Phew! A whirlwind of driving in just a few days. But we are HOME now! We left Denver on Monday and drove a LONG way to Independence, Missouri (just outside of Kansas City). We had a late dinner at the famous Hereford House for steak. Pales in comparison to my steak in Tea, SD, and was twice as expensive. Oh well.
The next morning we drove to Indianapolis, Indiana, just in time to have dinner with the newlyweds, Sarah and Paul. We felt like we had come full circle--starting and ending our trip with them! Yesterday I went shopping with Sarah while Dan visited the museum at the Indy Speedway. (Sorry no pictures, but I'm a little tired of running around with the camera around my neck.)
Later yesterday, we drove to our final destination just outside Cleveland, Ohio. We saw the sun set for the last time on our trip.
The sun has indeed set on this trip. We had a most fantastic time. As we settled into our 17th different bed of the trip last night, we talked about how we feel a bit more worldly having seen so much of the country. It's something everyone should do once in their lives, and we highly recommend it. We can even recommend things to bring (duffle bag--to pack a few nights at a time), and things not to bring (cooler--too much maintainance, unless you're camping).
Thanks so much for following our trip and making comments--we loved sharing it with you!
P.S. I admit it--Dan did use the items in the auxillary bag. But he didn't NEED them.....
Denver is a lovely city. Our host, Matt (Dan's college roommate) showed us around town yesterday. Dan and I had requested a dose of culture, rather than mountains, because we've seen plenty of those so far this trip. So Matt took us first to the Denver Botanic Gardens, which are huge and beautiful.
We walked through Chinese and Japanese gardens, a fish pond, a big indoor greenhouse, and a fountain (which you can see here, but the picture was slightly spoiled by whomever was driving by in the background).
UPDATE: Dave Meltzer took pity on us and edited the tractor out of the picture. Thanks!
I liked seeing flowers that I had never seen before, like these.
After the Botanic Gardens we stopped by the REI flagship store, which is a huge place with a rock climbing wall inside and it's own set of mini-rapids outside.
You can rent a kayak and take it down the mini-rapids, and then walk back and do it over again. Looks fun. Dan and I perused the hiking shoes because after all of our adventures this trip, we've found our own hiking shoes to be not quite adequate. The store was a bit too crowded to do any buying, but we did get some ideas.
We had lunch at a brew pub formerly owned by the mayor (it's in a blind trust now). We thought it was just Syracuse where the mayor owns a bar. Apparently, it's a trend.
Later, we took a shuttle downtown to the Denver Art Museum, where we soaked in a little bit more culture. I thought the museum looked like a prison--Matt said it was supposed to look like a castle. In any case, they are putting a very fancy addition on the museum in the next few years, designed by the guy who is doing the world trade center.
We had limited time before the place closed, so we took in the art at a speedy pace. My favorite piece was in the modern art area--it was a sculpture of a little man made entirely out of tiny styrofoam balls. I think it was called Styrofoam Man. Or maybe I made that up. I took a picture but I can't post it here because I don't want to upset the artist or anything. But if you want to see it, I'll show it to you when I get home. It's really cool. Anyway, throughout our city tour, our host Matt entertained us with interesting stories of local Denver politics and scandal. (Unfortunately, he will remain faceless because we forgot to take his picture--sorry!) Another neat thing Matt showed us was a picture of his childhood t-ball team. This t-ball team picture happened to include Dan!! You see, Matt lived in Fayetteville for a few years when he was a kid. When he and Dan met in college, they suspected that they may have been on the same t-ball team, but it couldn't be confirmed because the picture was missing. But it resurfaced, and the suspicions were confirmed. We took a copy of the picture at Kinko's for anyone who wants to see.
Today we have a LONG drive east through Kansas to Independence, Missouri, where we'll be staying this evening. We're straying off our route on the map in favor of this southerly one so we can stop by and visit the newlyweds in Indianapolis. They can't believe we're still on the road. We're going to try and have as few stops as possible in Kansas so we don't get harassed (we have a Syracuse Orangemen license plate bracket). Have a great day!
Good morning from Denver--although it's afternoon for our east coast readers. Are you out there? We haven't gotten many comments as of late. Perhaps we need to jazz up the blog a bit. I included lots of pictures this time.
For the first half of yesterday we explored Arches National Park in Moab, Utah. What an amazing place. It's full of red sandstone formations, including arches made of stone that are created by wind and water erosion. Here's Dan standing in front of Balancing Rock.
