On the Road Again

Another long driving day yesterday. Drove from Albany (St. Cloud), Minn., to Bismarck, N.D., only stopping for lunch and a rest stop. Most of the photos I took today were from the passenger seat, so please excuse the lack of focus. This one turned out pretty well, shooting right through the windshield. (I did manual focusing, so that the camera wouldn't focus on the bugs.)

This Minnesota farm caught my eye out the open passenger window.

Got into a rain shower briefly, then watched as it spread across the prairieland of Minnesota. Lots of marshland along I-94. While we expected the marshes and lakes in Minnesota, we were surprised to see so many in North Dakota.

Caught just a glimpse of the few remaining sunflower fields. Most had already gone to seedheads.

It was interesting going from nothing from wilderness (most exits didn't even list the names of towns and said "No Services,") we topped a rise and below us Bismarck spread as far as we could see. My hubby said, "Civilization!" And he isn't one who cares much for cities.

There is only one tall building in all of Bismarck--the Capitol. It's the strangest Capitol Building we've ever seen. My hubby said it looked like something from eastern Europe and didn't believe me that it was the actual capitol building until we drove around it and found the sign. He says it looks better in this picture than in real life.

And, as a parting shot, the funny sign of the day was this one. Do we, or don't we go in there to park?

Time to hit the road again, but we'll spend the rest of the day in western North Dakota, on the Old Red/Old Ten Scenic Byway following the old US 10 from Mandan to Dickinson and then in Theodore Roosevelt National Park. One of the high points of my trip plan!

Little House in the not-so-big woods

A gorgeous day in Wisconsin Sunday. The beautiful weather brought out more motorcycles than I've ever seen. We thought maybe Sturgis was happening. There also were cyclists and others like us just enjoying a relaxing Sunday drive.

We took the Great River Road (US Highway 35), which meanders along beside the Mississippi River. Our first stop was at the Trempeauleau National Wildlife Refuge. We went down to the marshland alongside the River where native grasses and prairie flowers are preserved. There also were some wetland birds, but not close enough for a clear photo. (We didn't have the bird book, but they look like egrets, however their bills were orange, rather than black.)

But this butterfly was very cooperative with me as I took its photo.

While sitting and enjoying the scenery, we talked with a group of four fellow travelers out for a Sunday ride--two were from the Twin Cities, one from Winona (across the river), and one from Arizona. The man from the Twin Cities said he used to visit his grandparents in Morehead, Kentucky. Small world.

From there, we continued northward and, at the suggestion of the man from Twin Cities, stopped at the Nelson Creamery for cheese and ice cream. My husband thought it a tourist trap (true), but when in Wisconsin, one must taste the dairy products! I enjoyed a bing cherry ice cream cone. Very creamy and good. I passed on trying the batter-dipped, deep-fried cheese curds someone at work suggested I try. Just didn't sound too appealing, although it's supposed to be quite a treat.


Surprisingly, there weren't many dairy farms and those we saw all were small family operations. A hard way to make a living. This barn looked as though it had seen better days. It was on County Road CC in Pepin County, on our way to the birthplace of Laura Ingalls Wilder.

By mid afternoon, we reached the goal for this leg of the journey--visiting the birthplace (more or less) of Laura Ingalls Wilder. The woman at the museum in Pepin said that the replica cabin is located on land where Charles and Caroline Ingalls lived. An Ingalls family member from the Pepin area (some of the Ingalls family stayed in the area--Charles brother and Caroline's sister, who were married to each other) assisted in designing the cabin the way he thought it might have looked in 1867 when she was born.

While no longer in a "big woods," it felt special to be on the land we had read about in "Little House in the Big Woods." And, from the long drive from town (about seven miles), we can fully appreciate why it was such a big deal when they got to go to town, as told in that book.




One surprise was learning "Lake Pepin" actually was just a wide (and long) spot in the Mississippi River, rather than a separate lake. No wonder we couldn't find it on the map! Here's a photo we took before venturing on up the road to Prescott where we crossed over into Minnesota.

Because of warnings about various construction sites, we chose to drive through St. Paul and Minneapolis, rather than take the bypass. Well, that was interesting. Things don't slow down on Sunday afternoons in the Twin Cities. Luckily, we weren't in the several-mile backup inbound on the western side of town. It must have stretched for seven miles at a crawl or standstill.

Spent the night in Albany because I was just too tired to drive any further. Had dinner at the Hillcrest Family Restaurant & Stubby's Tavern. Got a kick out of this sign. (At least we could eat knowing there wouldn't be a shoot-out!) The food was very good and filling--and our server was a delight. When she came to tell us about the special, which was "beef commercial," we had to ask for a definition. Sounds like an open-faced roast beef sandwich with mashed potatoes in the middle of the split sandwich and gravy on the works. We decided to go for pork chops, instead.

