Epilogue: Settling in....

Epilogue: Tuesday, July 3rd and onward……as I mentioned I write this now on the airplane to Las Vegas. Two weeks and numerous lists later we are incredibly ALMOST settled. The challenges have been coming rapidly and from all angles – but we have been doing a good job taking care of the big ticket items. After we arrived in Ann Arbor I had an excellent interview with Borders books and was subsequently offered a position which I will start tomorrow. This was the biggest piece to fall into place. It will be an excellent position and will give us some flexibility as I will be working a 4 10-hour day work schedule. We also found daycare for the kids. Lucas and Sammie will be in the same location for the first couple of months. It is a nice small building with a couple of rooms – the toddlers for Lucas in the back - there will be about 7 other kids with him – and a much larger room for the kids – about 15-20. There is a lot for them to do and we both think they are in dire need to get back to being around other kids. When we went in there to look at the daycare they played very nicely with the other kids while we inspected the place. Sammie wanted to stay as she had already made some friends – makes the job that much easier for us – we sure do have great kids. The heat has finally subsided and it has been much more pleasant – not the blistering heat and humidity. The one item that both Laura and I are struggling with are the diagonal streets in Ann Arbor – they are quite confusing. The city in general is on a grid – but there are about 3 or 4 main diagonal streets that cut through town and sometimes it is a little difficult to tell if you are going straight or on a diag. Anyways we will eventually master it as we begin to fathom the actual small size of the city we will be living in. It is going to be a welcome comfort to be able to get across the city in a matter of 10-15 minutes. For the time being, however, I am resigned to not leaving the house without our trusty little friend – Stella.

The biggest news of all, however, is that we have found a house!! We began to meet our agent immediately when we got into town and did some house drive bys. We went up north to Laura’s parents house for some R-n-R at the Lake on the fourth and to refresh ourselves and await the call from Borders. Quick side note – the fireworks purchased in Wyoming had been burning a hole in my pocket (no pun intended) and the anticipation to set them off was palpable as we drove up. The excitement grew until finally I was able to light some off on their beach – I was proud of my purchases – however, about two minutes after I started shooting ours off I was put to shame by the nearly epic show of fireworks from a house two doors down – as they set off fireworks that could possibly have put the San Ramon fireworks show to shame. My little bottle rockets couldn’t hold a (roman) candle to the ones these guys had. So after mine were done we sat down and enjoyed an incredible show of fireworks on the lake. Anyways - the house – we had a long list of items we wanted in the house and have been very picky about it. We were looking in specific neighborhoods and nothing had come up. A house came on the market that didn’t necessarily jump at us but got on our list to view this past week. When we went to see it we both fell in love – it had most of the things we wanted:

Large kitchen – with nice appliances

Mudroom
Large garage
Large yard
Private Master bath
Four bedrooms
Close to Sammie’s pre-school
Basketball hoop in driveway
On a cul-de-sac
In one of the more desirable neighborhoods.
A large family room where the kids could play
A bar area
An exercise room

All of these things were in the house we found. It is a one story ranch with a lower level – not unlike Aunt Dorothy and Uncle Gordy’s house out in Mountlake Terrace. The house was built in 1972 and is about 3500 sq ft. It is not in the closest neighborhoods to downtown AA, but it is a two-minute drive to the river and probably about 5 minutes to downtown. Yes things are a lot closer here. Both our jobs are on the other side of town – but once we master all the streets the commute should be minimal. Sammie’s kindergarten is literally two blocks away and she will eventually be able to walk to school which we are very happy about. The current owner has a riding mower for the lawn – which I will be all to happy to use as well. The yard is large and sweeps around the house with large areas for the kids to play. It is in a quiet neighborhood and the yards are fairly private. The kitchen is very large and has granite countertops with plenty of space for storage. The downstairs, however, was what sold us. In the basement there is a large family room with 4 other rooms. One official bedroom, one study, both of which are fairly large. One storage room and one sun room off the back of the house. Just a great space for us to grow into and watch the kids get older. We are very excited about it. I have put in some pictures in this blog of the house – but they are also a lot more on snapfish, which I’m sure you have already seen. We immediately went to our realtor’s office – Dave Dean – who has been an incredible font of energy and patience through this whole process. Going to all the houses we looked at with us and our traveling circus was enough to make Laura and I crazy – but he was unbelievably patient. The last straw was drawing up the offer in his office – it took about 3 hours and Laura and I were shuffling the kids back and forth – they were going stir crazy and making lots of noise – but somehow we got it done. They accepted the next day – and our closing date is August 13th. Now we just have to suck it up and live in our little apartment for the next 30 days – which, now that we see the light at the end of the tunnel, may not be so bad. In any case, tomorrow we officially start our new lives. Both Laura and I start our jobs and the kids go to their new daycare. The next couple of weeks will find us sinking our roots in just a little deeper.

Hope you all are doing well. It has been quite an exodus – just a fantastic trip, but one I’m not sure I will be ready to EVER do again. Adios and thanks for reading. We’ll see you soon.

-The Weintraub Adventure team. July 2007

Day 14 - Deliverence and Ann Arbor

Monday, July 2nd, 2007 - This was the day where we were going to triumphantly roll into Ann Arbor and unveil our plan to storm the beach. But right away we knew that it was going to be a long day filled with mishaps, disappointments, and accidents. The drive from Flushing to AA is about 1 hour. We had planned to leave there right around 9 so that we could be there at 10 to sign the lease when the office opened. Well at around 8:15 am we got a call that the technician from Covad (internet provider) was at our apartment waiting for the hookup – yikes – let it begin. We rescheduled for later and hurried out of there. Lucky for us Laura and her family graciously allowed Sammie to stay with Olivia for the day – we are already beginning to wear out our welcome. Anyways on the ride down to Ann Arbor I got a call from our apartment wondering if we were still going to rent from them? Yes – we will be there in 15 minutes. Then I got my first taste of what the Michigander’s call the second season Construction (apparently there are only two seasons in Michigan – Winter and Construction). 10 minutes outside of Ann Arbor we hit a dead stop because of road repairs. Luckily, however, Stella once again proves her worth and she is able to route us around the backup saving us some time. We finally get into AA around 10:15. We sign the lease and the Internet guy is waiting for us on the doorstep of our new apartment. I spend the next two hours unloading the car and trying to help him get it properly setup. It is a disaster. The apartment is somewhat of a disappointment – dingy and rather small – not too many families around – lots of college kids from nearby Eastern in Ypsilanti. There is a pool, however, and something that I’m sure will be used a lot by Sammie and the rest of us. The weather is also stifling – so within a matter of 2 days I am introduced rather rudely to the brutal trifecta of the Michigan summer – Construction, Bugs, and Humidity. It is about 100 degrees with humidity. Fairly sticky and not the best weather for unloading a car. We then coordinated the cable guy’s arrival and then I had to drive back up to Flushing to get Sammie and the rest of our boxes. This time the drive back was uneventful and quick. Sammie was pretty tired and fell asleep in the car. She had had a little accident – falling down the stairs at her cousins house – but everything was fine - so I think she was ready to sit down and sleep for awhile. The rest of the day was spent unpacking and getting used to the new surroundings. Sammie settled into her room and I think has been kind of excited to be in the same room as Lucas. They have become quite good friends and she can get him going like no one else – it is quite cute to see him following her around. The rest of the evening we learned that our complex was not quite the Shangri-la we had hoped. We heard some loud partying close by and at one point some drunk neighbors rang our doorbell by accident. Yeah apartment life is not fun.

