Tuesday August 3rd

Estes Park to Scotts Bluff, Nebraska

We got an early start for our drive out of Colorado, past Rocky Creek (where we had to stop and take a picture), through Wyoming and into Nebraska. As we drove through La Grange, Wyoming, we played the Z.Z. Top song by the same name only to discover he was singing about La Grange, Texas. Doesn't matter, Z.Z. Top was the perfect accompaniment for cruising down the Wyoming highway. By the time we got to Cheyenne, we were starving and on the lookout for lunch. Somehow we missed one little sign pointing to our turn off and were punished by having to drive a half hour out of our way. Fortunately, we have not gotten lost very often, but in these Plains States the exits are few and far between.

The view of Nebraska once we crossed the border was all wheat fields and grazing cattle until we reached Scotts Bluff. It was easy to see why the pioneers on the Oregon Trail were elated when they reached what is now known as Scotts Bluff National Monument. These great cliffs rising in the distance were an inspiration after traveling for weeks across the Great American Desert. The Bluffs were formed of sandstone and volcanic ash covered with a hard layer of cap rock which keeps the sand hills from eroding away. To see the view, present day visitors have a choice of driving up to the top of the Bluff or hiking from the Visitor Center. Being the ambitious people that we are, we chose to hike up and back down. There was very little shade but after our hike at Rocky Mountain National Park, this was a cake walk.

We had our Nebraska beer in the 18th Street Bar and Grill in the town of Scotts Bluff, population 13,700. The bar had a comfortable atmosphere with peanut shells all over the floor. A guy and three women at the next table had obviously been there for a few hours. They were having a good time and the waitress was entertaining them with endless toasts (the content reminded me of some of the toasts Tara gives). When I complimented the waitress on her repertoire of toasts, she said, "One thing you should know is that I am a smart ass. I like to have fun at my job." Way to go, girl.

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Wednesday August 4th

Scotts Bluff, Nebraska to Rapid City, North Dakota

We were cruising down the highway this morning and almost missed our photo of the Welcome to South Dakota sign. Schreech! Gently slam on the breaks and U-turn the BK. Sometimes stopping for the state photos is a pain, but we will be glad to have them as a remembrance when we get home. The South Dakota slogan is Great Faces, Great Places in South Dakota.

I thought the terrain in South Dakota would be flat, however the gently rolling farmland contained wheat fields and grazing cattle. We drove for miles and miles without seeing any towns or other people. Rolled bales of hay that looked like huge shredded wheat cereal were neatly stacked pyramidal style in the fields as evidence of ranch hands hard at work. It reminded us of Texas except here the landscape was green where in Texas things were brown and ugly.

Since our stay at Yellowstone, we had developed a longing to see and photograph more wild life. There is nothing more exciting than viewing wild life in their natural habitat. In our search to get some pictures of buffalo, we detoured to this fort that promised buffalo grazing land, but only saw a few that were far away.

Next stop was Wind Cave National Park but neither of us wanted to wait 2 hours for the next tour so we viewed the information in the visitors center and were back on the road within the hour.

We were still searching the prairie for wild life when we detoured through Custer State Park. We had read in our "Scenic Drives in America" book that this was a rewarding way to get to Mount Rushmore. Was it ever! The unspoiled beauty in the park supported a variety of wild life. At one of the view points, we saw two prairie dogs. We suspected that people feed them because they did not seem afraid. It was hard to resist their adorable begging but at all the parks, visitors are advised not to feed the animals. The animals become dependent on human food and then starve over the winter when the tourists are gone.

As we continued to drive slowly through the park, traffic suddenly came to a stand still. We figured it was road construction and started to get annoyed until we saw a full herd of buffalo crossing the road and coming straight at us. We watched in utter amazement as full grown buffalo and babies walked within 2 feet of the car. They just kept coming and we figured there must have been over 200. We later found out that Custer State Park is home to over 1,500 buffalo.

Still in complete euphoria over what we had just witnessed, we were delighted a few miles later with three big horn sheep grazing by the side of the road. I spotted them first and started babbling to get Fred to stop the car. They looked positively regal as they stood on the side of the hill with their round horned heads held high.