Today, we set off for North Dakota. Most of our Minnesota sightseeing will be in Southern Minnesota on the way back, so this will mostly be a driving day. Hope to make Bismarck tonight, so we can set off on the Old Red/Old Ten Scenic Byway in the morning. Will spend the day reading up on the little towns we'll visit while my hubby's driving today.

First stop--LaCrosse, Wisconsin

Day one is behind us, and so is 1/10th (or 600 miles) of the total distance we expect to travel on our three-week journey. We had only expected to have the energy to make it to Madison, Wisc., but because we had hit the road at 7 a.m. EDT, it was only late afternoon when we arrived there. Not too tired, we decided to go on to Portage. Got there and just kept going, heading east now on I-90. We chose LaCrosse, along the Mississippi River, as our first night's stop.
We stayed at the EconoLodge, using some of my rewards points on my Choice Hotels rewards card. The clerk checked us in and upgraded us to a "theme" room. From the lobby, I could read some of the names on the doors of "theme" rooms. The Sheik Room. The South Seas Room. Oh, my! This could be interesting and could get my romance writing mind flowing again.

But ours was "The Loft," which was more of a barn setting. Check out this life-sized horse's head looking down on our bed, as though it's poking its head out of a barn's Dutch door. Lots of wooden features, including swinging doors that remind me of saloon doors, primitive shelves instead of end tables or a desk; slatted shutters instead of curtains; and two rocking chairs instead of regular chairs. (Not conducive to computer work, but homey.)

Not having had much of an opportunity to practice my photography last month, I decided that a trip to the river was needed. The sun would be setting on the Minnesota side, so I hoped for some nice shots. After consulting the map, we headed for Riverside Park on the Mississippi. (Our motel is closer to the Black River, but that didn't sound as impressive as seeing Old Man River.)

The evening was sunny, breezy, and probably in the upper 70s. Perfect (although having SOME clouds in the sky would have made for better photos). We strolled the River Walk with other tourists and locals. We were quite impressed to see a tugboat pushing what we thought at first was six barges, but soon realized actually was nine. At LaCrosse, the Mississippi has a sharp bend (or they'd wind up on the Black River). It was interesting watching the tugboat maneuver its load to hang a left.

We found a nice place to sit and watch the sun dip behind the tree line across the river. The sun set behind the tree line around 7:30 Central. While my husband sat patiently, I practiced various shutter and aperture priority settings to see which made for the best color and lighting. (Smaller apertures and faster shutter speeds seem to do the trick.) I hope to take some awesome sunsets during the trip, so was happy to get a chance to practice.

Today, we'll head north, following the Great River Road of Wisconsin (Highway 35), until we cross over into Minnesota at Minneapolis/St. Paul. We have some stops planned along the way, but the reason we're going this way is to go to Pepin, Wisc., where Laura Ingalls Wilder was born. My hubby pulled out his copy of "Little House in the Big Woods" last night to prepare for the visit. Can't wait!

The final stretch of the plan

Today, we hit the road on our adventure. It seems odd to start at the end, but I did promise to share the plan for the final leg of our trip.

We left you in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Now we'll continue east across South Dakota. Our destination--DeSmet, S.D. If you're a fan of Laura Ingalls Wilder's books, you'll know that's the mecca for Little House fans. I think five of her books were set there, including "The Long Winter," "On the Shores of Silver Lake," "Little Town on the Prairie," "These Happy Golden Years," and "The First Four Years."

The Surveyor's House where the Ingalls family lived during "the long winter," is now a museum. While Silver Lake no longer exists, Lakes Henry and Thompson (where Almanzo took Laura for buggy/sleigh rides on many Sunday afternoons) are there still. I hope we can walk on the land bridge between them, because I know their buggy crossed over that very place. I wonder if it will look as it did when they courted there? Spirit Lake, in the northerly direction from DeSmet, is there still, as well.

We'll take the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Highway (US Highway 14) from DeSmet to the places the Ingalls family lived in southern Minnesota, including Walnut Grove. The museum there is geared more to memorabilia related to the television series. From there, we'll head south to Burr Oak, where the Ingalls family lived for more than a year, but which wasn't recorded in any of the books. I did find two books available at the museum gift shop there. I read Laura-biographer William Anderson's nonfiction "The Iowa Story," already, but not the fictionalized version of Laura's time there--"Old Town in the Green Groves," by Cynthia Rylant. I can read in the car, so maybe I'll read aloud as my hubby is driving, so we'll both be on the same page when we get to Burr Oak.

Depending on how much time we have, we may make the trip to Vinton, Iowa, the location of the School for the Blind that Mary Ingalls attended for about five years. (Click on the link for the school to learn more about Mary's time there.) The school building is still there and only just closed as a school for the blind in the last year or so.

From there, it will be time to head home.

But this trip is now ready to go from planning stages to the road stage. First, I must finish packing my not-so-virtual suitcases. I'm going to enjoy this experiment of blogging about the trip and am glad you've decided to follow along!

