The Drive

We planned for a three-day road trip.  We didn't want to drive straight-through.  That many hours in the car without a break would have been more like torture than a well-deserved vacation. So, we planned for two nights at a hotel.  Ken took his iPad and used the Priceline app to book our rooms as the sun started to dip into the west.

Not the Days Inn

Most of the time the app served us well.  We ended up in nice, clean hotels with breakfast bars.  There was really only one time the app failed us and that was when it directed us to a dreadful Days Inn.  The room was well worn and the breakfast bar unpalatable.  We actually ended up throwing out the plates we had made and did a quick Google search for the nearest Starbucks.    

Not much exciting happened on our first day on the road, but as we left behind the familiar Midwest we found ourselves spotting more and more historical landmarks turned tourist traps.  Wall Drugs was by far one of the best advertised.  They had billboards placed regularly along the expressway for what seemed like hundreds of miles. Apparently, they're the world's largest drug store.

At first, we had no intention of stopping.  We just didn't see the appeal.  As the miles passed and we got more and more restless, we decided it would be a lark to stop and visit this oddity.

It wasn't all that odd.  In fact, it was really nothing more than a collection of souvenir shops.  The perfect pit stop on a long road trip.  We got out, stretched our legs, and did a little shopping.  We even found a shop with $5.00 t-shirts.

We also stuck around long enough to watch the automated T-Rex frighten the little ones.  Gage even agreed to do some silly posing for my camera.  The things that boy will do to make his mama smile.

The next stop on our trip was Cody, Wyoming.  We needed to stop and buy groceries for the cabin we had rented.  I was shocked at the high prices I found.  I thought Walmart, of all places, would be the most reasonable and comparable to home.  I was wrong.  Apparently the cost of living is much higher in Wyoming than it is here at home.  Not that it mattered.  We had to buy groceries there because Cody was the nearest big city.  Buying any closer to the cabin meant less variety and even higher prices.

The next stop on the map...our cabin.