We're driving to Ohio for the weekend for a family reunion. From Des Moines, our destination in Ohio is about an 11 hour drive. My parents and brother's family started out going westward into Illinois but then cut down southward. We went a different route. We decided to start the drive on Thursday and stop in the Chicago area to see my aunt and uncle (on the other side of the family, so they aren't attending the reunion). We met them for pizza at Palermo's on 95th. I love seeing them. We grew up very close with them, as their two kids are roughly the same age as my siblings and me. After dinner, I took the family to Haunted Trails. Haunted Trails is where we went for mini golf when I was a kid. Our ... read more

We spent two nights at the historic Lake Hamilton cabins. The owners are so friendly and welcoming. Skip gave us a tour of our cabin and gave us information on the national park and some local attractions. They checked in on us during our stay to see if there was anything else we needed. It's really been a great stay. The property was owned by Skip's parents. Our cabin was built in 1948, I believe he said. There were four guest cabins built before ours. Ours is the only one with a cement slab, he said. It's two stories with the bedrooms on the main floor to keep them cool. At the time it was built, it had an attic fan, which he said was state of the art back then. Today, it has air conditioning. ... read more

After breakfast at the YMCA Trout Lodge, we set out on our drive to Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas. The drive is roughly 6 hours. We had a lot of recommendations from friends on things to see during our drive. We decided to add one stop on our drive down and another stop on our drive back up. Today, we decided to stop at Johnson Shut-Ins State Park based on a recommendation from our friends Jay and Marjorie. Driving through Missouri is something else! First, it really is beautiful. Everything is green and lush, and we drove through rolling hills and up and down the Ozark "mountains." However, most of the highways are small, two-lane state highways with no mile markers or highway exits. These highways are often winding and close to trees on both ... read more

We checked into the YMCA Trout Lodge last night. It's beautiful, and it's set in the perfect location for activities with a lot of forested areas and a lake. It's in a fairly secluded area of eastern Missouri. I found when I was looking for a camp experience for families. There is a family camp experience offered in Iowa through the Y that looks fun, but it's really expensive. I found this experience in Missouri, and it's also expensive, but looked like it might be worth it with all of the activities offered. The cost of our loft room is $367/night, but it includes three meals a day. We decided to try it as part of our family vacation! We arrived yesterday at 4pm. Our room is very spacious and offers incredible views of the lake. ... read more

Years ago, we traveled through Hannibal and tried to tour the Mark Twain Cave. There was extensive flooding, and the area was underwater. This year, on our drive to Arkansas, we decided to stay near Hannibal and finally get to the cave! Many roads and highways are under construction near Des Moines right now. We ended up traveling east first, and our route took us through Pella and down near Keokuk. We listened to a dramatized audiobook on the way, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. I thought I downloaded an edited version for children, but that was not the case. We ended up having a conversation about language and slurs. Anyway, we made it to our destination! The drive was scenic and beautiful. It was mostly a two-lane highway the whole way, and we drove through ... read more