Before exiting the park, traffic was stopped again, this time for burros. These laid back animals mosey right up to the car and stick their faces in the window as if to say, "I know you can't resist me". We determined that they were looking for some treats and that was confirmed a short way down the road when we saw groups of tourists feeding the burros carrots and ice cream. It is very hard to resist their soulful looks as they amble up to the car but we did. How does a burro go back to meadow grass and plants after ice cream?

Driving down the Peter Norbeck scenic highway is the most fascinating way to approach Mount Rushmore. The engineers who built the road back in the early 1900's were given the task to design the most visually pleasing stretch of highway in the state. The road wound down and around like a spiral staircase with wooden bridges one right after another spanning the ridges. Then, by design, the road split into a one way passage making the drive through the forest as intimate as a moonlit stroll. As if that was not enough to delight, the tunnels on this surprising stretch of road allowed a sneak preview of the sight to come. The awe-inspiring vision of Mount Rushmore (or as Fred referred to them, "The Boys") framed in the distance caused a traffic stopping, picture taking party right on the roadway.

We arrived at Mount Rushmore with just enough time to view the Sculptors studio before it closed at 6 PM. The studio, located at the bottom of the mountain, contains a 1/12 scale model of the original design for Mount Rushmore. Can you imagine being the sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, at work in your studio on the scale model, with a 480 foot high canvas solid as a mountain just waiting to be transformed into a piece of history visible out the window. What an immense task it must have seemed. The faces of George, Tom, Teddy and Abe dominate the view through the floor to ceiling windows in the studio.

We walked up to the base of the mountain and stared in amazement at the faces and marveled at this great artistic creation. We wanted to stay for the lighting ceremony but it had been a long day and we still had not eaten supper. Big Sky Motel in Rapid City, South Dakota provided our bed for the night.

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Thursday August 5th

Rapid City, SD to Sioux Falls, SD

Today we travel 350 miles straight across the state of South Dakota with three historic(?) stops: Wall Drug, Badlands and Corn Palace.

As we cruised down the main east/west highway in South Dakota, Fred saw a bus in his rear view mirror move out into the passing lane. He stepped on the gas to stay in front of the bus because where else could it be going except to Wall Drug? As we approached Wall, SD, the billboards appeared announcing Wall Drug much like the South of the Border signs on the East Coast. Before Lady Bird Johnson ran her Beautify American campaign, Wall Drug had billboards in every state proclaiming how many miles to Wall Drug. Billboards still remain at the North and South Pole and overseas. Bill and Dorothy Husted opened a tiny drugstore in 1937 in Wall, a town described as "in the middle of nowhere". After 5 years, they were ready to close as they watched customers drive by, but not stop. Then, Dorothy had the brilliant idea to offer free ice water and husband Ted put up a billboard. Before he got back to the store, tourists were already lined up and now up to 20,000 people per day visit Wall Drug. All that over a glass of ice water-never underestimate the power of marketing.

We did indeed beat the bus, but only by a few moments. At Wall Drug, we picked up our free bumper sticker, free water and five cent coffee, but opted out of the shopping and animatronic dinosaur. What used to be a small drug store, now occupies the majority of downtown Wall.

On to the Badlands which aren't so bad. Easily eroded rock has formed into craggy cliffs, delicate spires, and grooved canyons. Most times the climate is arid and precipitation comes infrequently but with a vengeance causing changes in the soft rock. Tree seedlings are washed away before they can take root but prairie grass thrives in the harsh environment. Millions of years ago animals such as mesohippus(horse), archaeotherium (giant pig) and stylemys (turtles) roamed the land. Their fossilized remains discovered in the park have provided a wealth of information about the past.

As we stopped to hike "The Doors" trail, it started to rain. No, it began to pour, big heavy drops that came faster and faster as we scrambled back to the car. After waiting for about 10 minutes in the parking lot, watching in amusement as other people came slopping back to their cars, the rain let up a little so we set out. Fred was making fun of me for using our big red and white golf umbrella until some other guy came along wearing one of those hat umbrellas. The soft clay like soil clung to our shoes until we felt like we were walking with weighted boots. We trudged along the slippery trail and as funny as it would have been for one of us to go down, the mess would have been overwhelming. Since we still had a long way to go, we opted to turn around. It took forever for us to get the mud off our shoes.

