Drive from Chicago, IL to Provo, UT

That's me standing below a waterfall in Yellowstone National Park, one of the places we stopped at on our drive from Chicago, IL to Provo, UT last summer (2011).  When I decided to get an MBA at BYU in Provo, I quit my job a few weeks early so we could enjoy the drive and get settled in Provo before school.  It was an awesome trip, I'm glad we decided to take it slow and have some fun on the way.  Here's a quick breakdown of the things we did:

1. Waterpark in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin
2. Mt Rushmore in Rapid City, South Dakota
3. Reptile Gardens in Rapid City, South Dakota
4. Hiking in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

1. Waterpark in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin

I love waterparks!  Wisconsin Dells, WI is a crazy little town.  For some reason, this tiny town in the midwest, about 3 hours from Chicago, has something like 20 or 30 theme parks/water parks/mini golf places/etc.  The waterpark we went to is supposedly the largest water park in America.  It's a fun town!  They even have huge indoor waterparks for the winter.  We went to Wisconsin Dells 3 or 4 times during the 3 years we lived in Chicago.  Here are a few photos at Mt Olympus Water and Theme Park.

Bentley LOVED playing in the water 

Bentley tuckered out from playing so much

2. Mt Rushmore in Rapid City, South Dakota

I lived in Rapid City, South Dakota as a kid (3-4 yrs old), but I don't remember it, so it was really fun to see Mt Rushmore.  It was well worth the parking fee to walk up and see the monument, as well as hike up closer to the mountain to get a better view.  This is the first time I remember Bentley walking A LOT in one day.  He hiked the stairs up to the monument almost entirely by himself.  We had to move fast to keep up with him.

3. Reptile Gardens in Rapid City, South Dakota 

While in Rapid City, we went to the Reptile Gardens.  We got to see all kinds of cool reptiles (giant turtles, snakes, crocodiles, etc).  They also had a lot of exotic birds.  Bentley absolutely loved all the animals, we had a great time.  The giant turtles were fun because you could touch them, sit on them, or whatever you wanted; the turtles just sat there and didn't move.  I think the highlight, though, was the crocodile show.  As you can see in the picture, this guy walked around a fenced in area full of crocodiles and talked about how they live, what they eat, etc.  He even pulled one out of the water by its tail, jumped on its back, and grabbed its mouth with its hands.  And yes, he clarified, crocodiles will eat humans, but are usually too lazy to put forth the effort.  A few started sneaking up behind him during the show, and he had to move around to different spots during the show.

 This picture is actually a random place we found just outside Rapid City that had groundhogs running all over for you to feed.  Bentley enjoyed trying to catch them.  And yes, he tripped over a groundhog hole.

The giant turtles at the reptile gardens 

Want to know how to catch a crocodile?  First, you grab its tail... 

Then jump on top of it...

Then grab its mouth!  It's that easy 

They also sell cool things in the gift shop, like this parrot hat

4. Hiking in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

My wife is from Cody, Wyoming, which is right outside Yellowstone.  So she's been to Yellowstone many times.  However, she hadn't actually stopped and done many of the hikes.  So we decided to hike around a bit, and found this waterfall!  It was a hike off one of the geyser areas (I can't remember which one).  Since it was off the beaten trail, we were able to hike right up to it, and stand in the water below it.  Also, hot water from geysers were flowing into the river right next to the waterfall, so the river had hot and cold spots. It was awesome.