Roadkill Update #1

Saturday, June 28 (Illinois and Wisconsin):
4 Unidentified
1 VERY large turtle. A car and a state trooper were pulled over on the divided highway, and we saw the trooper pick the turtle up by the tail. Unclear if it was dead or alive. Probably alive, but was worth noting in the roadkill post.

Sunday, June 29 (Wisconin, Minnesota, South Dakota)
10 Raccoons (these guys were all over Wisconsin)
3 Squirrels
1 Black crow
12 Unidentified
2 Cats (very sad)
2 Skunks
1 Large unidentified (warranted its own entry)
1 Dog (also very sad)

37 total to date

Big Sioux Falls

Just a quick entry from Sioux Falls, SD. Went for a run this morning in Falls Park along the Big Sioux River. Here's a video of the falls. Then had lunch at Wild Flour Bakery and Cafe on Phillips Ave., the main street through town. Beautiful day. Need to hit the road now. Headed to the Badlands later today. More later.

Entering South Dakota

On the way out of Pipestone we stopped at a wind turbine rotor company, where they have the huge rotors out in the yard. It says on the Pipestone website that Minnesota is the 9th windiest state. Sandy loved seeing the turbine parts.

We took the back roads from Pipestone to get into South Dakota, and crossed the state line right at sunset. This point is exactly halfway between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Think Pink

We took one last detour in Minnesota before entering South Dakota to a little town called Pipestone. It is known for all of its buildings which were built around 1900 out of a local pink stone called Sioux Quartzite. (We also learned that it is the home of the peace pipe.) They actually went crazy with the pink stone. The courthouse, library, hotel, a church, bank and several storefronts on the main street are made of it. The courthouse is definitely the most beautiful of the buildings. They haven't built anything with it since shortly after 1900, except that the roads literally have a pink cast to them.

Entering Minnesota

We had much more success at getting a picture of the Minnesota sign than we had with Wisconsin, mostly because Sandy pulled over once we got across the Mississippi. Very lush and green. Farm after farm after farm along I-90. We’ve also seen several wind farms. The wind turbines (we learned that they are not called windmills unless they are physically grinding grain, for instance) are gigantic! Sandy loves them!

Old Granddad

La Crosse is the last stop in Wisconsin, on the banks of the Mississippi. La Crosse has several claims to fame, such as: 15th Best Place for Doing Business in America, 7th Safest Metro Area in the USA and 13th of the Top 25 Best Green Places to live in America.

There’s a bluff above downtown called Granddad Bluff, over 600 feet above the valley, where you can get a great panoramic view of downtown La Crosse, the Mississippi, Minnesota and Iowa. Take a look at the view from Granddad Bluff:


A nice woman on the bluff recommended a great place for lunch above the La Crosse People's Food Co-op on 5th Street in Downtown called Hackberry’s Bistro. Highly recommended. Our server told us that there is a big motorcycle event going on , and Jay Leno, Sandra Bullock and her husband Jesse James are in town. No sightings the bistro, though.

Gettin' outta Dodgeville

Spent night #1 in Dodgeville, WI. Went to a little neighboring town called Mineral Point for dinner at a local brewery. The place was packed, so we took a walk around the main street. Lots of nicely restored buildings from the late 1800's. Pretty sleepy, except for the fact that there were 5 bars within about 3 blocks of each other with names like Cruise Inn and Bubba's. We went to the Midway and got a couple of local beers. Had a nice conversation with Chris behind the bar, who recommended beers from the New Glarus Brewing Co. with one called "Totally Naked." Nice. Total price for 3 beers: $7.50. Even nicer. Had some great conversation, and learned that they had 115" of snow this year, and that Chris is also a school bus driver. Everyone there was great.

This morning I was updating the blog with yesterday's activities, when the blogging was aborted when we lost all power! Turns out the whole town lost power. Time to get outta Dodgeville...

(This is the first post done from the road. On I-90 in Minnesota. Had to pull off and spend about 45 mins on the phone with Verizon to get internet access working. Of course.)

