We left Friday and did a couple days in the Idaho panhandle. Next day we made it to Billings. We stayed at the Billings convention center and hotel. It had two giants water slides that not flame will probably be the most memorable for the kids. Next day we got up and out of the hotel at 6 am to shoot over to Rushmore. This was always a bit of a stretch so I had to prep kids for extra drive time. We only spent the day and night around Rushmore. I wish we would have slated more. The next day we drove to Wyoming for the night and as close to the Idaho panhandle as possible. We're doing two nights in Sandpoint now.
Im solid minivan..Toyota sienna awd. She did great. I let my 15 year old drive and I sat in the mid row seat for a couple hours. It's worlds different than road trips I remember. Gas in eg Wyoming was under 4 bucks.
Date: July 31st, 2026 9:40 AM Author: canary kitchen
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makes me think about how kids will have a canonical experience around a cheap waterslide rather than something historic.
or be more excited about the candy you bought them outside the Louvre or the Pyramids or something
drives parents fucking nuts, but its a great perspective on our evolution. Sliding down something at great speed, wet and dangerous... or tasting some massive amount of sugar and chemicals really are more novel and significant to humans than whatever historic shit we pretend is important.
"Kids this is Little Round Top, on July 3rd eighteen-sixty..."
"SHE TOOK SOME OF MY SKITTLES!"
or cell phones. We could be perched on the edge of the Grand Canyon and some TikTok slop will still be more fascinating to us, if we have the honesty of children