I can’t believe it’s September already. It seems like just yesterday when I was in the planning stages for our Midwestern excursion. And here we are, it’s the middle of September and I’m back in Colorado where we started six weeks ago. It was pretty much an out and back trip…. Kind of like mimicking a boomerang one might say.
Let’s do a quick recap of the first part of our trip….. We pulled out of Cherry Creek State Park (Denver) at the end of July and after a quick overnight in a Cabela’s parking lot in Omaha, Nebraska, (forgot to add this stop on the above map – oops) we arrived at Starved Rock State Park. We took in a couple of days exploring this interesting Illinois State Park before driving up to the Paul Wolff 
Campground. I loved the location of this county park. It was an easy 20 minute drive to my dad’s place which allowed us to visit with him often, and if we had wanted to take the train into Chicago, the train station was only 5 minutes away.
From our Elgin location, we moved over to Rockton, Illinois, where we stayed at Al’s sister’s place for a wonderful ten-day visit. After Rockton, our next destination was Baraboo, Wisconsin. I was thrilled with the hiking at Devil’s Lake State Park, but the highlight of this stop was my visit to the International Crane Foundation.
After communing with cranes it was time to commune with friends in Marshfield, Wisconsin, where I was challenged to wear a Packers Jersey.
After my momentary lapse, we moved over to Algoma, Wisconsin, along the shores of Lake Michigan. This is where I discovered Door County and its magnetic personality. Quite frankly, I fell in love with the area and could’ve stayed a month. I can imagine the fall colors around here to be stunning and worth sticking around for.
As much as we considered hanging around Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula for a little leaf peeping, we decided to turn the RV around and head back west to assist our daughter with a project.
So with Plan B in mind…. It was time to say good-bye to the Midwest and mosey in a westerly direction. The morning of August 27th started off foggy as we began our journey west. We put in an eight-hour travel day (360 miles – 574 km) that first day, crossing the entire state of Wisconsin and part of Minnesota.
We stopped frequently and even enjoyed a road side picnic near Necedah, Wisconsin.
By dinner time that first day, we checked into a campsite at Myre-Big Island State Park, near Albert Lea, Minnesota. This is a heavily wooded state park and even though they market the White Fox Campground loop as the prairie loop, it is in no way situated in a prairie.
We originally intended to relax and spend two nights at this state park, but it was raining when we set up. It continued to rain all night and was expected to not let up for another day. So we hit the road early the next morning, wearing rain gear as we broke camp, and drove through the rest of Minnesota in a consistent and steady stream of rain.
A few miles into South Dakota, the rain stopped. We encountered sunny skies with a hint of haze caused by the wildfires in the Pacific Northwest. Just in time for a late lunch, we set up camp in the Cabela’s parking lot in Mitchell, South Dakota.
Cabela’s had a HUGE area for RV’s. The semi-trucks seemed to be parked off in another lot and there was even a separate area for equestrians complete with horse corrals. This turned out to be a great place to overnight, complete with pond.
Next stop; South Dakota’s Badlands and Black Hills
Live Laugh RV 
49 responses to “Our Boomerang Trip – Part I”
Just realized I missed this post — so happy I checked back to find out what’s going on. Sounds like a great reason for you to return so quickly to the West! How wonderful that your son and daughter will be in one place. And Arizona is certainly wonderful in the winter!
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We’re all pretty excited about the new venture for our daughter. Next year, I may never leave the state of Arizona LOL. That doesn’t mean we’ll stay in Phx – with a mere 2 hours away there are cooler mountain elevations. BUT then again, so many places are calling to me…. CO, Utah, ID, OR, WA, WY…. oh dear, that list keeps growing 😉
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That’s a whirlwind of a trip. Whoo whee! But you’ve certainly seen a bunch of cool stuff. Love it!
Nina
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We’re already looking forward to chilling in the desert this winter 🙂
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Good luck with the move Ingrid. Glad you will all be able to be together for the holidays. 🙂
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I’m pretty excited to have both kids in the same spot. Thus, we’ll be hanging around Phx a lot this winter.
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Hope the move is smooth! You are great Mom. What a whirlwind.
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Life is never dull for us. Just when I think things will slow down, something new pops up keeping us on our toes. No complaints 🙂
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Ah yes. Plan B. I think I’m coming to like Plan B better than any other plan.
You’ll just have to return some year for the parts you missed. 🙂
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I think I must agree. Plan B turned out better than we imagined. And to think, we have our daughter to thank. Return trips are sometimes the best 🙂
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Love hearing about your adventures – thanks so much for sharing – Beautiful Captures 🙂 Happy Week – Enjoy!
