Be It Ever So Humble....

Ok. I've seen women keep a lot of unusual things in their shirts. Cell phones, money, a tissue or handkerchief, their library cards, etc. While having breakfast at the hotel this morning, I saw a woman pull a chihuahua out of her shirt. I'm not kidding!  I didn't even know this hotel allowed pets!!  Maybe he was a service animal. (Sorry I wasn't fast enough to get a photo)

Ohio and West Virginia toll roads. Just in case I thought I might make it home with any money at all. 

And here's how we knew we were back in familiar territory! 

Back in NC!

U-turns:  1.5
Miles today: 562
Total miles on trip:  6,991
Animals: 2 donkeys, many sheep
Tunnels:  2
States today: 4
States on trip:  21 states in 16 days
NC
TN
AR
OK
KS
CO
WY
UT
ID
OR
WA
MT
ND
MN
WI
IL
IN
MI
OH
WV
VA

We are Amused

We woke up in Sandusky, Ohio, had breakfast, purchased and printed out our tickets and were on our way to Cedar Point. We rode some rides, ate some snacks, admired the views and called it a day. 

After leaving the park we played mini-golf and then went back to the hotel for a swim. 

There were ducks.

Yes it was a pretty boring day!

Tomorrow?  Heading for home! 

U-turns:  0
Arrests:  0

Say Cheese

We left the hotel and immediately did the first U-turn of the day in order to get to a local cheese shop.

After our photo-op with mouse and cow, we headed for McDonald's, necessitating two more U-turns in rapid succession.

Our first rest stop was in Wisconsin, in what is apparently a major fishing area, as "Bait" had its on room, strategically located between the Men's and Women's.

Once into Illinois, we discovered the "oasis", a huge rest area built OVER the highway and containing what amounted to a mini-mall!!

It took some dong but we finally made it around Chicago and into Michigan. That makes it official - Say and I have now been to all of the states except Alaska and Hawaii.

We went to the small town of New Buffalo to see the shore of Lake Michigan. New Buffalo was a very cute little town and the New Buffalo City Beach was very nice. It looked a lot like an Atlantic Coast beach. The sand was rougher and there were ducks and geese in addition to the requisite seagulls.

U-turns: 3
Arrests: 0
Wildlfe: deer, seagulls, ducks, geese

'Til We Dropped...

We slept in a little later this morning due to being out so late the night before. We couldn't likely have slept any later than we did though, because once we were up, the construction began right outside our room. 

We hit the road and in no time we were in Minnesota. We stopped at the visitors center for information. I had just picked up a Minnesota travel guide and a map when the attendant asked if I needed any assistance. I told her we were heading to the Mall of America. She looked furtively around, reached under the desk and in hushed tones said "this is what you need" and handed me a booklet approximately the size of a Webster's unabridged dictionary. Needless to say, Lizzie is studying the volume harder than she ever studied anything in school, highlighting her selections, drawing maps, plotting her strategy. I'll be posting a Go Fund Me campaign shortly to raise money to get us back home. 

And the landscape changes once again. We are now in the land of green. Green fields of corn and other crops, trees, shrubs, grass and other plants are abundant. There are rolling hills and many farms. And every "dip" in the land has a small pond, complete with a variety of water fowl. 

Well the Mall of Anerica is.... a mall. It does have a small amusement park, an entertainment space, an aquarium and other attractions (each sold separately!) and it is REALLY big, but ultimately, it is just a mall. We only spent about 2 hours longer than planned there and despite Lizzie's best efforts, did not spend ALL of my money. I think I may have about $2.83 left. 

We're on our way to Mauston, WI for tonight's stay. 

U-turns:  0
Arrests:  0
Interesting scenery:  0
Interesting wildlife:  0
Stores:  1000+
$ spent:  all of them

Home on the Range

We set out from Miles City, MT, hanging for Fargo, ND. Yes, that Fargo. 

Our first stop was to fill up with gas, where we spotted some rather unusual wildlife out by the gas pumps. 

We made it into North Dakota early on and stopped in the town of Beach to go to Prairie Fire Pottery. However, being it was Sunday morning, everyone but the cat was in church so we didn't get to visit. 

Next on our route was Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We saw prairie dogs, a small herd of buffalo and lots of beautiful sights. 

Right outside the National Park was the touristy little town of Medora. We wanted to have lunch there but everything was closed by the time we arrived. So we just had ice cream!

After a long drive, we decided to stop to see theWorld's Largest Buffalo Monument in Jamestown, ND. Not only did we find the buffalo statue, but an entire frontier village, a buffalo museum and a small herd of buffalo, including an albino. 

We had dinner at Kroll's Diner (motto "Sit down and eat!"). Our waiter, Shane, was great! We told him about our trip and that we had never been to North Dakota before. He shrugged and said "There's nothing here. And it's flat. If your dog runs away you can still see him running two days later."
I had the Raspberry Kuchen. I'm still not sure exactly what it was, but it was delicious!

Just another Dakota sunset.....

U-turns:  4
Arrests:  0
Goats:  3
Buffalo:  1 wild herd; 1 fenced herd: 1 albino
Prairie dogs: hundreds

Where the Deer and the Antelope Play. And the Horses. And the Cows. And the Llamas....

We are leaving Missoula, MT this morning and heading for Miles City. It will be a long driving day, so we are hoping for some interesting places to stop along the way! 

Getting ready to head out of Missoula, MT, which turns out to be a very cool place! It's a little larger than Burlington, down in a valley with huge mountains all around (maybe a ski area?). It has a very nice, cool downtown area and apparently a lot of culture and activity as ALL of the hotels in the area were booked solid for a baseball tournament, a BIG music festival, big farmers market and a couple of other activities this weekend. 

Since this is another long driving day, we are looking for fun things to see and do. However I think we will pass on the Berkley Acid Pit. 

We we made an emergency pottery stop at Clays in Calico.

There are more beautiful and interesting sights to see along the way. 

Our one special stop for the day was at Pompeys Pillar National Monument. What a treat!  Lizzie and I walked to the top and got great photos of the wonderful views. Say and Serra Jo went the other direction and walked down to the river and got some great photos there. In addition, we saw several marmots, a bull (aka gopher) snake and a multitude of Pokemon. 

We managed to arrive at our destination at a decent hour tonight. So we headed out in search of an ATM, a good restaurant and more Pokemon. 

We are staying in Miles City tonight, which has a really cool sculpture and sign out on the highway. And we are apparently sharing our accommodations with "Chancey Williams and the Younger Brothers  Band". 

And a nice Montana sunset....

Tunnels: 2
Crossing of Clark Fork River: 5 times
Arrests: 0
Animals: sheep, cows, horses, llamas, marmots and one snake