Then after ALL of this I had to start thinking about my interview with Borders the next day. Welcome to Michigan – traffic jams, construction, parties, accidents, humidity, etc.. Why did we move again? We both had some second thoughts made even more so by the difficulty sleeping – the hot night making for a poor evenings slumber. We decided that our AC bill is going to be very high indeed. In the end though we had seen this coming and that this was going to be the hardest day – each one getting better and easier as our laundry list of things was completed. Cable TV and Internet for us was a great start. Now if I could just get a job…..

So about 3800 miles later our trip officially ended. Would I do it again? Absolutely. Would I do it again with my kids – I’ll get back to you on that.

Thanks for reading it was pretty fun writing (hope it was not too negative) and I hope it wasn’t too boring for you. We have an amazing country and even though, I’m sure they won’t remember, I was glad to be able to force, er, take my kids on this trip. I hope you all get to someday visit these places as well. We have a beautiful country. Our favorite places – probably the camping at the Tetons. I also really enjoyed the drive on the other side of Yellowstone through Wyoming to Cody. Also the drive from Custer up across the Bighorn mountains down in to Rapid City in South Dakota was incredibly beautiful – made that much more beautiful because I was the only one awake in the car. Nice. Adios and thanks again for checking in. I’m sure we’ll be in touch!

What we learned today: The best laid plans of Mice and Men….; Michigan is HOT; apartment life sucks (we forgot but we already knew this one);

Day 13 - Rocky Water and aahh...Michigan

Sunday, July 1st, 2007 – we tried to get up and get out of Madison quickly but it was not to be. We had reservations to take the ferry across Lake Michigan at 12:30 and needed to make the quick 75 minute drive to Milwaukee. After some long goodbyes (pictures), a coffee stop, a gas stop, a bathroom stop, a wrong turn (Stella steering us incorrectly and Laura contradicting her as Sammie shouts in the backseat – Dad becomes unhinged and misses the stop – too many voices at once!) - we were finally on the correct road – but with only an hour to get there. We were both pretty stressed considering we had never been to Milwaukee and had no idea where we were going. Stella redeemed herself as we steered passed several breweries and Miller Park where the Brewers play. We made it to the check in process and were probably the 2nd to last car to check in. We had about 10 minutes to stretch and then we were loaded onto the ferry. The ferry itself was much smaller – surprisingly – than most of the ferries I have ridden my whole life in Washington. The day was clear with a little wind so it didn’t appear that it was going to be a rough ride.

The ferry was actually very nice. It had seats like an airplane and a nice food bar. We got some nice panini sandwiches and a beer for dad. They also actually showed a movie on the ride – unfortunaltely for me and the rest of the people on the boat the movie was The Astronaut Farmer. The ride was slated to be about a three-hour tour – a three hour tour – just kidding just a 2 ½ hour ride. The ride started off a little bumpy and moving around was very difficult as the swells rocked the boat quite a bit. We thought it was going to be a temporary thing but it turns out it lasted the entire ride. Not much fun as it limited our ability to walk around with the kids. Lucas was just an accident waiting to happen so we stayed put. At some point we tried to go down to the car to get some things but it turns out that you cannot even go back down to your car – so we rode out the storm in our seats. By the end of the trip Lucas was the loudest person on the boat. Apparently he was not very fond of the coaster ride on Lake Michigan. I did go up on deck briefly and marveled at this huge lake. Not that I have ever been out on the ocean but when you are out in the middle - there is no land in site just water. Incredibly vast for a lake. The trip was also marked by the first of what will I’m sure be many events – Laura ran into someone that she knew on the boat. A roommate of her brothers from college. Pictures, conversation, etc.