We could have gotten closer, but that thing has got to fall over sometime, right? We didn't want to risk it. We also took a little hike to the double arch, which is one of the biggest arches in the park.
You could climb right in it.
This is the most famous arch, the delicate arch. It's the one all the way to the left.
You might have seen it on tv or other places, it's also on the Utah license plate. We could have hiked over to it and gotten a better picture, but it was about a BILLION degrees outside so we hurried back to air conditioned comfort in the car.
We also took a short, HOT hike to these Indian petroglyphs, carved hundreds of years ago by the Ute tribe.
Neat, huh? Walls of petroglyphs (petroglyphs are carvings rather than drawings) can be found all around Moab, including one at the golf course. We didn't spend enough time in Moab to see more of them.
A nice man took our picture in this stunning spot, called Fiery Furnace. (Confidential to Poker Group: his exact words to us were: "Would you like me to take a picture of the two of yous?")
In the horizon of Arches park was a mountain range so high that there was snow on the peaks, but it was hard to get a good picture because there were dark clouds hanging over it. All and all, a fantastic park and very impressive.
On our way to Denver later, we stopped in Grand Junction, CO for lunch. We went to this great chain called Sonic that is an old-fashioned drive in, where you order from your car. They only offer the most healthy foods, such as burgers, tater tots and chili cheese fries.
Then, a girl in a poodle skirt on rollerskates brings you your food!
Such fun. Let's hope Sonic comes to Syracuse very soon.
Right before Denver we passed through the Rocky Mountains, where we hit elevations of over 11,000 feet just driving in the car. We passed by Vail and Breckenridge and other famous ski resorts on our way. Very beautiful--all the trees and green were quite a contrast to the desert we've been in for the past few days.
Last night we had dinner with Dan's friend Matt, and today he's going to show us around Denver. Tonight we're in Denver again and we're not quite sure where we're going tomorrow. Either the northern route (Nebraska) or the southern (Kansas). We haven't decided. See yous later!
Okay, everyone was right. Utah is beautiful. We just didn't drive through the best part on our way to Vegas. But now that we're in SE Utah, we're in awe. The area we drove through yesterday had stunning vistas, and I kept asking Dan to pull into view areas so I could get pictures.
Amazing, huh? Unfortunately, because of a traffic jam outside Vegas, we got into Moab, Utah late and had to enter it in the dark. But I'm sure today when we explore the area we'll get some more great pics to share. (By the way, we are in Moab, southwest of #12 on the map--a little change in itinerary.) Later today we leave Moab and head for Denver.
Howdy from Vegas! We're loving the city of sin, except we have to deal with yucky dial-up internet access here at the MGM Grand. My guess is that they rather have you gambling downstairs than surfing the net upstairs.
Yesterday morning while Dan slept in, I explored Temple Square in Salt Lake City, which is basically Mormon Central. It was very nice and clean and pretty. The temple was especially grand, but only believers can go inside.
The rest of us go to a shiny visitors center where pretty blond girls in skirts ask you if you want a tour. I avoided them and took a self-tour to learn a little bit about Mormon history, which is actually quite interesting. However, the entire experience was a bit too clean and pretty and perfect to be real. That's just my opinion.
Later, on our way to Vegas, we stopped at he Zion National Park in southwest Utah. It was a very nice park with interesting rock formations made of sandstone. Because of pollution and overcrowding, since 1999 the park is closed to vehicles and you have to take a shuttle bus through the park.
Did I mention it's 100 degrees and the buses are not air conditioned? Actually, the heat is semi-bearable because it's dry--no humidity. Anyway, we hopped on the bus and took a little tour of the park. We also took a tiny hike up to Weeping Rock, a rock formation under a spring that continuously flows in little drips over the side.
Zion was nice, but no more amazing than any of the other places we've visited. We're going to stop by some of Utah's other parks on our way back through towards Colorado, so the jury is still out on Utah.
On our way through Utah we hit a pretty major set of thunderstorms.... the temperature went from 100 degrees to 60 degrees in a half an hour. Weird. We snaked through some canyons in the corner of Arizona and on the other side was the Nevada desert. By then the storm had cleared and the temperature was 104. Kind of like how it feels when you open your car door after it's been sitting in the sun for hours.
We got to Vegas at around dusk and were greeted by the fabulous lights on the strip.
