This is the start of our trip and the nice looking the van, all clean and shiny. Just wait until the end. Pay attention to the dates in the bottom right.
First hotel that we stayed at in Fremont OH.
Fremont OH, Holiday Inn with a outdoor pool and a mini golf game.
Fields of Indiana, man they went for a long time.
Chicago White Sox Stadium
Here is a quick view of Chicago and you can kind of make out the sears tower.
More shots of the sears tower.
Here is a shot of all the spinklers systems that they had in the farm country.
Abby reading her book.. Only one problem, can you see it?
Quality Inn that we stayed at in Madison WI.
Walking the dog we saw this, what looks to be a Priarie Dog. Look in the middle of the shade.
Tried to get a little closer and basically looks like a little Chipmunk that goes in holes in the ground.
Stop along the way in St. Charles, WI and had to take a shot of this.
Very, Very long train and is probably hauling grain out of all this farm land.
Nice little farm, dairy looks to be the name of the game in Minnosota.
Dairy is the name of the game.
Very windy out here and they are taking advantage of it. We are starting to enter the great plains.
Sioux Falls Sleep Inn, very nice but a little loud with the state track meet that was going on in the town. We also had to watch for big storms headed into the area.
Pool was very nice and Abby loved it
Abby was loving it and so was Mommy. Check out Abby's fat legs!!
OK, Daddy was liking it also
Abby probably more than Daddy.
No hot tub for Abby but she gets to rap up in her little robe.
The storms are coming and this little town is out in the middle of no where.
BEEF!! Black Angus looks to be the calling in South Dakota, they are eveywhere and no farm in site.
Tornados hit Sioux Falls, greatfully after we had departed.
Old Town, just a place that is suppose to look the the old west. Didn't stop, but did wave.
Look at those hills, kind of looks like the Grand Canyon but it isn't.
Wide Open Spaces.....
More open spaces with nothing in site. Badlands of South Dakota.
Wall Drug, small town in the middle of South Dakota. There were signs all over the place, kind of like south of the boarder so we had to stop and see the hipe.
Just a small town, no hipe here.
More land, where is the houses?
No houses but there are a lot of cows.
Mt. Rushmore and a scenic stop along the way.
We were this close so we had to stop in and show that we had been there.
Abby is having fun and is glad to be there.
Family shot!!!!
Abby, the next head to be put on the mountain.
Old McDonald Petting Farm. We didn't go in but if Abby was a little older she would have had a ball.
Rushmore Plaza in Rapid City, South Dakota. Very nice place and Jaeger loved the elevator.
A view from the room, reminds me of the Marriott in Times Square.
Wyoming, nothing out here either.
Montana, more of nothing.
Not even a car but lots of land.
Shelby Montana, last night in the United States.
Crossed the board and no problems, hardly looked at our paperwork.
Alberta, very nice area but expensive.
Red Deer, Alberta and the Travellodge, nice but very smoky room. We had the dog so we had to live with it.
Roads are nice, nicer then I thought. 70 or 75 mph most of the way.
Just another road shot.
And another road shot.
Grande Prarire, Alberta and the big money hotel. We wanted to spoil ourselves this night and we did in the King Suite.
Tuesday, May 18th 2004 10:30pm
We headed out around 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday 5/18/04. The drive is going to be long but I am looking forward to our new life
The trip lasted 18.5hrs from start to finish in Grand Gorge, NY. We got in around 5pm Wednesday, May 19th, 2004
This week has been fun. We saw George and Kate. They are having their 2nd baby. Destiny is now 14-months old. We got to see Annie also. She told us about a 300+ lbs bear that has been visiting. The last time he actually came up to the sliding glass door and left paw prints. I have to agree with her that is a little to close for comfort.
We visited nana a few times. She is 103 now. She was so excited to see Abby.
On Sunday we had family over for a small going away party. Uncle John and the girls were there.
Wink’s sister with all of her kids came and so did Dom, Michelle and the kids. Little Dom is doing great right now. He has the most precious smile and just lights up a room.
Monday night we went up the hill to Wink’s grandparents house for dinner. That evening it poured. There were tornado watches a few towns down but moving in a different direction than where we were. Then in a blink of an eye there was a breathtaking rainbow. Being up on the hill, although I call it a mountain, it was like you could reach out and touch it. These are the things I love about the Catskill Mountains. Living in SC with flat lands, busy streets, and lack of lush green trees you take for granted what other places have to offer. I guess this is why I was so set on leaving SC. I want the opportunity to see other places while Abby is young.
Tuesday night his grandparents came for dinner. This is the last night in NY. We went to see nana again which, once again, just brightened her day.
Wednesday, May 26th, 2004 at 5:30am
The trip of a lifetime begins. Most people think we are nuts for driving from the East Coast to Alaska. Literally from one end to the other of the U.S. plus entering only to exit Canada before getting to Alaska. Mainly because of Abby and Jaeger.
