Day 10: Keepin’ it real in Chicago, IL

We were so happy to get a break from driving today, but now my feet are sore! We took a shuttle from our hotel to the airport and from there took a train ride into the city. It was fun to figure out the transit system and with map in hand, got here and there with a lot of walking, train and bus use. The girls were super excited about all the train rides and were pretty good troopers… until we made them walk too much, lol.

We had a few ‘must-sees’ that we missed during our last visit two years ago, so the Bean in Millennium Park was our first stop. It’s an amazing bean-shaped metal glob with a very beautiful panoramic-reflection of the city.

We then walked to the Navy Pier, which was seriously way to far away. We definitely should have taken the bus. It was a very bustling and packed full of people area filled with shopping, restaurants and rides. We took a ride in the GIANT ferris wheel and got a beautiful view of the city and Lake.

We then tried to find our way to this pizza restaurant recommended by an old friend. It wasn’t bad, but not worth the 90 minute wait with two hungry girls. That alone made the pizza taste worse, lol. Just kinda sucks because once we were finally done, the whole afternoon was already gone and we still wanted to make it to several other places.

We promised the girls we would take them to the Lincoln Park Zoo, a treat that was just for them. But, after all the walking we did it was more like torture for them. Dang. It’s a free zoo here in Chicago, and was actually pretty neat. It had a few animals we don’t have in the Portland Oregon Zoo, one of which was the kangaroo. They’re movements are so interesting! I didn’t take a whole lot of pictures, I spent the whole time carrying a child and forgot. Oh well. I think I am growing tired of this non-stop vacation/tortuous road trip. Hehe.

We rode the train a little further north to pay homage to the Cubbies.

But across the street the girls were more fascinated with the giant macaroni. LOL

Sadly, it didn’t really feel like we did much. We probably spent most of the day walking, and the rest of it waiting on that stupid pizza place. Oh well. There is always next time. I think we are just ready to get the show on the road and get started on making our new place feel like home… which will be tomorrow! I haven’t even seen the place yet. Hopefully it’s ok! Oh, and here’s Allie zonked out on our train ride back to the hotel. Both girls fell asleep like this.

Whelp, we leave at 4:30am tomorrow morning to get an early start. We want enough time to unload our things from that ABF trailer. I’ll post again when we have internet and I can show you our new place! And, even better, we should be unpacked and all put together because my Mom, ZZ, and Uncle Jay will be taking the girls for some fun time in New York!

Day 9: Sioux Falls, SD to Chicago, IL

Today we drove close to 550 miles, which took us about 12 hours (including our little stops here and there.) This was the dreaded longest day yet, but we planned it this way because for one, there was nothing exciting to see along the way except for the SPAM  museum, and this way, we could get a full day of Chicago in the next day without feeling like we wasted a traveling day. The terrain went from flat to a refreshing view of hills and trees. Thankfully the girls fell asleep early in the drive and slept for the first three hours. They were exhausted from our late night of swimming last night, and when woken by 8am (which is technically 6am back home) they were grumpy little beasts. Without those long naps this morning, I’m sure today would have been a whole different story, and I seriously might have thrown myself out of the truck!

We’ve been stuffing our dirty clothes inside of other clothes for easier packing on the way out of each hotel. It just so happened that Malia’s pj’s made for a great laundry carrier today, LOL.

Before departing Sioux Falls we stopped to see the actual falls the city was named for. It’s pretty cool because they flow right through the middle of the city.

Unlike yesterday, we traveled through three states today. The first was Minnesota.

Minnesota is home to the Spam Museum. Apparently, rumors have spread that SPAM is made of all sorts of junk meats/animals. In truth (supposedly) SPAM is simply the shoulder of a HOG, mixed with water, salt, and sodium nitrate for preserving. Hmm… do you believe this? We like SPAM cooked with pineapple and in our sushi. But, we did pick up a few new recipe ideas from the museum, LOL. Believe it or not, this was a stop we were looking forward to! We were sad to find that their little Spam Shack was closed by the time we got there and didn’t get to eat any for Linner. Darn. (sorry for the blurry picture, it’s the only one I got)

On our way out I saw this sign… made me laugh. I guess I was destined for this vacation! Haha.

The other two states we crossed through were Wisconsin and Illinois! But, unfortunately, no state picture for Illinois. It was dark and with the construction at the border line, we couldn’t find the sign, if there was even one. We’ll see if we can catch it when leaving the state for Michigan.

It sure was a big driving day today with nothing too exciting to stop for, but thankfully, it was not near as bad as a few days ago when everyone was super grumpy. I’m not gonna lie, I think we are feeling the pressure of being forced so close for so long, but all in all, not too bad today considering. We are looking forward to exploring the parts of Chicago we haven’t seen yet, tomorrow!

