Days 11 and 12 - Coon Rapids MN to Chicago IL to Xenia OH

Just one more stop for a night in Chicago and... I’m getting ahead of myself.

We packed up the rental car for the penultimate time on this journey and headed toward Chicago IL, via Wisconsin.



More farms, but unlike the ones in North Dakota, these seemed relatively small and nicely tucked away between verdant rolling hills. Again, drive-by photo-shooting did not work; you will just need to take our word for it. It was beautiful!

Of course, the ever-present educational signs met us also at the rest areas in Wisconsin. We learned about Sphagnum Moss, a rather unknown but important industry in Wisconsin. And here we thought they were just about cheese.



And we learned a bit more about the Winnebago Indians.



Before crossing into Illinois, we stopped at the “world’s largest” Culver’s and had some or their famous Butterburgers and yummy milk shakes/smoothies.



You know it’s been a rather long two driving days when the navigator (who shall remain nameless), is wearing reading glasses AND using a magnifying glass to decipher a map, not realizing that the darn thing was upside-down. No more map-reading, please!



When we arrived at the outskirts of Chicago, we wished we could have brought the Montana traffic (or lack thereof) with us. We did finally make it to the home of Jerry and Terri Pinney, who were the most welcoming and gracious hosts one could ask for. Chicago style pizza and some good conversation, and a couple of hours later we turned out the lights.

Excellent coffee and breakfast, and more conversation with Jerry were the perfect send-off for the last leg of our trip. Here I am with Jerry right before we left.



4,400 miles, 10 States in 12 days…



Just let me rest in my own bed for a few weeks and I may just succumb to another bout of wanderlust. Hmm…where to next? My four remaining states to visit are Alaska, Louisiana, Mississippi and Vermont.

Thanks for following us on our journey...

Day Ten - Bismarck ND to Coon Rapids MN

Wednesday began as a leisurely morning with lots of coffee for Victoria, a hearty breakfast for both of us, and 30+ minutes on the treadmill for Barak. Once we got going we hopped back on I-94 East out of Bismarck.

We traversed more and more and more miles of expansive North Dakota farm land.

Apparently, it’s not just in Texas that everything is “big”. Salem Sue, for example, is a GIANT cow that stands on a hill near the town of New Salem. I was unable to grab the camera in time; the drive-by photo-shoot at 75 miles/hour was unsuccessful. Alerted by a local of the existence of an even more gigantic buffalo, we stopped in Jamestown to see it. He wasn’t kidding! Meet Dakota Thunder.




After a few short hours we drove into Minnesota, the second time on this 12-day adventure.



Not only is it the State of 10,000 lakes, but it also “embraces” three large watersheds. We were enlightened about this fact by another one of those handy rest-area road signs.



Coon Rapids near Minneapolis offered us a nice place to walk, sit in the hot tub, and stay for the night.

Tomorrow we’re off to the Chicago area.

Day Nine - Livingston MT to Bismarck ND

A beautiful morning greeted us in Paradise Valley, the large Yellowstone River valley between the Absaroka and Gallatin ranges of the Northern Rocky Mountains. Reluctant to leave this remainder of Eden on earth, we packed up the rental car again and continued our journey eastward.

Most of the day we followed the Lewis and Clark Trail: I-90 and 94, along the Yellowstone River. Large signs with interesting tidbits of historical information greeted us along the way.



We were reminded of remarkable men like Jedediah Smith, one of the most famous fur traders and trail blazers during the west-ward expansion of the 19th century.



At Wibaux, the last sizable town on the map before leaving Montana, we read again about the sad consequences of such expansion when devoid of consideration for all of God’s children and creatures.



Immediately upon leaving Montana (a sad moment for Victoria)...



...and being welcomed to the “Western Regions of North Dakota”...



...we entered what is known as the North Dakota Badlands or the Little Missouri National Grasslands.



I think Badlands is a more appropriate term than Grasslands. We failed to see much grass driving through. The miles and miles of wide open spaces and no sign of civilization except for the paved road, an occasional vehicle, and a lone farm in the distance left us speechless. As we neared the city of Dickinson, things changed drastically. Talk about “sprawl” and a construction boon! Ironically, we were unable to find a spot to stay for the night. It was weird!

So, off we went across more of a seemingly deserted section of I-94, the highway we had been on since leaving Montana. We were wondering if the towns that were announced by road-side signs and which figured on our map actually existed! From where we were sitting in the car, we could see no evidence. After a long nine-hour day of travel, we finally rolled into Bismarck, North Dakota’s capital. We found food and a comfy bed rather quickly in this wildly growing city.

Wednesday our plan is to make it to Minneapolis MN area.