The Great Plains, Our Summer Trip in 2021

The Great Plains

Our 2021 summer trip was to the Great Plains and focused on six states in which we have never camped.  Those states are Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming.   It was a long trip—five and a half weeks and over six thousand miles in our vehicle.

We were traveling in our NuCamp T@B 400.  It is a fine camper and I am happy to say it performed beautifully.  The only issue we had was that the air conditioner did not cool as much as we would like when in direct sun and 100 plus degrees in high altitudes.

It was a long trip, but was worth the effort because each state was beautiful and a joy to experience.  Also, our map of states we have camped in is filling up nicely.  So, we now have thirty-eight states.

National Parks

This Great Plains trip included four major National Parks:  Theodore Roosevelt, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, and Badlands.  These iconic parks have been on my bucket list for a long time.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park

North Dakota’s Theodore Roosevelt National Park was our first encounter with the Badlands.  The desolate landscape of the Badlands was exquisite and was filled with creatures, great and small.  For example, we saw hundreds of bison and thousands of prairie dogs.

While in Medora visiting the Roosevelt National Park, we saw the Medora Musical.  It was a fantastic show and the best evening of our entire trip!  I am so glad we were able to see it.

Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone in Wyoming was the pinnacle of National Parks for us.  The park is enormous, encompassing 3,471 miles.  It has an abundance of wildlife, geysers, a Grand Canyon, rolling hills, rivers, and  lakes.  We completed the south loop, but did not have time to see the north loop.

Grand Tetons National Park

Grand Tetons is a much smaller National Park at 485 square miles.  It is located directly south of Yellowstone in Wyoming .   We stayed in a Jackson Hole campground, which is in a deep valley surrounded by mountains.   There was not an abundance of wildlife, but it was breathtakingly beautiful.

Custer State Park

Custer State Park in South Dakota is large for a state park at 114 square miles and has all sorts of wildlife.  Two of the most exciting times on our trip occurred while at Custer.  Firstly, we had an up close and personal encounter with many bison when at the dump station.  After we left, they were all over the spot as you can see in the photo below.

Secondly, we traveled through Needles Highway.  It is considered one of the most epic routes in South Dakota.  Portions of the highway only exist because workers in 1922 blasted holes through several solid granite “needles”.  The road is extremely twisty with multiple narrow tunnels.  I was on pins and “needles”, but my husband loved it.

Great Plains Memorials and Monuments

The Great Plains has many iconic memorials and monuments.  So, we tried to see as many as possible.

It was so cool to see Mount Rushmore in South Dakota after seeing it in in photos or prints for so many years.

I hiked the 1.3 miles around the Devils Tower in Wyoming  and was able to enjoy some astonishing views.

Wyoming’s Little Bighorn Battlefield was a sobering place to visit.  The countryside is very beautiful and it is sad to imagine all the lives lost in that famous battle.

The Crazy Horse Monument is near Mount Rushmore and is a work in process.  The vision for the completed monument is of epic proportions.

Presidential Libraries

We tried to visit the Truman Library last year, but it was closed because of Covid and renovations.  While in Topeka, Kansas, we made a day trip to Independence, Missouri to see the library.  Truman was an amazing president and the newly renovated library was wonderful to visit.

Abilene, Kansas was a stop for us to see our next presidential library, the Eisenhower Library.  Unfortunately , it closed before we arrived because of a spike in Covid cases.  We did, however, walk the grounds.  Ike was an incredible president and I would love to know more about him.

Great Plains Capital Buildings and Museums

I love visiting capital buildings because of the history and architecture.  We saw the outside of three state capitals and toured one while in the Great Plains.

The museums we visited were all compelling in different ways.  Each contributed to an understanding of those earlier times in our history.

Capital Buildings

We took a tour of Nebraska’s capital building in Lincoln, which was completed in 1932.  It is a beautiful building with a very ornate foyer with arches, mosaics on the walls, and magnificent marble.

We checked out two other capital buildings (Bismarck, North Dakota and Topeka, Kansas), but it was on weekends and they were closed.

Moss Mansion

Moss Mansion Museum showcases a house built in 1903.  The cost of the home was $105,00 at a time when the national average cost was $5,000.  The home was extremely opulent and there is a room in the house that looks much like the Palace of Versailles.  It was used exclusively as the home of Preston Boyd Moss and his family until it became a museum.

Seelye Mansion

Seelye Mansion is an impressive old home built in 1904 in Abilene, Kansas.  It is still intact with all the original furnishings.  Most importantly, it has connections to a young Dwight D. Eisenhower.  The story of the home, its residents, and current ownership is fascinating.

Durham Museum

The Durham Museum in Omaha, Nebraska was delightful!  It is an old train station and has some actual old trains inside.  It was like a walk back in time to old movies I have seem.

Hjemkomst Center

The Hjemkomst Center is actually in Moorhead, Minnesota.  But, it was less than ten miles from our campground in Fargo, North Dakota.    The centerpiece of the museum is a replica of an actual Viking ship dating back to 800 AD.  The ship was actually sailed to Norway and at great risk to those on board.    This museum is a must see, if in the area.

Fort Casper Museum

Fort Casper Museum is a replica of an actual fort and the original was key to the westward movement in the 1800s.  The fort is furnished as it was in those days. It is an educational and extremely interesting place to visit.  Also, check out those mountains in the background.   The area is so beautiful!

Challenges of a Long Trip with a Puppy

Sophie, our puppy has been on several camping trips with us and is a great little traveler.  But, those trips were only two weeks long and did not involve more than two or three stops   This trip was five and a half weeks and twenty-two different campgrounds.

Sophie was wonderful on the trip, but there was very little room in our camper.   As you can see in the photo above, dog and crate leave very little room for other inhabitants.  It was very, very close in our camper, but we managed.

Also, we were traveling during a terrible heat wave.   Most days it was quite hot, but we encountered highs between 100-105 degrees a few days.  On one of the hottest days, we couldn’t let our pup walk on the ground because we were afraid it would burn her feet.  So, on stops that day, my husband had to carry her.

Lastly, some of our activities could not include a dog.  We needed a dog sitter three times on our trip because we had to be away longer than we could leave her in the crate.  Fortunately, we had three excellent Rover sitters and our girl had some fun times.

Great Plains State Posts

Lastly, there is a separate post for each of our new states in the Great Plains.  If traveling to any of these areas, you might want to review.

Kansas, A New State on Our Long Summer Trip

Montana, a New State on our Long Summer Trip

Nebraska, a New State on Our Long Summer Trip

North Dakota, a New State on Our Summer Trip

South Dakota, a New State in Our Long Summer Trip

Wyoming, a New State on Our Long Summer Trip

In Conclusion

This was a trip of a lifetime for us and we thoroughly enjoyed it.  It was a long trip, but we saw so many beautiful and interesting places.

Happy Camping!