Hello hello!! I'm currently in Spokane after a very successful day of traveling. We were planning on driving straight to Spokane, WA from Butte, MT. About halfway through our drive we saw a billboard for a city in Idaho called Wallace. It is the silver capitol of the world (or something like that). Basically, when you drive into the city it's like going back in time a little. The city is really small and everyone waves to each other. W took a tour of a silver-iron mine and the town. I even bought a "finger friend." It's a gem glued to a ring with googly eyes. Surprisingly REALLY cute. I named mine Porcus Wally. He's emerald green like my birthstone. Anyway, we spent a couple of hours in Wallace and then we got back on the road for Spokane. We got into the city by 5 and just hung out in the room until now (10:15). The hotel had free cookies in the lobby at 7 and they were DELICIOUS!! We made a pretty good choice hanging out in the hotel all night since we were all pretty exhausted from doing too much all at once.
This was a significantly better traveling day than yesterday. Although we didn't do as much we still had a great time venturing through the west. For the entire ride we listened to country music because that was the only station that we could get. I like country music so I had a great time driving. My sister, on the other hand, looked like she might have jumped out the car going 70mph if she didn't have her ipod on extra loud. It's a good thing she can sleep in cars!!
Tomorrow we head down to Redmond to start our search for apartments. It's sad to think that this is the end of our adventure driving through the U. S. of A. but I'm more than ready to settle down and find a place I can call my own for the next 24 months (hotels make me miss my own bedding). I may not update as frequently once this trip is over because, let's face it, my life isn't this exciting all the time. However, I do have a couple camping trips planned out for the summer with a friend of mine who lives in Oregon, so you'll be able to read all about it. Thanks for following me from east to west and taking this great journey with me. Be sure to keep checking back for more updates!! Until then... Laters
Friday, June 3, 2011
On The Road: Day 8
Good morning all. Let me tell you about our adventure last night, and why I am updating you this morning instead of last night. We were planning on leaving the hotel in Custer around 6 like we did the day before because we had what we thought would be an 8 hour drive to Yellowstone. We woke up and the office to check out wasn't open until 7:30. So we had to wait. When the lady finally got there we checked out and she tried to get us to stay for breakfast. She talked to me and asked me all kinds of questions and when I finally said we're running an hour behind schedule, she said, "OK well thanks for stopping in." You think she was lonely?? Anyway, we got on the road and put Old Faithful into my GPS. Apparently Old Faithful is an hour more into the park than just the 8 hours of getting to the gate. So OK, 9 hours from our location and we were leaving an hour later than planned. We still would have gotten to the hotel in Butte by about 10 or 11, if all had gone according to plan. We drive for about 7 and a half hours and get to the East gate, only to find out that it's closed until 8pm. The worker at the gate told us that we had to go back out on the road we came to the city called Cody and then take another highway up to the Northeast entrance. Now if you've ever gone to Yellowstone, you know that there's only one road for about an hour past the closest city to the entrance you want to go through. So we U-turned and drove for an hour back the way we came on the same road, just to find out that the Northeast entrance is another 3 and a half hours away from Cody. So now we've tagged on 3 and a half hours to our trip. Then we FINALLY get to the Northeast entrance and look at the map to see where we needed to go to get to Old Faithful. Just our luck, of course, Old Faithful is down at the Southwest section of the park. So not only do we tag on another hour and half of driving down to the geyser, but we also have to to back track in order to get to the road we want to take to get to Butte.
Let me try to draw this image for you for those who have not been to Yellowstone. There Are four entrances, the Northeast, East, South, and West. The map looks like a wheel with spokes coming out from it and one road that goes through the middle of the park. Old Faithful is down between the West and South entrances and past the road in the road in the middle of the park. We entered in the NE gate which is the furthest point from Old Faithful. We took a left after getting into the park thinking that we could drive to the road that cuts across the circle and then down to the SW part of the park. About 3 miles into the park, we come across a sign that said the road is closed. So we turn back around, go all the way around the north end of the park and then south. Look at a map sometime and see how many times we drove on the same road to back track.