Our trip is planned out to last 12 nights and 13 days on the road. Okay, maybe we are NUTS.
We planned to leave at 5 AM but we were late by half an hour and for once it wasn’t my fault. The U-haul's lights weren’t working. We have had other issues already on the trip including blowing two fuses using Abby’s bottle warmer, realizing after driving from SC to NY that the U-haul's tags were expired from 01/03, and finding out by guy that works at the family owned dealership that the person that changed my oil at the Wal-mart did not tighten my oil plug. Last thing I need is to be in the middle of nowhere and blow the motor.
As of 11:00am we are still in NY but near the border. The views have been amazing including mountains, homes, lakes, and even a deer that thankfully made it across all four lanes of the interstate. We are 19 miles from Jamestown, NY and just went over a body of water that was quite large. I didn’t get a look at the sign with the name of the water as I was writing away.
Abby is napping and so is Jaeger. They definitely take after me as far as their sleeping habits. For example, Abby went to bed last night at 8:30pm and woke up at 4:30am since we were leaving. She ate and spent time with Wink’s parents until we hit the road at 530am. Of course, over the course of that hour she was half asleep and rubbing her eyes. She immediately went back to sleep at 530am in the van and was out until 8:30am for a grand total of 11 hours. Amazingly she was fighting to stay awake in only an hour. That’s my girl!!!!
Jaeger, on the other hand, could not rest until he was in the van. He always panics when we go anywhere. He wants to be sure he has a seat before anyone else. What he doesn’t realize is he is our baby just as Abby is.
We stopped in Erie, PA at noon for several reasons. We got gas at $2.03 per gallon – YIKES we aren’t in the South anymore. It took over $45 to fill up. We then took Jaeger to potty. He found a stop sign to pee on. We ate at Wendy’s, well we went through the drive-thru and almost didn’t make the turn around the corner because of the trailer. Since we saw a Ford dealership we went over to get new fuses so that we could use the bottle warmer. They only had 5 in stock so we bought them all just in case. While Wink went in to get the fuses I ate and so did Abby. She even ate a fry after her bottle. After Wink got back and ate we hit the road again. Wink says he liked driving on 17 through NY because there was no traffic. Since we got on I-90 in PA there are a lot of 18 wheelers. Abby is now about to nap again and Jaeger, well he already is.
Well, at 1:36pm we crossed into Ohio and first off the road (still 90/80) is terrible. As soon as we crossed the border it started raining and we started bouncing all over the place. Sure do hope that not all the roads in Ohio are like this. Although it does look as if they are repaving, or at least starting to, the left lane in both direstions. However, it may take forever considering there are no workers as far as I see. Bad thing is this interstate takes us all the way across Ohio.
Well, it has be about 6 miles of torture but the light seems ahead. I finally saw 3 workers on the opposite side of the interstate and our side appears to be recently completed. Hoping that this will continue, especially since Abby is sleeping. Well, I spoke to soon. As soon as I completed that sentence, the roads went back to terrible. Oh well, hopefully it will get better.
We hit a traffic delay at 2:47pm. As we reached Cleveland. The right lane of the interstate was closed because a 18 Wheeler carrying crushed cars from a junk yard turned over. They were using a forklift to pick them up and reload on the truck.
We passed Jacob’s Field at mile 480 of trip. Interstate 71 and 90 just split and we are still on 90.
Abby just awoke and is “Starving”. Although you would never know from all the fat rolls on her body. She does not have much patience when it comes to food. Looking for somewhere to stop has not been easy. It doesn’t appear we will be able to stop for a while. Right now we are in the subherbs. Finally, exit 159 has both gas stations and fast food locations so that we can feed Abby. We found a Speedway about a mile off the exit just over the railroad tracks. Wink went in to get the bottle warm and Abby is content for now playing with the small umbrella that was in the door. Although if Wink doesn’t hurry she will realize it is not editable and get mad again. Jaeger, on the other hand is quietly laying in his bed. Just for reference the gas at this station is $1.95 for regular. I expected the Cleveland area to be higher. I am not sure how much farther to the hotel but I don’t think it is too far now. I believe we are on the other side of Cleveland already. So far though the trip has been alright. Abby has not been real fussy other then when wanting to eat.
Well Abby has ate and Jaeger went potty. Wink asked a postal mail carrier about the distance to Fremont for our stay over. He stated that it is about an hour. Hopefully he is correct because Abby is ready to get out the car seat. Luckily the rest of the trip to the border of Canada is shorter than today’s time. We will have another long day but not until we get to Canada.
Well we are one exit away. Ohio is definitely different as far as the lack of rolling mountains. Although the land is flat and wide open it is beautiful. It almost reminds me of the Little House on the Prairie TV series. There are a lot of farmhouses on lots of open fields. The fields just go and go for miles. We must be in the middle of nowhere because as I said earlier we are to take the fourth exit from the beginning of the toll road, it has been quite some time since we got on. The exits are pretty far away from each other.
