Day 8 The start of the third leg of our trip was going to be hot.  Thankfully we had a long drive across the entire state of South Dakota. We stopped for gas in Phillip, South Dakota and decided to eat in town. Next to our lunch spot, The Retro, was the sign shop that makes all the billboards for Wall Drug. Nothing spectacular, but everyone got to pick something from the lengthy menu. And we were off. I had shoots in Bismarck and on the Lake Traverse Reservations. Originally the plan was to shoot first in Bismarck and then on the northeast South Dakota reservation, but things got flipped around.  We thought we would have time to go back to Theodore Roosevelt National Park. 

Day 1 Normally Scott does his annual New York Mills trip the last week of school, but this year it got pushed to the week after.  That meant the family could tag along. We returned to Spirit Lake Resort & Motel in Menahga. Nice rooms, super affordable and now home to a sweet ice cream shop. I read that there was a playground next door. I guess this was it.  Come on you got a beautiful private beach right next to the bigger city one. They have way more fun by water anyway. 

We came home from the cottage for a few days before it was time to leave again. We drove through the prairies and farm fields of Minnesota to go to South Dakota. First hotel shoot workcation of the impending summer. We were in a bit of a rush after Brooke finished work to get to Sioux Falls.. I had to shoot twilight shots of the hotel. After I finished shooting some exteriors, we got our much needed dinner at Gilliberto's near downtown Sioux Falls.   You know we love a good hole in the wall taco joint, especially if it's in a former Hardee's. This place was a weird mishmash of classic American tacos and authentic Mexican.   The hotel we were staying at had a mini indoor waterpark. When we got there after breakfast we had the place to ourselves. Theo loved the waterslide. I think we went down at least 20 times. A few more families came in after us but it was never very busy.  Lucky dogs, I was busy shooting hotel rooms and amenities. After swimming for a few hours the...

Day 1  Back in May I stumbled upon Theodore Roosevelt National Park. I had no idea there was a National Park in North Dakota and that it was the northern end of the Badlands. Usually our summer vacations coincide with Scott's work trips. Since he didn't have any this summer I thought we should take advantage of actually taking a vacation. What, my workcations are always classics? I suppose a second real vacation this year wouldn't hurt. We definitely have more time than normal. As long as we took Covid-19  precautions and avoided people. We finally settled on a time to go. Blake joined us so we borrowed our dad's van so we could ride together. Scott had just driven from Michigan the day before. Blake had met my parents in Wisconsin to get the van and then drove from Duluth to pick us up. I offered to drive since I literally only drive twice a month.  I was still pretty tired from a long drive home. Since we were near Fergus Falls we had to stop by the abandoned state ho...

I was already contemplating where we'd camp next on the way home from our  Appalachian Hipcamp road trip . So I booked a few camps out in South Dakota and Nebraska. I guess this is the summer of Hipcamps.  Hello, South Dakota.