Day 3, June 29, 2025 — Poplar Grove, IL → Leonard, ND
The further west we go, the more the world opens up. By the afternoon, we’d left behind street signs, traffic, and strip malls—driving straight into the unknown. No cars. No mile markers. Just winding roads, rolling plains, and the creeping sense that we had finally made it to somewhere truly wild. This is the part of the map where things get real.
Rob and I woke up early and took a long walk around the grounds of the Poplar Grove Airport and museum in the cool morning air. Before heading out, we spent a few quiet moments with our morning coffee and I left a duck at the foot of the statue in front of the hangar—another marker of our journey left behind for someone else to find.
After a quick Walmart run to stock up on water and some much-needed rechargeable fans, we were on the road again—cutting across Wisconsin and Minnesota with our sights set on North Dakota by nightfall.
Given how much ground we needed to cover today, we did not stop at as many roadside attractions. We agreed on one planned stop: The Goat Tower in Waunakee, WI. Interestingly, this is not a mini-golf course or a petting zoo, but a Bavarian-themed manufacturing business (because why not?) created by the Endres family—four generations in and still going strong. The property boasts a quirky goat playground in Kappel Park, where actual goats (and their adorable kids) frolic up and down the whimsically spiraled Goat Tower. I had to do a double take to judge whether or not the goats were actually real. Equal parts charming and strange—10/10 roadside attraction. Marlie fed the goats all of our lettuce (an approved snack) while I made friends with a certain bearded black goat, and now we both want goats.
Wisconsin is a place I still want more time to explore. It’s full of surprises, from the Dells, which is the Waterpark Capital of the World to stunning lakes and some fascinating cities. The state is known for its food industries too: brewing, cranberries, and, of course, dairy. Local convenience stores boast a variety of local agricultural products such as pickles, pastries and lefse, a Norwegian flatbread common in areas with large Scandinavian populations. And then there is the cheese: blocks of cheese, cheese spreads, flavored cheese, cheese curds on cheese curds, cheese whips and more! To say there is an abundance of cheese is an understatement.
Minnesota’s terrain is diverse. In our journey across the midsection of the state, we passed rolling hills that eventually flattened into an agricultural grid of wheat and sugar beets. I imagine what it must have been like to be Laura Ingalls or Sarah Wheaton, two of my favorite characters from childhood books. Their families traveled by wagon and they endured life out on the prairie in all seasons! While it is beautiful and fertile now, in summer, I imagine that the winters were long and harsh. They must have gone weeks without seeing another soul. I am left with new appreciation for those who settled here, worked the land, and how connected they were with the natural world around them.
As we pushed toward North Dakota, grain processing facilities lined the highway. The thunderheads started forming in the distance—massive, towering clouds promising a good Midwestern storm.
We made a slight change in our planned route thanks to a GPS showdown. One route would get us to the campground 45 minutes earlier. We picked it, naturally. Only once we stopped for gas did we realize the new route involved several miles of unpaved roads. Too late to turn back. We pressed on, knowing that at least now we have Starlink—which gives Rob a lot more confidence behind the wheel. If we ended up stranded in the middle of the prairie, at least we could call a tow truck from County Route Who-Knows-What-Number.
Without a lot of stops, we entertain ourselves with audiobooks and podcasts while the kids sleep, watch movies, or game in their bunks. We do also talk to one another and play some car games, but I-Spy gets to be a little redundant when everything is green, the buildings are few and far between, and the only animals you see are cattle. Yesterday’s audiobook was a total flop—too complicated, too many characters, and way too much thinking. We bailed. Today, we pivoted to a new murder mystery thriller. It’s essentially a Lifetime movie in book form. Perfect road trip fare. We pause often to hash out our theories, clarify plot holes, or just admit we weren’t paying attention. Call us amateur sleuths in training. Watch your back, Charlie Cale—we’ve been watching way too much Poker Face.
Hello, North Dakota! Crossing the Minnesota-North Dakota border, we noticed a sudden uptick in farming equipment for sale and a collection of industrial buildings dedicated to agricultural engineering. Farms here don’t just grow food—they’re often research facilities for agroscience.
Fun fact dump:
- 90% of North Dakota is farm or ranch land
- ND is the #1 honey producer in the U.S.
- The entire state has 797,000 people… fewer than Hartford County, CT (896,000), which is less than 1/100 the size.
Needless to say, we earned the North Dakota sticker on Kevin’s map door today.
Again, beautiful in the summer. Not sure we’d brave it in the winter.
The seven miles of dirt roads into the campground were wide, technically 55 mph zones—though at that speed, the Jeep would have disintegrated. Kevin is now wearing a coat of dust and bug goo so thick we may need to rename her. She’s looking… rugged. We passed exactly ZERO cars in the 30 minutes it took us to navigate them.
When I called to confirm our late arrival at Sheyenne Oaks Campground, the kind woman on the phone had that quintessential Midwestern lilt—warm, casual, and totally unbothered. “Just pull in, you’re all set,” she said. No gate codes, no paperwork. Just good vibes. I could’ve listened to her talk all day.
The Sheyenne National Grasslands themselves are stunning—over 70,000 acres of federal land plus 123 acres of private trails. More than 40 miles of marked routes offer opportunities for hiking, biking, horseback riding, kayaking, bird watching, hunting, and fishing. Sadly, we’ll be doing none of those.
As we entered the Sheyenne National Grasslands, we spotted trailheads, rustic campsites, clusters of trees, and a few deer grazing in the soft twilight. Gorgeous and wild—right in the middle of all that farmland.
We arrived at Sheyenne Oaks Campground in Leonard, ND a little after 9PM – while it was still very light outside! Sheyenne Oaks lived up to its promise. The paddocks were right next to each RV site. The grounds were clean, quiet, and surrounded by woods. Rod, one of the owners (likely the husband of the kind woman on the phone), personally guided us to our pull-through site. Bonus: the Jeep is still hitched—hasn’t been disconnected the entire trip.
This unique campground caters to both RVers and equestrians. Riders can bring their horses, camp with them, and explore the Sheyenne National Grasslands by day, boarding their horses in private paddocks by night. After dinner, we wandered the grounds, saying hello to more horses than people, until darkness finally caught up with us. We counted at least eight sites with horses, their heads poking out over paddock gates. Our first time camping with horses!
We left another duck near the drop box and took advantage of the full hookups—hello, glorious hot showers.
Tomorrow, we ride into Montana. One step closer to Glacier.
DUCK UPDATE!
Shoutout to Samantha from Chicago! She and her family found one of our ducks at the tri-state marker in Fremont, IN—on their first day of vacation. They looked up the blog and reached out to say hi. So cool! We love hearing from people who find them—if you’re reading this and you’ve found one of our ducks, drop us a line!
Mileage: 608ish miles
States Today: IL → WI → MN → ND
Rubber Ducks Deployed: 2
Hippos: Minor side-eye during GPS drama. Coated in dust and concern.
Cue: Where the Streets Have No Name by U2… seriously, “County Road” isn’t much to go on!
Wandering, But Not Lost 