Bits and Pieces (print edition)

1. South Dakota is really, surprisingly pretty.

2. Wyoming is not. Until you are getting close to the end. Then there are mountains and they mock you because they are hours away.

3. I will never be able to sleep in the car. Yesterday I was taking everything in. Today, every time I closed my eyes Mom would “oh, wow, that’s beautiful. No, go ahead and sleep…” Yeah, that’s gonna happen

4. Taking silly pictures at Mt Rushmore is much harder with my fancy camera that insists on focusing on the closest subject.

5. That will not stop me from trying to get really, really silly pictures and inspiring strangers around me to do the same thing.

6. I have a new appreciation for the phrase “cattle on thousand hills.”

7. I really love prairie dogs. We did not go to prairie dog town.

8. I tried to take a picture of 1880 Town and ended up with a picture of a dinosaur. Not quite sure how that happened but I like it.

9. I also got the pictures of 1880 Town.

10. I saw where Dancing with Wolves was filmed. Mom is currently watching it at school so she was geeking out when we passed it.

11. Everyone and everything in the northern plains loves their stuffed animals.

12. I went to Wall Drug. I just didn’t go in.

13. I took over 700 pictures today. I am my mother’s daughter. There will be a slide presentation when I get back. Keep in mind this is day 2. J

14. The Badlands aren’t as really all that “bad.” You just don’t know their sweet side. I suggest buttering them with flowers and chocolates.

15. Our parking ticket into Mt Rushmore is good for the rest of the year!

16. Mom would like me to mention the friendliness of the manager at McDonalds. He was quite friendly. He chatted with everyone, made sure everyone had internet that wanted it, and gave us directions. Nice guy.

17. The ‘free WIFI’ at McDonalds didn’t work.

18. We pilfered internet from the restaurant next to McDonald’s. score.

19. Trains are the best part of Wyoming. However every train we’ve seen has had 3 engines. One backwards on the end and two on the front, one of those also backwards.

20. John is finally my text friend! Hooray.

21. I'm not sleeping in Yellowstone tonight. boo.

Mom is trying to move her ticket to stay another day. We are quite a bit behind.

Pray for our 13 hour drive tomorrow.

goodnight

-the nomad

Bits and Pieces (picture edition)

Yelp to the rescue

So last night, we were supposed to go as far as we could in order to make Yellowstone today. The plan had been to get super close Mt Rushmore, see it at night, and then find somewhere to sleep.

As you all know, our first day car trouble halted a few of my wonderful plans. (If you have no idea what I’m talking about read the last few posts.)

Instead of making it to Keystone, we pulled over in Chamberlain, South Dakota.

As we exited the interstate, there was an Americinn Suites. It looked nice enough from the highway. However, as I drove closer, the AmericInn Suites looked more and more like an AmericInn Lodge. (You know where I’m going with this?) The building resembled Abe Lincoln’s cabin on steroids. Or worse, a live version of the hunting lodge that Gaston sings his song in during that dreadful scene in Beauty and The Beast. Needless to say, I pulled up feeling uneasy.

“Mom, uh, look in the windows and tell me if it’s safe.” (safe = nothing dead, stuffed, and hanging on the wall for all to admire, of course)

Before she could even glance, I saw him. You know, the deer. He was hanging right over the entry door. Nope. Not a chance I was going in there. For you are like me, you see one from your car and you can imagine at least 5 more inside. (Mom has just verified that there were at least 5 more inside including an elk.)

I immediately drove to the first parking space I saw, grabbed my Driod, and opened up my Yelp app. While Mom tried to figure out what Yelp was, I had realized that there weren’t really all that many choices in Chamberlain. And of the few that were listed, only one had even been rated. In fact, it had only one “$” for price, a 5 star rating, and been rated 7 times!

I called. No one answered. Boo.

I left a message. And they called back!

I asked all the important questions.:

“Do you have rooms available?” “yes”

“Where are you located?” “Just come down that road. Turn right at the Mcdonald’s and go 2 blocks.”

“Oh, and one more question, do you have any taxidermy?” “huh uh” “I’m sorry, what did you say?” “No, we don’t.” “Okay, see you soon!”

Little did we know that we were embarking one of our favorite adventures to date. We pulled up to a quaint little mom and pop inn. Mom immediately loved. I immediately made comparisons to the Bates Hotel in Psycho.

The innkeeper was charming. Her adorable granddaughters kept peeking at us from behind the counter. She gave me a $5 discount for finding the inn. She asked us if we wanted 2 queens or one for no price difference. Then she even offered us the room right on the river. Uh, yes please!

The room itself was simple: 2 beds (turned different directions), a basic tv, and a bathroom. But seriously what else could you ask for $50? There were a couple little cute features like atwisted hand towel in the bathroom and a rag (with a super cute poem) to wipe down your car’s windshieldin the morning. (just realized we neglected to use it. Bummer.)

