2011 North West Adventure, Day 29

Day 29 July 31st 2011:

Good evening and sorry for the 2 Blogs in one day, but as I mentioned this morning today was a total CHILLAXIN day! We did absolutely NOTHING but hang by the pool, and boy was it nice. Patty and I did take a walk to the actual “Dells” and the “Strip”…it was like Seaside, Wildwood, or any other style “Strip” you can think of. The Dells themselves are pretty cool and to be on the water up and down the dells and in the lakes must be great, but the amusement parks, water parks and crowds are definitely not for us…

We did meet the nicest neighbors we have had in a while, Nick and Sue, and thoroughly enjoyed their company…Nick if you read this I hope the “When” is sooner than 1.5 years! Last time we met such nice people was Marty and Ruth…Hi Marty!

Tomorrow we will be taking the LONG way home, up Northern Wisconsin, and down through the upper peninsula of Michigan…We are planning on popping the Champagne when we cross the Michigan border…

So when I write the next Blog, God willing we will be in the last of the lower 48 states, and until then please have a very Blessed day!

 

The areal attack on Michael by Nicholas!

Nicholas in his "Zen" position

Look out!

Still BEST friends after 29 days stuck in a bus!!!  We are all BLESSED beyond words.

2011 North West Adventure, Day 28

Day 28 July 30th 2011:

WOW, did we all sleep in today!!!!! 1st time in 28 days I have slept this much, and man did it feel GOOD!!!!! This morning I am writing from the Wisconsin Dells, on a HOT and HUMID day – I guess this is what you all have been living with while we were tromping through the snow…LOL

Yesterday was a great day…an early start to get to the Mall of America by 10:00am, than 5 hours of shopping and several dollars donated to the Minnesota state fund. About the mall for a second…For those that have shopped at the Mall you know how BIG it is, and for those that have not…OMG, it is HUGE!!!!! There are 4 floors, with most stores having 2 store fronts, with a full size amusement park, aquarium, ice skating ring, and many other non-mall things. An absolute must see if you are ever in this region!

After the shopping, we were off for a 220 mile drive to the Dells to meet our friend Debby and her boyfriend Mark near the Dell’s. After some confusion on where we were and where we should meet - since the roads around here are a tad confusing - we finally sync’d up at an Applebee’s near the campground. Now, the company and stories were FANTASTIC, and it was great to see Debby and meet Mark, but the food and service were the absolute WORST! Oh well…it was all about seeing an old friend, reminisce, and look at old photos from 1991…Debby brought photos of her visit to NY with Patty and I and it was so cool to see the Twin Towers in the photos, and me looking like “Harry Potter with my big round glasses…Nicholas I think wet his pants laughing so hard!…Debby, don’t forget to get me copies of those, and BTW we got so caught up in chatting we forgot to take a photo of us all….ARGH!

Well, as I said it was a great day all around and today is a day to totally do NOTHING! We were supposed to go zip lining, but it is too bloody hot, so it’s a day to hang by the pool, to give dad and motorhome a rest from driving. :-)

Tomorrow we head to Michigan…THE LAST STATE! In reality we could count Michigan, but it would be a lame count…so tomorrow we really see the state…and for those that have been following us for a couple of years, that will make the lower 48 states 100% complete…The family will have been, stayed, done something in EVERY state – Hawaii and Alaska excluded…We are all very excited, since this has been a huge goal and will be God Willing a reality and accomplishment come tomorrow night.

So, until tomorrow and Blog…please have a Blessed Day!

Looking down from the 3rd floor

Looking up from the 1st floor...The place is MASSIVE!

30 foot structure made from legos...

Like us...ADVENTURES...trotting North America!

2011 North West Adventure, Day 27

Day 27 July 29th 2011:

Ok, this time we are a lot farther than yesterday…we drove about 500 miles today from SD to 10 miles away from the Mall of America!

It was a quick 500 miles, and very uneventful, with a quick stop at the Corn Palace…another must stop touristy trap…we just can’t help ourselves!

I must say, it really stinks coming back into civilization again, we have been out of South Dakota less than a day, and I already miss the tranquility of the Mountain states, and real mid west…

Oh well, I guess it is a smooth transition to the real world again…

Tomorrow we shop, then head to the “Dells” to meet our friend Debbie for dinner. We are not sure what we will be doing after that, except we are now 7 days from NJ…maybe less! 