Now that we are only about 10 miles, Abby has fallen asleep again. I debated on whether to try to keep her up or let her be. She gets cranky and it gets hard for her to fall asleep the longer she is up.
We arrived at the hotel and checked in at 4:37pm. Man that was a long drive. Tomorrow should be better. Well at least shorter. After checking in we unloaded all of our over night bags and items needed for our stay. We have a room at the Holiday Inn in Fremont OH. Turns out to be a great hotel. It was customer appreciation night so they served appetizers consisting of mini corndogs and wings, as well as giving us three free drinks. The third drink was because I am a priority club member. We went down at 6:00pm to the lounge and both had a drink. We then used the third coupon for a soda to bring back to the room. Since we had the free food we were not real hungry but ordered a sample platter to take back to the room. We would have ate in the lounge but Abby was tired and beginning to get fussy.
After eating in the room Abby went to bed and we watched the final episode of American Idol which lasted until 10pm. Actually, Wink missed the last 20 mins or so because he fell asleep. At 10pm I decided to go to bed too.
Thursday, May 27th, 2004 at 4:15am
After getting about 6 hrs of sleep Wink got up to shower. In the process he accidentally woke up Abby. I went ahead and fed her at that point which was about 4:15am. After she ate and Wink finished showering I took a quick shower too. Then it was repack and reload time. Because we had pulled our cloths out when checking in and went ahead and reloaded our suitcases we did not have as much to load. I would say that this morning went very smoothly in part due to having set out everything needed such as the stuff needed to shower was already in the shower and hygiene items placed ready for use. It was nice not having to dig through bags this morning for anything.
Once everything was packed and loaded we hit the road at 5:23am. We hope that our other hotels are as nice. I forgot to say that they had a miniature golf course and an outside pool. We didn’t use either but though these were nice extras offered.
So the day begins. Abby fell asleep soon after getting back on the interstate. I fell asleep for about an hour but awoke when Wink came to the toll collection booth. The toll charge was $4.25 which is not bad. We had already paid $2.80 for the ride from I-90 toll start to the hotel. Right after going through the toll we entered Indiana. The roads are much better. This continues to be I-90 toll road so we were given another ticket. Abby and Jaeger still sleep peacefully. It is very quite on the road right now. The land again is very flat and long. There seems to be a lot of farmers here as well.
We just pasted a sign after exit 121 saying that Chicago is 135 miles away. I saw a gas station off the exit that was selling gas at $2.13 per gallon. Hopefully when we need gas again it will be less expensive. Not that we paid much less in Ohio. We paid $2.03 per gallon across from the hotel to fill up the rest of the way. I think we were still at half a tank at the time, so, we shouldn’t need any gas for awhile. Pulling the trailer as well as having the luggage rack on top of the van we are getting 17-18 miles per gallon which is not too bad.
Indiana has these great big above ground sprinkler. They are very wide which allows them to be able to reach across long fields. They have wheels on them so that they can reposition them in the larger fields.
We just passed Indiana’s largest Christmas tree farm at mile 103 of the I-90. It seems as if this is the state of trailers and campers. We have passed several factory buildings and sales locations for utility trailers as well as race car trailers. There has also been a lot of camper sales locations. I am not sure if they build them or if they just sell them in Indiana, but I am thinking they probably have the manufactures in this state. Indiana has travel centers like NY. They are nice because you can get gas and eat without having to exit off the interstate. I hate having to get to an exit only to have to search and find the advertised gas stations and food places. There have bee times you can’t even find them. I think every interstate should have them.
We stopped around 8:30am since Abby woke up. We fed her, walked the dog, and got gas at $2.09 per gallon. This was a travel center. We went to go inside and up pulled four big buses consisting of 200 eighth graders on a field trip. We sat down and ate while all of the kids went to the bathroom. Once the building cleared out from them we went to the bathroom and then to the gift store. I purchased a couple of postcards and then we left.
We are now back on the road. It started sprinkling and it is very cloudy out. Almost has a foggy appearance outside. Shortly after leaving the travel center Abby fell asleep. The toll portion came to an end and we paid $4.80. Right after that major construction began. As we approached Exit 14-A there was an old train station on the right. There was still the RR tracks and considering there was a train they must still use the tracks. However, the station itself was old and vacant. It looked like an old timey station you would see on TV. I wish I would have gotten a picture of it. It is hard to take pictures on the road though because by the time I see something I would photograph it is too late.
We are 25 miles from Chicago so the border must be near. I did not know they had casinos in Indiana but we just passed a sign for one at the last exit. They have a zoo here called Brookfield Zoo. If we weren’t on a time schedule we would stop but Alaska awaits. So, if you are ever in the area and go to the zoo let us know how it is. We just saw a other sign for a different casino so there are most certainly gamblers in this state.
