Day 6

We woke up about 8 a.m. and took our time getting ready to leave. The campground did have nice showers for us. We packed up the tent, showered, and got ready to leave for Seattle.

At a little rest area in Idaho we saw a sign for free coffee so we decided to stop. The rest area building was not open, but we saw a Marine Corps trailer with a couple gentlemen. They were offering coffee, iced coffee, hot chocolate, tea, and cookies! It was so nice. We just thought we were stopping for free coffee, but they said “And we have breakfast for ya.” We saw a couple more rest area signs with free coffee signs, but continued on our way.

Before we arrived in Seattle, we stopped at Snoqualmie Falls in Washington. It was pretty cool, but there were tons of people. You would've thought there was some giant celebration going on. We figured it was a nice day, a Saturday, and maybe people really are sticking close to home for little getaways.

We got to Seattle around 4 p.m. We checked into our hotel first and then walked around the city. It was very busy being a Saturday and beautiful weather so we were able to people watch at its finest. We visited the Pike Place Market and walked from there to the Space Needle. There was quite a crowd in the market, but it was fun to see the variety of people. Jon and I did try some smoked salmon, so we can say that we had some fish. Off to the Space Needle!

They have some cool attractions around the Space Needle like a science center, science fiction place, and music place. We didn't go into any of them because they were expensive, but they looked pretty cool.

We decided to ride the Monorail back to our hotel from the Space Needle. When we got back, we took a break in the hotel and walked around a bit more in the city. We took a scenic tour of some residential area and found some eats in down by Pike Place. It is cool to be right by the ocean, to have witnessed all the hubbub of the city, but also to enjoy the scene at night.

Plans for tomorrow: Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helens and hopefully camping around Portland.

Day 5

Camping was fun, but when we woke up, it was 36 degrees. Brrrr….We got up early, packed our things into the car and started exploring more of Yellowstone.

Where did we go?
Beryl Spring
Artists Paintpots
Steamboat Geyser
Norris Geyser Basin
***while going through Hayden Valley, we saw a grizzly bear and a 2 year old cub off in the distance….so cool
Mud Volcano
Sulphur Caldron
Lower/Upper Falls
***Here we walked the entire south ridge of the Canyon by accident
Tower Fall
***Here we saw a goat on the side of the mountain
Lamar Valley
***Here we saw a black bear and her 2 cubs, a pronghorn in the middle of the road, and a bid horned sheep
Petrified Tree
Mammoth Hot Springs

We saw tons of bison everywhere! They were out in valleys, in the rivers, by the road, on the road….everywhere. We got to see a baby one up close today. He had just taken a drink of water and was joining the rest of the group.

Animals we saw in Yellowstone:
bison
pronghorn
deer
big horned sheep
marmot
otter or beaver
birds
squirrel
chipmunk
black bears
grizzly bears
goats

We left Yellowstone after a break in Mammoth Hot Springs. We stopped at Helen’s Corral Drive-In to get a fantastic buffalo burger, coleslaw, and fries.

Off to Coeur D’Alene, Idaho! Tonight we’re going to camp in Idaho at the Coeur D Alene Campground and head to Seattle tomorrow.




Big Horn Sheep!



Black bear! We were told to keep going and not to stop!

Day 4

We woke up in the quaint town of Cody, WY to start our journey to Yellowstone National Park! We ate breakfast, figured out some lodging, and got back on the road. Along the way to Yellowstone, we stopped at Buffalo Bill’s Dam.

We arrived at Yellowstone around 11 a.m. It was a gorgeous day. It did start off a little cool, got really warm on the drive, and then got very chilly, and hot again when we were walking around.

We made some stops along the way to the campground where we had planned on staying the night. Our main stop was Old Faithful. As we were walking up to Old Faithful, we noticed the large number of people sitting around Old Faithful. We looked at the sign that had the predicted time and it was going to erupt any second! Our timing could not have been better. It erupted for a couple minutes and we continued on our way.

We walked around the geysers and even had the opportunity to listen to some enthusiastic geyser gazers who helped us figure out if we should stay and watch Grand in case it erupted. They were explaining the tell-tale signs of a geyser that is going to erupt and recalled accounts of other eruptions they have witnessed in the past. We did get to see Grand erupt and it was absolutely incredible. It shot up 100-150 feet into the air. It erupted for about 5-6 minutes. Then it decided to erupt again! This time it erupted for a couple minutes, but it was just as magnificent as the first eruption. The scene was awesome and we’re both so glad we got to witness it because it was more intense than Old Faithful. All together we saw Sawmill, Daisy, Grand, and Old Faithful erupt.