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Thank you Renee…. all ideas for you to keep in mind when it’s time for you to hit the road 🙂
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Love road tripping 🙂 Will be doing that soon on a long weekend escape – cannot wait!
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The most stunning bunch of pictures I’ve ever seen on a blog 🙂 Esp that bench one. It is impeccable 🙂
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Wow, thank you so much. Thanks for stopping by and the lovely comment.
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I’ve never actually gotten a boomerang to fly back anywhere close to my own direction, so I laughed at that title — my boomerang trip would just be a weird arc. 🙂 So glad you enjoyed Wisconsin, and have seen lots of beautiful sights on this journey. Your Badlands pic definitely reminds me that that’s an area we have yet to visit. We’re hoping to check off the last of the states we haven’t visited by early 2020, so we’ll see it by then at the latest!
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A weird arc can be equally fun 😆 I highly recommend the Badlands and Black Hills and firmly believe the RV allows us to get closer and submerge ourselves into the overall experience. Thus, I don’t think you’ll regret obtaining a small travel trailer. It’s a fun way to explore!
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We are SO looking forward to that! Wish we could buy our little R-pod and get started now! 🙂
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You guys have covered a lot of miles lately. I wish we were in the black hills too, love it there! Have fun!
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I know we’ll return to the Black Hills and Badlands. We loved our time there. We just returned to Denver yesterday for a breather before the trek to the desert commences 🙂
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Reminds me…need to measure our height when hooked up! It’s like those parking garages, I’m always dunking my head like that’s going to help! Happy Autumn….hoping this Fall and Winter we see lots of sunshine!
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I keep telling hubby we should do that. For now, I just go by the height listed on the RV brochure. Probably not the wisest 😆 I too hope the winter is filled with lots of sunshine. Hope you are on the mends!
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What a whirlwind trip! Lots of beautiful sites seen it looks like from your pictures!
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Thanks. It did turn out to be a bit faster of a pace than originally planned, but fun none the less 🙂
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That’s a great title for what we did this summer. Originally we were going to stay east til the end of August at least. I guess the four of us just aren’t meant for the heat and humidity! Where in Arizona is Ashton moving? I guess you’ll be there a little more:)
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Al and I feel so much better breathing the dry mountain air. It feels good to be back in Denver. Ashton is actually moving in with her brother, which shocked us. She has never liked Phx but feels she needs a change and I’m happy to have us all together for the holidays 🙂
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You’ve sure covered a lot of ground. We’re headed toward CO tomorrow and will be in Grand Junction 16-19, and Denver 19-23 – will you be nearby?
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YES…. we’re at Cherry Creek SP until the 27th. I’ll shoot you an email 🙂
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Wow you have covered a lot of ground. I loved having the map included Ingrid. It really gives perspective to your journey!
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I finally figured out the Google map thing. It took me awhile but I was determined. I always find maps helpful and thought it might be enlightening. Glad you enjoyed it.
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Usually Dave does our maps but recently I actually did one myself! I too was feeling very pleased with the accomplishment.
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It took a little fussing, but I think it’ll get easier the more I do 🙂
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This is aptly titled for I myself was surprised when you said you were in Badlands NP almost about the same time we did! Assisting Ashton for another move is certainly a good reason to mossy back to CO.
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I think we were about a week behind you. We loved the past 2 weeks of our travels. Even down through Nebraska. You’ll never guess where Ashton is moving 😉
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Arizona!
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Yep!
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Hmm…would love to hear more when we get to AZ 🙂
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Absolutely and Ashton would love to see you again 🙂
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What an adventure and lovely way to spend the summer (for those who like campers). Very nice.
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For me, it’s the only way I’ll travel. I’ve been privileged over the years to have stayed in some top end hotels and resorts. These days, I prefer the RV.
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I can imagine the allure. Your photos help with that.
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Time flies! Safe travels, Ingrid!
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Yes it does. I can’t believe the summer is over!!!
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Great post but I got hung up on ‘water on three sides’ and couldn’t quite get past that. 🙂
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Yep, we couldn’t beat that location. There was even a rocky beach along the shoreline that was wonderful for strolling.
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Are you planning on staying in Colorado for the Winter, or are you going to head south? That was a nice trip, but to fast to really enjoy for the time and miles traveled. We use to do that when we were both working, but being retired we now take our time.
Mel
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The original plan was to include an extra 2 to 3 weeks, but we shortened the trip to help our daughter move at the end of the month. Then we’ll be heading to Arizona for the winter. No more snow for these guys 😉
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Hi Ingrid,
You certainly covered a lot of real estate!
Have a great week,
Pit
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Thank you Pit. There’s a lot of gorgeous country to see and a lot of miles to cover.
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