Scotts Bluff National Monument

The carful of kids are on a three-week road trip to Jasper National Park in Canada from Central Texas. We were in Oklahoma to learn about the Comanche Indians and stopped by the Boot Hill Museum and gun fight in Dodge City, Kansas.

After spending the night in Garden City, Kansas, we point the SUV north towards Nebraska to visit Scotts Bluff National Monument later in the day but first we must drive through the midwest. It's miles of crops dotted with occasional road construction.

On the road, is it Kansas or Nebraska?

This area of the country does NOT have a north/south interstate to jump on to speed things up. I would have to drive west to Denver to catch I-25 and that's not happening.

Some days on the road trip are just drive days, this is one of them. The carful of kids whittle the time away in the SUV with road games and iPads while Melissa and I talk about stuff old friends talk about.

We have to stop at the NPS signs.

The carful of kids cross the North Platte River and pull into Scotts Bluff National Monument (190276 Old Oregon Trial, Gering, Nebraska), which is open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. from Memorial Day to Labor Day. The admission is $ 5 for a car or you can purchase an America The Beautiful National Park Pass for $ 80 that gains admission to most national parks for a year.

At the visitors center we pick up our Junior Ranger Badges and walk through the exhibits depicting the migration of 250,000 American pioneers that passed through this area from 1843 to 1869. Scotts Bluff rises 800 feet above the North Platte River and it's the second most notable natural feature along the Oregon, Mormon and California Trails which all passed through here.

Hiking on the top of Scotts Bluff with our Jr. Ranger Booklets.

The road built to the summit was completed in the 1930s and has three tunnels that the carful of kids love. At the top of the bluff, we find hiking trails and vast views in every direction.

After climbing around on the top of Scotts Bluff, we drive down to get our Junior Ranger Badges before the visitors center closes. The area around the visitors center has an outdoor display of the covered wagons that were used to migrate west, great visuals for the kids to understand the struggle of the pioneers. And isn't that why we travel, to understand and learn from others?

Always something new to learn on a road trip.

The carful of kids find a covered picnic table and pull out the cold-cuts for a picnic dinner; great, since the dining options have been limited in this part of the country.

I can't call it a day just yet, I have a reservation in Hot Springs, South Dakota, for tonight and that's nearly 150 miles away. The carful of kids visited the Black Hills area of South Dakota a few years back and didn't see everything so we're heading back to finish up where we left off.

Up Next: Wind Cave, Jewel Cave and another visit to Mount Rushmore