Moving on: We FINALLY get to Old Faithful. It's about 9pm and (LUCKILY) the gift shop closes at 9:30. So we run in and see if we can buy our souvenirs before they close. Oh did I mention that it's snowing?? Well, that's a lie. Snow implies fluffy, pretty snow. This was wind with dry snow so it hurt when, what looked like little Styrofoam balls, pelted you. AND all three of us are dressed for summer whether. Yes, we had long jeans and long sleeve shirts on, but we had as our thickest piece of clothing, a hoodie. We basically froze waiting for the geyser to erupt. By the time it did erupt it was almost dark, about 9:45. Once that was done we ran to the car, frozen to the bone, and thawed out before heading out to Butte, which is where I am right now.
We drove all the way to Butte (about 3 and half hours) and managed to get a little lost (tagging on another half hour). Finally at about 2 in the morning we get to the hotel. We check in and get our key, which of course doesn't work. So we had to go back to the front desk and the guy had to use his master key to get us into the hotel. I crashed as soon as I could and just woke up now.
So that's our adventure from yesterday. Today we drive to Sokane, WA. It's only a 5 hour drive so we'll be exploring a little along the way. I think this is where my first lesson from Skidmore comes into play: Learn to go with the flow. I'm one who likes to plan. This trip has definitely taught me to be prepared for what ever may go wrong, much like in class when I show up unprepared for class. I bet not many of you knew that I came to class unprepared huh?? haha well, that's life!! Be sure to check back and I'll let you know when I get to Spokane. Until then... Laters
Let me try to draw this image for you for those who have not been to Yellowstone. There Are four entrances, the Northeast, East, South, and West. The map looks like a wheel with spokes coming out from it and one road that goes through the middle of the park. Old Faithful is down between the West and South entrances and past the road in the road in the middle of the park. We entered in the NE gate which is the furthest point from Old Faithful. We took a left after getting into the park thinking that we could drive to the road that cuts across the circle and then down to the SW part of the park. About 3 miles into the park, we come across a sign that said the road is closed. So we turn back around, go all the way around the north end of the park and then south. Look at a map sometime and see how many times we drove on the same road to back track.
Moving on: We FINALLY get to Old Faithful. It's about 9pm and (LUCKILY) the gift shop closes at 9:30. So we run in and see if we can buy our souvenirs before they close. Oh did I mention that it's snowing?? Well, that's a lie. Snow implies fluffy, pretty snow. This was wind with dry snow so it hurt when, what looked like little Styrofoam balls, pelted you. AND all three of us are dressed for summer whether. Yes, we had long jeans and long sleeve shirts on, but we had as our thickest piece of clothing, a hoodie. We basically froze waiting for the geyser to erupt. By the time it did erupt it was almost dark, about 9:45. Once that was done we ran to the car, frozen to the bone, and thawed out before heading out to Butte, which is where I am right now.
We drove all the way to Butte (about 3 and half hours) and managed to get a little lost (tagging on another half hour). Finally at about 2 in the morning we get to the hotel. We check in and get our key, which of course doesn't work. So we had to go back to the front desk and the guy had to use his master key to get us into the hotel. I crashed as soon as I could and just woke up now.
So that's our adventure from yesterday. Today we drive to Sokane, WA. It's only a 5 hour drive so we'll be exploring a little along the way. I think this is where my first lesson from Skidmore comes into play: Learn to go with the flow. I'm one who likes to plan. This trip has definitely taught me to be prepared for what ever may go wrong, much like in class when I show up unprepared for class. I bet not many of you knew that I came to class unprepared huh?? haha well, that's life!! Be sure to check back and I'll let you know when I get to Spokane. Until then... Laters
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
On The Road: Day 7
Here I am in Custer, South Dakota. Yes, yes. You're all asking, "Why Custer?" Mount Rushmore is in Keystone. Well, the answer: just 4 miles away from Custer is Crazy Horse Monument. We thought that Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse were a lot farther apart than they really were. We booked out hotel as far west as we could because we do have a lot of driving to do tomorrow. So today we stopped at Mt. Rushmore, walked the presidential trail, and even saw someone up on top of the mountain. That person was walking around between Washington's head and Jefferson's head. That area is restricted so the worker that we pointed him/her out to had to call security to notify the proper authorities. We listened to a couple of talks about the mountain and why those four presidents were chosen. I think I've learned more about our nation's history in the last two weeks than I did when I was taking American History during my sophomore year of high school.