We apparently crossed into Illinois without knowing it. There was no sign saying we were crossing the border. We went through a toll for a bridge listed as being in Illinois. So far all I see is real rough. It doesn’t appear to be a great area. Maybe that is why they didn’t say you were in Illinois, thus leaving you to think you were still in Indiana.
We just saw the subway. To this day I have never been in a subway. Actually we have seen several subway trains go by already. We passed downtown Chicago and took a few pictures. Unfortunately, because it was hazy you could not see the top of Sears Tower. We did pass the Morton Salt Company. I never knew they made the salt here. The building had the same design as the salt container including the picture of the girl with the umbrella and the slogan ‘When it rains it pours’. If we had the time I would have loved to go check out the Oprah studios since she is in Chicago.
We just passed the Allstate Arena. I have no idea what it is but it was quite large. There was a marque advertising that there would be a flea market at the arena. Now that is my kind of fun. If that is any indication of the size of the flea market I would be tempted to fly in to check it out.
It seems like we made it through Chicago with hardly any traffic delays. Just a few spots of congestion but nothing too major.
We stopped to feed Abby and walk the dog at around 10:30 a.m. Central time. We got off the interstate because we saw a shopping center beside the exit and through “great,” this would allow us to get on and off quickly, so we thought. We were WRONG. Apparently you can not get back on the interstate from there. You can get on to go East but not West. The sign said West “Straight” so we went straight. This was quite long, well about five miles. Then we came to a light and turned right still following the signs to West I-90. We are still on that road!!! It seems as if we are in the middle of nowhere. Unless someone changed the West I-90 signs as a joke we have to be going in the right direction.
Finally,,, we have reached the interstate. We have to have been pushed back or forward by some exits. We have been logging our mileage at each stop and from the shopping center the entrance to I-90 was 10 miles. NOT that 10 miles is far but considering the exit was right beside the shopping center it was a waste of time to have to drive through open fields just to get on the road that is right beside you to start with. Plus, it seemed much farther than 10 miles because the road was full of curves with nothing insight but open fields.
Well-we are rolling again. Abby is trying to go to sleep. We just went through a toll for $0.60. This is the second toll that Wink has had to be told how to add to $0.60. He has twice now given $0.35, forgetting it takes two quarters and a dime to get to $0.60.
Well, Abby has not yet fallen asleep. She has decided to read instead. Although, at eight months she can not read it looks like she can. She has her book open in front of her and is in a deep stare.
We just hit another $0.60 toll. I prefer no tolls but if necessary I think they should all use the tickets. This way we don’t have to stop for so many small tolls. I would much rather pay either at the end of the road, at the border, or when exiting the interstate.
Speaking of tolls, we are at ANOTHER for a price of $0.75. We are close to the border of Wisconsin.
Well, we crossed the border into Wisconsin at 12:16 p.m. Central time. We would have done it sooner but traffic was moving at a very slow pace. Turns out right at the border area there was road construction. We did see a sign saying Wisconsin is “The land of the Cheese.” Then we saw a Hormel chili Tower. They must also make chili here. It almost looked like a water tower, but in the shape of a can of their chili, go figure.
We just passed a sign saying we are 50 miles from Madison which is our scheduled over night stop. Abby has finally fallen asleep. Just now we passed an advertisement for the world’s largest water park called “Noah’s Ark.”
Now that we are getting close to Madison we hit construction again. The left lane was closed but the odd thing was that when we got to the part where the lane ended there appeared to be nothing going on. We are not sure why they made everyone go to one lane with no workers around. In fact, all the areas where there were workers it was still two lanes. Who knows!!
Wisconsin is beautiful. Not to many mountains or hills but not all flat land either. I would say that it is the perfect mix of the two. It has cleared up nice too. Much prettier than the Chicago area. There are clouds but there is also blue skies.
We have seen a few signs for Cheese and Wine Chalets alone the interstate.
We arrived at the hotel at 1:30 p.m. Central time. From the outside it looked nice. We were very disappointed with the hotel though. They did not tell us that they were under serious remodeling/renovations when I called the hotel directly to make reservations. This hotel cost $25.00 more than the Holiday Inn in Ohio and was not NEARLY as nice. The room smelt horrible, almost a decaying smell. I took Abby to the indoor pool for about 5 minutes before the smell of chlorine almost made me pass out. The hotel looked like it was built a million years ago.
After coming back to the room I took a bath in the tub with Abby. We actually had our bathing suits on so it was really not a bath but more like a small swimming pool. She splashed away.
After a while I took her suit off and gave her a bath and then Wink took her in the other room to get her dressed so that I could shower since I smelt of chlorine. The shower was HORRIBLE. First off, the pressure was horrible. Secondly, you could not really get warm water. It was either too hot or too cold. To make matters worse, the shower head had to be older than me, and I am 26. It only had water coming out of half of the water holes.