Should we wear our cowboy hats to bikini bullriding? haha. For dinner we went to Wolfgang Puck's cafe. It was so yummy that we went there again for breakfast this morning and we saw the real Wolfgang Puck, in the flesh!! Our first celebrity sighting! Then, later this morning, Dan saw George Carlin waiting for the elevator! Celebrity sighting #2!
As far as our gambling luck goes.... we each won a little cash last night. I used my winnings to get a massage at the MGM spa today. Dan gambled his winnings away while I was getting my massage. Oh well. This afternoon we toured the newer casinos--the ones that weren't here when we were 5 years ago (Paris, Venetian, Bellagio). Tonight we go to see "O", the Cirque du Soleil show at the Bellagio. Sorry for the lack of Vegas pictures, but you all know what it looks like. Tomorrow we do our big turnaround, heading east back through Utah.
Ok we are about to head to Vegas (perhaps stopping at a national park on the way)... I need some strategy for blackjack... have already received this sound information.... when dealer has 2-6 then stand; when dealer has 7-A hit until 17. Double on 10 or 11 when dealer has 2-9. Always split 8's.
Well, we don't have much in the way of pictures to share today, but I thought I'd pop in a commentary since we finally have high speed internet access here in Salt Lake City. (Figures, we had to upload tons of pictures when we only had dial-up.)
We took our time at Holly's this morning since we didn't really want to leave, we were having such a fun, relaxing time! Yesterday we took the ski lift up Snowking mountain, which is a stone's throw from her house, and saw great views of the entire Jackson Hole area. Then after a yummy dinner, we went to a bar where we listened to live bluegrass music and watched Holly and her friends do some country swing dancing. Very impressive....lots of spins and turns and fancy footwork.
We slept in this morning, took our time packing, and then went out to lunch with Holly before we bid her farewell and set off to Salt Lake. We arrived here around dinner time and had a delicious Indian meal at a place right by our hotel. Tomorrow we'll go explore the downtown area, including soaking up Mormon culture in Temple Square.
Later tomorrow we'll head to a NEW point on our itinerary.... Vegas! We decided to take a side trip to our favorite city of sin, since we're so close by. We'll be there for the next two nights. (I'm sure the MGM Grand will have internet, so we'll post our Salt Lake pics then.) Wish us luck!
We are having such a fun time in Jackson! We picked the perfect weekend to come, as the Teton County Fair was in full swing. Holly's apartment is so close to the fair that we could hear everything as if we were right there. So unfortunately that meant that we woke up at 7am to "Good Morning! Please move your horse trailers as they are blocking traffic. The junior riding trials will begin in 5 minutes...." But it was great because the fair included a special fancy rodeo night where we got to wear our hats!
We fit right into the crowd. The rodeo was everything that I thought it would be.... bull riding, calf roping, barrel racing, and a lot of "yee haw"s. Fun!
After the rodeo we went out for a bite to eat with Holly and Wayne.
Aren't they a cute couple? Dan and I really like Wayne, he was so nice and he puts up with Holly's rare but occasional crankiness (haha). Yesterday they took us to Grand Teton National Park for a fantastic hike through the mountains that included a boat ride across the lake and a lovely waterfall.
As I said before, the mountains here are amazing and the scenery was breathtaking.
Then our wildlife experience was completed when we spotted a BEAR in the woods. It was a cinnamon-colored black bear who was eating berries just off of the trail.
We were glad to be with our field guides Holly and Wayne as they knew just what to do and we weren't scared. Even they were impressed to have such a close encounter. (The pic of the bear is zoomed in so don't think we were that close.) After our hike we went TUBING down Fish Creek. We dropped off a car a few miles downstream and then sat in giant inner tubes and floated down the creek. I think I laughed the whole way, it was such a blast. I wish I had pictures, but I couldn't take my camera in the water!
Last night we went to the crowning event of the fair, the Demolition Derby! It was such a wild time... lots of music and dancing and beer and cars crashing. And, per Derby tradition, several streakers. It was no wonder there was a parental advisory on the back of our ticket.
As you can imagine, we're pretty exhausted today so we're taking it easy. Holly and I might go shopping later. Tomorrow Dan and I say goodbye and head off to Salt Lake City. Thank you Holly, for a fantastic time!
Well, all I have to say about the Grand Tetons is.... you haven't seen mountains until you've seen these. But I'll get to that later. First, we finished up Yellowstone by looking at a lot more stinky bubbly boiling pits and springs and geysers. This bubbling pot of mud is called the Fountain Paint Pot. I guess it got its name because it looks like a big vat of paint.
