Day Six

Departed our hotel at 8:28am and our first stop was the NAPA auto parts store. Yes, our Minnie had a problem. Not a major one, just a light bulb burned out in her front right headlight. And, the good news was that the stop was only a couple of miles out of our way and the bill was under $20. Now, we have to find time to change it. Our next stop was the Wyoming Visitor's Center and a kind lady, Judy, gave us a history lesson, a map, and some encouragement to enjoy this great state. It is the smallest in population, around 500,000, but ninth largest in area. K took the first shift driving and we let her drive all the way to our next stop, Devils Tower. We arrived there at 11:05am and after checking in and getting the passport stamped we were fortunate enough to hear a ranger talk about those who climb the 600 feet of sheer cliff. We actually watched at least six climbers. It is an awesome sight.

Lunch was at the base of the tower in a nice park surrounded by colonies of very friendly prairie dogs who willingly posed for pictures. What fun to watch them. At 1:20pm we were off down the mountain, okay hill (elev. 4250ft) and on our way to Sheridan, Wyoming. I was a very timid driver heading up and down the various hills and curves on the way to I-90, but taking my time I made it and then revved up to 74mph on the interstate.

We arrived in Sheridan at 4:15pm with plans to get some groceries, wine, change a light bulb, and grab some pizza for dinner. Didn't quite happen that way. At our first stop, the wine store, we found a flat rear left tire as we were about to leave. Ooops. Call AAA and wait. The irony was that our hotel was, literally, across the street. K and I went and checked in while R waited. We planned on quite a wait since it was Labor Day. God was with us - the tire was changed and ready for us to go in about 45 minutes. Way to go AAA. I located a grocery store and, after unloading the van, R went and bought the few picnic supplies we needed. Next it was off to the Pizza parlor advertised in the room literature. Ooops again. It was closed, but again God was with us and we found a great Mexican restaurant right across the street and, they had the best ever Margarita. Never did get that bulb changed. Travelled some 290 miles today.

K and I were both suffering from some flu-bug and early to bed was in order. 9:15pm. zzzzzzzz.

Wagon wheels have wooden spokes!

As we have been traveling across the country I keep thinking of what it must have been like for the people traveling west in search of a brighter future. Instead of a minivan they had covered wagons and traveled in groups for safety. It must have been some tough traveling across the Great Plains with all the ditches and gullies to avoid. Of course they made it to the promised land, but yesterday we got a reminder of the dangers of travelling in those days. One of the spokes on our wooden wheels broke! Fortunately it happened just as we were arriving in the frontier town of Sheridan, Wyoming. So today were have to find a blacksmith to make a new spoke and repair our wheel. It could be days before we are on our way again, but at least this did not happen in the GIANT mountains that are looming before us. OK, we don't have wooden wheels but we did get a flat tire from a stray Phillips head screw and it will only delay us for a few hours, but it did make me think about those hardy Pioneers who came before us and wonder how many broke a spoke and ended up staying. Hmm, I think it's time to get out Dodge, or Sheridan as the case may be.

Day Four

Up and at 'em at 4:34am - well, only me! My biological time clock says I need seven hours sleep at night and when that time arrives I wake up. This was ridiculous however. K and R were still sound asleep and I was wide awake. Since I hadn't blogged the night before, I answered my email and wrote my blog (see www.wordsfromthecrone.com ). At 6am the alarm went off and our day started. Today we were traversing South Dakato on our way to Mt. Rushmore and we departed late at 8:39am. Seemed my stomach decided to act up and I was deep in pain with cramps and chills. R and K went to the drugstore for Imodium and Pepto Bismol. Medicated the cramps were bearable enough to crawl to car, wrap myself in my throw and jacket and grin and bear it.

The landscape in South Dakota can be gorgeous with sunflower fields or merely mundane with grassy pastures full of rolls of hay unendingly. The temperature had dropped the low 60's and the wind was howling. We stopped an a rest area for morning coffee and a pit stop only to discover a delightful Lewis & Clark museum and a beautiful overlook of the river which is a feeder to the Missouri (I think). The weather was a crisp 61 degrees with a very strong wind most of the day.

After hour upon hour of the vastness of uninhabited land, K said "I will never think that Delaware is in the middle of nowhere ever again!" This land made Slower lower Delaware look like a metropolis.

