It’s our first day of driving back to Minnesota. It’s been a hard push. We have fewer days to cover the miles this time, and we hope to rendezvous with friends at Rocky Mountain National Park tomorrow night. After nine hours of driving, we finally pulled off for dinner in Wendover, at the Nevada/Utah border. Nestled between the casinos and gas stations was an awesome, old-school playground and picnic area. Not only does it have tons of cool playground equipment, but it has freight rail tracks right next to it. The kids had front row seats to a massive train roaring through. Some local kids were celebrating a piñata birthday party and welcomed Griffin and Maggie, playing with them while we got our food organized and then bringing over some cake to share. A glorious end to a long slog. (Technically, we’re still slogging to Salt Lake City as I tap this out, but the kids are asleep and the 100 degree daytime temperatures are behind us.)

If you find yourself in Wendover with kids in the car, skip the slots and chill out at Scobie Park.

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