We also saw a spring that, thanks to bacteria, was full of pretty colors. In the background you can see a hill that was burned in the fires of 1988.
We saw a lot more stuff, but the pictures start getting repetitive... springs, pools, geysers, steam. We won't put you through all that. We did see Old Faithful erupt again this morning, which was nice to see right before leaving our hotel. Here's a few pictures of the hotel..... as I mentioned, it's the oldest hotel in the park (100 years old) and really beautiful inside and out.
We drove south this morning through Grand Teton National Park to Jackson, WY. As you can see from the picture, the mountains are absolutely amazing.
After we got to my friend Holly's apartment, we were happy to take the rest of the day off from sightseeing to do laundry and hang out. Right now we are cooking dinner and I'm watching Holly and Dan try to make frozen margaritas. Anyone who knows Holly (and Dan) and their limited kitchen skills should realize that this is a rather comical sight. I think they're using the wrong mix, because it's coming out all foam. But no one is listening to me.
Tomorrow we're going to the rodeo and the cowboy bar. We're going to wear our hats! More pics of Holly, her place, her boyfriend Wayne, and our hats are coming soon.....
Okay, here are our Top Three Observations about Yellowstone Park: 1) It's crowded; 2) It's hot; 3) It's beautiful. Yes, although Yellowstone is a very beautiful park where there are lots of interesting things to see, it seems that all of America wants to see them at the same time we do, and in 90 degree weather. Did I mention none of the hotels have air conditioning? From what we hear, it's actually quite unusual to have such high temperatures, since we're at about 7000 feet high. But enough complaining... we have seen some pretty fantastic things, and we've also learned to wait till about dinner time to go out an explore the most popular areas to avoid the crowds and heat.
Yesterday we took a hike to Storm Point on Yellowstone Lake. Per the park ranger's advice, we made noise while hiking to avoid bears. I decided whistling would be best, because Dan can be less than complimentary about my singing voice. Maybe we were paranoid, but I was whistling until I was out of breath. (Later we saw hiking sticks for sale with bells attached, which is a much less exhausting option, I guess.) We didn't see any bears, but we probably scared away all of the other wildlife too, which made for a rather basic hike. Storm Point was a nice spot for viewing the lake and the mountains in the distance.
Later we went to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, which is smaller than the real Grand Canyon, but quite breathtaking nonetheless. Dan thinks this picture looks like we pulled down a screen behind him with a fake canyon on it. Rest assured, it is a real photo of Dan at the canyon.
There and at several other points in the park we saw some great waterfalls.
Buffalo are everywhere around Yellowstone, and we hardly even stop to look anymore. But it was neat to see a large herd crossing the river right off the side of the road. Who knew buffalo could swim?
We finally got a little bit of rain yesterday, after 12 straight days on this trip without a drop! But it was a passing storm cloud and the rain only lasted a little while. After we drove through the raincloud, we were amazed to look back and see this incredible rainbow! It was huge. We put the wide-angle lens on the camera to get this great shot. Wow.
Last night and this morning we explored some of the geothermal areas of the park (hot springs, geysers, mud pots, etc.). There are so many bubbling pools and springs that run hot, boiling water.
You can feel the heat when you walk near, and many of them spew smelly sulfur gas. Many of the springs are a pretty blue-green color from the bacteria that grow in them at high temperatures.
We saw Steamboat geyser, which is the tallest geyser in the world (300 ft) but only erupts every few years. It has smaller eruptions, like this one, every few minutes.
And then, of course, we saw Old Faithful, which is right next to our hotel. It erupts every 90 minutes or so (you can't set your watch to it, that's a myth).
Our hotel for tonight is the Old Faithful Inn, the oldest hotel in the park. It's beautiful, like a huge log cabin mansion. Later on, when the crowds thin out, we'll explore some of the other geysers (there are 900 in the park) and weird bubbling puddle things nearby. Then tomorrow, we are off to my friend Holly's house in Jackson Hole. Hopefully she has TV, because 5 days without it is starting to take it's toll on Dan. He's actually reading books.
Hello all.... it's been a while since we've updated.... we have been enjoying life in the mountains without much modern technology (okay, maybe a better word would be tolerating the lack of technology).
On Sunday we hit Deadwood, SD, a gambling town where Wild Bill Hickock and Calamity Jane were once locals. We visited the famous No. 10 Saloon where Wild Bill was shot while playing poker (holding aces and eights, the dead man's hand). Dan did a little gambling at the slot machines which were scattered in various small casinos on the main street, but luck was not on our side and all we were left with was a souvenir dollar token.