Taliesin

Our first main stop was Frank Lloyd Wright's home in Spring Green Wisconsin, which is named Taliesin. We took a 2-hour tour of the house and property, which was very cool. The setting is beautiful, and the architecture, of course, is amazing. The one surprising thing is that the house actually needs a lot of work. They are working on some major renovations, but they need more funding. The thing we did like about it is that it felt "real" - it didn't feel like a sanitized museum - it felt like a real home. The family and the architecture students still actually use and live on the property.

Entering Wisconsin

The plan is to get a picture of the Welcome sign as we enter each state. We were a little slow on the draw when entering Wisconsin, so this is the best we could get.

Arriving in Chicago

So, my flight from NYC to Chicago was delayed by 30 minutes. When we got on the plane, the pilot got on and said, "I'm from the Bronx. I fly like I drive: fast. There's a little weather ahead, but I avoid bad weather like I avoid potholes on the Van Wyck Expressway. I'll get you to Chicago on time." He did.

When deplaning at O'Hare, one guy was holding up the whole plane as he was messing with his luggage. Finally, after a few minutes, one of the flight attendants got on the PA, and in a slight, non-descript Russian-sounding accent said, "Cant ve please get the flow established?" I love this flight crew. American flight 1323.

Sandy had left Cinci at about 5:30am to drive up and meet me at O'Hare. Talk about perfect timing -- I waited less than 10 minutes for her to pick me up. We then found another comedian at Hertz, where we needed to add me as a driver to the car. The woman at the counter looked at me very seriously and said, "Sir, we have a new addendum to the additional driver contract. You must buy the primary driver either lunch or dinner. Her preference. If she doesn't want either, you can substitute for a shiny bauble. Does she know Sandy or what??

All in all, an excellent start to the trip.

The Itinerary

Here's the planned itinerary:

Saturday, 6/28: Depart Chicago. Visit Frank Lloyd Wright house: http://www.taliesinpreservation.org/

Sunday, 6/29: Motor through Minnesota, and stay in Sioux Falls, SD.

Monday, 6/30: Visit Wall Drugs: http://www.walldrug.com/; Visit the Badlands: http://www.nps.gov/badl/; Stay in Rapid City, SD.

Tuesday, 7/1: Visit:
Mount Rushmore: http://www.nps.gov/moru/
Crazy Horse Memorial: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crazy_Horse_Memorial
Deadwood: http://www.deadwood.org/
Stay at Occidental Hotel in Buffalo, WY: http://www.occidentalwyoming.com/

Wednesday, 7/2: Arrive in Yellowstone National Park: http://www.nps.gov/yell/

Thursday, 7/3: Explore Yellowstone; Drive to Jackson Hole.

Friday, 7/4: Happy July 4th! Explore Grand Teton: http://www.nps.gov/grte/

Saturday, 7/5: Drive through Idaho. Visit Craters of the Moon National Monument: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craters_of_the_Moon_National_Monument
Stay in Boise, ID.

Sunday, 7/6: Drive to Portland, OR. Switch cars to get a convertable!

Monday, 7/7: Drive down Oregon coast.

Tuesday, 7/8: Drive down California coast. Visit Redwood National Park: http://www.nps.gov/redw/

Wednesday, 7/9: San Francisco, Monterey, Carmel, Big Sur

Thursday, 7/10: Hearst Castle in San Simeon.

Friday, 7/11: Malibu - Getty Villa: http://www.getty.edu/visit/
Arrive in Los Angeles: FINAL DESTINATION!

Saturday, 7/12: Fly home!

The Route

This map outlines our planned destinations for the two weeks from Saturday, June 28 to Saturday, July 12. We're going to meet at O'Hare in Chicago at about 9:30am on Saturday -- I fly in from New York and Sandy drives up from Cincinnati. We'll stop at Hertz, register me as a driver on the rental car, and then hit the road.

Click the "+" and "-" and up/down/right/left arrows on the map to see more details.

Route subject to change, of course...


View Larger Map

Six days till departure

Can't believe that this week is here. Preparations are almost complete: guidebooks purchased, two-week driving schedule sketched out, hotel reservations made (in primary locations, but not every night), snacks procured, electronic gadgets gathered. And blog created. I even tested out the Flip camera I borrowed from Laura: