The McLemore Family Vacation for 2011 has begun. First a little background on how this adventure came about. Last spring, 2010, Ken made the comment that he would like to drive the Going to the Sun road in Glacier National Park for our vacation in 2011. Because we will be traveling by car, many stops were added along the way. Thus, the Grand National Park Tour 2011 was born. According to Google Maps our trip by car will be 2987 miles long not counting all the little side trips. It will take us to:
- Cawker City, KS
- Athol, KS
- The Great Platte River Road Archway Monument in Kearney, NE
- Scottsbluff, NE
- Various stops along the Oregon, Mormon, California combined trailSheridan, WY
- Little Big Horn National Monument for the 125th anniversary of the Battle
- Hardin, MT for a reenactment of the Battle of Little Bighorn
- Laurel, MT
- Glacier National Park via East Glacier, MT
- Yellowstone National Park and West Yellowstone, MT
- Rock Springs,WY (laundry stop) and
- Estes Park, CO and Rocky Mountain National Park
In case you've lost count, that's 13 destinations in all and Ken will drive to all of them. Oh, sorry, I had a "19 Kids and Counting" moment.
The trip began with a bumpy start for me. If you recall my travels to Ireland from last summer, I got a case of motion sickness. Well at least that's the general thought. I still think it was a virus. Anyway, I couldn't sleep the night before we left home this week. I finally dozed off but woke up in the middle of the night with a strange feeling in my tummy. When I stood up, I was dizzy but thought that maybe I was hungry. Made a little bite to eat and that was the wrong thing to do. I will spare the details but lets just say, I made it to the bathroom in time. Then I laid awake praying that I would be well by morning or Ken was going to have to stop a lot the next day. Luckily, I didn't throw up again (thank you Lord). Just before we left I remembered that I had some Kwells left over from Ireland. Kwells is this magic pill that stops nausea in its tracks. I took one and stuck the rest in my purse. The rest of the day was just peachy
Our first stop was Cawker City, KS to see the World's Largest Ball of Twine. Any fan of the movie "Vacation" will recognize the importance of this landmark. The twine is the only claim to fame the town of Cawker City has--I think it's really the only reason to stop in Cawker City unless you live there. All I can say is it's big and it stinks. But. I can now say that I have seen the World's Largest Ball of Twine.
Notice how the twine glows in the sunshine.
A few miles west and a few miles north is Athol, KS and the birthplace of the song originally titled "My Western Home" now more commonly known as "Home on the Range." The site is a part of the Ellen Rust trust and is being administered by the Kansas Heritage Trust. A strategic plan has been launched and it is hoped that restoration and improvements to the site will begin by 2012. To read more about one of the 8 Wonders of Kansas go here: http://www.kansassampler.org/
Our major destination for the day was the Great Platte River Road Archway on I-80 in Kearney, NE. This was one cool place that I highly recommend for children and adults alike. It is a multi-media interactive retelling of the story of the trails along the Great Platte River. When you enter the Archway you are greeted by a costumed reenactor who introduces the exhibit and gives a little history. You are then given a set of radio headphones and ride an escalator up a hill to the beginning of the trail. At the top of the escalator is a video mural of a wagon train and you get the feeling that you are joining a wagon train on it's trek west. Throughout the exhibit there are stories which change as you progress through the Archway. The final room is a display dedicated to the beginnings of the Lincoln Highway now known as I-80 and the early history of travel by car. We spent about an hour at the Archway and thoroughly enjoyed it. (www.archway.org)
It was too early to stop at our original stopping place so I cancelled our reservations in North Platte and proceeded on to Scottsbluff stopping at a cute, clean Super 8 motel. I love Trip Advisor and I wasn't disappointed by this recommendation. Following dinner we returned to our room and crashed for the night. I know there was a thunderstorm sometime in the night as I heard a crack of thunder and then later woke to notice the alarm clock flashing indicating the electricity had gone off at some point. But, being sleep deprived from the night before, I just turned over and went back to sleep.
And so ends Day one of the Grand National Park Tour Day 1.
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