At this point I was very upset but my very laid back husband said it would be “okay.”
Abby seemed really fussy there ever after getting up from her nap. I had left the room to go wash a load of laundry (don’t let me get started on the dryer with some sort of sticky stuff in it that I had to get out) and when I came back I realized it was miserably hot in the room. We tried the air conditioner but nothing worked. I called the front desk and was very upset when I was informed that due to the renovation they had shut the air and heat off in the entire hotel. This was the straw that broke the camels back. You would think that all of the above would be things you should be told before making a reservation, especially the renovations with limited access to the hotel areas, no air and no heat. How could I, a person that lives for AC, stay in a room, let alone a hotel, with a eight month old and a 100+ pound dog, with NO AC!!!!! I had, had it and expressed my frustrations with her. I told her that we should have been told about the work being done because we would have stayed at a different hotel. Considering there was only six or seven cars there all day and night they probably didn’t want to lose their minimal guests.
She offered to move us into another room which I said was pointless since they had shut the AC off in the all of the rooms. After about two minutes of hanging up the phone to discuss the options with Wink the phone rang. She had called her manager who told her that the AC was suppose to be shut back on. I am not sure that this is completely true. I am thinking that they decided to turn it back on because I was not very happy with them.
I told her thank you but still felt that we should have been told prior to the reservation that they were redoing the hotel.
I would not stay there again and would NEVER recommend the place to anybody. I am going to ask to see our room prior to checking in the hotels that we are staying at for the duration of the trip, especially considering we have reservations at five more “Choice” hotels which includes Comfort Inn, Quality Inn, Econo Lodge, and Sleep Inn If it is not in my opinion worth what it is costing us then we will go elsewhere. I would much rather pay more somewhere else to be in a nicer hotel.
One positive thing about that hotel was the food and staff in the restaurant. We had ordered dinner that Wink went down to get and were pleased with the girl that assisted him, the taste of our food, and price of our meal.
Friday, May 28th 2004 at 5:30am
We hit the road again at 5:30 a.m. after waking up at 4 a.m. showering, feeding Abby and reloading. Today will be another seven hour day.
After leaving and getting on I-90 West we passed exit 106 which had the Cascade Mountain Ski Area. It was pretty small and looked older. It was hard to tell because it is not winter and it is not in use.
A few miles later we passed the exit for the Noah’s Ark water park that we saw advertised before on I-90. We could not see it because it is off the interstate. However, we did see two hotel/resorts beside the interstate that had water parks in them. One looked to only have outdoor water slides and such but there was one resort just being finished and due to open this summer that had both outside water park slides and an indoor water park. The building the water slides were in was the size of a Wal-Mart if not bigger. I think that is a great idea - a resort with the park right there. This avoids driving somewhere else for the day, parking, walking, and huge lines.
Abby fell asleep soon after leaving the hotel and ended up sleeping through the next border crossing. She woke up at 8:00 a.m. Central. Right before that at 7:45 a.m. we reached the Mississippi River which was at the border of Wisconsin and Minnesota. This state has been filled with farms ever since we got in it. All dairy farms so far. We are seeing a lot of horses and cows everywhere along with barns and rolling hills mixed with big fields. We stopped at exit 233 of I-90 to feed Abby in St. Charles, population 3295. After getting gas and heating up her bottle we pulled into a parking lot across the street. I fed Abby while Wink took the dog to the bathroom. We parked in the St. Charles Moose Lodge. The building had a big moose on it that we got a picture of.
We were back on the road after about half an hour and we ended up making it to the hotel about an hour and a half later. We were suppose to stay at the Econo Lodge in Sioux Falls, S.D. but it did not look very nice when we got to it. After our experience at the other hotel we changed our reservation to the Sleep Inn in Sioux Falls. They had an indoor pool and hot tub. We got the last room available. The state track competition was going on there this week so most hotels were booked. Our room was right next to the pool which had pros and cons to it.
The nice thing was they said we could leave Jaeger in the room and go to the pool because we would hear him if he got loud. Plus, there was only one other room down the hall we were in. So, if he barked they would be the only room that would hear him.
We got in the pool and hot tub for a while after checking in. Abby had a good time in the pool. We put her on the side of the hot tub and just held her because she can not get in them because of the heat.
After swimming we took showers and then relaxed while Abby took a nap. After her nap we went next door and got dinner to go. It was a family owned and operated small restaurant right beside the hotel and the food was very good. We brought it to the room and ate while watching TV.
While eating there were tornato watches and touchdowns one county over. Lucky we were bypassed but it was close.
Now, to the down side of being in the hall with the pool. Actually, you couldn’t hear the people in the pool room. You could, however, hear the people standing with the pool door open talking to their friends in the pool room. This was because they were standing right in front of OUR door. It ended up being more aggravating the later it got because Abby was sleeping and Jaeger was growling and barking at the “strange” noises he heard.
