Day 6 was a VERY long day – 13 hours and roughly 650 miles – so you get another preview until we are a bit more awake.
Today we drove from Stillwater, MN back down I-35 to I-90, all the way out to Rapid City, SD and then down to Hill City SD, which is right next to Mount Rushmore. It was a beautiful drive and we’re still talking, so it must have been a great travel day.
Mitchell Corn Palace
Porter Sculpture Park
Dinosaur in Tow
Wall Drug
South Dakota Sunset
We’re writing this after spending all of Day 6 on the road (that would be 13 hours and nearly 650 miles) so we’ll be brief. The pictures below are a preview from the Minnesota State Fair, which we attended with Marta, Mary, Rawson, Jenn and Willett.
Fried Cheese Curds!
Seed Art: Gnomes for Marriage Equality (gotta love it!)
Seed Art: Zombie Corn
All You Can Drink Milk!
Concert (Dawes)
We’re going to the Minnesota State Fair. Stay Tuned!
Today (well, really, yesterday, but who’s counting) was much shorter as we only had to go from Elkhart, Indiana to La Crosse, Wisconsin, a journey of 325 miles or so. Of course we also had to navigate Chicago in the VLYT and our rule (ok, Marlow’s rule) about sticking to 90 took us right through the heart of the city.
The first part of our journey was through the rest of Indiana, including picturesque Gary. We didn’t take any pictures but you can find a nice, representative sample here (Google Images).
Next stop: Chi-town (sorry – had to do that).
Chicago in the distance
A little bit closer…
From the west…
The El: A simultaneous assault on all five senses
After Chicago it was lots and lots of Wisconsin road and corn punctuated by the occasional rock outcrop and some random hills. Also, corn.
Wisconsin Road
Corn. Lots and lots of corn. Yep, corn.
Random Rock Outcropping
And some sky and clouds
The best part was the pass through the Wisconsin Dells (hat tip to Rawson and Jenn for that suggestion). We didn’t get any pictures as I was driving and avoiding weaving tourists and Sargent was simply too flabbergasted to do much more than splutter and point. You can find plenty of pictures on Google Images.
We finally stopped in La Crosse, Wisconsin, just before the Minnesota border. It was nice to be off the road at 5:00 pm instead of 10:00 pm and our hotel (Best Western Plus La Crosse) was FANTASTIC – in a sorta-updated-60’s-70’s-kitschy sorta way. It had an indoor pool and water slide, a bored looking lifeguard and a set of hallways that would confuse a rabbit. Don’t be fooled by the pictures on the web site – they were obviously photoshopped!
We walked from our hotel to downtown La Crosse, which was about 3 miles away. I think we went through the WORST part of town and I was glad we didn’t have a cow with us as some miscreant would have run out of the shrubbery and tipped it over, I’m sure. Dinner was at Buzzard Billy’s Flying Carp Cafe (well worth a visit if you’re in La Crosse) and dessert was at Pearl Ice Cream Parlor (well worth a visit if you’re anywhere within about 300 miles).
Things we learned today:
Tomorrow we’re off to Minneapolis!
The Intertubes are fighting back from the wilds of La Crosse, Wisconsin this morning so the post will come this evening. I suspect a cow was tipped over on a server somewhere.
Day Two is done! (well, technically, it’s Day 3, but I’m going to backdate this sucker and you’ll never know the difference)
Today’s route took us along I-90 through the rest of New York, a bit of Pennsylvania, ALL of Ohio and part of Indiana. It’s been a LONG day and we went about 570 miles, mostly at 65-68mph as that’s about all the VLYT will do.
Observations from the road:
Some more pictures:
