Overview. You can scroll down to The Badlands to save some reading.
Sometimes we bite off more than we can chew. To say we are adventurous is true; but, is traveling with Future Streamers* too huge of a bite for a West Airstream Adventure? It’s the first time we have taken our grandchildren on a road trip of this magnitude, so we were about to find out!
We have been Airstreaming since 2021, traveling across the country, enjoying our grandkids for sleepovers from time to time, but we have never traveled with them for days or weeks in the Airstream.
Until now.
- (Aside, you can read A Little History at the end of this blog to learn about other road trips we have taken with our grandkids.)
Alison and Paige are our two oldest grandchildren, and the cousins haven’t seen each other for a couple of years since Paige’s family moved up north. Would they still be as compatible as they were when they could see each other more regularly? Would they even remember each other? Alison turned ten in March, so this is also a special gift for her “double-digit birthday,” from Nana and Yoda. Paige will be nine in November. Ten and eight seem like the perfect ages for a road trip.
We began a long journey a year and a half ago, living as full-time Airstreamers while our house is being built, and we are headed up north for the hot summer months. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to get the two cousins together since we will be traveling near Paige’s new home. It took quite a bit of pre-planning, coordinating with the parents, and ordering special things to make this a memorable vacation. If we never take them on another road trip, they should remember this one for the rest of their lives.
We picked up Alison in Texas, took her with us on a three day journey to pick up Paige in Iowa, and stopped to see some sites along the way. When we picked up Paige, apparently it was a surprise! She knew she was going on a trip with us, but didn’t know Alison was going too! What a great reunion for them both. After a visit with the family, we drove from Iowa to The Badlands in South Dakota. We stayed at the KOA in Interior, SD, which is only a few miles from the Visitor Center.
From there we went to Pierre, where we visited the State Capitol, (see my previous blog about that), then on to Sioux Falls SD where we ended our trip. I flew home with Alison (her first plane ride), and Tim took Paige home in the truck.
After that, we slept for two days 😂.
Ever since my cancer diagnosis (I hear this frequently from other cancer patients and survivors as well), I have a new perspective on life. We only have one life to live, so my motto is to live life to the fullest (which includes spending time with family), even with metastatic breast cancer. This is why I write this blog, to share how God is working my life. We saw some amazing things on this great adventure. I hope this inspires you to do something special with your family, kids or grandkids. Are you ready for an adventure? Let’s go!
The Badlands
Although we were on the road for several days, The Badlands were our primary destination, so this blog will focus on that part of the trip. You can read other blogs about our visits to State Capitols and other places.
Tim had an idea to create matching t-shirts, so I got creative. With a little help from Chat GPT, I edited the images to create t-shirts which we had screen printed, and added journals, pens, and stickers from Vista Print to commemorate our trip. The girls and our Facebook friends loved them! What do you think? Tim said we may be setting a precedent for when the other grandkids go on a trip in the future. Not sure if that’s good or bad 🥴🤔.
Paige opened her goodie bag with a journal, pen, stickers, and t-shirt after we picked her up. Love that smile!
Day 1. The first day we set up camp at the KOA in Interior, hung around the campground, played games, went swimming, and ate dinner. It was wonderful to get out of the truck after a long day’s drive.
Day 2. The Badlands Visitor Center, Wall Drug, Roberts Prairie Dog Town, bison, pronghorn, free roaming cows, one big bull, and lots of beautiful scenery. It was a HOT day.
The second day was our first real experience in The Badlands. At the Ben Reifel Visitor’s Center, we got our National Park stamp and Jr. Ranger booklet, which the girls completed for a swearing in as Jr. Rangers on the last day.
The girls also picked out a stuffed animal which we purchased at the Visitor’s Center. Paige chose a bobcat and Alison got a black-footed ferret, which as it turns out is the rarest of all North American mammals! They only live in the Roberts Prairie Dog Town, where we went on this day, but the ferrets only come out at night since they are nocturnal. Needless to say, she was talking about the ferret the entire trip. Sadly, we never saw one.
Everywhere we went near Wall, the crowds were mammoth! Nearly as vast as the Badlands themselves. Due to the heat and overpopulation of people, Paige nearly had a panic attack by the time we got to Wall Drug where we had lunch. (It was VERY overstimulating. I wanted out of there too.)
Wall. Sitting on a Jackalope (above), 80 ft dinosaur (below) and world’s largest chainsaw sculpture of a jackalope (right). See Alison in the little window in the top of the Jackalope.
Back at the campground, Paige and I stayed in the trailer while Tim took Alison swimming. That gave Paige some “alone” time to regroup and re-energize, and gave me time to take a nap. 
She loved the drive back, including the cows, and had a great time from that point on.
Tim made steaks for dinner and we were grateful for the awning and all the shade trees looking down from the sky. We happened to hit the hottest days of the year while we are here. At least it’s not raining and cold.
We hit the hay early, as we planned an early hike the next day. The girls loved their new stuffed animals, and slept with them at night in addition to making up games for their animals to play. Paige took hers with her everywhere we went, even on the hikes. I think they learned something new about conservation today!
Day 3. The third day was predicted to be over 100 degrees so we got an early start to our outside activities, taking advantage of the cooler weather. The sun comes up early here, so even at 6:30 AM it seems rather high in the sky. (It also goes down quite late.) We took in the south loop, had some early morning hikes, visited scenic overlooks like the yellow mounds, went back to Wall for groceries and an ice cream, took pictures at the world’s largest Jackalope chain saw sculpture and an 80 foot dinosaur (above), visited the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site, more swimming, hot dogs for dinner, rest and relax.
A little swim after a HOT day. This was before Tim busted his butt 😂😩.
Day 4. A few more early morning hikes, pictures by the “World’s Only 6-Ton Prairie Dog,” feeding the prairie dogs 👏🏻👏🏻, visiting the Prairie Homestead Historic Site and seeing white prairie dogs, a little more swimming, swearing in of our official Junior Rangers, playing games, eating dinner and watching a movie.
Another very HOT day. We were so glad to get another early morning start and beat the crowds.
We stopped at the famous “door/window” overlook, and took another short hike across the road from there, but the mosquitos were horrible so it wasn’t as much fun. Yoda shared his hiking tips with the girls, like stepping on a log instead of over it, and they listened. That was fun to witness.
The highlight of our day was the Ranch Store, where you can buy peanuts to hand feed the prairie dogs. We have seen a lot of prairie dogs this week, but never so many in one place. Lots of babies with their mommas and families. This is a good place to get photos if you ever visit the Badlands. 
Their individual personalities became evident as mommas groomed their babies, holding their feet still so they would behave. Below is a sequence of the grooming right beside the mound where the girls are feeding the prairie dogs. Quite comical to watch! The prairie dogs weren’t too bothered by visitors in general, and welcomed the easy food.
Back at the campground we encouraged the girls to do their Jr. Ranger activities book. After a few rounds of “This is boring,” and “I don’t wanna do it,” they started getting into it and the attitude changed to “This is fun! I’m going to do all of them!”
Alison had to do 8 because she’s older, but she did all 11 because she enjoyed it so much. Paige only had to do 5, which she completed. It is a little more challenging for the younger kids as there is a lot of reading, so Paige was a little harder to motivate. The activities were fun and educational, even for me!
A quick drive before dinner to the Visitor Center is where they were “sworn in” by a ranger, the same one who gave them the books on Thursday. Alison did so well on the oath, the ranger gave her a special patch for her effort. We were proud grandparents 
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Heading back, a quick stop at the Cowboy Corner (the only grocery store for miles) ended up with empty hands. Tim wanted some ice cream, but he opted out when a tub of off brand was over $10 
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Movie time confirmed how comfie our couch is for movie watching. We have been leaving the bed flat for the girls since the second or third day, rather than putting it up and down every night. It’s SOOO much better than any other Airstream we have owned, and it’s much sturdier than we anticipated easily fitting four or more (little) people. We all sat together on the big bed with our legs up and ate popcorn while watching a movie selected by the girls. They chose “Wild Robot,” which is definitely a kid’s flick 
, but entertaining enough. It does have a redeeming message about friendship with unusual characters, motherly love, and recognizing people can change. At least it had some outdoor nature scenes to commemorate our trip .
When we came home, Paige’s bobcat was doing this. He might have had a little help from Yoda, but the girls thought it was hilarious.
This was our last night in The Badlands. We could have stayed here several more days as there is so much to do in the area. We didn’t go as far west as Wind Cave National Park, Mount Rushmore or the Black Hills, due to the limited time we had with the girls.
After this, we headed out to Pierre (PEER) where we toured the South Dakota State Capitol and camped on the river before sending the girls home.
I hope you have enjoyed reading about some of the fun things to do with kids in The Badlands! Leave a comment below and let us know what you think! I promise, your email will never be sold or abused.
As promised…
A Little History. We have taken three of our grandchildren on two separate road trips, with Alison being the common denominator (she is the oldest). The first trip was in September 2019, when we took our two oldest grandchildren (Alison, 4 and Paige, 2) on a three-day trip to Arkansas. My mom never got to meet any of my grandchildren since they were all born after she died, so we wanted to give them an opportunity to meet Tim’s mom, their Great-Mama before she died. Paige had a major diaper blow-out on the way up. It was then that we decided no more road trips until they were completely potty trained.
The second trip was a few months later, in June of 2020, when masks were gaining popularity and no one knew exactly what was happening across the country. Tim’s mom was getting older, and if we were going to introduce another grand to their Great-Mama, we needed to do it soon. Alison was now five and her sister Hannah was two, a little younger than Paige was when we took her. We must be gluttons for punishment, or our memory failed us, because we towed diapers once again. Fortunately no blow-outs on that trip.
That was the last trip with our little Jedi for the next five years. Great-Mama started getting ill, and eventually passed away in 2022. We no longer had the same draw to Arkansas, and only three of our seven grandchildren ever got to meet their great-grandmother. My dad died in 2023, so we have no remaining parents to introduce them to, although Alison and Paige met him when he came down to see me after my metastatic breast cancer diagnosis in 2017 (Tim’s dad died many years ago).
À la prochaine…hasta la próxima vez…until next time!
*Future Streamers is the name given to children of Airstreamers.
