Year 7 Day 9

Iowa. I wonder what it used to look like. Did it have trees and streams at some point? Were there birds and other animals? Now, its corn. Im still struggling with how much corn must be in these 5 states that we visited this year. Its mind boggling. Every so often there are soy beans mixed in, but mostly its corn. In the evening light with the colored sky behind it, its kinda pretty, but I miss trees. If you think about it, people here cant just take a quick drive to the mountains or to the ocean or to any where really. Kids must have all kinds of neat things to do in the corn.

The fair was just that, a fair. It brings in about 100,000 people every day. There was significantly more food vendors than I have ever seen at a fair. Typically there is a food section, but here its just scattered all over. It had all the normal things like farm animals and exhibits and one really cool guy carving sculptures in wood with a chainsaw. Where the trees come from, Im not sure. The highlight was of course the butter cow. A life size cow made entirely of butter. Enough butter to cover something like 1900 pieces of bread.

It was time to complete our circle and head back to Minneapolis. We all miss home. Becca is still irritated that she will miss her first day of high school. Ill probably hear about that for the rest of my life.

The vote for next year is North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado and Nebraska. Most of the time will be spent in Wyoming and Colorado. Ive seen enough corn to last a lifetime, sorry Nebraska.

Until then. Happy Travels everyone.

Year 7 Day 8

GPS is weird. The rain stuck around most of the night last night. We woke to wet windows and clouds. These were much happier than the ones last night. It was time to head north to start completing our giant circle. The only other stop we could find in Missouri was HaHa Tonka State Park. Its a a very cool place on Lake of the Ozarks. Back 100 plus years ago one man owned 5000 acres here and built a 3 story castle. The wood portion of  the castle burned down in  a fire and it was abandoned. The family eventually donated the acres and castle to the state. We took a couple of walks around. One took us to a spring that feeds into the lake. 58,000 gallons a day pump out from a cave. It was 316 vertical steps down to the spring, but well worth it.

After the GPS took us on a trip. Our destination was Des Moines about 5 hours away. There was absolutely nothing in between us and there. At some point our GPS took us off onto tiny backroads in the Missouri / Iowa countryside. Corn, corn and corn were all around. Tiny forgotten towns that had windows boarded up and no people anywhere around. Luckily we drove right through an Amish community and saw some traditional Amish people in buggies and such.

The road suddenly changed color, which I never understand, and we were in Iowa. 2 more hours and we entered Des Moines. There is nothing here, but its the largest city in Iowa at 200,000 people. I think the people here see corn too much and dont have much beauty in their lives. The rudest by far so far.

So, tomorrow we head to the Iowa state fair. Fingers crossed that its as good as everyone says it is. Im looking forward to the butter cow and some crappy food. But most of all I am once again looking forward to home.

Year 7 Day 7

Well, Im writing this as its storming outside. Like death cloud storming. Scary storming. I know...all the crazies who live here will be like, oh no its not that bad, just a little storm. Ive threatened to get in the bathtub with the mattress twice. Ive made it 7 days with nothing but a little wind in Minnesota and now this. No thank you Missouri. 

We started our day leaving St. Louis. Thats not a very nice city. I dont know what used to be there to make it a better place, but its not any more. Its sad. Lots of abandoned buildings and not so nice areas. Despite it, we visited the City Museum. Its the craziest place I have ever seen. Its like the Exploratorium in San Francisco mixed with some crazy hoarders stash. There are crawl holes, and ladders and slides everywhere. One slide is a 10 story slide. I was forced to do the 5 story slide by my family. Granny screamed all the way down. I closed my eyes, held my breath and prepared for death. If you didnt know, I am one of the least brave people on earth. Chris was tasked with crawling, sliding and running around with Becca. It was good for him. 

We headed out to my favorite stop ever after that. The vacuum museum!!! It was from 1910 to present and had vacuums you could push around and touch. SO cool. I got a shirt! Next stop, Mini Stonehenge in Rolla MO. Its half the size and was built by the college. No idea why, but pretty cool to see. 