Last stop for the day--the Corn Palace of Mitchell, South Dakota. Fred had read about the Corn Palace in Roadside America-Guide to Tourist Attractions and had been joking about it ever since. We had no idea what to expect, but we had to stop for a corny picture. To some this building could be cornstrued as hoky, but it was quite impressive. Using nine varieties of Indian Corn and 3,000 bushels of grain and grasses, the Corn Palace is decorated every year using a different theme. The outside walls are completely covered with corn and corn husks. Murals, both inside and outside the building, depict various scenes. Each mural is a work of art and we were quite impressed by this corny attraction.

Down the street, the Jackpot Gamblin Bar looked like a good place for our South Dakota beer. The bar had a relaxed feel with wood paneled walls, a peaked roof supported by hand hewed beams over which buffalo hides and Indian blankets were casually draped. Hefty picnic tables and sawdust scattered on the floor made Fred feel as if he could act as goofy as he wanted and no one would mind.

When we first walked in, the clientele was light and the few patrons appeared to be locals. It was Happy Hour and a 20 ounce draft was only $1.00. As we sipped our bargain beers-Bud for Fred, Bud Light for me, more people filtered in. Several were Harley Davidson riders on their way to Mount Rushmore for a rally. One girl caught my attention due to her bare feet. I watched in horror as she coughed and then spewed puke into the trash can after which she staggered into the bathroom. So much for the ambiance. I was totally disgusted. We finished our beers and were out of there before she emerged from the restroom.

Earlier in the day at the informational movie at the Badlands Visitor Center I was grossed out by a kid who sniffed and snotted the whole way through the movie. His parents were sitting on either side of him and never even flinched or offered him a kleenex as the sniffling of snot got louder and louder. The one person who can identify with me on this is my sister Jeanne who will probably get nauseas when she reads this. Sorry Jeanne.

Our night was spent at the Excel Inn in Siouix Falls, South Dakota. Without knowing, we had passed over into the Central Time Zone at some point during the day, so we were a little confused when we got to the hotel an hour later than expected. After doing laundry and eating a late dinner, we called it a day.

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Friday August 6th

Souix Falls, SD to Wahpeton, North Dakota

Today will seem like a short driving day as we only have 220 miles to cover. Driving through eastern South Dakota, we felt like we had been transported back to Lancaster County. Farm fields neatly planted dot both sides of the highway. Beyond the corn fields, down long lanes, groves of trees surround red barns and two story white farmhouses. At every family farm, silerver silos peak out above the trees. These farms are closer together than the ranches in Nebraska; you actually have a neighbor within view (well, maybe with binnoculars).

Watertown, South Dakota contains a gallery displaying 101 original works of Terry Redlin, voted most popular American artist for the past eight years by US Art Magazine. Since we had never heard of him we wanted to find out what everyone else obviously already knew. There is no admission charge at the impressive ten million dollar gallery designed by his son and donated to the city of Watertown where Terry grew up. One hundred and one of his originals are on display. Terry paints landscape and wildlife scenes and became best known for his Ducks Unlimited prints. We were impressed by his vibrant use of shadows and lighting although we preferred his earlier work over the most recent. Some of his original small town scenes at night looked as if the lights were actually turned on in the houses. With Terry's style of American art, we can see why he is so popular.

Since we had extra time today, we scheduled a round of golf at the Bois de Souix . We picked this course because of its unique layout-after playing the front nine in North Dakota you cross over a bridge and play the back nine in Minnesota. Never played golf in two states in one afternoon before. However, the mosquitos were awful and the sun was hot. We have managed to stay ahead or behind the stinking hot weather most places, so this was a real shocker. Then, on the back nine it started to rain. Out here in the midwest, there is no such thing as a little shower. When it rains, it pours, big heavy hard drops of rain. Par for the course (ha ha), the umbrella was in the car back in South Dakota. We stood under a tree which kept us dry for all of two minutes. We ended up getting soaked, so since it didn't matter anymore at that point, we continued to play. Eventually the rain stopped and the sun came back out and so did the mosquitos. Ouch, slap, ouch, slap, dance around, ouch, slap. We were rewarded for our perserverance by a beautiful rainbow.

