Day 3 - Very Busy, Very Long

We drove 700 miles today - not by choice. We ended up in North Dakota and South Dakota in the middle of nowhere. We drove for hours with no traffic, nothing. Great roads with speed limit of 75, but nowhere to stop - not even for gas or food.

Runestone Museum in Alexandria, MN. Really interesting. If you don't know about it, you might want to read about it online. The History Channel had a great program about it a few months ago.

Fergus Falls, MN - you really need to see the largest Otter in the world - he's cute. Some fun things in Fergus Falls!

Jamestown, ND - World's largest buffalo- cement of course. A little "Old West" town - even a quilt shop. I had to check it out. Quilters are always nice.

Bismarck - we made a special effort to see the capitol building -

described as "Art Deco". Looks just like any big office building.

The unusual thing is that it is 19 stories high in a city that has no

other buildings over about 4 stories. It does tend to stand out - and is very easy to find.

Salem Sue - if you're driving on I94 you can't miss Salem Sue, the world's largest cow - cement of course. She really is rather pretty and really, really big.

Enchanted Highway - you have to see it to believe it. Thirty

two miles highway through beautiful countryside with huge metal

sculptures. They have all been created by one man who wants to do something to get people to come to North Dakota. www.enchantedhighway.net.

The Enchanted Highway is why we drove so far today. When we got to the end of the Enchanted Highway, we were literally in the middle of nowhere.

We are very tired tonight. It was a good day. We are staying in a nice, quiet, clean, peaceful place in Rapid City, South Dakota.

Our country is truly a magnificent place. We have driven through such beautiful places - so much wide open space. We drove for hours seeing nothing but beautiful scenery, cows and crops. Sunflower fields as far as the eye can see. It is good to see the wonders of America. We have met so many really nice people. I know it's hard to believe, but they seem to know that we're from the South! They think we have a Southern accent, but I really don't think so.

My eye looks even worse today - I've gotten a lot of sympathetic looks. They probably think I've been beaten up pretty badly.

Tomorrow - Badlands, Mt. Rushmore and much more to see.

ROAD TRIP 2010 - Days 1 and 2

Finally! We left yesterday (Sunday) at 7:00 AM. Wonderful day -weather is perfect - lows in the high 50's with highs in the 70's. We drove to Chicago with some stops to stretch our legs, get gas and eat. Chicago is really a beautiful city. Navy Pier and Millennium Park are beautiful. The skyline is awesome - Willis Tower - formerly the Sears Tower. People walking and riding bikes. Doesn't really feel likeyou're in the middleof a huge city. Sunday afternoon was the perfect time to tour downtown Chicago - traffic was not bad all all.

I wish I had more memories of the few months we lived in downtown Chicago when I was six years old! I actually started first grade in Chicago.

We went to Oak Park, Illinois - Frank Lloyd Wright's home and studio is there and Oak Park has the highest concentration of his houses anywhere in the world. These are the Prairie Style houses he was famous for in the

early 1900's. Beautiful houses - hard to believe they were build 100 years ago.

I was so intent on looking at the houses and taking pictures that I managed to trip over a raised section of the sidewalk and fall headfirst really hard. I had a knot the size

of an egg above my right eye. Scrapes and bruises - look like I've been beat. It looks even worse today - a really black eye. I bent my glasses all out of shape. Could have been a lot worse!

We spent last night in Elgin, Illinois. After driving 820 miles, it felt good to eat supper and relax.

We ate breakfast at the hotel this morning and were on the road about 7:30. We drove to Taliesin in Spring Green Wisconsin. We both enjoyed a 3 hour tour of Taliesin and Hillside which Frank Lloyd Wright built for

his two aunts to use as a private school. Taliesin was his home as well as his school of architecture. He was an amazing architect - he lived quite an interesting life. I've read his autobiography and have lots of books on the houses, churches and commercial buildings hebuilt. We met a lot of people who are really interested in FLW. Really enjoyable.

Our next stop was Mall of America in Bloomington, MN. Unbelievable! All kinds of rides, movie theaters, restaurants, and about hundreds of stores. A nice lady at LensCrafters repaired my glasses. We ate at a Chinese restaurant - really good. A dancing donkey (stuffed animal) just insisted on coming home with me so he could meet Little J.

Driving through Wisconsin was so nice - beautiful rolling hills with large dairy farms and thousands of acres

of corn fields. Wisc

onsin is really

beautiful. We did stop to buy some Wisconsin cheese - mm good.

We're spending the night in St. Cloud, Minnesota. A really good day.

A Good Day

A really good day. Time at home. Beautiful weather - not as hot as usual.

Family time - ate on the patio - just good home cooking - more okra from the garden.

Son Number One and his new Girl, Son Number Two and Wife and all three grandsons.

Leaving on our Road Trip in two weeks. Brother Three and I tried to shorten the mileage a little - ended up adding more than we deleted! Planning and anticipating is almost as good as the actual trip.

A really good day.

Home and Family

August 27, 2010

This summer has been so very hot. Everything is scorched. Our garden is sad.

Fall is near and we're all ready for the change of seasons.

Little J spent the day with us and is now sleeping. He plays so hard, laughs so often and brings us so much joy.

Grandson One, Papa and I played hide, read books, rode the Gator, played ball, visited the donkey, played in the Little House and had all kinds of fun with him. After a long bath and a few books he was ready for bed with Puppy, Blankie, Special Pillow and Cars Quilt...he's all tucked in.

Making plans for our Road Trip...every day we add something to the list. Maybe we will drive more than 9,000 miles!

Brother One and his wife left Wednesday for a six week Road Trip in their wonderful "House on Wheels". We will probably be in the same part of the country at the same time in a few weeks.

Some people collect things - I like collecting experiences and memories, pictures and new friends. Travel makes us see that not all people live the same life we do. Whether by choice or circumstance. We are fortunate if we can choose how we spend our time - or even a small part of our time.

I love this quote, "A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving." Lao Tzu.

As wonderful as travel is; as much as I love to travel - nothing compares to Home and Family. Being away for a while brings a deeper appreciation of what we have at home.

Miles to go....

Planning a Road Trip - Again

I do love to travel - see new things, meet new people. My traveling brother and I are planning another "Great American Road Trip". Can't talk hubby into going - he's not much of a traveler - he would rather fish or hunt or such. Thank goodness I have a traveling brother. Planning and thinking about the trip is part of the fun. You should see our list! About 9,000 miles (we think)! I can hardly wait.

A New Year

A new year always brings memories, hopes and fears.
I have a hard time believing it is 2010.

Married in 1965 (we were both 18)
Husband in Vietnam 1967-68
Son born in 1970
Daddy died in 1977
Son born in 1980
Nephew died in 1986
Mom died in 1993
Son married in 1995
Grandson born in 1996
Grandson born in 1997
Son graduated from NC State in 2003
Son married in 2005
Grandson born in 2008

The good and the bad.
The easy and the hard.

Life.

Sleeping Baby

Little J is spending the night with us. There is something so special about having a sleeping baby in the house. He's really not a baby anymore - he's a toddler. He is such a sweet little boy.

We took him to dinner at KandW - he ate fried okra, bread, fish, potatoes, cantalope, honeydew and cookies.

We came home and watched about 30 minutes of "Happy Feet". He was tires so it was pj time then off to bed.

A great way to start a new year.