Devil's Tower was pretty cool. We were in awe when the tower first appeared on the horizon.... I don't think either of us realized how grand it would be.
It was formed by an underground volcano millions of years ago (sorry, the teacher in me has to share that). We took a mile-long hike around the base of the tower, and were amazed to see several rock climbers scaling it. You would never get me up there.
Our B+B for Sunday and Monday nights was nestled in the Bighorn mountains in Wyoming. We had bravely booked the Eagle's Nest Cabin, which was a five minute uphill hike from the main house. The cabin overlooked the Bighorn valley and we were literally surrounded by woods.
Our accomodations were a bit rustic for Dan's taste, especially because there was no air conditioning and it was quite hot. I wasn't pleased about the moths, which attacked me during the night (I woke up with a crushed moth under me in bed). But we made it through the first night, and for the second night we bought battery-powered fans and I went around with my shoe and killed all the moths. That made for a much more pleasant sleeping experience. Despite the rustic-ness, the nature surrounding us was nice--birds, wildflowers, butterflies everywhere. We could sit on the porch and watch it all.
I ran around chasing butterflies and got a few good pictures.
Oh, and when we drove to the B+B after dinner, around dusk, the deer would come out. And I don't mean a few deer like we see in NY. I mean A HUNDRED OR MORE deer grazing in the fields and jumping across the street, so we had to be really careful.
Monday we hiked to the Black Mountain fire lookout, which was an amazing experience. The fire lookout is a small cabin perched on the top of Black Mountain.
In the early 1900s, people used to live there during the summer and watch for forest fires. We drove most of the way up the mountain, and then parked at the trailhead. It was a two-mile hike to the top, one mile on a dirt road, and another mile zig-zagging up the side of the mountain.
As we hiked, we could see our destination, and we couldn't imagine how we would get there! But it was a good trail without any scary cliffs or major climbing. When we finally got to the top, we were at over 9000 feet! The view was fantastic (but a bit hazy from some nearby forest fires).
On our drive to and from this hike, we saw a moose and a wolf. I snapped a picture of the moose but it was going to the bathroom so that kind of ruined the picture. After our hike we stopped at a western wear shop and bought cowboy hats. We'll wear those to the rodeo in Jackson and various other spots around here, but when we get home, we'll save them for halloween (I'm thinking, Wild Bill and Calamity Jane....). I'll include a picture of us in our cool hats in a later entry.
When we arrived at Yellowstone late yesterday we rented a rowboat for a quiet boat ride on Lake Yellowstone. Look at Dan row!
We haven't been at Yellowstone too long, so I'll write more about it later. We have noticed that the wildlife here really roam wherever they want. There was a buffalo roaming right across the street from our hotel. We didn't feel the need to rush over and take it's picture (we've been there, done that with buffalo). We'll be in Yellowstone today and tomorrow and we're going to try and see as much as possible (except for bears, we don't want to see those). The weather here is warm and sunny, but we're at high elevations, so it's not as hot as it is outside the park. We'll update again as soon as we can with Yellowstone pics!
Another amazing day.... after a delicious breakfast (including an unexpected bit of entertainment when our host Larry dressed as a cowboy and told stories), we were invited to feed the animals! This B+B is also on a cattle ranch....when we woke up yesterday, the cattle were grazing outside our window. Larry took us in a pickup truck down to the barn. He promptly handed Dan a pan of grain and instructed Dan to feed the horse. I was asked to bottle feed a 3 month old calf. Look at us, we're ranch hands!
Then he took us to an old indian burial ground (or so we were told) and told some more tales. We also had a cow-pie throwing contest.
Larry's wife Bonnie gave us some great recommendations for our day. We started out at Custer State Park, which is just south of Rapid City. Custer State Park is known for their herds of buffalo, which when you drive through the park, you can view from your car. We had heard stories from Bonnie and some other folks we met earlier in the trip about how dangerous buffalo can be, especially at this time of year when they are protecting their young. A man was gored to death a few weeks ago because he got out of his car trying to videotape the buffalo (you are supposed to stay in your car), and more recently a man AND his motorcycle were tossed around by an angry bull. We were also told that they could attack and gore your car. But those things are relatively rare, and we weren't sure we'd get that close anyway.
