MN to Ohio to DC with kids

We are traveling from Mankato, MN to Columbus, OH on July 5th...making the entire trip in one day. We will then be going from Columbus to Washington, DC on July 9 - again in one day. We have 3 children: 12, 10, and 8. We're making a big deal about how many states we'll pass through on our drive. Wondering if anyone has any suggestions for short stops where we could take a break and just take a photo or 2 to represent that state. Already thought of the "Welcome to..." signs at the state border, but would like to be more creative. Don't have to be big tourist attractions or anything, just some things that the kids might enjoy right off the interstate? Any ideas?

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

Before giving any other advice, I'd first strongly strongly recommend that you cut back your plan on that first day. Kato to Columbus to 800 miles which is way too far to be traveling in one day, especially on a family trip. In the best case, where you don't make any extra stops you're going to be on the road for a minimum of 14 hours, which is going to leave you exhausted and in no condition at all to continue your drive to DC the next day. Not to mention, you're going to be losing an hour on this first day. And it should go without saying that traveling with 3 kids means that some extra stops are needed just for them to get out and move, so you'll really be looking at adding even more time to your travels.

I'd recommend that you look at Indianapolis as your stopping point. That's still going to make for 2 very long days on the road, but at least your drive times will be a little more managable 10-12 hours each, plus stops.

As far as good places for photo ops, at least on the first part of your trip, you'll be going through several state college towns so stopping in Iowa City (or Madison depending upon your route), Champaign, and Columbus for photos would be a good start. Indiana would be a little more difficult, but a detour to Purdue in West Lafayette would be a possiblity, the other option there would be just to swing by the state capitol or another famous building like Lucus Oil Stadium (Colts new stadium).