Day: 6
Mileage: 2014
Well, Elise is right, if we weren’t blogging, we wouldn’t remember a thing. We can’t figure out what day it is most of the time, and so many things happen each day … Right now we’re driving across the FLAT plains of South Dakota and the long grass is rippling in waves in the wind. Alan’s been talking all morning about the Amber Waves of Grain (but that’s because he’s colorblind J It is neither amber nor grain, in the traditional sense, but Alan says it counts). The speed limit is 75, which Alan declared absurdly high, although the truck is working very well. It’s been getting between 25 and 27 mpg on the highway thus far.
Thursday morning we left Grand Rapids, and after a quick breakfast at Panera, we drove to Chicago. There were lots of trucks on I80-90, making for miserable driving. Our first Chicagoland stop was at my friends Erin and Josh’s house in Naperville. Erin lived across the hall from me freshman year at NU. We met their new beagle, Ella. Olli also met their beagle, Ella. Yeah, that went well …
Downtown Evanston has changed a LOT. Most of the businesses have turned over. The Barnes & Noble moved across the street and grew to a nice two-story, café and music department. Yeah, I’m a BN dork.
We met my good friend and SAI pledge mom Lisa at Giordano’s (world’s BEST pizza) for a late dinner, at which I found out all of the things that had happened to our mutual friends in the past 5 years which I somehow hadn’t heard about.
Alan was wary (and weary) of Chicago traffic, so we left town right after dinner at 11. As we passed through yet ANOTHER tollbooth (IL wrung us dry), we found out what Elvis does for a career, since leaving Rock ‘n’ Roll. Our toll-taker was Elvis. Complete with sunglasses (in the middle of the night) and rhinestones.
After about an hour, we tried for a motel. They wanted $90 for the only room they had left, a smoking room … no thanks. Drove another hour and at 1:30 checked into the Airport Inn … it was a ‘50s relic but clean and reasonably priced (and they let Olli in). Alan wondered why there was a pile of gauze on the bathroom counter, then realized those were the towels … clean, but a little worn.
Friday we slept in (it was a LATE night!) and got on the road again. We took Illinois Route 20 instead of I90 for a more scenic trip, and we got it. We had breakfast at a wonderful little family restaurant …
We had heard that corn wasn’t doing so well this year, and we are here to report that it is NOT knee-high as the Fourth of July approaches.
We crossed the Mississippi River into Iowa (Olli totally slept through it)
and then within five minutes, crossed back into Wisconsin. Just about the right amount of time to spend visiting Iowa :-) (Olli missed it the second time too.) We took Rte. 61 through Wisconsin, another pleasant, scenic route. We passed through a town with three Lutheran churches in three blocks and a statue of a Viking (sorry, it went by too fast for a picture). We passed through small town after small town, but the winner was Tennyson (population 370). Alan said it reminded him of Bill Peet’s Jennifer and Josephine. We fretted a bit about Olli’s health because he was so lethargic, but he’s since recovered. He is always a big hit with kids at rest stops.
We were driving through Dickeyville, WI, when I saw something on the side of the road. “Pull over!” It was called The Grotto, and it was a shrine done entirely as a mosaic, using rocks, bright colored minerals, pieces of glass and ceramic.
When we finally returned to the interstate, Alan was disappointed, but we really needed to speed.
In Minnesota, we saw something amazing – giant wind farms.
We had seen one of the blades for these GIANT windmills being driven down the highway and Alan estimated it was 75 feet long.
We pushed through Minnesota and arrived in South Dakota before calling it a night. Five states in a day!
Mileage: 2014
Well, Elise is right, if we weren’t blogging, we wouldn’t remember a thing. We can’t figure out what day it is most of the time, and so many things happen each day … Right now we’re driving across the FLAT plains of South Dakota and the long grass is rippling in waves in the wind. Alan’s been talking all morning about the Amber Waves of Grain (but that’s because he’s colorblind J It is neither amber nor grain, in the traditional sense, but Alan says it counts). The speed limit is 75, which Alan declared absurdly high, although the truck is working very well. It’s been getting between 25 and 27 mpg on the highway thus far.