After a yummy lunch at Game Lodge inside the park (we ate buffalo, naturally), we set off on the Wildlife Loop Road to find the buffalo and other wildlife in the park. After driving a few miles, we spotted a herd off in the distance. We snapped some pictures and viewed them with the binoculars. We thought that could be the extent of our buffalo sighting. But then after driving a short ways, we saw them right on both sides of the road! We inched the car ahead and then we realized they were crossing the road all around our car. They were in right in front of us in the road,
and coming up right behind us (looking angry, we thought).
We were one of about 2-3 cars caught right in the middle of the crossing, and we couldn't move. And they were SO huge, the bulls were about 6 feet tall and 10 feet long.
I was so scared, I cowered in my seat. Dan was nervously biting his nails. We could hear them growling as they passed our car, so close that they were brushing up against it.
It was terrifying and thrilling at the same time! I tried to take pictures, but when they came really close, I was too afraid I would anger them. Finally they cleared the way enough for us to pass through very slowly. We stopped at a ranger station just ahead and the woman told us that it was actually pretty rare for them to attack a car. Now you tell us! Later on down the road we saw even more buffalo, but they were grazing on the side of the road, not crossing. We also saw pronghorn, white-tailed deer and dozens of prarie dogs.
The route we took out of the state park was a winding road through some pretty incredible rock formations.
We passed through narrow single-lane tunnels in the rock.
We went into Hill City for some ice cream and window shopping, and then returned to the ranch to swim in the pool. Some of you have asked about the weather. They are actually having a heat wave out here, with temperatures in the 90s to 100 every day and lots of sun. Our only cloudy day so far was when we hiked in the Badlands, but that was a good thing, because the sun would have made it too hot to hike (the temps in the Badlands can get to over 100). No rain so far, but lots of distant lightning strikes at night. This morning we're off to Sheridan, Wyoming, with lots of things to see on the way (including Devil's Tower).
Wow.... where to start? In just a few days, we've done so many things. We drove from Souix Falls to the Badlands Thursday, and we stopped at the obligitory tourist attractions. First stop, the Corn Palace, which is basically a concert hall covered in corn. Then Wall Drug, which must have bought their hundreds of billboards back when advertising was free (or really cheap) because we started seeing their billboards back in Minnesota. When we stopped there, we sighed, releived that the billboard advertisements would finally stop! Dan called Wall Drug the world's biggest junk store, and he was right.
Then we went through Badlands National Park, which is just amazing. The Badlands look how the surface of the moon must look..... just see the pictures. Everywhere you go in the park there's a fantastic vista and Dan and I must have taken 100 pictures just to try to capture it. Last night we stayed right in the middle of it all on a real cattle ranch (it's a B+B too) with a 360 degree view. The ranch is located in Interior (pop. 67) and our host's great-grandfather was a homesteader back in the 1800s. He is a cattle rancher who runs the B+B to supplement his earnings (cattle ranching isn't very lucrative). I asked him if he goes out on horses to round up the cattle and he said they mostly do that with ATVs and motorcycles now. His cattle actually graze miles away from the ranch on government grassland, so we didn't see them. We did see plenty of prarie dogs (and we heard them too, they bark!) but they're too shy for pictures.
We watched a stunning sunset last night and then had the quietest night's sleep that I can remember.
This morning, we hiked in the Badlands National Park. One trail was full of steep cliffs and dropoffs and other scary things. I wanted to stop but Dan made me finish the hike and I'm glad he did.... no one ever did great things without taking risks!
This afternoon we had a short drive to Rapid City (in the Black Hills) and nearby Mount Rushmore.
Mt. Rushmore was very nice, but the area around it was a bit tourist trap-ish for our tastes. Tonight and tomorrow night we're staying at a B+B just outside Rapid City. It's a beautiful place with western decor and our own fireplace and hot tub! Tomorrow we hope to explore Custer National Park and anywhere else in the Black Hills our hosts recommend.
We were on the road for a good part of yesterday.... we drove from Milwaukee to Souix Falls, South Dakota by way of southern Minnesota. The trip went fast, thanks to high speed limits (75mph in SD, much to Dan's delight) and zero traffic. We stopped for lunch yesterday at the Wisconsin-Minnesota border, where we had a picnic on the banks of the Mississippi River. We saw what looked like a prairie dog in the grass, but it could have just been a chipmunk with a long neck.