As we drove to our hotel stop the death clouds started rolling in. They were surrounding us and about 10 minutes later they attacked. Lots of lightning, thunder and rain. While in the pool (inside of course) and some thunder hit...power went out and the building shook. If I could have gone home then, I would have. My grandma warned me about this part of the country. I should have listened. 

We are off now to a dinner with friends from dance in California. They moved out a couple years ago and we get to say hello for a bit. Hope the weather holds out and I dont have to ride in the trunk of the car. Its supposed to clear tomorrow and be good until we leave. Fingers crossed. 

Year 7 Day 6

Waking up in Chicago we were greeted by a slightly quieter city. The sun was just beginning to shine in between the buildings illuminating them in a golden glow. The streets were more empty and the sounds were muted. It was a bit more peaceful. We took a walk down the magnificent mile once again and headed into Millennium Park to see "the bean". Its a super cool piece of artwork that reflects everything around it. It gives a very cool perspective of the skyline.

Sam our hotel friend said to leave before 1pm, that the traffic would be better. We headed out about 10. Our drive out was significantly easier than in which we were thankful for. Our next stop was the Polka Dot drive in on route 66. We grabbed a milkshake and took some pictures with Elvis, Marilyn Monroe and Betty Boop. Across the road was a "Zoo". The "animals" were in a pen about 20 x 20...and they were all crafted from some sort of material. Interesting.

This state has just as many fields of corn as the last one. Apparently the US produces between 10 and 12 MILLION bushels of corn a year. I'm pretty sure they are all grown in this general region. So we ended up a few hours later in Springfield. This is Lincoln territory. He was born here and buried here. We chose to stop at the Lincoln Museum and library. It was a very educational stop. The most interesting part was the section on how much he was ridiculed during the election. Lots of things were said about him and his wife that sounded very similar to those things we hear during elections today. Amazing that things haven't changed much in over 100 years.

The heat was almost unbearable. 95 with humidity that apparently made it feel like 113. I'm pretty sure it felt 190. The storms are behaving so far. They seem to be following us. That's fine as long as they stay either ahead of or behind me.

Our stop for the night is St. Louis. Its another city which I am tiring of, but we wanted to see the arch. Yep, there it is. A big grey arch near a big river. Cool looking, but in a very stinky location. Got a sweet room though as it seems this city has been deserted. Maybe it because we had all of Chicago last night. At dinner we had a visit from nature. A bat flew around the restaurant and landed in the window near where we were sitting. Someone finally caught it in a tablecloth and released it outside. From our room we watched the deserted streets and a gang of motorbikes do wheelies. They reminded me of those characters on Return to OZ.

Rest and cool air tonight.

Year 7 Day 5

Today was our last day in Wisconsin. What a disappointing state. I had these visions of fields full of milk cows and tiny cheese shops. Friendly people with smiles on their faces because of all the cheese they eat. Nope. From what we saw, the state is mostly big industry / shipping and silos full of whatever it is they are shipping. Corn we believe as it is everywhere. I think we saw a total of 200 cows. The first cheese place had two incredibly rude ladies. The second was closed and the third was mediocre. Glad I didn't plan to be in Wisconsin for too long.

When you drive down the west side of Lake Michigan you enter Chicago from the North. About 50 miles before you can even see the city, you find traffic. Lanes and lanes and lanes of traffic. We were coming in around 3pm and the traffic never stopped. One freeway to the next that's all there is. Insane that people do this every day. As the city came into view it became clear just how big it was. Ive been to San Francisco multiple times, and always thought about how giant it was. I have no idea about the statistics, but Chicago seemed to be triple that size. Our hotel was at the top of the magnificent mile...that meant we had to go IN there. After stopping on a side street and looking completely lost, a man came to the window and helped us...he said to pull up 10 feet and get out at the hotel. Its amazing how much they pack in such a little space.