Right after lunch our navigator, K, suggested that we take the scenic route along the wall of the Badlands National Park. It was a great suggestion and K got another Park stamp and we got a chance to see this barren and unique landscape in our country. So glad we had the time and the inclination to again go off the planned path and discover something new.

We arrived at Mt. Rushmore at 4:15pm rather tired, but ready to have dinner and go see the evening program at Mt. R. Although my cramps had subsided a light dinner was all I was up to having. Halfway through dinner though it was evident that I was very tired and needed to get some rest. We scratched the evening program and now we are off to sleep. Today we traveled 381 miles and "Minnie" is still going strong. Tomorrow will be spent in Keystone, SD and at Mt. Rushmore. No early up for us tomorrow.

Day Three

Well, our morning routine worked and so it will be. We departed at 8:08am with K being the first up on the driving rotation since that is her most awake time. Her narcolepsy kicks in during the afternoon and she has a tendency to get drowsy so driving is not good. My meralgia parasthetica kicked in after a couple of hours of driving, so R had the entire afternoon at the wheel. I'll have to make it up to him tomorrow. Today we were traversing Wisconsin and all of Minnesota. Wisconsin's highlight was the view of the headwaters of the Mississippi river from high on a bluff. Simply beautiful.

What was really amazing today, however, were the vast and various wind farms. There were hundreds upon hundreds of 100 feet high wind turbines all across the state of Minnesota. It was just amazing to see mile after mile of these sentries spinning and generating electricity from a renewable energy source. We tried to take some photos, but the white towers against a gray sky didn't show up well. It was cloudy and overcast most of the day with temperatures in the mid-seventies.

We arrived in Sioux Falls, SD at 4:33pm having driven 483 miles. Dinner was at Chili's and again early to bed early to rise gets us to our next destination in time for dinner.

Day Two

OMG does 6am come early. This was our first morning together and we let Kristen sleep until 7am while R and I had gotten dressed and ready for breakfast. K rushed to meet us at breakfast and we managed to get off by 8:20am on our way to South Beloit, IL. We talked about how the morning routine went and K said she really wanted to get up earlier so that she could get ready in a more leisurely manner and we could all go to breakfast together. We agreed to try it.

Our luncheon picnic was a side trip to the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore at place called Portage Park and River Walk. A real treat overlooking Lake Michigan although the temperature reached an uncomfortable 96 degrees. K bought her Park Passport at the visitor's center and put in her first national park stamps.

We arrived in S. Beloit at 3:45pm Central Daylight Time having driven 430.8 miles and moved into another time zone losing an hour. We'll pick that up on the way home. We had dinner at a wonderful local restaurant, Anna Maria's, and again headed for an early to bed for an early departure in the morning.

Day One

We departed at 8:55am in our mini-van "Minnie" who was showing her age with 198,805 miles on her. We prayed she makes the 7600+ Great American Road Trip. She was packed to the gills with nary a space to spare. It was an amazing feat getting all our gear in, but we did it. Ralph took the first tour of driving duty and we were off. The weather was mild and sunny with a high in the 80's.

Our first picnic luncheon stop was in nice woodsy rest area in upper Maryland. I never realized how much stuff we had to load and unload just for picnic lunch. Oh well, it was fun and economical. The day was otherwise uneventful and we arrived in Elyria, OH at 6:26pm having logged 484.2 miles. We dined at Bob Evans and retired early since it was early up the next day.

WTF is GART?

GART is the acronym for "The Great American Road Trip", a family outing that's more than a vacation. It's an adventure. Our journey will take us from sea to shining sea, stopping at a number of National Parks and visiting friends and family along the way. Speaking of numbers here are a few to give you an idea of the scope of our insanity.

7600+ miles, ~425 gal. of gas, 40 days, 21 states, 19 hotels, 15+ National Parks, Monuments, etc., 5 times zones, 3 scenic highways, 2 nights in Vegas, 2 bridges, a dam, a tram, a prison, a castle, an arch and whole bunch of balloons.

Like I said, insanity!

Anyway, I set up this blog to record and share our little road trip with the world so check back and see how we are doing. Our departure is on August 31st, so I guess I should start packing!

Kristen