Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin

Yesterday was a really long day but it was worth it. The drive (during the day anyway) was gorgeous and the weather has been unbelievably nice! After we drove a bit throughout Wyoming the weather improved and all the way through the remainder of Wyoming and through South Dakota it was in the high 50’s and even in the low 60’s for most of the day. It was clear blue skies and 48 degrees today as we crossed over into Minnesota.

We jinxed ourselves after the first day by talking out loud about how fantastic the animals were being in the car. The dogs are doing great but Chloe, our cat, is making us wish we would have flown her to NH. I think she meowed non-stop for 13 hours of our 15 hour drive yesterday. It was maddening. She doesn’t even look scared or anything, she just wants to meow and wander all over the car. After another hour of meowing this morning, Tony was at his limit. He pulled over and stored her safely in the trailer in her crate for a little while so we could finally get a breather from the constant noise. She did fine, and I think she actually liked it better cuddled up in her crate in the trailer.

Unfortunately, I don’t have too many exciting food pictures to post. This was my breakfast on the go yesterday. Amande almond milk yogurt and Udi’s all natural gluten free granola. When you have food allergies eating on the road is not always the easiest thing to do. This morning my breakfast was 2 pieces of bacon, 1/2 banana, and orange juice from the hotel breakfast room. We did run across a Qdoba restuarant somewhere in South Dakota yesterday. I had a Mexican rice bowl for lunch that was really good but I was so hungry I didn’t want to leave it and run to the truck to get my camera.

We’ve hit a lot of interesting gas stations and truck stops. I think this gas pump was manufactured before I was born… So far, we’ve filled the tank 13 times and have driven right at about 2,300 miles since Saturday. If you do the math that adds up to about $1,100 in diesel fuel so far and an average of somewhere around 760 miles of driving per day. Thank goodness Tony’s company is footing that diesel bill! I’m pretty sure this gas pump was at a little truck stop in Montana right before we crossed over into Wyoming.

Wyoming was pretty in its own way but didn’t change much along the route we were on. And it was crazy windy.

I loved that little funnel of light way, way, out there.

Amber waves of grain.

Here come the blue skies and gorgeous weather.

Getting close to the Black Hills National Forest in South Dakota.

Evidently Abigail is making it a new trend to make herself comfortable in odd places. Saturday it was the cat’s bed, yesterday it was on top of Romeo.

Luckily, Romeo is the sweetest dog in the world and has the patience of a Saint.

The Black Hills National Forest in South Dakota at the site of the Jasper fire. In 2000 it burned over 80,000 acres.

There are deer all over the place in Wyoming and South Dakota. I mean hundreds. I did a lot of praying through those two states especially when we were driving in the dark later in the evening. You see roadkill about every 10-15 miles. Not only is it sad to hit one, but it does serious damage to your car. Thankfully my prayers were answered and they steered clear of us. Two tried to cross in front of us but thought better of it and ran the other way.

Have I told you I’ve never been east of Montana? Yep. I’ve seen a lot of the Western states but not much past Montana and I don’t really think Disney World counts. So when we talked about driving back to New Hampshire, I really wanted to try to plan some time to see Mount Rushmore. I’m so happy we did! The granite rocks on the way there were impressive.

The pillars have all the state flags.

This will give you some perspective.

When the sun goes down, they light Mount Rushmore for 30 minutes. You can’t see it in this photograph, but the Big Dipper is right above their heads.

These windmills were the single most exciting thing we witnessed in all of southern Minnesota. We also have them in Washington, but not in such abundance and not so up close and personal. They are huge and really feel kind of Star Wars-ish.

Pretty much all of southern Minnesota looks like this. Flat, golden, and full of farmland and badly paved roads.

I do love those “Minnasootuh” accents though. I noticed it trickles into Wisconsin a little bit too.

This is the sun setting on the Mississippi. Lacrosse, Wisconsin.

A quick pit-stop at the city park that overlooks the Mississippi. Romeo is always up for a good bum scratch.

They were setting up all of their Christmas lights. I bet they look gorgeous in the dark. We didn’t stick around to see as we still had two and a half more hours on the road to our last stop of the day.

Ahhh…and finally, a proper meal at our final destination of the day. Madison, Wisconsin – and a Texas T-Bone from the Texas Roadhouse restaurant right across the street. We ordered and Tony ran across the road to pick it up. Now our bellies are full and I hear Tony “watching” football on the bed. Translate – snoring and sound asleep.

Night all, see you tomorrow!