Sam greeted us at our car door. He opened all of our doors, instructed a man to take our car, said "welcome to the world" when I told him that we were from a town of 1000 people, and followed us inside. He chatted with Becca while I checked in and then said he would see us at our room with our luggage. At the elevators we got in the wrong one and he quickly came over and gathered us like ducklings and said "Oh no, not this one. Come on with me over here". He deposited us in the right place and was shortly at our door. Unloading our items, he wanted to know if we were satisfied with the room and the view and then asked if he could bring us some ice since it was on floor 28 and we were on 25. He didn't want us to be inconvenienced. Do people actually have people like Sam do this? Get ice for them? He literally said to call if we needed ice or anything else and he would come. Strange place.

The city is pretty. No doubt about it. We walked the magnificent mile and took the boat tour down the river and through the locks. So many beautiful buildings. Afterward some dear friends treated us to dinner at an amazing restaurant. We were WAY under dressed, but were treated like kings anyway. At the end our waiter Kevin simply said, "its taken care of tonight". What an incredible thing that was. The restaurant was next to the Sothebys real estate office and The Drake Hotel. Swanky! Our our way out, we saw the filming crew setup at The Drake filming The Exorcist. CRAZY Night.

This morning we will take a walk to the Bean and then head out to Springfield. There is no way to see everything in this town even in 3 days much less one, but we had a good time at it anyhow.

Year 7 Day 4

Hello from the corn state...so it seems. We left the land of 10,000 lakes today and headed into the land of corn apparently.

Our trip started today by heading southeast over to lake superior. Lots of moose like habitat, but no moose. We crested hill and there in front of us was lake Superior. It sure seems like an ocean to me. The only difference is that it doesnt smell like the ocean. We stopped and took a short hike down to the shoreline where towering cliffs met the waves. Much prettier than the last great lake we visited. This one reminded me very much of the ocean in Northern Cali. The humidity was really starting to pick up once we reached Duluth.

Duluth, MN and Superior, WI are separated by the St. Louis river. I have never seen so many silo's full of who knows what. We are still trying to sort that out. The silos have continued all the way into Wisconsin. We think the state name should include Silo in it. Putting off lunch to visit the "worlds largest accordion museum", we drove into Superior. The museum is in the church basement. We wandered around the front door and found a very angry guard dog. Museum closed. Perfect. So, we made a stop for lunch and had an organic, fresh, local meal. It was DELICIOUS. a second quick stop at the Duluth Trading Company's original store, Chris purchased an angry beaver hat. If you have no idea what this is, youtube a Duluth angry beaver commercial. This town did have the coolest high school I have ever seen. It looked like hogworts. We expected Dumbledor at any moment!

Then the adventure really began. We were looking for the point exactly halfway between the equator and the north pole. Its supposed to be in Wisconsin...apparently among the corn somewhere. We ended up on tiny farm roads looking for children of the corn. The bridge that was supposed to take us over the river was closed. An hour detour later, we found it. Its a billboard at a park. Neat.

We finally started seeing cows about 3 hours into the state of Wisconsin. For a state that produces so much cheese the cows seem to be few and far between. We have passed a couple cheese stores but because of the detour, they are closed. We are set on finding some cheese before we head to Chicago tomorrow. Mission tomorrow = Cheese.

Year 7 Day 3

Greetings from the Boundary Waters in Northern Minnesota! What an amazing place. Imagine it as a road system between here and Canada. An expansive system of lakes that connect to other lakes either by a small waterway or by a short walk/ hike. You jump from one lake to the next to the next. The section that we were in does this almost all the way to Canada. Amazing.

We rose with the sun. It was a no makeup / no fuss kind of day. Some outdoor clothes and off we went. Attempting to pack some food so that we could stay on the water all day, we stopped by a local grocery store called Zaps. Im not sure what exactly we walked into. Instead of end caps, there were old shopping carts packed with particular items. We were directed to sandwiches that looked as if they could run around on their own. We opted for some bagels for breakfast, a loaf of bread and some packaged lunch meat for lunch along with a slew of snacks. Our drive took us out into the woods which is my favorite place to be. It feeds the soul. It doesnt matter where the woods are as long as I am in them.