We weren't sure. Later, we were pleased to discover the official Spam museum (yes, the canned meat product we all cherish). We stopped for a visit to the museum and we saw how Spam is made (sort of--they said "it comes from the pig's shoulder, then we put it in a can" what happens in between is anyone's guess) . The museum doesn't take itself too seriously, which made for a fun experience--it wasn't like they really thought we were interested in the fine details of Spam production. They showed a funny movie which demonstrated some folks' dedication to Spam-- a Spam singing group, someone who writes Spam haikus, and a college student who has worn a Spam t-shirt every day for five years (which is more sad than funny). We picked up a few Spam t-shirts for ourselves, and then we were on the road again.
When we got to Souix Falls we almost drove right by because we couldn't see it. There were actually cows within the city limits. Souix Falls is more like a glorified town than a city. The tallest building is about six stories. For dinner, we drove to a very small town south of the city called Tea, SD, to eat at the Tea Steak House (which was recommended in a book we have). I wasn't expecting much when the waitress slapped down my filet mignon, which sat bare on a white plate. But when I put a piece in my mouth, it was heaven. The best steak I ever had. It was served with a side of hashbrowns, crunchy and brown with onions and cheese. Delicious!
Today we drive to the Badlands, southeast of Rapid City, and then the following day we'll be in Rapid City and the Black Hills area (including Mount Rushmore). We're staying in Bed & Breakfasts for the next few days, so daily updates are not guaranteed..... but we'll try our best! We're so glad so many of you are enjoying our travelogue.
Our Milwaukee adventures continue.... This morning we went over to Frankie's workplace, Kaehler's Travelworks (formerly Adashek's National Trunk). [For those who are confused, Dan's grandparents used to own a small chain of luggage stores, now sold to a large chain.] Dan and I looked around at the merchandise and settled on a large duffle bag to hold our dirty laundry for the rest of the trip. Later, Cindy followed Milwaukee tradition and had a Brat for lunch [Bratwurst], and Dan chose the healthier route, a turkey sandwich.
This afternoon, I insisted Dan take me to Usinger's Sausage Factory where I bought my favorite summer sausage to snack on the road. Then we went to Kopp's for another healthy treat, some chocolate frozen custard. Estimated grams of cholesterol I ate today: 563.
Dan was on his best behavior all day, so I brought him to Winkie's for a toy. [Inside family joke: Dan and his brothers used to visit Winkie's store for a toy when they were little--it's right by his Grandma's store.] Actually, we saw the funniest sign of the trip so far at Winkie's store: "You must be AT LEAST 12 years old to buy fireworks."
We head off for a long drive to South Dakota tomorrow. Might not be able to update for a day or two, but then you'll start seeing pics of the wild west.....
Well, we've been a bit delayed in updating the blog because it took us a little longer than we thought to get to Milwaukee yesterday. We were delayed by an accident north of Indianapolis that stopped traffic for about 45 minutes (a motorhome toppled off a trailer, yikes) and some thick traffic around Chicago. But we made it here, had a good night's rest, and have already started some Milwaukee adventures. Today Frankie (Dan's grandma) and I visited the Milwaukee Art Museum. As you can see from the photo below, it's gorgeous. It was designed by the Italian architect Callatrava and I think it looks like a giant ship. It sits on the shore of lake Michigan, which you can see in the background of the photo of Frankie and I.
The special exhibit was the works of the industrial designer Brooks Stevens, who designed hundreds of things from cars to irons to washing machines. It sounds boring but it was actually really interesting. Among his many well-known designs was the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile, shown below. And he says of this famous creation: "There's nothing more aerodynamic than a weiner, I guess." (I love that quote--I bought Dan a t-shirt with it written on there. haha.)
Then we made a special stop to snap a photo of Nancy's childhood home. Frankie reminisced about how Dan and Dave used to run up and down the front and rear staircases. "I liked those two staircases," Dan remarked.
Now I'll give a more detailed discription of Saturday's wedding.... The ceremony was in a small Lutheran church on the IU campus. It was lovely. Despite having her veil stepped on and detached as she was walking down the aisle ("Keep going!" she whispered to her Dad after it happened, and later said, "I decided the show must go on."), the bride was stunning, the groom was dapper in his tails, and the ceremony made us all misty (some more than others - Courtney). We enjoyed cocktails back at the hotel while listening to relaxing piano tunes and then moved to the reception hall where the party started! The bride and groom did an effortless waltz for their first dance (good job, guys) and then we enjoyed a delicious dinner. I visited every station and ate three plates of food! Then we all got busy on the dance floor. My friend Erika kicked of the dancing by singing a fabulous rendition of "At Last" by Etta James. We snapped a few photos while she was singing, but turned off the flash so we wouldn't make her nervous! The entire wedding was an immensely classy affair, thanks to careful planning by Sarah and her mom. The bridesmaids wore black and white and the flowers were deep red roses. Later in the evening, the bride threw her bouquet, and my friend Amy was poised and ready to catch it! After a small scuffle between Amy and Kristen, the maid of honor, they were both able to catch it--because Sarah had tossed a collection of small bunches of flowers for more than one single gal to enjoy.