After exhausting all of our activities at Mt. Rushmore, we drove over to Crazy Horse. For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about (and I don't blame you, I had no idea who he was before this): Crazy Horse was the name of a Native American chief who fought for his people's freedom He refused to live on a reserve and led the battle of Little Big Horn. He was stabbed in the back, which is how his life ended prematurely. There is some discrepancy as to whether he was stabbed by one of his own or an opposing soldier. This project is currently being built and only the face of Crazy Horse is complete. If you want to learn a little more, here's the link: http://www.crazyhorsememorial.org/
It's pretty cool to check out and see the progress from one man to a whole production helping to build it. At night they have a laser show projected on the side of the mountain. It's called Legends in Lights. We saw it and I have to say, it's no Disney park show but it was still pretty neat. Some of the images were a little hard to identify, but that could very well come from my limited knowledge of Native American artifacts. As I walked around I noticed that nothing was documented very well (this coming from my Anthropology/Archaeology minor background). Most of the artifacts they had on display, I am pleased to announce, were donated from families and direct lines to the tribes they belonged to, meaning they weren't discovered underground and therefore aren't really missing their documentations of where they are from. However, I did see some flakes and projectile points unlabeled :(
Tomorrow we head out to Yellowstone National Park, which is an 8 hour drive. We're going to stay there for a few hours and then head out to Butte, Montana. We will spend the night in Butte (no I have no idea what there is to do in Butte, it's just a random place I decided to see) and then head to our second to last stop after that. I am almost done with my road trip and I am EXHAUSTED!! I can't believe that people did this trek with horses and buggies. Keep checking back for my last few posts about my road trip and the future adventures I will experience. Until then... Laters
After exhausting all of our activities at Mt. Rushmore, we drove over to Crazy Horse. For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about (and I don't blame you, I had no idea who he was before this): Crazy Horse was the name of a Native American chief who fought for his people's freedom He refused to live on a reserve and led the battle of Little Big Horn. He was stabbed in the back, which is how his life ended prematurely. There is some discrepancy as to whether he was stabbed by one of his own or an opposing soldier. This project is currently being built and only the face of Crazy Horse is complete. If you want to learn a little more, here's the link: http://www.crazyhorsememorial.org/
It's pretty cool to check out and see the progress from one man to a whole production helping to build it. At night they have a laser show projected on the side of the mountain. It's called Legends in Lights. We saw it and I have to say, it's no Disney park show but it was still pretty neat. Some of the images were a little hard to identify, but that could very well come from my limited knowledge of Native American artifacts. As I walked around I noticed that nothing was documented very well (this coming from my Anthropology/Archaeology minor background). Most of the artifacts they had on display, I am pleased to announce, were donated from families and direct lines to the tribes they belonged to, meaning they weren't discovered underground and therefore aren't really missing their documentations of where they are from. However, I did see some flakes and projectile points unlabeled :(
Tomorrow we head out to Yellowstone National Park, which is an 8 hour drive. We're going to stay there for a few hours and then head out to Butte, Montana. We will spend the night in Butte (no I have no idea what there is to do in Butte, it's just a random place I decided to see) and then head to our second to last stop after that. I am almost done with my road trip and I am EXHAUSTED!! I can't believe that people did this trek with horses and buggies. Keep checking back for my last few posts about my road trip and the future adventures I will experience. Until then... Laters
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
On The Road: Day 6
Hello from Omaha!! Today we drove from the Mall of America, down SE to Dyersville, IA. I drove first. We went to Dyersville to see the Field of Dreams movie site. It was pretty cool!! The only thing I was bummed about was that there was no corn field because (duh) it's not in season. So throughout our ENTIRE drive down to Omaha, there were no corn fields. After Dyersville we attempted to find a Bass Pro Shop in Altoona but we couldn't find it. So we headed out to Council Bluffs via Des Moines. After a quick stop at Bass Pro we headed over to Omaha. I was able to hit the old market and pedestrian bridge as well as meet up with Emily from Dance for the Child for dessert.