Not only was the noise outside the door but the teenagers were messing around and running in the hall upstairs. It sounded like the ceiling was going to fall down.
I went to the front desk and was told that the coaches of the teams that were staying there were getting the teenagers calmed down and in their room. This was at 9:45 p.m. (This may seem early but considering we were getting up at 4:00 a.m. it was late). At 10:15 p.m., 30 minutes later, it seemed to have gotten louder. I went back to the front desk and reminded the front desk worker that we were getting up at 4:00 a.m. (Less than six hours away) and that it was impossible to sleep. He said he would see what he could do. Of course this came out pretty rudely. This was probably because he had been having several complaints and was aggravated himself. I did hear him say something to someone about the group not being invited back to the hotel. This made me feel better in that I was not being a witch.
Anyway, it did not get better until after 11:00 p.m. So much for paying for a room to SLEEP in. Choice hotels are not impressing me very much at all. He should have spoke with the coaches/adults and pulled pool privileges and/or informed them they needed to stay in the rooms and not running down the halls. Other than the noise preventing sleep, the hotel was nice. I was mainly disappointed with the way that they handled the noise.
Saturday, May 29th 2004 at 5:30am
I felt like crap when I got up due to the lack of sleep. We packed and hit the road by 5:30 a.m. Today we would be heading to Rapid City, S.D. so no borders would be crossed today.
We did cross the Missouri River but both Abby and I were asleep. We stopped for gas and to feed Abby, as well as to walk Jaeger around 8:30 a.m. The area has been flat and also rolling hills. There are lots and lots of fields. We saw planted fields and cattle fields. Farming looks so peaceful but Wink says it is a lot of hard work. The farms are much larger here than the ones we saw in the other states. They have much more land, probably for the cattle to roam in.
The weather is iffy. It is not raining but it looks like it is going to rain. Hopefully it will not rain though. We passed a sign saying we are now in the Mountain Time Zone. This was at mile marker 188 (trip mile 2660).
Well, the rain started at I-90 mile marker 183. It is just drizzling though. The clouds have weird shapes to them here. It is completely different than down South. It has an eerie feeling to it.
The rain stopped after a few miles. Now the sun is shining and there are not any clouds out but it is windy.
We just passed a sign saying that we are about 100 miles from Rapid City. There really isn’t much to write about here. There are mostly farms but they are large so the farmers homes are quite far from each other. Definitely not walking distance. I would say it is about two to three miles between each farm that we pass. I could live out here.
We did pass a town called 1880 Town. This was an old timey town. Not sure if it is really an old town or if it was made for that look to get tourists. After shifting through some catalogs I had on the state I read about the town and found out that it was recreated but some of the buildings were actually from that time. The town is a completely functioning town.
We just entered what they call the Badlands in S.D. This area is at mile marker 153. Badland Petrifield Gardens can be found at Exit 152 to Hwy 63.
Right before mile marker 137, probably at 136 ½, there was a scenic overlook pull off. We stopped and took a picture of the Badlands and one of an area that was full of eroded hills with cliffs. We have seen this type of area a few times and are not sure what gave the land this look. It almost looks like canyons.
We stopped in Wall Drug SD. It was a small western town. It looked like what you would see on TV. I went in the post office there and got postcard stamps and mailed out a postcard to Ellen, Casey and the kids. We took some pictures there.
Since getting back on I-90 we have seen more cows. There are breathtaking views here. I would love to live somewhere like this and just farm on the land.
There is a reptile gardens coming up as we approach Rapid City. We have also been seeing signs for the Rushmore Cave and some “Cosmo” area. The sign said to come and “See it” and “feel it”. Not sure what “it” is. It is “Cosmos Mystery Area” and is off the Highway 16 South.
Ellsworth AFB is near. You would take exit 67 from I-90. It’s the 28th bomb Wing.
So far the trip has been pretty smooth going. We are four days in with no major problems. Abby gets a little fussy by the end of the day but that is understandable.
We got to Rapid City early so we went to Mount Rushmore before going to the hotel. It took about 20 minutes to get to Mount Rushmore from the interstate. We finally made it to the top of the mountain and saw Mount Rushmore approaching. We parked and went to the overlook area and took some pictures.
There was a listing of all the people who worked on Mount Rushmore from 1927 until 1941. You could not pay me enough to hand from the side of the mountain and carve into the mountain.
Coming back down the mountain we stopped at the Old McDonald Farm and took a picture of a goat walking across the “Goat Bridge”. We did not go in because Abby was getting hungry and she is a little young for an animal farm.
It seems as if there is so much to do here including Mt. Rushmore, Old McDonald Farm, Wax Museum of presidents, Cosmo Mystery Area, Helicopter tours, Horse trails, and the reptile gardens. We did not realize Rapid City had so much.