We parked our rental car loaded down with canoes and headed to the trail. Now mind you, this is not a normal canoe adventure. The lakes are secluded. They are not drive up to a ramp and put in lakes. They are nestled in the trees among the untouched natural surroundings. They are hidden gems just waiting to be discovered. So this is how it works. You unload your canoe and supplies and then carry them to the water. In our case the trek was about 1/4 mile. This may seem trifle but I tell you carrying a 45 pound 17 foot long boat on your shoulders down a rocky wooded trail is not as easy as one may think. Its tough work, but for the beauty that is hidden down these damp small trails, it is worth every step.

We visited three lakes today. Its called a portage when you have to carry the canoe. We did this twice. Beauty abounded along with lots of fishing and lots of solitude. Halfway up the second lake was a pictograph carefully drawn many moons ago by an Indian tribe. The third lake was the perfect lunch stop. We saw few people all day and each greeted us with the same smile and joy in their voice. Nature does wonderful things for all those who visit and listen.

As the winds picked up and the clouds started drifting in, we headed back to the first lake where we explored an island and finished up some snacks. The uphill climb out was a bit easier with the canoe on my back this time. Maybe I built up some muscle with all the paddling my husband around while he fished. Maybe the fresh air rejuvenated me.

Tomorrow we head toward Wisconsin. Im sad to leave this beautiful state and the incredibly kind people in it. I will be back someday for a week or more of exploration.

Year 7 Day 2

Day 2 is behind us. Minnesota hands down has the nicest people of any of the states yet. Everyone is friendly, welcoming and helpful. Maybe its all the green grass and trees. Coming out from the land of brown and dead it is such a nice treat to see so much green everywhere. No mountains as I envisioned, but lots of green and trees.

This morning we had a delicious breakfast in Minneapolis at a DDD restaurant called the Colossal Cafe. Becca had a Cinnamon roll that was as big as her head. Warmed in the oven and dripping with icing, fantastic. She shared a bite with all of us. Northward we went. First stop was in Garrison, MN. This is the walleye capital of the world. We always hit these stops. Last year was the worlds largest tea cup, before that was the largest totem pole. This year, walleye. As we drove around what seemed big enough to be one of the great lakes, we discovered it was really called Mille Lacs Lake. I think that's redundant...I think Lacs is Lake in the native language. There is a large Indian reservation here and lots of the towns have really cool hard to pronounce names. We discovered a giant walleye fish statue and believe it or not there is a lady that sits in a little booth behind the fish and comes out every time someone wants a picture. She offered to take ours, I turned her down and I think she was irritated that she couldn't do her job.

Continuing north, we stopped in Grand Rapids. Not to be confused with Grand Rapids Michigan, but Grand Rapids Minnesota. Judy Garland was born here. There is an old school downtown that has a yellow brick road dedicated to her. It was Tall Timber Days in town so the streets were lined with people waiting for a parade. I'm pretty sure everyone within a 50 mile radius was there to watch. We walked the yellow brick road, checked out the old school and hit the road. We saw no munchkins and the scarecrow, tin man and cowardly lion were sadly missing too.

In a tiny town called Hibbing, we stopped at the birthplace of the Greyhound bus system. It was started here to take iron miners into town to shower, go to church and see friends. Mom and Becca waited a bit for the bus, but it never showed. Strange, but cool stop. I bet most cant say they have been here. :-) Onward to Ely (pronounced with an i sound at the end) we began seeing cars and cars and cars loaded with canoes. Trailers pulling canoes, canoes everywhere. We knew were were headed in the right direction.

We pulled into the quaint little town just 12 miles from Canada and were loaded up with two canoes, maps of the best lakes to visit and fishing gear for Chris. Our room for the next two nights is the Grand Ely Lodge. Its a cabin like lodge sitting right on a lake. Somehow we scored a lake view room. We are told this is the best time of year to be here. Took a 2 hour canoe tour of the lake that has formed on top of an old iron mine tonight where Chris caught a bunch of fish. Great start to our canoe portion of the trip. Tomorrow we head out for a full day canoeing the boundary waters. We will be carrying the canoes 1/4 mile into the lake. One person under each canoe with it on our shoulders. Mom and Becca have nominated Chris and I to do the carrying. We will spend the entire day out there. I cant wait. This is a dream. One of the top places in the WORLD to canoe.