The grand finale of the evening was a sparkler sendoff at midnight and then an amazing fireworks display.
All around, one of the best weddings we have ever attended. Sarah and Paul are now relaxing in the Cayman Islands....
By popular request, here's some more photos of our dining experience at Vivo in Cleveland, including some food pics and a shot of Dan and his cousin, chef Todd Stein.
Thanks to everyone for following our adventures, we love getting your comments (if you haven't seen it, you can leave comments at the end of each entry by pressing "Comments")
Here's the first of many pictures that we will post of Sarah and Paul's fantastic wedding! Sarah was an absolutely stunning bride, and as you can see, my girlfriends and I were the life of the party! We're in a hurry to get to Milwaukee today, so I'll give a full description and more pictures later.....
We arrived in Bloomington, IN yesterday, the college town for Indiana University. Our hotel is actually part of the student union. We are here for my friend Sarah's wedding. Sarah and her fiance Paul both went to IU, and they live in Indianapolis, which is an hour north of here. We weren't here too long before it was time to head off to the rehearsal dinner, which was at a small italian restaurant in town. Dinner was fun and the open bar permitted us to get a bit rowdy by the end (Dan enjoyed doubles of Captains' and Coke) --the centerpieces contained little trinkets which made perfect ammunition between the two tables where our group was sitting. I managed to stay above it all. (Okay, I'm lying.... but I only threw one butter pat and a few plastic doves.) Here's a picture of Sarah and I at dinner.
Today we walked around the IU campus, which is quite beautiful. And I've been to many colleges! The buildings are old and grand, and the campus has a series of paths and bridges through thickly wooded areas with flowers and wildlife in abundance.
We had a GREAT time in Cleveland! It rained on and off on our trip here.... for a while we thought that our baseball game might be rained out (correction: Dan's game, which I agreed to attend). When we got to Cleveland we spotted the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (hard to miss, see pic), and so we pulled right in. We perused the museum for a while--you really could stay there all day if you wanted to look at everything closely. Some of the highlights were Michael Jackson's sparkly glove, Christina Aguilera's yellow pant suit from her Come on Over video, and the one-arm shirt worn by Def Leppard's one-arm drummer. Okay, those were MY highlights. I also loved the special U2 exhibit, which took up an entire floor of the museum. On our way out of the Hall of Fame, we passed through Harborfest, where we saw the tall ships in the Lake Erie harbor. By then the weather had turned clear and sunny.
Later, we had a FANTASTIC meal at Vivo, the italian restaurant where Dan's cousin Todd is head chef. Todd prepared us a special scallop appetizer, which was amazing, followed by lamb chops for Dan and goat cheese ravioli for me. We ordered two decadent desserts, figuring we would take a few bites of each, but then Todd visited our table and had the waiter bring us another dessert! Needless to say, we were stuffed. We have some pictures from Vivo which we'll post in a few days (we have a small picture problem that will be resolved shortly).
After eating, we walked to Jacobs Field, where we watched the Cleveland Indians beat the NY Yankees. I only whined slightly when the game went into an extra inning, but then they won in the 10th. We had only been there since the 4th inning, so I guess I couldn't complain. It was a beautiful, warm night. Cleveland rocks!
We're off! The car is loaded and we head out early tomorrow morning. Dan insisted on taking every piece of clothing he owns, including an "auxillary bag", which is full of clothes I wasn't going to allow him to take. Any bets on whether he'll actually wear the clothes in the auxillary bag? Anyway, the first stop is Cleveland, and then Friday we head out to Bloomington, IN for Sarah's wedding.
Getting ready to leave... put new tires on car... almost done with laundry... bags half packed... dry cleaned suit for wedding..
Hello everyone - this is where you will have to come to follow our journey across America (or at least 3/4 of it)
Please leave us comments by clicking on the Comments link on each posting.
