Returning from Iowa Day One

I am going to post a series of my return from Iowa...I want to plug a couple things we did...and say that this was a really fun trip. I got to see my aunts and uncles, all of them...and most of my cousins, which was fun. We arrived in Iowa on July 2nd about lunchtime. We took about 2 days and a few hours to arrive. We left Spokane Saturday morning June 30th and drove on I-90 to I-15 and headed south to Park City, UT, where we spent the night...then headed West on I-80 through UT, WY and then NE. We spent the second night in Grand Island, NE and finished the 3 or 4 hours the next morning to Exira. We arrived as the last of the group. It was nice and shockingly cool for July when we arrived. So, we hung out outdoors for a change and it was great. Tuesday, we ran errands and did some visiting...and then Wednesday was the 4th...so it was a day of parades, food, games, etc. We walked to and from the parade site, watching 1/2 the parade with the Hays clan and the other with the Littlefields. Then we walked back to get our food and head to Atlantic to eat with the Hays clan at Grandma's residence. Lots of good food and talking. We headed back to Grandma Littlefields for some r and r and the clay shoot...everyone tried it out, we nearly convinced Mom to try it as well. Then Terri and I walked to Exira to ride some rides with Freedom and Anna....we both nearly got sick on the Octopus....and I had a hard time recovering...so Jason gave us a ride back to the farm....where we joined a volleyball game in progress (Ted's set up). Then it got dark and it was time for fireworks...which were awesome again this year. Then, we built a fire and had marshmellows and leftovers around the fire. The next day it was belgian waffles and bacon for breakfast and then people started heading out. Terri, Zach, Tim and I left before 11am and had a lamb burger in Omaha at the M's Pub http://www.mspubomaha.com/

If you are EVER in Omaha, NE, you NEED to go to the Old Market area and eat here, tons of GREAT food http://www.omahaoldmarket.com/ Lots of great shops and lots to see and do!!

THEN we headed to SD. We arrived in Mitchell, SD to have some frozen custard at Culver's and go to Cabella's http://www.cabelas.com/home.jsp;jsessionid=UDVYBVY0QSMR4CWQNWTCCNIK0BW0CIWE?_requestid=59368

We slept just past the Missouri river for the night and then headed on to The Badlands.