3,500 miles, Six States, Twelve Days
Iowa Wedding Road Trip
We took a a nearly 2 week road trip to and from Iowa for Kelly’s son’s wedding at the end of May/Beginning of June.
Two adults and three teens in one car for that long …
What could do wrong?
(This post will just have a quick synopsis of each day. More to come later on at least some of the places we stopped.)
Or on Kelly’s Just Over That Next Hill
And we’re off …
Monday May 25th: Trinidad River Walk & Hotel Hot Tub
That first day was a 10 hour drive. But we had a goal or getting to Kelly’s favorite halfway point of Trinidad Colorado, and a Quality Inn that was actually quality. After a quick drive down to the river walk to stretch our legs …
We all enjoyed the hotel hot tub
Tuesday May 26th: Colorado Springs
This was by far the shortest day of driving, at a little under 2 hours, but we planned it that way so that we’d have a break. Since we arrived before check in time for our Airbnb, we visited Helen Hunt Falls, then Garden of the Gods.
After we checked in to the nice basement Airbnb that we booked, we started looking for something else to do. We saw Palmer Park on the map just 10 minutes from the house, so decided to check it out. It turned out to be the highlight of the stop (look for a longer future post about Palmer Park).
Wednesday May 27th: Welcome to Nebraska
This was another 10 hour driving day, much of it on 2-lane road through rural Kansas. I was happy when we finally made it back to the interstate.
After arriving at Kelly’s mom’s house, we decided to stretch our legs at Papillion Creek, where I was rewarded with a nice pastel sunset.
Thursday May 28th: Todd’s 1st Time in Iowa
This was probably the closest thing we had to a “down day”. We drove into Iowa to meet up with some of Kelly’s friends and watch part of a softball game.
I also ended up wandering around the town for a little while. I really loved some of the old houses.
I even got to see one that Kelly used to live in!
Friday May 29th: The Hunting Cabin
One of Kelly’s friends knows a guy who has an empty hunting cabin just outside her hometown in Iowa. He was nice enough to let us stay there (the offer was for as long as we were there, but we only managed one night … this time.
There were acres and acres of land to wander around. The inside of the cabin was pretty impressive too, with a stuffed bear greeting you just as you enter.
As I was walking around, I even discovered a certain plant that apparently grows wild in this area.
Saturday May 30th: Wedding set-up and Rehearsal
Saturday was a long day of wedding set-up, cake decorating, and ceremony rehearsal. But I think everybody had a good time.
Kelly and Becky did a great job decorating the cake (among many other things). She tried to get a few pictures afterwards, but didn’t really like any of them … until she put it in the fridge. Who knew refrigerators produced a natural “soft box” effect?
Sunday May 31st: Seth & Jazmine’s Wedding Day
We may or may not make a post with more pictures from the wedding at later date (to be honest, they may just end up on “friends/family” only Facebook). In any case, the bride and groom are really happy and currently enjoying their honeymoon in Australia and New Zealand.
Monday June 1st: Omaha Zoo & Aquarium
I will almost certainly have a longer posts with more zoo pictures somewhere down the line. It was a very long (and kind of expensive) day. But if you ever have a chance to visit the Henry Doorly Zoo, it’s well worth it.
I wasn’t sure it was a great idea to bring the dslr into the aquarium (even though I had an F2.8 lens). Turns out that I’m glad I had it at least for this shot.
See the longer post here:
Tuesday June 2nd: Missouri River Walk & The Old Market
For our last evening in Omaha we met up with some of Kelly’s friends to walk across the foot bridge over the Missouri River, the check out the shops at the Old World Market.
Wednesday June 3rd: Long Drive through Kansas Back to Trinidad
This was another very long 10+ hour day on the road. The most interesting thing that happened was when we stopped to stretch our legs in a little eastern Colorado plains town called Thatcher.
As we are wont to do, of course a few of us had to explore the apparently abandoned structures. But at one point a guy emerged from a building and warned one of our daughters about the potential dangers of trespassing on private property out there in the middle of nowhere. 🤨
Thursday June 4th: Window Rock Arizona enroute to Flagstaff
This landmark is just a little north of Gallup New Mexico. We had originally planned to continue on to Canyon De Chelly after this stop, but in the end decided that we didn’t want to add 3+ hours to this particular trip. We’ll have to plan another drive up that way soon.
Interestingly, this location is actually the capital of the Navajo Nation.
Flagstaff was just a quick stop. But the location of our Airbnb was great! So close to downtown that the kids could wander around the shops and restaurants for another hour or two after we’d decided to call it a night.
Friday June 5th: Slide Rock State Park
I was amazed that we were able to get a parking space when we rounded the corner on 89A at about 8:40am. It cost us $35 to get in, but I think we made it well worthwhile. Timmy of course had to cliff jump.
And I even suffered the cold water for at least a few minutes to go down the natural rock slides.
We left Slide Rock a little before noon, then drove to Phoenix to pick up the dog, who my son had been nice enough to watch while we were gone.
We got back home a little after 6pm on Friday June 5th.
Every photo tells a story, and stories are better with company. If you enjoyed this post, please pass it along to a fellow explorer. Thank you!
What a terrific trip! Five adults in a car for two weeks and you all came home alive. Impressive!
That would’ve challenged me for sure but your stops made everything look like its own mini vacation.
5:15 is still impressive!