After getting back into Rapid City from the animal farm we went to the hotel and checked in. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Rushmore Plaza. The hotel was eight stories high and the inside was beautiful. They had glass elevators and a waterfall that went from the eighth floor to the first. The hotel was by far the nicest we have stayed at. We can’t give any ratings on the food because we ended up ordering pizza and wings from outside the hotel. The staff was great at the front desk and promptly corrected our room since we reserved a king but was given two doubles. This is definitely a location I would recommend.
We were going to go to the pool which I had already scoped out but Abby was tired and ended up taking a long nap. By the time she woke up we were tired so we just watched TV and relaxed.
We got up at 5am instead of 4am since the next leg of the trip was not real long. By the time we got up, showered, packed, fed Abby, and loaded the van it was 6:30am. Since we go gas upon arrival in Rapid City we were able to get on the road.
Sunday, May 30th 2004
Abby fell back to sleep just as we got on the interstate. Shortly after getting out of the Rapid City area it started sprinkling. The view has been more mountains than before. The flat land has ended and the mountains have begun. We ended up stopping about an hour after we had left because Abby was hungry and I had to go to the bathroom! We went ahead and got breakfast while we stopped.
After our stop it was drive time again. Along the way we saw more cows. There were not many homes or farms seen from the interstate once we crossed the border into Wyoming. The drive through Wyoming was not very long. We did stop for gas and to feed Abby while in Wyoming. I went in the gas station and got a postcard and a Wyoming magnet. We spent an hour on this break because we got gas and fed Abby. While we were stopped it started to rain so we got back on the road.
I have to say that so far Wyoming has been the most beautiful state yet.
We saw antelopes on the side of the road but there was a fence along the road so they could not walk into the road. The west is so much more peaceful than where I am from.
We ended up crossing the Montana border around 12:30pm mountain time.
The mountains are disappearing as we go north. I think they were the Rocky Mountains but we could be wrong. The land here has been hills and small mountains but nothing like what we saw earlier. You can still see the Rockies but they are going to the west and so soon we will probably not be able to see them.
Abby fell asleep again and Jaeger has been sleeping. We passed over Little Bighorn River which was pretty small. We got into Billings, MT and checked into the hotel. We stayed at the Comfort Inn. The hotel was nice and had an indoor pool and hot tub. We got in early so we relaxed in the room before dinner. We ordered food from Texas Roadhouse that Wink picked up. While Wink was gone getting gas and dinner Abby and I went to the pool. We only stayed about 10 minutes because it was not very warm even though it was an indoor pool. There was a railroad track right beside the hotel and although you could hear the train, it was not too loud. We went to bed a little late because we had planned to leave later since it was another short day.
Monday, May 31st 2004
We got up at 5am but after packing and loading we went to the lobby for continental breakfast and ended up not getting on the road until 7am
I am seeing the mountains again. I looked it up and they are indeed the Rocky Mountains. They are amazing. They have snow on the top of them and are huge.
Today’s drive is around 6 hours which is not too bad. We changed the route for today. We were planning on going I-90 West to I-15 North but are going I-90 West to US Hwy 191 to Hwy 87. That will get us to Great Falls, MT about an hour faster. From Great Falls we will go I-15 North to Shelby which is where we will be staying the night. It will be our last night in the US until we get to Alaska.
Hwy 191 was amazing. The Rocky Mountains have been riding along us and there have been hundreds of cows and sheep. We passed several ranches and one ranch for sale. I know I have siad this in several other places already but I would love to live here.
We passed Lewis and Clark national Park which is located off of highway 191. This route has by far been the most scenic.
We stopped in a small town, and I mean small, named Geyser, MT which is about 20 minutes or so from Great Falls. We fed Abby and walked the dog. We could not go to the bathroom or get gas because there is no gas stations there.
After getting back on the road we passed a sign saying Great Falls was 24 miles away.
Once we arrived in Great Falls we saw the sign for the Air Force Base located there. The town was a pretty big town. They had a lot of casinos there. There was one on every corner. We ended up driving through downtown because we took the hwy route. After driving through town we got on I-15 going north to Shelby, MT and saw a sign saying Shelby was 80 miles away.
Just as we got onto I-15 Abby fell asleep. Sometimes I can not tell if she is sleeping because her eyes stay cracked. I had to wave my hand in front of her to see if she was indeed sleeping, which she was. I decide to try to take a nap too and must have fallen asleep because when I woke up we were pulling into the Comfort Inn in Shelby, MT
We checked in and decided to go check out the pool since it was early. We figured since no one was really there yet we could go swim for awhile. We however had a change of our mind when we saw that the hot tub was covered up and the pool was green. I asked the front desk if they had just opened the pool but they said no, that it has been open. There was no way we were getting in that nasty water.
