With county fairs coming and going, schedules have been freeing up just before school gets back into session. This calls for a vacation! The Kress family have set out west towards the Black Hills and are enjoying their time taking in all of the sights. Continue reading to learn what adventures the Kress family has been on and what adventures await.
Closing the Book on County Fair
Our family of five survived camping and showing at the Buchanan County Fair. We have been blessed with amazing county weather for July! Fair 2024 was more comfortable and less humid than I can ever recall. We have been busy since closing the book on the county fair.
The girls cleaned out their 4-H pens and packed them away until the next critters were purchased. It’s always a little sad around our acreage after the fair without any of the girls’ animals around or being washed or walked. The girls weren’t fair-ed out after their own so they watched another nearby county beef show and support friends that qualified at “Best of the Best,” in Marengo, Iowa. Which is a large species show that can qualify exhibitors to the Iowa Showdown.
Pork Passion 
Hillside Partners Pork Direct Meat is officially licensed and inspector-approved! I am passionate about getting more pork options on restaurant menus, this was one way I found to fill the void to directly supplying pork to food distributors and restaurants. I was nerding out stocking up the deep freezer with our “official” packaging. We are blessed to have the Winthrop Locker, a federally inspected facility, just a few miles from us.
Ryan caught up with chores, selling market hogs, sanitizing barns for the next groups and obstacles with the feed mill before our family took off for South Dakota on vacation.
Time for Vacation
Naturally on our cruise across Iowa, we took in where one of the sow units vets office we are investors in was located and many hog barns in Western Iowa. Our family’s first stop across state lines was to Sioux Falls, SD Stockyards Ag Experience. Due to the “extra scenic” route we missed visiting hours but enjoyed the sites of The Falls.
From there we were true tourists and hit the Corn Palace in Mitchell where I got to squeeze Calli Williams in real life for the first time. Thankfully social media and ag women masterminds that brought us together!
Since we were on the path to get to the Black Hills, we had to drive through the Badlands and Bear Country. Bear Country was pretty amazing. Deadwood and the woods of the Black Hills have had my heart, could have used one more day to sneak in some time at a lake but a local water park was a hit for the family. Our oldest is pretty enthralled with Navajo pearls and a jewelry boutique she follows online is based out of Deadwood – that stop and Wall Drug were the highlights for her. Thankfully for key stops for each of them, as we didn’t want to make the miles in the car a family trip like our parents grew up taking.
Despite our family travels here during Sturgis festivities, it has made the experience richer and more entertaining- all in a good way. The pre-Sturgis crowd has been a pleasure to experience. So many of them have amazing recommendations and courtesy to others. It’s funny to compare riding on a motorcycle for so many miles, I had to laugh as a prior road bicycle rider in RAGBRAI, to the longest bike ride across the state of Iowa! I’m sure many don’t see the appeal in that either, but both rides are experiences for a lifetime.
Continue the Fun
On our way south to visit my brother in the Scottsbluff, Nebraska area we plan to take in Mount Rushmore and hopefully see the monuments in Custer. In being tourists through South Dakota, it’s made me realize how much I overlook what we have in northeast Iowa as attractions for guests. The Midwest truly is a goldmine in beautiful ground, in nature, and our landscapes.
I am grateful for the opportunity to guest blog our farm-family’s story through Stockyards Ag Experience this summer! I would love to connect with you further on Instagram.