Just a little more than a week before we embark on our adventure and I can hardly wait! I've been working incredibly long hours and will be so ready to just hit the road without a care in the world. I love that we've planned the trip without making a single hotel/motel reservation (except at my Mom's guest room the first night).

In my first blog, I mapped out the intended route west. I don't know if it was the long hours working these past few weeks or my reluctance to think about coming back home that has caused me to delay blogging about the trip east again. But the return trip also will be filled with sights and adventures that will keep us rolling along new highways and byways. (We will seldom drive on the Interstates west beyond Bismarck, ND, until we get out of the Black Hills of South Dakota on the return trip). We'll experience the Rockies, Northern Plains, and Upper Midwest up close and personal!

The furthest west we plan to go is the Palouse area of eastern Washington State. I first learned about this gem of a place by seeing the outstanding photography of Linda Lantzy, of Idaho Scenic Images, of Coeur D'Alene, Idaho. She posts some of her photos on Facebook and I have discovered some amazing places through her keen eye and lens.

The route from the Palouse back through Idaho to Jackson, Wyoming, is still up in the air. We're thinking about taking WA 27 South to US 195 South to US 95 South to US 12 East to US 93 South to Idaho 28 South and Idaho 33 East, and eventually to US 20 East to Idaho 33 East, which will take us to Jackson. That route would be iffy if there's an early snowstorm, though, in which case we'd stick to the interstate into Montana and then south to Jackson.

We'll probably not spend a lot of time in Jackson, although I've been told to stop at a lodge there with an enormous lobby or common area window looking out at the mountains with a breathtaking view. This person (a native of Wyoming) told me that they don't have televisions there, but during a conference, he said everyone spent the breaks watching out the window. Just have to find out which one!

After a quick visit to Jackson, we will head to one of the high spots on my list of places to see--the Grand Teton National Park. My only regret is that there probably won't be snow on the peaks. But I don't care. This range is magestic.

From the Tetons, we'll head to Yellowstone National Park. My hubby wants to enter from the West, but I guess that would have been without going to the Tetons. So, I'm guessing we'll enter from the south. We'll spend two or three days hitting the high spots, including Yellowstone Falls, Tower Falls, Old Faithful (check out this webcam!), and wildlife (here's an interesting story about the bison and elk in the park). Of course, with only a few days, we'll not get to see everything there is to see. That's a vacation destination on its own!

But we have many miles to go before we finish, so from Yellowstone, we'll move on to the Beartooth Mountains. Linda Lantzy was there recently and photograph alpine flowers and lakes along the Beartooth Highway. I was afraid all of those would have bloomed in the spring. Check out this sunset she captured--as if the mountains were on fire. Gorgeous! (The photo is on Facebook--I don't know if you can see if it you're not on FB.)

From the Beartooth range, we'll head across northern Wyoming into western South Dakota. First stop--Deadwood. I can still remember Doris Day as "Calamity Jane" in the musical of that name. That was probably the first I'd heard of Deadwood--and the place has intrigued me ever since. Besides, what's not to love about those Rowdy Women of the West! So, while we're there, I want to take an historic tour of Wild Bill Hickock and Calamity Jane sites. And, if there's a room available, we might stay at the haunted Bullock Hotel in Deadwood. Room rates are reasonable and we'll probably be there midweek. Keeping our fingers crossed! (But refusing to commit to being there are a certain night.) The only downside to the Bullock appears to be that all the rooms are smoking ones. But to get some good ghost photos would be worth the smell! A ghost-hunting friend, paranormal author Terri Grimes, tells me to talk to the ghosts to get them to come out for the photos. And she gets some amazing photos of them. I guess we'll see! (At least, I hope we will!)

We probably won't make a stop in the Deadwood casino. But if I did and I won big, a friend told me I should look into the Black Hills Gold jewelry, which has a pinkish and/or  greenish tinge to it. She bought some for family members while on her way to Montana one year. It's pretty, isn't it? I'm just more into trashy cosmetic jewelry, so it might be too nice for me.

From there, we'll head south, further into the Hills with a long stop in Keystone, where Carrie Ingalls Swanzey lived many of her adult years. Her husband, David Swanzey, is known for naming nearby Mount Rushmore. We may go there, but will definitely be going to the Crazy Horse Memorial nearby. To see it during its construction will be awesome. What a moving story of the commitment the Ziolkowski Family has to keep Korczak Ziolkowski's dream alive!

From Keystone, we will board the 1880s Train for a short ride to Hill City, SD, along the Black Hills Central Railroad line. I fell in love with the narrow-guage railroad lines on the Cumbres & Toltec Railroad in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado. Later, we rode the Durango-Silverton train. This one in South Dakota is of a smaller scale, but it looks like a beautiful area to experience by train.

Well, looks as though there will be one more installment in the pre-trip story. Next up, Laura Ingalls Wilder country in South Dakota, southern Minnesota, and northern and eastern Iowa!