Our most interesting experiences turn up where we least expect. Wahpeton, population 8,800, is a small town located on the state line of North Dakota and Minnesota. In search of our North Dakota beer, we chose Teddy's Sports Bar in downtown Wahpeton. When we walked in everyone was playing Bingo. Can you believe it on a Friday night? There was no talking, only the sound of the caller reading the numbers and people using those great big markers to carefully dap their cards. We each ordered a beer and figured we would be out of there in 10 minutes since watching people play bingo is not on our list of fun things to do.

The bingo card seller got us into the next and final bingo game of the evening which was black-out. Fred ended up winning $20.00. Instant Celebrity! Fred was then challenged to order the special sandwhich. A gigantic burger with 2 kinds of cheese and 2 fried eggs on top! Since he was the "Bingo Champion" he had to go for it. 2 million calories and 5000 grams of fat later he did it! I was so proud of my man.

We started talking to Janelle who lived in Fargo and was the girlfriend of one of the singers in Brothers Jukebox, the performers for the evening. The brothers book their act and sometimes two, three or four of them will show up. When they sing at home, the sisters join in. Tonight, there was only Joe and Jason. The third brother was combining (farming) and couldn't get away.

Jason and Joe come from an obviously close knit singing family of six boys and two girls who were born and raised in a little town on the border of Canada. Janelle grew up in a town about 20 miles from where Joe lived and as is the case in small midwest towns you know everyone in your town and in the towns around you. Joe and Janelle knew each other from high school and when they ran into each other years later at home, realized that they both now lived in Fargo (which is the big city compared to where they grew up). They have been happily dating for 10 months. Talking with Janelle it was obvious that she loved and respected Joe and his family ties. Every so often we meet someone that we click with and Janelle was one of those people. She promised to e-mail us and keep in touch.

Teddy's is a small town bar full of regulars and as word spread that we were from Pennsylvania, people came up to talk to us. People were puzzled as to why we would be in Wahpeton when we were traveling the country and could choose anywhere to stay. These small town experiences are what we enjoy and we felt very welcome at Teddy's. It was a memorable choice for our North Dakota beer.

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Saturday August 7th

Wahpeton, ND to Minneapolis, MN

The alarm rudely interrupted us at 5:45 AM. Get up, get moving, pack the car-we had to be at the Minn. airport by 10:30 to pick up the unlikely flying duo of our niece Shannon and friend Roger. They arrived safe and sound carrying a large bag of Grandma Utz's potato chips.

Sometimes the Big Kahuna is too big for its britches. We had to park in the Commercial airport lot with the limos and shuttle vans because the Kahuna could not fit in the parking garage. $15.00 for 45 minutes of airport parking-what a rip off.

Since our room was not quite ready, Shannon's first and only choice was to go straight to the Mall of America. When she grows up, she should follow in Aunt Jeanne's footsteps and become a lawyer. Shannon is very persuasive. Within ten minutes, she had me on the roller coaster and Roger on the Axe. The sprawling Mall of America boasts about three times as many stores as Park City (our local shopping mall in Lancaster) plus right in the middle, underneath a huge skylight, is a miniature Hershey Park called Camp Snoopy. On the way out we did our good deed for the day. As we were searching for the Kahuna (only in the M of A parking lot could you lose that beast) we saw a harried Mother (one of many here) who couldn't get here car started. After finding the van we jumped her battery and she was on her way.

After checking into our Embassy Suites room, which is by far the nicest hotel Fred and I have stayed in, we decided to explore downtown Minneapolis. Shannon wanted to go back to the Mall, but we decided she needed to see more of Minneapolis than just the inside of the Mall. After driving around not really knowing what to do, we spotted the Gay Nineties, which Janelle from last night had mentioned. We couldn't remember what she had said about it, but when we read the sign on the door, we realized it was not an appropriate place for a 10 year old child, or Fred and Roger for that matter.

Fortunately, Dan the horse came to the rescue. We spotted Dan and his owner waiting to give a carriage ride and figured that would be a good way to see the city. Dan was a friendly horse who amused us by talking back to his owner at the stop lights. The driver would say something and Dan would shake his head or stamp his foot. Minneapolis has some interesting architecture which we had not noticed from the car, and an open air carriage was the perfect mode of transportation to view the sights.

After dinner at the Hometown Buffet, we retired for the evening.