After we saw Grand, we headed off to Madison Campground. We registered and pitched our tent (well, Lisa and Adam’s tent that we are borrowing-thanks again!). We had some food and Jon took some pictures outside of the sun with some geysers steaming. It was getting pretty dark at this point and we heard a noise, we’re pretty sure a bison, in the woods, so we got back to our campsite.


Other stops in the day included looking at Yellowstone Lake, talking to a park ranger at the Visitor Center, the Fishing Bridge, West Thumb Geyser Basin, passed over the Continental Divide twice, Kepler Cascades, Upper Geyser Basin, and the Grand Prismatic Spring.

Day 1 (oops! out of order because I forgot)

We made it through 5 states today: Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and South Dakota. We stopped at the world’s largest truck stop off of I-80 in Iowa. It literally has everything: a dentist, showers, laundry, a dog wash, an embroidery place, all the parts for a semi one could want, touristy stuff...goodness there is a lot of stuff in this place.





World's Largest Truck Stop!

In Mason City, Iowa we visited the Wal-Mart and the Radio Shack to buy some fuses and a new power inverter because we blew the fuse and the power inverter was shot...oops. Time to get a new one. The guy at Radio Shack was very helpful. We also made a pit stop at a Sinclair gas station (the one with the dinosaur). In Albert Lea, Minnesota we stopped at a Taco John’s to try their food. We stopped at the Golden Spike rest area in Minnesota to fuel up and take a break.



We saw tons of windmills in Minnesota and Iowa


We didn’t make many other stops besides rest areas and gas stations until we got to Mitchell, South Dakota where we had our first experience sleeping in our car in a Wal-Mart parking lot. It wasn’t too uncomfortable or too noisy, much to our surprise. It was a big day of driving. More stops in the future!

Day 3

We took our time this morning getting out of the hotel. Our first destination was Devil’s Tower. It was gorgeous weather, about 73 degrees and sunny. We made it to Devil’s Tower, looked in the visitor’s center, and took a trail around the monument. We saw 9 climbers brave enough to take on the challenge of Devil’s Tower. The walk was very enjoyable. Even though it was pretty warm outside, much of the path was shaded so it was perfect walking weather.



Devil's Tower


Then we were off to Yellowstone by way of winding our way back through middle of nowhere Wyoming to I-90. The scenic route we took through the Big Horn Mountains was incredible. There were lots of curves, but it was awesome to see the change in the landscape and feel the change in the weather. There was a place to stop by a waterfall. Jon said it was the fastest running waterfall he had ever seen. We could hear it from thr road it was so thunderous. So we stopped here to take some pictures and take a short walk. Then we continued our route through the mountains.



Shell Falls Interpretive Site

We literally drove where there was hardly anything, other than going through a couple small towns. One town had a population of 50. While on the highway out of the last small town, we saw only a handful of cars, but had an incredible view of the sunset.




We traveled through most of Wyoming and made it to Cody to stay the night in a Super 8.

Yellowstone tomorrow.

Day 2

Jon woke up early so he drove while I slept for a couple hours. It was chilly and cloudy in the early morning. Our first stop was at a scenic view of the Missouri River and a little tribute to Lewis and Clark. There was a cool bridge and nice facilities. Then we were off to the Badlands National Park!!



The Badlands!



We arrived to the park around 8 a.m. their time. We got our park pass and began our 5 hour adventure in the Badlands :) We saw incredible rock formations and walked a couple trails. At some points it just looked like another planet according to Jon – absolutely incredible. We also saw a variety of wildlife including bison, pronghorn, prairie dogs, and birds. We got a close look of some of them. We took tons of pictures and had a great time! We took Sage Creek back to see the prairie dogs, bison, and pronghorn, but it was definitely worth it. The prairie dogs populated an entire section. Many of them were out running around, eating, or just relaxing. We did see a very chubby prairie dog sitting up, munching on something. The bison were right off the road from where we were. On our way from the park to Wall, we were starred down by a group of pronghorn while driving past.

Instead of going straight to Wall, we took a detour for a few miles to see the Missile Silo. This is out in the middle of nowhere, but definitely cool to check out. They had little information sheets that had a number you could call to get an audio tour/more information on the Missile Silo.