So, until the next Blog…please have a Blessed Day!

 

Town 1808..down the street from where we stayed...too hot to stop, so a bad drive by photo will do for memories!

Just liked the shack...and really  our last look at South Dakota... ;-(

This place is too funny!  The whole outside is made of corn.

June and David...thinking of you!

We think that was Patty in that suit, but we really are not sure!

Interesting Structure at a small Municipal Airport...

2011 North West Adventure, Day 26

Day 26 July 28th 2011:

Once again we are not very far – just 250 miles – from where we were last night…It was a day of sightseeing and just chillaxin in South Dakota, which is still one of my favorite states!

We started the morning by a drive through the city of Rapid City to find a Game Spot! Nicholas and Michael needed to get a new PS3 game…NO COMMENT!

After that we went to the Bear Country Drive in zoo, a place I have wanted to come back to since 2009 when we were last in this region. We drove through the zoo and were able to see some animals we did not see in the wild, and actually some we did…after the drive you get to walk fairly close to the section they are raising the cubs…OMG, it was by far the CUTEST thing we have ever seen…a pen filled with baby bears, playing. We stayed there a lot longer than we had thought because it was fun and they were comical to watch…after the zoo we went…ok are you sitting down…TO RACE GO-KARTS again!!!!! This time it was in an in-door place, which was so different. The things you can do out here are things I wish we could do back East, but the insurance waivers, and lawsuit happy state we live won’t allow it…Oh well.

Once complete with a few laps and playing on a giant slot race car set – which was unbelievable, we drove to Wall Drug Store, a place you HAVE to visit if you ever go through South Dakota…a total tourist trap, but a fun one! This is the 2nd time we have been here, and it was even better this time! A must place to re-visit for sure….Once on the road, I had dreams of getting to Sioux City, another 280 miles…well 70 miles later, and I was cooked…so we found a campground, which happens to be truly one of the nicest KOA’s, not Glacier nice, regular KOA nice…It even had a restaurant, which we all sat down and gave Patty a break…what a fantastic surprise all around! Great food, great hosts, beautiful sunset, and a blessed family and day!

Tomorrow once again is an un-known…we are heading to the Wisconsin Dells –we are almost there Deb, we may be in that area tomorrow, but we will be there God Willing for sure by Saturday…So until we land somewhere tomorrow, hope you have a very Blessed Day!

 

They were all in the roads...very cool!

A Nicholas shot!

Another Nicholas shot...

We have Go-Karted across America!!!!

South Dakota is just a BEAUTIFUL state to drive through!

A truly BLESSED Adventure thus far...

2011 North West Adventure, Day 25

Day 25 July 27th 2011:

Tonight we are only 70 miles away from where we started the day. We are in Rapid City, South Dakota, but the day was extremely long – 9 hrs, and around 150 miles of some technical driving.

We decided to do the Custer State Park look, with a stop at Wind Cave National Park. We did not cover a lot of ground, but the ground we covered was really unique. The cave is one of a kind in the world. It is the only cave that has these weird structures called “boxwork”…very weird, they look like bats. The tour was over an hour and we were down almost 200 ft…parks. After that we took the Custer Wildlife loop and saw 1,000’s of Bison, and other animals…sorry for the lack of photos…we had some technical difficulties with the gear today…oh well!

After that we went to Crazy Horse, and got stuck in a WICKED storm before we could leave the motorhome…wind, lightning, rain, hail, the whole bag of badness! It lasted about 30 min, then the sky's cleared and the monument is really LARGE and spectacular. I would say better than Rushmore…which after Crazy Horse we went to go see again…and once again the sky was very gray, as it was in 2009, so we skipped actually going in…but the drive up and down are very curvy and high with some cool rock structures!

We planned on going to a drive in Bear zoo, but ran out of day so we headed to the campground in Rapid City. As we got close we went through an area which got a few inches of hail, or actually snow…TOTALLY bizarre what we have seen this trip.

It was a really great day, and we once again saw some memorable things! Tomorrow we will try and hit the zoo then head towards Mall of America…with a bunch of little stops in between.

Going to hit the sack…so until the next blog please have a very Blessed Day!

 

The house I want to buy!  What a view...

I was MOONED!!!!!!!

Traffic jam...