Wanderlust // Kansas City Photographer

Back in July I took a couple of weeks off so I could travel with my kids and parents. It was a nice little trip. Who am I kidding. Anyone who has roadtripped cross country with young kids knows it is long and exhausting. But nonetheless, memories made and lots of fun was had.

My parents drove from Phoenix to Kansas City and spent a few days with my family here in KC. My husband and I celebrated our 9th anniversary as husband and wife and the next day, the kids and I were off to Mount Rushmore. This was our first leg of the very, very long drive.

The random stop at 1880 town in somewhere South Dakota.

I love the random stops in the middle of nowhere.

We then made our way to Mt. Rushmore. Or "Mountain Rushmore" as my son, Joey, likes to call it. To be fair, he is technically correct.

Mount Rushmore was a lot bigger than I expected. The scenery was gorgeous. The roads.....very windy. My stomach was not a fan. Surprisingly enough, my kids were doing fantastic. I was very surprised considering they normally get a bit stir crazy sitting in a car for long periods of time.

We then made our way through Yellowstone National Park where we saw wild Buffalo and Elk (not pictured). The drive from Rushmore to Yellowstone was probably one of my favorite views ever. I've seen a LOT. Traveled through the Italian, Austrian & Switz Alps on multiple occasions, Rocky Mountains, Northern California/Southern Oregon, Appalachian Mountains and Thailand. But none was as beautiful as this drive. Of course everyones opinion is different, but to me, this was my favorite. It was so cold during the dead of summer. We were freezing (unprepared) in our shorts in 30 degree weather.

Buffalo grazing.

After Yellowstone, we made our way to Grants Pass, Oregon where some of our family lives. The whole point of this trip was to go visit them. My grandmother (on my dads side) has lung cancer. She has kicked cancers butt twice before, but this time was different. I feel like this was an important trip that I had to take. I love her dearly and felt it was important for my kids to form a relationship with their great grandmother.