When we woke up this morning, we were greeted to gorgeous views of the river. Mom was greeted up coffee. I took a shower without being slashed. It was a definite win for each of us.

After staying at A Bridge View Inn, wewere able to attack today’s drive with vigor. Of course, that vigor wore out by hour 5 but more on that later… J

The nomad

The Car Saga finished (hopefully ;) )

Well, friends, my deepest apology. I neglected to explain out how we got out of the pickle in Madison.

On Friday morning, Mom woke up and called AAA. I believe I stayed in bed. :)

After getting the wrong directions from headquarters, our friend arrived around 10:30. ugh. Anyway, he was there and got right to work.

Do you see this face? She is up to pure evil. Right after this picture, I was busy gagging and trying not to puke in the grass. What was this picture, you ask? Fear not, i'll never show you. But I'll tell you... intestines wrapped around my axle. YUCK!

Anyway, first, he attacked our "major" problem. The animal had exacted it's revenge and pulled down the brake line. Thankfully, it was the parking brake. I'm from Indiana and as many of you can attest, I don't even know how to use my "emergency brake." Fear not, it's not worn all the way down.

For our hero, it was an easy fix. Step 1: reattach clips. Step 2: wire up the rest of it using a coat hanger.

Here are a couple frivolous pictures. However, it took us a long time to get this dog on hood picture. Thus, it's being included. Sorry. ha.

After he fixed the brake issue. We showed him the light problem. They still didn't come on. This had him scratching his head for sure. He then sent us off to Batteries + Bulbs. (This, of course, sent me in the a frenzy of saying "Bulbs" over and over. Seriously, that is a silly, silly word.)

Sorry, I have no pictures of Batteries + Bulbs. (bulb! ha!) However, I can tell you they fixed it! Yay! And, I can tell you that it was only a broken bulb. I can also tell you that my car did not cooperate and all the lights came on and worked at first. I can't tell you why. Oh, car...

The final car fact you should know is that my car's battery and alternator are so strong it completely surprised the man at Batteries + Bulbs! (bulb. bulb. bulb. haha...seriously, done.) Yay!!! God is good!

Needless to say, we were quite late getting on the road. However, we made up some good time and ended up only 4 hours behind schedule. We found the most perfect Mom and Pop inn in Chamberlain, SD. It is absolutely perfect and adorable. I'd love to tell you more but it's time to get back on the road so I have more to share with you later. :)

the nomad

PS: How cute is Mom in this picture? This is our friend, Bennington Brown. :)

I've been in 3 states today. How about you?

Today was a big driving day. (9?)

Tomorrow may be worse. (12+)

Or maybe worse is not the right word. Maybe "longer." And, maybe, "longer" is not so bad...

After all, I today I saw wind turbines. And I'm talking tons of turbines. Wisconsin, you certainly love your turbine fields. I love them too. Thanks for your fields and fields of them. They provided hundreds of photo ops.

I ate and ate and ate today. The Costco bag of dried mangoes and berries has almost disappeared completely. oops. Road trips are for snacking.

Also, I continued my nerdiness by beginning record logs of cost, funny phrases, and of course, license plates. I think we already have about 10.

I spent most of today trying to capture the beauty of Wisconsin and Minnesota with my camera lens.

I tried to capture the fun stuff, too: Home of Ringling Brothers Circus, PUPRLE roads!, a Minnesota soda machine, crazy cool barn, and a sign for the Hormel SPAM museum!

Did I mention I shot some wind turbines today? ;)

Today, I slept in the car. Well, I tried to at any rate. Mom drove most of Minnesota and Wisconsin. I somehow keep getting the night shifts. Fear not, I have driven in every state so far. Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and South Dakota.

I also witnessed something today that I've never seen before: my mom turned up the music! up! up, I said, not down. And guess what it was? Bohemian Rhapsody. Queen'll get you every time. She even kept the volume up (that, of course, being a relative term) throughout the entire cd. When it looped, we listened to it again. That Megan, she makes a heck of a mix. :)

Finally, today, I got to talk to my mom. She listened to me as I struggle to figure out what "big" means in my life. I listen to her talk about work, friends and frenemies. We laughed at her hilarious "kid" as he continued to send us humorous texts throughout the day. (My mom is an interpreter.) We included my sister on speakerphone as she got off work. Amazingly, we only fought once. (Someone didn't get the picture of the sign that said "Home of Laura Ingalls Wilder. And someone else pouted like a baby. You can decide who was who.) Mostly, we just relaxed in each other's presence. After all, if you get the meat and potatoes of it, that's exactly what this trip is all about. It's about sharing stories, sharing adventures, and, mostly, sharing life.

And, here's hoping that tomorrow's 12 hours, brings even more life. :)

the nomad