Sunday August 8th

Minneapolis, Minnesota

The following is an excerpt by guest journalist Shannon Wissler,

Today at the mall, I went on the water rides and the rollercoaster. Fred and I did the bumper cars and we ganged up on people and bumped them. Roger and I did the Mighty Axe where you go upside down and round and round. Joni and I went on the log flume and we shot down the waterfalls. I got my hair wrapped at this one booth and she has been doing it for seven years. The third time we went on the log flume, Roger and Fred went on with us and they were rocking the boat. Then when we went down the log flume a whole bunch of water spashed in on me because I was in the front My favorite ride was the Froggy hopper.

Back to Joni

While Roger and Fred went golfing, Shannon and I took the hotel shuttle over to the Mall and we were one of the first to arrive at Camp Snoopy. Shannon certainly got her money's worth from the one day pass to ride the rides. It's great being an aunt, I didn't have to say no to anything. Judy had sent money along with Shannon for the mall, so she was free to spend it as she pleased. And spend it she did...! My favorite was watching her on the rock climbing wall. She scampered up the easy route in no time flat. The more difficult route posed a few problems until she got some hints from the instructor. We came back later and she tried the Most Difficult where a $20.00 bill is waiting at the top. I admired her persistence, but she was about two inches too short although she did much better than most of the people who tried. It was funny to watch these macho guys who thought they could muscle their way up and grab the $20 but barely made it up two pegs.

Fred's version of golf ---

Roger and I headed to the Edinburgh golf course with unbridled enthusiasm and optimism. A dangerous combination before golfing. We should know better. We arrived at the course ahead of time, or so we thought. As I was beginning my routine of head to toe sunscreen application I heard mumblings from the side of the car. It seems Roger left the key to his golf club travel bag back in the room. Instead of taking the hint from the golf gods he borrowed my hammer and opened his bag with a few good whacks. So much for locks providing security.

Now we were right on time which means no warmups. Of course Roger and I were born ready for golf. We don't need no stinkin warmups (as my 8 on hole number one clearly showed). The golf pro and starter must have gone to the same late night party the previous evening because they both were already having a bad day, and it was only 8 AM.

The course was picturesque with lots of water, sand, high rough, OB, and fast undulating greens. Do I have to mention what our scores looked like? As we walked along enjoying all the challenges of the course we kept reciting our mantra for the day, "At least we aren't at the Mall" That thought kept us going through every trial.

It was a typical day. Emotions ranging from the highest high ( a crisp approach to the green) to the lowest low (a drive visiting someones back porch). That's what makes golf so special. Right Roger?

Round over, time for a beer and then on to the mall! --------

....Back to Joni

When Fred and Roger returned at 3 in the afternnon, we played some trivia, ate dinner and, after a whole day at the Mall of America, had a well earned beer. The whole fifth level of the mall was restaurants and bars. They obviouslt knew there would be a built in demand. We finally were able to drag Shannon back to the hotel when Camp Snoopy closed at 8 PM.

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Monday August 9th

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Good bye to Roger and Shannon. We dropped them off at the airport and it seems awfully quiet in our room. I miss that adorable bouncy little girl who is growing up so fast. Roger, I miss you too because now I have to entertain Fred!

We spent the afternoon lounging and reading and then went to work out. I opted for the treadmill and Fred went for a run in the rain. Embassy Suites has this wonderful amenity called a free happy hour which we availed ourselves of. While there, we spent an enjoyable two hours going through our photos, rehashing memories and writing descriptions on the back. For those of you who were just dying to know, we mail our film to Mystic in Conn and they forward the pictures to our address at home. My parents then send us our photos with the mail. It works out well because we only have a few weeks of lag time until we get to see our pictures.

It is hard to believe we have been on the road for over four months. Things have turned out better than we could have ever imagined. I thought for sure after a few weeks, we would be tired of lugging suitcases, but we have it down to a science. Our ratio of rain to good weather has been phenomenal, we have only hit three traffic jams, and rarely gotten lost despite my mediocre navigational skills. During the month of August, we will have visitors from home for almost half the month. The time is going so quickly.

