraska would need a lighthouse??

Then I found out that is just for looks! Haha!

The Lake Minatare Lighthouse is a historic mock lighthouse located on Lake Minatare near the city of Scottsbluff in Nebraska. The 55-foot tower was built by the Veterans Conservation Corps in 1939 and is currently located within the North Platte National Wildlife Refuge. Designed as a combination shelter house and observation tower, it was "built to simulate a lighthouse." According to a brochure we read, it is one of only seven inland lighthouses in the United States.

It is still pretty cool, and since my wife and I are lighthouse fans (Blake has started to catch the lighthouse fever) we could not pass the chance on seeing this free curiosity of the curious state of Nebraska. We climbed up pretty quickly and at the top we talked about buying an old lighthouse and converting into a home or bed and breakfast! Whose bedroom would be at the top though?

We got a nice shot of Howard from the top through the window bars.

Campground review -Robidoux RV Park

We really enjoyed our time in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. A big part of that was staying at a quiet and quality place like Robidoux RV Park!

Nearby attractions - 7 - Very close to Scottsbluff National Monument and town of Scottsbluff. Less than thirty minutes to Chimney Rock and Lake Minatare.

Staff - 10 - Quality gentleman helped us find the place, get registered and settled in our spot.

Natural surroundings - 9 - Some shaded sites, right in the view os Scotts Bluff.

Value - 8 - We paid $30 a night do two nights for a pull through site with cable.

Bathrooms - 7 - Clean, but no room to change in showers.

Roominess - 8 - Pretty big for an RV Park.

Facility fun - 6 - Large playground.

Cleanliness - 9 - Very nicely kept-up.

Facility usefulness - 7 - Dump station, laundry, free wifi.

Overall - 8 - We felt like this was an affordable and quality establishment!

Chimney Rock and Scottsbluff National Monument

We are so sorry, but this post has been removed because it is a part of our book Napkin Dreams that details our trip around America!

 

 

 

 

Carhenge

We are sorry, but we have removed this post because it is a part of our new book entitled Napkin Dreams.

 

 

   

50 McDonalds - Nebraska

We stopped at the McDonalds in Alliance, Nebraska because it is super close to Carhenge, a must see attraction on our list. This McDonalds had an outdoor playland, and the weather was just right for some fun in the plastic sun! They also have a parking area for RVs, so it made our stop here all the more easier! Little boys loved getting mini-light sabers in their happy meals!

Ride the Hide

By Patsy

This is reprinted from her blog - click on this link to check out more posts by her!

After all the fun and cowboy-esque things we have done in the western parts of the United States, you would think that our family would be starting to get a little bored with our “wild west” type adventures, but you would be wrong. We just don’t seem to be able to get enough of this stuff. My husband is a descendant from Buffalo Bill Cody, and I think that western blood must be coursing through our sons’ veins.

So, when we found ourselves staying in Fort Robinson State Park in Nebraska and found out that they had a small rodeo they preformed every Thursday and Sunday night, we made plans to attend. Now, we knew this probably wouldn’t be the full bronco-busting type of rodeo we had seen earlier in Wyoming. This was a show that was put on primarily by the horse wranglers that worked at the stables in the park. However, our family is just a little bit on the horse-crazy side, so we didn’t really care how much rough riding we were going to see, we just wanted to watch the horses.

The first event of the night was pretty typical of a rodeo. It was team roping of steers. We dutifully cheered for the ropers that either got the rope over the steers’ heads, or came close and we booed for the ones that missed pitifully. But after that event they started doing some things we didn’t expect. They had races where the riders had to unsaddle their horses, run through the arena, re-saddle them and ride them as fast as possible to the other side. Our family was cheering and grinning. When they started to play musical chairs with the horses (no the horses did not have to sit down, the riders had to jump off their horse and land on the chairs) we were leaning forward on the bleachers to get the best view possible. When the riders started fighting over who got to the chairs first and horses were knocking chairs out from under the riders that were trying to jump on the chair, we were laughing out loud and yelling encouragement to the riders.

The more we watched their outrageous races, the more fun we had. Finally, they decided to stage a race they called “Riding the Hide”. In this race a large piece of buffalo hide was tied to a rope and pulled behind a trotting horse. They had some of the children of the workers lie down on the hide and get pulled across the arena. Suddenly, I saw a gleam of desire in some of my youngest sons’ eyes. I kept hearing little voices say things like, “If I could do that, I would yell for the horse to run faster”. As a mother, all I saw was dirt clods being thrown up in the air in front of the hide as it skidded across the arena. (At least I THINK they were dirt clods.) I could only watch and pray that the children being dragged around were keeping their mouths closed.

At the end, a crazily dressed “woman” (who was really a man) came out and begged to be pulled along on the hide. Of course this was all a set up, but nobody cared. The kids had all made the ride without mishap, but we knew we were all about to see someone get creamed. We were thrilled. Our crazy rider of course got pulled along so fast that he/she flipped off the hide and rolled head over heels as the horse raced off into the sunset. The rodeo announcer decided that they needed to call an ambulance, and out raced a horse with a flashing red light on top of its head. Then the cowboys all picked the limp body of the unfortunate rider off the ground and threw him/her over the horse’s saddle. Of course, they overthrew just a bit and a huge amount of falling and hanging upside down later, the horse finally got the “injured” rider back to the stables.

At this point the announcer thanks us all for coming and added that if there were any children in the stands that wanted to take a “ride on the hide” they could come to the gate and the cowboys would give them a ride. The eyes of my three youngest sons turned expectantly to my husband and me. The look was an unmistakable plea for us to understand their basic male needs for dirt, speed and close proximity to a horse. I saw my laundry pile growing bigger and bigger as my husband and I weaken. As I turned to my two older sons, they both shook their heads. It was pretty obvious to me that they would have loved to have ridden that buffalo hide, but they were slightly concerned that they might not look cool as they were being drug across the dirt. They were not quite ready to sacrifice their dignity for the sake of fun, but it was a struggle for them to come to this conclusion.

As we watched our little boys being pulled one by one behind the horse, we shouted encouragement, smiled and snapped pictures. They laughed, cheered and held on for dear life. Only one of them accidently let his toes down and lost a shoe, and only once did the horse break into a brisk canter instead of his slow trot, so I guess we can say that the whole event went off without a hitch. I just wish they had kept their lips tightly closed as the unidentified clods flew in front of them. Oh well, I guess that’s just one more job for Mr. Dental Floss and Mrs. Toothbrush.

Brendan on the hide

Fort Robinson State Park

Our most recent stay was at Fort Robinson State Park near Crawford, Nebraska, our 16th state. We have been really getting into birding lately, and we saw five new species at this park, including the beautiful lazuli bunting, with a bright blue head!

We also celebrated Blake's 14th birthday here and went to the free rodeo on his big day!

Nearby attractions - 5 -There is stuff to do here at the park, but nothing else much within an hour drive.

Staff - 7 - State park friendly.

Natural surroundings - 9 - Very nice, we parked right next to a stream..

Value - 7 - We paid $26 a night for electric only. This included $8 for two stickers for both our vehicles.

Bathrooms - 7 - They were OK, rustic, but typical of state parks.

Roominess - 9 - Nice big pull-through site!

Facility fun - 9 - Playground and trails plus lots of pay activities like hayrides, trailrides, swimming, museums, dramas and much more. Free rodeo on Sunday and Thursday.

Cleanliness - 8 - State park clean.

Facility usefulness - 6 - Dump station, restaurant on site.

Overall - 8 - We liked swimming here. Plenty of room to walk our dog and let the kids play across from our site.