It’s my final entry in the six-month road trip diary and it is bittersweet.
Bitter because we had prepared for this trip, planned for this trip, and then spent months executing this trip. It’s been our whole lives for the past five months. But sweet because we are all exhausted and it’s time to get home.
We miss our toys, our home-cooked meals, our neighbors, our family and friends; we miss our simple back yard and the luxuries of washing our clothes whenever we want.
Originally, our plan was to head west first, them come home from the east. But I am beyond thankful we rerouted to home through the Midwest because it’s been a gorgeous drive. Everyone tells you the fall is our prettiest season in Minnesota and Wisconsin, but I’m here to testify about the beauty of traveling through the Midwest in the spring.
There are more things to do in the Midwest than I ever realized. From the cutest cupcake shop in Wyoming to the largest playground space my kids have ever experienced, we packed our last couple weeks with quite the Midwest travel itinerary.
Here’s a few highlights from our Midwest adventures:
- The Sugar Mouse Cupcake House in Laramie, WY
- Wyoming State Museum in Cheyenne, WY
- Dinosaur Park in Rapid City, SD
- Clifton E. French Regional Park in Plymouth, MN
- Como Park Zoo and Conservatory in Minneapolis, MN
- Oxbow Park and Zollman Zoo in Olmsted County, MN
I feel like I have a hundred new Midwest vacation ideas I never knew about before. Quite honestly, while venturing around the United States, I began wondering why we live in such a “boring” state like Wisconsin. Yet here we are, driving across Wisconsin to the homeland and I’m more confident than ever that this is where I want to live. Especially after staying in Minneapolis for an entire week, I feel like I could write a lengthy and complete kid-friendly Minneapolis weekend guide. Sometimes you have to leave a place to really learn to love it.
Of course, we also stopped to visit MANY friends and some family. After all, the Midwest is home and home is where most of the people we love live! We saw our college friends, old church friends, Travis’s family, and even a neighbor friend from growing up. Most of them have their own kiddos now, so our children have made about a hundred new friends in the past couple weeks.
Words cannot express how thankful I am for every household that took us in and gave us a home during this road trip. We’re grateful for the meals made, space sacrificed, and much patience it took to host us. We couldn’t have done this trip without everyone else’s support.
I truly love writing, so I plan to keep the blog going even at home. If you have any ideas or suggestions of things I could write about, drop your comments below! Otherwise you’ll likely be spammed with simple ways to save money and more journal entries about the best frugal living tips.
See ya at home!
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