On our recent trip to the Chicago area, we chose to stay at the Country Inn in Elk Grove Village, Illinois. We frequently visit the Chicago area and have discovered staying in a suburb is a nice option for our family. It's only a short drive to go into the city but the benefits of staying outside the city far outweigh the drive. First, you don't have to pay for parking in the suburbs! Did you know parking your vehicle at a Chicago hotel can cost over $50 a day? That adds up fast. Country ...
Destinations
Toll Roads No Problem with the FastToll App
Peyton and I are in the Chicago area at least every other month. But I don't want to invest in an I-Pass because I don't need it in Minnesota. And Illinois is really the only place that we travel that has toll roads. But stopping at all those toll roads adds on travel time. That's more time being cramped up in a car. Plus you have to have exact change at some of the tolls because they are automated. Last year I heard about this new app call FastToll. Now, it only works in Illinois so you won't ...
A Night at Medieval Times
I am always looking for new and unique experiences to take Peyton to. And when I saw Medieval Times, I knew I wanted to take her! How cool would it be to sit in a castle, watch knights jousting and have dinner? It sounded so cool. The only problem is, there is no castle in Minnesota. But there's one in Schaumberg, Illinois! So when I was planning our next weekend adventure in Chicago I made sure to make some time for a night at Medieval Times! I really was not sure what to expect. I'd looked ...
Explore the Lincoln Park Zoo
Another place I had never been on all my travel to Illinois was the Lincoln Park Zoo. It's a free zoo so I'm not sure why we've never visited but I decided we were going to check it out this time. Spending the day at the zoo is one of Peyton's and my favorite things to do. We could just sit and watch the animals all day long. Peyton was pretty excited when I told her we were going to visit the Lincoln Park Zoo. She couldn't wait to see what we would find. The Lincoln Park Zoo is fairly ...
Wind Cave National Park: Scenic Cave Tour
Peyton discovered cave tours last year when I took her on one in southern Minnesota. From that moment on, she has been begging to go on more cave tours. South Dakota has several guided tours available to the public at various caves. Since we were already exploring Wind Cave National Park I decided to take the kids on tour through Wind Cave. There are several tours available at Wind Cave National Park with various degrees of skill difficulties. Because Peyton is only 6 years old I decided to take ...
Wind Cave National Park
While we were visiting South Dakota I wanted to spend some time in the National Parks. There are a few different parks you can visit while in the Rapid City area. Unfortunately, time flew by and we were only able to fit in one National Park. Wind Cave National Park is located just a short 10-minute drive from Custer, South Dakota. Wind Cave National Park is considered a smaller national park in comparison with other parks, it's about 28,294 acres. The park is set into sections for camping, ...