A Monumental Day

So yesterday was our "fun" day in our marathon mother and son drive. First stop, Devil's Tower. I knew I had planned a full day of sights and driving, so we got close, took a few pictures, read about the legend, and took of down the road again. See ya later  Wyoming!

It appears the Sturgis bike thingy (festival? invasion?) is happening or coming up very shortly. Herds (flocks? prides? pods?) of bikers are converging everywhere we visit today. Sadly, Trent is sleeping when we get to Sturgis, and a sleeping Trent means no potty beak, and that makes me happy.

Mount Rushmore is next on the list. It's raining when we get there, but turns out to be a great day. Amazing views, loved the story about how this monument was created. It seems so excessive and crazy in a way. Trent's review: It was kinda lame, but I'm glad we came anyway.  A note to the US parks service: if you're going to charge 10 bucks admission, don't look at me like I'm crazy when I hand you the plastic. Lots of people don't carry cash.

Up the road a bit and we're at Crazy Horse. Even though the museum seems kinda like a mish-mosh of Native American stuff, we enjoyed this monument much more. Only his face is really done, and it will be great for us to look back at the pictures we got today when it's complete.

Foggy, nasty drive into Mitchell last night, complete with random lane closures. Trent stayed up and kept me company til we got in at 1am. Such a great kid!

Today, Corn Palace here we come! Hoping to make it "home" tonight but we'll see how it goes.

Location : 1001-1099 S Burr St, Mitchell, SD 57301,

Could use some vampire weather

Ready to continue our drive through Wyoming, and although this place is huge and gorgeous, it could use a few things. Namely, some enormous fir trees and some clouds. I'd even be happy to see a drizzle. DAMN this sun is bright! Forget sparkling, I'm fixin to combust!

So here's the Wyoming driving checklist: huge sunglasses to block the ball of death in the sky, preemptive ibuprofen for the inevitable squinting headache despite the huge sunglasses, plenty of water, liberally applied sunscreen to prevent farmers tan due to the window being open. Air conditioning? Ha!

Location : Address not available

Big Sky Country

Tried to make up for lost time today, and managed to squeeze in 4 states in 1 day.

Got out of Washington as soon as the coffee kicked in, and made short work of the Idaho panhandle. Didn't even stop for a Gowalla stamp, thankyouverymuch.

Then it was on to Montana. Big sky country indeed! I didn't bother taking many pictures, because they'll never do it justice. Despite the orange cones mysteriously blocking lanes of highway where nobody is working, this was one of the most pleasant drives I've ever taken. Every time we turned a corner, the view got better and better. The sunset behind us was almost too good to be true, and after that we had an amazing show, as lightning arched from one end of the sky to the other.

Pretty wiped out as we hit the Wyoming border, but paying for a hotel room before you start driving is a great motivator to keep going

Tomorrow's goals, Devils Tower, Mt. Rushmore, and make it to Mitchell South Dakota do we can wake up and see...the world famous Corn Palace!

Location : 1002-1142 S Garner Lake Rd, Gillette, WY 82718,

Idaho? No no no.

After a late start and too many potty breaks, we are not as far along as I would have liked to be. Thought for sure we were going to make it to Couer D'elene, Idaho, but no such luck. Actually, we could have made it there just fine, but there are no rooms, so we're stuck in Spokane.

But all in all, I couldn't have asked for a better day. Great scenery, great company, and a great start to the journey.

Tomorrow's goal:  Make it through Montana and into Wyoming.

Location : 12803 E Sprague Ave, Spokane Valley, WA 99216,

You've Stolen Our Hearts

We' ve said it a hundred times this week. This is the hardest place we've ever had to leave. From New York to California and back again, no city we've ever visited or lived in has had such a profound effect on us.

When Rob gave me the news months ago that a promotion to his home office in St. Louis was shifting from dream to reality, I starting crying--mentally saying a long good-bye to everything I love about Portland. Views of Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens made me cry. The long hallway of trees on the way to the coast made me cry. Seeing the city coming out of the tunnel on 26 made me cry. The Made in Oregon sign? Yup. Smoke at the Timbers match against Vancouver provided a convenient excuse to tear up too. So I thought that when it came time to say some real good-byes this week, maybe my quota of weeping would be used up. Not even close. I've held it in as I've hugged you all, but as soon as I'm out of sight I spill over like the Pacific NW skies.

I don't subscribe to any religion, but I can still say that I feel blessed to have been here, to have met and known you all. Thank you for opening your hearts to our family, Portland has truly stolen ours.

RCTID

Location : 2000-2098 SE Taggart St, Portland, OR 97202,