Thursday morning we left Grand Rapids, and after a quick breakfast at Panera, we drove to Chicago. There were lots of trucks on I80-90, making for miserable driving. Our first Chicagoland stop was at my friends Erin and Josh’s house in Naperville. Erin lived across the hall from me freshman year at NU. We met their new beagle, Ella. Olli also met their beagle, Ella. Yeah, that went well …
Olli went after Ella like he was doing the butterfly, paws swiping and claws extended. Then he went back to his crate. When we opened the front door to go to lunch, we managed to let Ella out. Turns out she LOVES to play chase. Thank goodness she was smart enough to not run in front of cars. I saw the garbage truck coming as she tore across the street and nearly had a heart attack. She was SO FAST! We chased her across the street into a neighbor’s backyard, where two neighborhood boys helped us corner her. We brought her back to the house and put her in the fenced-in backyard. As we went back to our car to put stuff away, suddenly, there she was at our feet again. Umm, Ella? Her eyes twinkled: “Let’s go again!” We had left the OTHER fence door open when we chased her the last time, and she went in one door and out the other. Luckily, she tired a little more quickly this time. We had lunch at “Heaven on Seven,” a delicious Cajun restaurant with a HUGE selection of hot sauces. Alan got habenero sauce in his eye by playing with the many bottles of hot sauce on the table and then touching his eye. He found this funny.
Up to NU—we visited the Sheil Center, Norris University Center and began walking on the lakefill before the thunderstorm started. Olli didn’t really care for that part. I can’t say I really did, either. It was disappointing that it was already past 5 and no professors were around and the bookstore was closed.
Up to NU—we visited the Sheil Center, Norris University Center and began walking on the lakefill before the thunderstorm started. Olli didn’t really care for that part. I can’t say I really did, either. It was disappointing that it was already past 5 and no professors were around and the bookstore was closed.
Downtown Evanston has changed a LOT. Most of the businesses have turned over. The Barnes & Noble moved across the street and grew to a nice two-story, café and music department. Yeah, I’m a BN dork.
We met my good friend and SAI pledge mom Lisa at Giordano’s (world’s BEST pizza) for a late dinner, at which I found out all of the things that had happened to our mutual friends in the past 5 years which I somehow hadn’t heard about.
Alan was wary (and weary) of Chicago traffic, so we left town right after dinner at 11. As we passed through yet ANOTHER tollbooth (IL wrung us dry), we found out what Elvis does for a career, since leaving Rock ‘n’ Roll. Our toll-taker was Elvis. Complete with sunglasses (in the middle of the night) and rhinestones.
After about an hour, we tried for a motel. They wanted $90 for the only room they had left, a smoking room … no thanks. Drove another hour and at 1:30 checked into the Airport Inn … it was a ‘50s relic but clean and reasonably priced (and they let Olli in). Alan wondered why there was a pile of gauze on the bathroom counter, then realized those were the towels … clean, but a little worn.
Friday we slept in (it was a LATE night!) and got on the road again. We took Illinois Route 20 instead of I90 for a more scenic trip, and we got it. We had breakfast at a wonderful little family restaurant …
We had heard that corn wasn’t doing so well this year, and we are here to report that it is NOT knee-high as the Fourth of July approaches.
We crossed the Mississippi River into Iowa (Olli totally slept through it)
and then within five minutes, crossed back into Wisconsin. Just about the right amount of time to spend visiting Iowa :-) (Olli missed it the second time too.) We took Rte. 61 through Wisconsin, another pleasant, scenic route. We passed through a town with three Lutheran churches in three blocks and a statue of a Viking (sorry, it went by too fast for a picture). We passed through small town after small town, but the winner was Tennyson (population 370). Alan said it reminded him of Bill Peet’s Jennifer and Josephine. We fretted a bit about Olli’s health because he was so lethargic, but he’s since recovered. He is always a big hit with kids at rest stops.
We were driving through Dickeyville, WI, when I saw something on the side of the road. “Pull over!” It was called The Grotto, and it was a shrine done entirely as a mosaic, using rocks, bright colored minerals, pieces of glass and ceramic.
When we finally returned to the interstate, Alan was disappointed, but we really needed to speed. In Minnesota, we saw something amazing – giant wind farms.
We had seen one of the blades for these GIANT windmills being driven down the highway and Alan estimated it was 75 feet long.
We pushed through Minnesota and arrived in South Dakota before calling it a night. Five states in a day!
1 comment:
That is one cute beagle. Rascal aspires to have ears that big.
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