Now we're at the hotel getting ready for bed. Tomorrow we're going up to Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse. We'll be staying near Crazy Horse and heading out the next day for Yellowstone National Park. It's going to be a fun day in the sun tomorrow so I have to remember to drink lots of water (I tend to forget to do that a lot). Keep checking back for more updates!! Until then... Laters
Now we're at the hotel getting ready for bed. Tomorrow we're going up to Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse. We'll be staying near Crazy Horse and heading out the next day for Yellowstone National Park. It's going to be a fun day in the sun tomorrow so I have to remember to drink lots of water (I tend to forget to do that a lot). Keep checking back for more updates!! Until then... Laters
On The Road: Day 5
Well technically we weren't on the road (and yes, I am posting a day late because I was so tired yesterday that I forgot to post last night). Yesterday we shopped until we dropped... LITERALLY!! It was the day for Mall of America. We woke up, ate breakfast, and went to the mall by 10am. We picked up our tickets for the amusement park. It used to be camp snoopy but now it's Nickelodeon Universe. We rode rides for about 2 hours before beginning to shop. The mall if 3 levels of shops and food and on the fourth level is mostly nightlife activities like clubs and bars. There's a sea life aquarium and a miniature gold course. We decided that the aquarium and the golf course we could do without so we focused mainly on the park and shopping. Overall we ended up staying from 10am to 5pm (felt like a full work day). Our feet were sore and we had done enough shopping (yes, I bought quite a bit). We headed back to the hotel and dropped onto the beds. Took a nap and at 8 went back to the mall for dinner. As much fun as I had at the Mall of America, it's still second place to Disneyland.
Today we hit the road again. First we're going to Dyersville, Iowa to see the movie set for Field of Dreams. Then my cousin is obsessed with this chain of stores called Bass Pro Shops so we're going to go to two of them--one on our way to Des Moines and one on our way to Omaha--to make him jealous and buy him a shirt. One of them has a bowling ally so we may bowl a game before moving on. So after visiting the Field of Dreams, Bass Pro, Des Moines, and Bass Pro, we will arrive in Omaha. I'm pretty excited to see a bunch of corn fields because secretly I'm a farm girl. I love wide open spaces where someday I will live so that I can buy a horse and ride until I get lost and have no idea where my house is (believe me, it WILL happen). I will be sure to update you once I get settled at the hotel, so keep checking back, thanks for reading, and sorry for the late post!! Until then, Laters.
Today we hit the road again. First we're going to Dyersville, Iowa to see the movie set for Field of Dreams. Then my cousin is obsessed with this chain of stores called Bass Pro Shops so we're going to go to two of them--one on our way to Des Moines and one on our way to Omaha--to make him jealous and buy him a shirt. One of them has a bowling ally so we may bowl a game before moving on. So after visiting the Field of Dreams, Bass Pro, Des Moines, and Bass Pro, we will arrive in Omaha. I'm pretty excited to see a bunch of corn fields because secretly I'm a farm girl. I love wide open spaces where someday I will live so that I can buy a horse and ride until I get lost and have no idea where my house is (believe me, it WILL happen). I will be sure to update you once I get settled at the hotel, so keep checking back, thanks for reading, and sorry for the late post!! Until then, Laters.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
On The Road: Day 4
I almost drowned today. Here's what happened: We woke up in Terre Haute and hit the road by 8am. We drove to Chicago and saw Wrigley Field (home of the Cubs), United Center (home of the Bulls), and Soldier Field (home of the Bears). Well we sort of saw all those places. It was raining very hard and I could barely see 5 feet in front of me. After getting out of the city we stopped at a HUGE rest stop. It was literally like a food court in a mall. After getting some food and stretching our legs a bit, we headed back outside. At this point it was pouring buckets, lightning, and thundering outside. I was absolutely drenched after a second of being out from under the covers. I like storms, but this was just crazy!! I hopped in the back seat of the car and bundled up in hoodies and jackets and passed out.