Off to Wall, South Dakota! On the way to the Badlands, you see obscene amounts of billboards and signs for Wall Drug and other sites in Wall, so we had to check it out. You also get a free glass of ice water if you go to Wall Drug. It is a bit of a tourist trap, but worth taking some time for us to check it out. We took some fun pictures and even saw a giant mechanical T-Rex they had…so random. They had some saltwater taffy we bought because they had some unique flavors like huckleberry. We walked down the little town and decided to eat at a local bar. We both got a buffalo burger and they were delicious. Then it was off to Custer!

Custer State Park…wow. We decided to take the Wildlife Route and boy was it the right choice. We saw: bison, meal deer, white tailed deer, pronghorn, wild turkeys, cows, and more prairie dogs! We saw some baby animals, too. We saw bison right next to the road, watched deer cross the road right in front of us, and wild turkeys cross the road, too. Very, very cool. There was a place where you could drive up to the fire tower on top of a mountain, so we thought “ Why not?” It was a very narrow road and the fire tower was very high up, but the view was breathtaking. What an experience. We made it down the mountain safely and continued our scenic drive.



Bison right by the road!




Us on top of the mountain by the fire tower!

After that, we took the Needles Scenic route to Mount Rushmore with a little detour to the Crazy Horse Monument. We went through some narrow tunnels and saw some more of the beautiful landscape.



Going through a narrow tunnel on the Needles Scenic route.

We made it to Mount Rushmore about 8:45 p.m. They had a lighting ceremony that was going to be at 9:30 pm. so we checked out the inside a little bit. It had interesting exhibits and we caught the end of the movie they were showing. We sat in on the last half of the lighting ceremony. They showed a movie about the sculptor and the presidents’ achievements. A woman sang “America the Beautiful” at the end of the video, and the lit up Mount Rushmore. Everyone joined in to sing the “National Anthem” and they had a little flag ceremony for all the veterans and military members in the audience.




Mount Rushmore lit up at night

We found our way back to Rapid City, South Dakota and spent the night in the Dakota Pines Inn.

Trip Update - 5/27/2009

I am sitting in our motel room here at the Dakota Pines Inn here in Rapid City, SD. We found a coupon at a rest area back in Minnesota for a great deal, and Karla wasn't ready to sleep in the car again! So, we stayed here last night. Here's some data of our trip!

Total Miles:
Day 1: 784 miles

Brownsburg, IN to World's Largest Truck Stop in Iowa to Mason City, IA to fix our fuse problem to Mitchell, SD (Stayed in a Wal-Mart Parking Lot!!)

Day 2: 344 miles

Mitchell, SD to Badlands National Park, SD to Missile Silo, SD to Wall, SD to Custer State Park, SD to Mount Rushmore, SD to Rapid City, SD (Stayed at the Dakota Pines Inn)

Total: 1128 miles (Daily Mileage will vary as its from each gas stop)

States Traveled:
Day 1:
Indiana
Illinois
Iowa
Minnesota
South Dakota

Day 2:
South Dakota

License Plates Seen:
Indiana
Illinois
Kentucky
Michigan
Minnesota
Iowa
Nebraska
West Virgina
Pennsylvania
South Dakota
Montana
Wyoming
Alaska
Wisconsin
Kansas
Washington
North Dakota
Colorado
New Hampshire
Massachusetts

I might be forgetting some plates.

Brownsburg to Davenport

Well, we're on the road! It is 12:50 p.m. and we are at a rest area in Davenport, Iowa. We have only hit some light rain, but are probably going to be going through some more before the day is over.

Turns out that Peoria, Illinois looks like it might be a cool city and Iowa has more hills than either of us thought. I saw the Mississippi for the first time! wOOt! And for those who would like to learn something new today: Iowa is the place where Eskimo Pies and washing machines were first invented, according to our AAA Travel Guide.

Not too many exciting pictures so far...but enjoy Peoria and the Mississippi :)

Indy 500!

Jon and I went to the Indy 500 today because Jay asked if we wanted to go with him. We got up a little early this morning, lathered on the sunscreen, packed up lunch and water and off to meet Jay and Sarah!

We got to hear Jim Nabors, Florence Henderson, and Miss America sing along with the famous "Ladies and gentlemen: start your engines!" The race was exciting in a few spots. Our seats were right on turn 3 so we had a great view. Tony Kanaan crashed by us. It was a hot day filled with loud, fast cars and lots of people watching :)

Trip Delay!

Instead of leaving Sunday morning, we are now heading to the Indianapolis 500 via Jay and his free tickets. We both haven't been, so we figure we should go! Most likely, we will leave the state of Indiana Sunday evening.

To set the mood...

Karla and I are the Griswolds in a week... pretty excited!