Is it a Vacation without a Trip to Menards?

**Our honesty policy: This post may contain affiliate links and I may be compensated if you make a purchase at no extra cost to you. Some are, some aren't--I do some comparison shopping. The important thing is you will know exactly what we are talking about. Drop a note/comment if you have any questions on the products as these are materials and tools we use on our own projects.

This week we will take a brief side venture into 2017…as recently as last week! We are still in the midst of recovering from our annual drive to Nebraska (and back!) to visit my brother, sister-in-law and nephew. It is always a blast. Having children the same age only amps up the fun even more! However, no visit would be complete without a trip to Menards.

For those of you not familiar with Menards: it is Home Depot on steroids. Menards is a Midwestern home improvement store chain with additional departments including food, clothing, toys plus many more cleaning products. This may not be true of all Menards, but it is certainly the case in Norfolk, NE.

There is always some reason, no matter how short the visit, to go to Menards. This past trip, the purpose was to get OSB boards to finish out the basement subfloor. When you have extra hands available it is the best time to make a job easier and make light work out of eighteen boards of otherwise heavy lifting for one person.

Of course, the purchase was made after a tour of the store and a visit to the outdoor furniture department which included trying out this swing…

The trip the previous year involved acquiring salt for the water softener, some flowers…

And the perfect place for nap time! Once again, we spent some quality time in the outdoor furniture department.

The outdoor furniture department was not quite the destination until we had kiddos. However, we still wandered around a little to check out the latest home improvement ideas from my brother and sister-in-law.

The time before that I recall sitting in the back of a minivan (sans ALL rear seating) slowly making our way back to my brother’s house while keeping a shower enclosure safely loaded.

The trip before that… materials to tile the kitchen and bathroom!

The trip before that… 2″x 8″ studs to replace the ceiling joists.

The trip before that… well, you get the point. 😀

There are so many good memories associated with all these vacations. Menards certainly is not Disney World. It’s better! You can park right outside the door, they have rides (carts for kids and swings in the outdoor furniture department as shown above), and there are no lines for the rides! The checkout line is only a few people deep on a bad day. There is absolutely no chance of getting stuck in the teacups and having “It’s a Small World” ingrained in your memory forever. 😉

In all seriousness, going to Menards represents the start of helping family move forward on a project. As we work together we create new unforgettable stories, inhale great food and share lots of laughter. In the end, there is also a very a physical result from our “vacations” together.

I always look forward to my next trip to Menards. Do you have any reoccurring “exotic” locations you regularly visit during your travels where you end up going to a beloved home improvement store time and time again?