I woke up an hour later to find out that we were in Wisconsin filling up gas. It was cloudy but not raining so I was a little disoriented for a while. I passed back out and woke up an hour later when we were at another rest stop. I moved to the front of the car and became navigator for the remainder of the trip. Just shy of two hours later we were in Minnesota looking at the Mall of America. It is GIGANTIC!! There are no words to describe this mall. You just have to see it. I can't wait to go in it. We got here after 7 and it's Sunday so we only have one day at the mall. Tomorrow we spend all day riding rides, shopping, and having fun in the mall. Then we spend the next night here again and head out to Omaha the next day.
We are well on our way to the west and I can't help but think about the fact that with each day I get farther and farther away from the place I called home for the last four years but closer and closer to the place I called home for 18 years before then and the place I will call home in the near future. It's weird to think about where I've been and the adventures I still have waiting for me (which you will get to read about!!). I can't wait to experience them and write them all down here. For now, I best be getting to bed because I have a full day of shopping to do tomorrow!! Until than... Laters
I woke up an hour later to find out that we were in Wisconsin filling up gas. It was cloudy but not raining so I was a little disoriented for a while. I passed back out and woke up an hour later when we were at another rest stop. I moved to the front of the car and became navigator for the remainder of the trip. Just shy of two hours later we were in Minnesota looking at the Mall of America. It is GIGANTIC!! There are no words to describe this mall. You just have to see it. I can't wait to go in it. We got here after 7 and it's Sunday so we only have one day at the mall. Tomorrow we spend all day riding rides, shopping, and having fun in the mall. Then we spend the next night here again and head out to Omaha the next day.
We are well on our way to the west and I can't help but think about the fact that with each day I get farther and farther away from the place I called home for the last four years but closer and closer to the place I called home for 18 years before then and the place I will call home in the near future. It's weird to think about where I've been and the adventures I still have waiting for me (which you will get to read about!!). I can't wait to experience them and write them all down here. For now, I best be getting to bed because I have a full day of shopping to do tomorrow!! Until than... Laters
Saturday, May 28, 2011
On The Road: Day 3
Lucky me!! Tomorrow is the Indianapolis 500 and that means that EVERY hotel within a 70 mile radius from Indianapolis is full. I had no idea that this was going on so I booked a room last night for a hotel in Terre Haute, IN. The original plan was to stay in Hoosierville, IN. The reason I wanted to stay near Hoosierville was that I took Intro to American Studies with Professor Nathan and we learned all about the history of basketball. Ever since I took that class Sophomore year and saw the movie Hoosiers, I've wanted to visit Hoosierville. Well, I tried to look up hotels in the area and nothing came up on priceline, expedia, or hotwire. So I expanded my search, found a place for about $65 in Terre Haute. Not bad, right? I figured, I just want to see Hoosierville and then we can be on our way, so staying about 20 minutes away wouldn't kill me. I'll get to why I'm lucky in a couple paragraphs.
So here's what happened today: In the morning we woke up at about 6am, ate breakfast at our hotel in Harrisonburg, and hit the road around 7am. Now, I'm a HUGE fan of chick-flicks so I suddenly remembered that Win A Date With Tad Hamilton took place in Fraziers Bottom, WV. Naturally, I just HAD to see it. We took about 3 hours to get there and took a couple pictures of things that said Fraziers Bottom on it (needless to say, there's not much too look at. It's very country, complete with cows, sheep, and horses. Oh, and LOTS of green). We needed gas so we took that opportunity to stretch our legs and switch drivers. Then we continued driving to Cincinnati, OH. We stopped in Cincinnati for a 4pm dinner (we skipped lunch because we were driving so we were pretty hungry at this point) and then got back on the road. So far, we've only spent a maximum of 4 hours in the car at a time (I think).
Now here's the funny part of the story. We got in the car after dinner in Cincinnati and headed to try to find Hoosierville. We got to Brazil, IN with hardly any trouble. They were doing some construction on the highway so we missed our exits a couple of times, but nothing too bad. Then we drove around for a while in what looked like a residential area. We used our phones to look up Hoosierville since my GPS did not recognize that as a location. The phone showed Hoosierville as literally a block of land that we drove around in less than 5 minutes. I think Skidmore is bigger than Hoosierville!! There were no signs that said that where we were was Hoosierville, so I'm not entirely convinced that it was (it didn't look like the movie setting). After driving around and seeing cute little cottage-like houses we gave up and headed for Terre Haute for the hotel. Hoosierville was an EPIC fail.
OK, so why am I lucky?? When we got to the hotel and checked in, the lady at the front said, "We're glad you're here and we're glad you could get a room." I asked why and she explained the situation, which I explained in the beginning of this post. Sure enough, after I had checked in I heard a few people asking if they had any vacancies in the hotel. Wow!! I would say that makes me pretty lucky to have a place to stay tonight.
Tomorrow we have another long day of driving ahead of us. The plan as of now is to leave Terre Haute around 8, have a late lunch/early dinner in Chicago, IL before arriving at our final destination in Bloomington, MN at around 7 or 8pm. We will be spending two nights in Bloomington so that we have a full day to shop at the Mall of America without having to worry about where we're staying or when we're leaving. After that, it's off to Omaha, NE!! Be sure to check back to see what randomness we encounter tomorrow :) Until then... Laters.
So here's what happened today: In the morning we woke up at about 6am, ate breakfast at our hotel in Harrisonburg, and hit the road around 7am. Now, I'm a HUGE fan of chick-flicks so I suddenly remembered that Win A Date With Tad Hamilton took place in Fraziers Bottom, WV. Naturally, I just HAD to see it. We took about 3 hours to get there and took a couple pictures of things that said Fraziers Bottom on it (needless to say, there's not much too look at. It's very country, complete with cows, sheep, and horses. Oh, and LOTS of green). We needed gas so we took that opportunity to stretch our legs and switch drivers. Then we continued driving to Cincinnati, OH. We stopped in Cincinnati for a 4pm dinner (we skipped lunch because we were driving so we were pretty hungry at this point) and then got back on the road. So far, we've only spent a maximum of 4 hours in the car at a time (I think).
Now here's the funny part of the story. We got in the car after dinner in Cincinnati and headed to try to find Hoosierville. We got to Brazil, IN with hardly any trouble. They were doing some construction on the highway so we missed our exits a couple of times, but nothing too bad. Then we drove around for a while in what looked like a residential area. We used our phones to look up Hoosierville since my GPS did not recognize that as a location. The phone showed Hoosierville as literally a block of land that we drove around in less than 5 minutes. I think Skidmore is bigger than Hoosierville!! There were no signs that said that where we were was Hoosierville, so I'm not entirely convinced that it was (it didn't look like the movie setting). After driving around and seeing cute little cottage-like houses we gave up and headed for Terre Haute for the hotel. Hoosierville was an EPIC fail.
OK, so why am I lucky?? When we got to the hotel and checked in, the lady at the front said, "We're glad you're here and we're glad you could get a room." I asked why and she explained the situation, which I explained in the beginning of this post. Sure enough, after I had checked in I heard a few people asking if they had any vacancies in the hotel. Wow!! I would say that makes me pretty lucky to have a place to stay tonight.
Tomorrow we have another long day of driving ahead of us. The plan as of now is to leave Terre Haute around 8, have a late lunch/early dinner in Chicago, IL before arriving at our final destination in Bloomington, MN at around 7 or 8pm. We will be spending two nights in Bloomington so that we have a full day to shop at the Mall of America without having to worry about where we're staying or when we're leaving. After that, it's off to Omaha, NE!! Be sure to check back to see what randomness we encounter tomorrow :) Until then... Laters.
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