Day 8: Keystone, SD to Sioux Falls, SD

I guess today we only made it through one state; it must be a long one, lol. Unfortunately, there is not too much to report for the day. It was an incredibly flat, windy and boring drive. Our efforts to keep DVD’s down to a minimum were thwarted in desperation to keep the peace. Despite the introduction of new toys from Kristie (the girls babysitter) and Karen (my best friend back home), it just seemed easier to keep the girls zoned on shows. Oh well, only a few more days of driving. But I think the DVD count was up to four. Tomorrow will be even worse. We are looking at 10+ hours to make it to Chicago!

Our stops today were just little ‘stretch our leg’ stops at some random interesting places. The first was at Wall Drug in Wall, SD. A total tourist trap. But it made for some fun photo ops. In short, it was a drug store in the middle of nowhere that became famous for offering free ice water. And now, its just a silly little stop with weird props, pictures, shops and etc.

The parking lot covered several blocks. It seriously is a ‘happening’ place with tons of tourist buses coming through. Amazingly enough our truck seems to be getting the job done!

Enjoying the free water, which tastes nowhere like the good stuff in the Northwest.

See what I mean??? Random…

This horse thing was actually kinda dangerous! I’m surprised Malia didn’t leave with a bloody nose from how jerky the ride was; thought for sure Allie would head bonk her.

We hit 2000 miles.

We stopped at a rest stop a few hours after Wall Drug that had a beautiful view of the Missouri River (which we crossed).

There were signs all over that said to look out for poisonous snakes. The girls were running ahead on the sidewalk and then all of sudden they both come back screaming!!! On the sidewalk right before us was this ginormous snake that slithered away while I fumbled for my camera. That’s one thing we will have to get used to.

About an hour before our hotel we stopped at the Corn Palace. They decorate it every year in a different theme with actual corn. This was supposed to be the highlight of the day, and unfortunately, I forgot to account for the change in time zones, and we missed being able to tour the insides by only a few minutes. That is why in this picture, both girls are throwing tantrums.

It’s pretty neat though. Maybe next time… lol.

How can you not want to smile with this happy face!

We finished our day at the hotel pool, which was like a mini waterpark. We let the kids stay up till 11pm so that they could work off their wiggles and now, its almost 12am and they are still awake! We sure have a lot of adjusting to do when we make it to Ohio. But hey, if they got anything from this trip, they’ve learned that they love to swim! And, lucky them, there is a pool within walking distance from our new home.

Ugh, so NOT looking forward to tomorrow. There is seriously nothing to see or do in the next stretch other than the SPAM museum. Wish us luck!

Day 7: Tourist-ing the Rushmore area

After yesterday, it was nice to have a day to take it easy. We slept in a little and were in no rush to make it to our first stop, Mount Rushmore. (Haha, get it? Rush? LOL) It was a bit smaller than I imagined, but still worth the stop on our road trip. It was interesting to learn the meaning behind why each president was chosen for this piece of wonder, and even more awe inspiring to see what careful techniques it took to carve these presidents into the side of a mountain. AMAZING. The girls called this the ‘funny faces mountain’.

We then went to the Crazy Horse Monument a few miles further down the road. I don’t know… if you are short on time, I would say it is not entirely worth the money; however, it is always nice to learn about and support other cultures. It just seems though that it has taken a very long time to complete just the face, so I am skeptical to see if this will even be completed in our children’s life time. And after Rushmore, it kinda felt like a been there, seen that.

This is the sculpture (to scale) of what it will look like when finished. So far they’ve just got the face, and that’s been a work in progress for nearly 30 years I think.

In researching things to do around the area, several sights mentioned a scenic route through the Black Hills National Forest and Custer State Park (which are in close proximity to Mount Rushmore). It was more unnecessary driving, but it really wasn’t all that bad. The area is beautiful.

The first part of the loop included Needle’s Highway, known for huge projections of rock out of the earth’s surface. There were also some crazy tunnels created through rock walls.

We went through a wild life loop that was actually quite different than Yellowstone. Here, it seemed that they ‘herded’ the animals because there were a lot of fences with gates all around (as opposed to Yellowstone.) But, it was cool to cross paths with the buffalo.

These were headed right at us on the road. They kinda seemed just like oversized dumb cows with horns.

We had a stare down with this one for what seemed like minutes. Then, he (or she) walked straight up to the front of our car, sniffed it, then slowly passed by on the side. It was funny to hear the girls scream and quickly roll up their windows for fear that they would be eaten. I have to admit, I got pretty nervous too when his head was next to my open window and I could touch him!

At the end of our scenic loop, which took us back toward Rushmore, we went through a tunnel that perfectly framed Mount Rushmore. It was a nice reminder of how fun our trip today was even if we drove with no real purpose. (The entire loop and stops lasted 6 hours). But, it gave us a chance to get laundry done, hang at the pool longer with the kids, and time to almost finish the first book of the Hunger Games series. Yay!