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Tuesday August 10th

Minneapolis, Minnesota

The Capitol building in St. Paul is quite a show piece. During a free 45 minute guided tour, we learned all about the work place of Minnesota's most famous governor, Jesse, The Body, Ventura. Completed in 1905 after nine years of construction, the elaborate building cost $4.5 million to build. Cass Gilbert, the architect, attended to every detail right down to designing the doorknobs. Some of his artwork commissions seemed a little strange, but his choices of marble and stone provided an elegant interior.

The Minnesota Campus is located in downtown Minneapolis and since it is a Big 10 school, we had to take a look. Fred wanted to check out the stadium but it looked like it was under construction. Maybe Minnesota will be playing their games this year in the Metrodome. Actually, it doesn't matter to Penn State because they play the Minnesota Gophers at State College this year on November 6. (We will be in attendance.)

We still had some time before starting our pre-baseball game festivities so we gave the BK some TLC and got an oil change. (Hey Dad-that makes #3)

All the Happy Hour activity is located near the Target Center (basketball stadium) which is about 10 blocks away from the Metrodome. We parked near the dome and walked toward Hennipen Street. There were so many interesting bars to choose from it was like being at Disney World and only being able to pick three rides out of all the wonderful possibilities.

We started off at Lyons on Sixth which was OK, but nothing special. Our timing was off as Happy Hour did not start for 20 more minutes so we had to pay the outrageous price of $4.00 each for our beers.

We had heard about a bar called The Loon Cafe near the Target Center which was voted as one of the Top100 Bars in America. We could not locate the Loon so I asked a young man in a striped blue shirt and tie for directions. We set off and as we were standing at the cross walk, he came running down a half block to tell us we needed to turn right instead of left. That was nice of him to not let us wander around dazed and confused as we searched for Loons.

On our way to Loons we stopped at Champs Americana which had a great outdoor patio located in a skinny alley, and Michelob Golden Light on tap. At Loons, we asked the bartender how they got the distinction of being one of the Top 100 Bars. Turns out it was 17 years ago that the survey was taken and Loon's was one of only a few bars in Minneapolis. Being on this list can be an effective way to market the bar and they take advantage of it. It is a nice bar with a great atmosphere to watch a game on TV.

The Metrodome is not as bad as I thought it would be. Outside a festive atmosphere prevailed. Music was playing. Families were seated at bright blue picnic tables watching kids play wiffle ball at a makeshift baseball diamond that was set up on the plaza. The "Dog House", an outdoor food stand, was open for business offering hot dogs, beer and soda to be enjoyed under the sunny skies before going inside the dome.

Inside, a dome is a dome is a dome. However, the blue seats and bright green turf make a good first impression until you look up and see the big white balloon covering the ceiling. During the game, a pop up actually hit the ceiling, but the Toronto second baseman judged the angle and caught it. It is kind of like playing in our indoor volleyball league where we have to contend with the basketball ropes.

The concourse area was typical for an old stadium. The feel was like being at an event in the Hershey arena-good for hockey and rock concerts but not meant for baseball. I felt that stadium management did a good job of keeping the 15,824 fans involved with lots of snappy music. However, Fred thought it was too much and found it annoying.

A four generational family was sitting behind us. The daughter, now living in Vermont, was home for a visit and attending with her blond haired blue eyed one year old, plus parents, husband and grandmother. Grandma was an avid Twins fans who watched all the games on TV and seemed extremely happy to be at the game.

The Twins had their best pitcher on the mound but the Blue Jays scored three runs in the first inning. Since we had to be in Milwaukee for tomorrow afternoon's game, we left right after singing Take Me Out to the Ballgame in the middle of the 7th inning. At that point, the score was 9-3, Blue Jays. By the time we got to the car and tuned in the game, the Twins were making a comeback and had scored three runs. I bet Grandma was cheering.

As we were cruising down the highway listening to the end of the game, all of a sudden in the top of the ninth we heard Herb the announcer talk about our trip. He mentioned our names, where we were from and that we must be on our way to Milwaukee by now. It blew us away to hear our names on Minnesota radio and we laughed and high fived each other as we cruised through the Wisconsin night.

Final score Blue Jays 10 (including 5 HR), Minnesota Twins 6

Around midnight, we stopped in Tomah where we got the last room available at the Comfort Inn. Since it was a Smoking Room, the lady gave us $20.00 off. The room did stink, but before long we were sound asleep.

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