The hotel itself was nice though. They had a nice laundry room complete with four washers and dryers, folding table, and rolling basket. The hotel did not have a restaurant and to my suprise, did not have hair dryers or an ironing board and iron.
We decided to just hang out in the room and watch some TV. Abby had gotten really cranky after about an hour of getting to the hotel. We thought maybe she was not feeling too great since she had started eating less. I also think she is tired of the in and out of the van and hotels. Luckily this is our halfway point and tomorrow we cross the boarder to Canada.
Wink went out to get dinner in Shelby at a local Chinese restaurant. I have NEVER seen a Chinese restaurant that didn’t have General Tao’s Chicken. The girl, who was not Chinese, said she had never heard of it.
Wink grabbed some other things from there to eat and came back to the hotel. I have to say that was bar far the WORST Chinese food I have ever had and I eat a lot of Chinese.
After finishing the food I did the laundry and then went to bed. Wink had crashed while I was doing the cloths.
Tuesday, June 1st 2004
We woke up ready for yet another day. Today we cross the border into Canada. I have never went through a border so I am somewhat excited to leave the US. I believe today’s trip is about 7 hours which will not be too bad.
I am tired and desperately want to go to sleep but have to stay up to go through the border.
Today is beautiful. The sun is out and the sky is clear with just a few small clouds scattered around.
Abby looks really tired but is not falling asleep. She also has not eaten her bottle yet. She ate at 4:30am but as of now (7:35am) she has not wanted her milk. I really do think that maybe her belly hurts.
The hotel was about 30-35 miles from the border so we must be getting close by now.
Abby’s eyes are getting heavy and I don’t think it will be long before she is out. In fact, she is already out. Hopefully she will sleep for a while but she may end up waking up at the border.
Well, the border popped out of nowhere. They were doing construction on the entry way into Canada and the US. It looked like they are expanding the building and inspection lanes.
I thought there would be more to it as far as getting into Canada. Maybe it was because we were military on orders but it was less then 3 minutes and we were done.
After we went through the border Abby woke up. So far the roads have been the same as the US interstates. I am sure this will not be the case once we get into the Yukon area.
There are wide open fields, farms and sheep out here.
The most beautiful thing is the Rocky Mountains because they are covered in snow.
I have seen the biggest cows ever. These things are huge.
We stopped for lunch and to feed Abby. We were in Lethbridge, Alberta and while Wink fed Abby I went into the Super 8 hotel to use the phone to change a reservation in Whitehorse, YT.
After eating our lunch we hit the road again.
As we got into Red Deer we decided to try getting a less expensive hotel. We drove to a few and ended up staying at the Travellodge which was about $30 less than the other hotel we were going to stay at. The hotel was not as nice as the other places we have stayed at but it was okay for the price we paid. The staff was friendly and the room was clean. It just needs a make over. If they painted the room and got new curtains and comforters then it would look completely different. They did have a pool and hot tub but we just hung out in the room
Wink ran out to pick up dinner and get gas. Everything is different here. They have liters instead of gallons, coin dollars instead of bills plus two dollar coins, and they use Celsius instead of Fahrenheit.
We got dinner from a local restaurant called George’s Pizza and Steakhouse. We both got pasta and bread. It was really good and the price was a fair price. While out, Wink got gas. The van took over 80 liters at $0.85 per liter for a total of $70.46 Canadian which was around $55 - holy moly.
After we ate we ended up going to bed early around 8:30pm.
Wednesday, June 2nd 2004
We woke up at 4am again and got ready for the day. After showers, packing and loading we went to a donut and coffee shop and got some for the road. We were on the road by 6am. Today is due to be another seven hour day.
Driving from Red Deer to Grande Prairie was the same as driving to Red Deer as far as the scenic view. We saw a lot of cows along the way. Wink spoke with a guy that said that Canada is high in cattle beef and oil. He said it is like Texas in the rural areas.
We made a sop in Whitecourt, Alberta for gas. We also grabbed snacks and fed Abby.
Once we got into Grande Prairie we saw a new hotel called Amerisuites which had a water slide in it. It was a bit higher than what we had reserved but considering we were getting a suite instead of a regular room we went for it. The hotel was beautiful. They had a computer room with internet access free for guests, an indoor pool with water slide, hot tub and breakfast. The room had a living room with fireplace, kitchen (full), bathroom with huge tub, and separate king bedroom with back door for pet access to grassy field. The staff was very friendly. We also were given a 10% off coupon for one of four restaurants within walking distance.
We went to a restaurant called Rickey’s. Wink got ribs and I got a sampler combo which came with a salad (ceaser), chicken tenders, and potato skins. The food was really good.
We hung out in the pool and hot tub before and after eating dinner. This was the perfect place to relax after a week on the road.
Comfort Inn, Billings MT .... We forgot to take a picture so we got this from the internet.
