Lake Tahoe
we quickly got out of Nevada because we were so excited to make it to California. And once we hit Lake Tahoe, we knew where we would be spending the night. it was so beautiful and completely relaxing. and yeah, so what if we never really camped out or "roughed it" anywhere along our route - but we TOTALLY deserved to splurge on a room at the River Ranch Lodge. check out that view of the river from our balcony! we dressed up for dinner and spent the evening reading. does this mean we're getting old?
they do exist
as we crossed Nevada we encountered TUMBLEWEEDS!!! whoa. seriously, i thought these were a thing of cartoons. based, of course, on an object in real life, but surely not REALLY like that?! though we were unable to capture the creature in its natural habitat, we did demolish one while flying down the highway. and some of it got caught in the grill. oops...
Nevada
we stopped for lunch in Nevada - in a casino, of course. we asked some locals where we could get a nice brunch, as laura was feeling much better. we were directed to the Commercial - a casino charaterized by the ENORMOUS white bear on the front of the building. inside we found smoking gamblers; at 11:30am on Monday. it made us sad - but then we had eggs and chocolate milk. also, we decided we can totally live without Nevada - we quickly got out of there...
too hot
with hurricanes and floods in the south, i suppose that leaves the west to burn. we saw 3 different fires - a lumber yard caught fire in Idaho and mountains in Nevada were aflame. it was really scary to see the mountains burning from so many miles away. as we came closer to it, we saw airplanes and helicopters dumping water on the flames, but it seemed like such a small effort for the size of the fires...
yellowstone
we were feeling pressured for time - would we be able to see everything we wanted and still make it to laura's new apartment in time to sign her lease? but we decided to make our way over to Yellowstone anyway. it was totally worth it. Old Faithful is very impressive...
wyoming
we decided wyoming is totally fantastic and found a little town called Ten Sleep in Big Horn National Park. it was kinda scary when we arrived at night, but by morning is was totally adorable...
hardcore
we managed to traverse the Badlands and Mt. Rushmore in skirts and flip-flops. we were adorable.
laura got sick
laura had some sort of food poisoning, so while she was barfing, we had to cover a lot of ground in one day. so this is what the rest of Iowa and most of South Dakota looked like.
driving
the speed limit is 75mph on route 29! we made excellent time through Iowa...
but there's really nothing out there to stop for...
not even this....
Corn Palace
we made it to the corn palace, which was actually pretty impressive. thanks to all who suggested we stop in. i think most alarming was that we saw an Amish family there. even in all of my quilting history, i've never come in contact with them, and here we all are in South Dakota...
we found this stuff in the riverbed. yes, that is a bullet casing...
Laura looking ravishing by the Cedar River
Iowa
but thanks to Laura's Uncle Cliff, Aunt Leslie, and cousin Lydia Rose, we went kayacking in the cedar river - strolled around the University of Iowa campus - a local college rock band, "Rejection Picnic" was performing - saw the Marching "Hawkeyes" Band practicing - played with the family pug, Iris - ate delicious food. it was like going to a spa...
For Alex
we wanted to do wacky things during this trip - you know, things we wouldn't otherwise get to do. so we went to eat at a pakistani restaurant mostly frequented by cab-drivers, called Baba Palace. it was awesome - delicious and cheap!
Chicago
many thanks to our pal Dr. Kirby who is pictured here with Laura beside the Buckingham Fountain - perhaps most commonly referred to as the "Married-With-Children Fountain. The Good Doctor showed us all around Chicago, pointing out and explaining historical landmarks, and we ended up watching the filming of what looked like a new mockumentary, starring John Michael Higgins (of Christopher-Guest-movies fame). They were filming a performance of "Rainbow Connection" which me and Laura still have stuck in our heads...
we found Storm Troopers in Chicago. that was not entirely unexpected though...
this is how we roll.