The boat arrived on time and we drove off and into our new home state. Mind boggling to think that that is the case now. I have been a Washintonian, Oregonian, Californian, and now I am going to become what I believe is a Michiganer. I guess that is just someone who owns LOTS of down clothing. We were surprised to be greeted off the ferry by Laura’s Uncle Ray, his wife Paula, their two sons, Karl and mike, and Mike’s wife Libby. They had cheerios and beach balls for the kids. It was an excellent welcoming to our new state and gave us a nice feeling as we embarked on the 3 hour drive over to Flushing and the ultimate destination for Sammie: her cousin Olivia’s room – where there lives a whole town of Polly Pockets. Needless to say this leg of the drive seemed the longest as we wound our way East. We finally arrived in Flushing around 7pm with Olivia and Chloe rushing out to meet us and me and Lucas falling to our knees. Our trip was essentially over – but now the crushing rest of the details needed to be taken care of. The kids traveled fine and at that point Laura and I were resigned to let them watch as much and whatever videos they wanted. When we got there we unwound with a few drinks while the kids ran all over the yard and house. Everything had been delivered fine to Peter’s house – the 8 (!) boxes we shipped arrived fine – although they all looked like they had been manhandled by the Samsonite gorilla. The stage was set for Monday and the laundry list of items that we needed to accomplish, before I had to get ready for my interview on Tuesday at the headquarters for Borders books.

What we learned today: Riding the ferry across Lake Michigan is expensive and NOT comfortable. Stella is not ALWAYS right – Laura is.

Day 12 - Madison and the Mississippi

Sorry for the delay once again – but as most of you know once we hit Ann Arbor we were like a group shot out of a cannon. As of today, Wednesday, July 11, we have most of our major tasks on our check list completed and I am on a flight to Las Vegas. But all of that info will follow later. First, the much anticipated (yawn) last few days of our cross-country exodus….

Saturday, June 30th, 2007. We got off fairly early and were on the road by 8:30 – a monumental task for us. The trip across Minnesota was pock-marked with Fireworks super stores and corn fields and very flat. Once we crossed the Mississipi and came into Wisconsin we were officially East-Coasters. An incredibly wide river with an amazing amount of inlets. I can’t imagine how it could have been navigated in the “old days” without GPS. Anyways the day was long and the driving fairly boring – flat with corn fields everywhere you look. We were greeted along the road by some kindred spirits. A Van with a Michigan or Bust sign on the back with Oregon bumper stickers. It may have been the Bizarro Weintraub clan – we sped by and tried not to look – afraid that in some way we might disrupt the time space continuum. Anyways….our destination for the night was Laura’s old college friend and their family. We pulled into Madison on a wonderfully pleasant day – not too hot. Madison is a very nice college town – pretty old streets lined with trees. We got to Peggy’s house around 4pm and were greeted by her 5 children in their front yard. It took Sammie and Lucas a few minutes to realize that they actually had some kids to play with - instead of their irritated parents. Then it was all fun and games and some precious moments of relaxation for the parents. Being that it was the weekend before the fourth of July there was some fireworks down by the college. Peggy and her husband Joel graciously took us out in the crowds with their large family - I do not know how they do it. We got some good deli sandwiches and found a nice little seat by the lake – not sure what the lake was called but it was right next to the college. Seems like the campus of the UofW – not the Huskies – is right next to downtown. We got the impression that it was about twice the size of Ann Arbor – but very nice and mellow just the same. Peggy gave us a quick driving tour before we hit the fireworks. The fireworks were very crowded but we sat talking on the steps next to the water and watched the sunset. It was very nice and relaxing. All the kids were very well behaved – made much easier by all the food they were eating. By the time the fireworks started Sammie was a zombie and could barely keep her eyes open. Lucas was fading too, but when the fireworks started both kids perked up and watched the show. It was quite nice. As the evening wore on I was introduced to the bugs of the Midwest. First, it was the delightfully quiet and aloof fireflies who lazily buzzed past us then it became the flotilla of gnats that were literally clouding out the light from the lamppost right next to us. Needless to say we were excited when the fireworks ended and we were able to heard our crew out of there. We then headed home excited that tomorrow we would be heading into the final leg of our journey. Until then....

Things we learned today: The Midwest has lots of corn; we do not want to have any more kids.

Day 11 - Wall Drug and the MidWest

Friday, June 29th, 2007. Again a mostly uneventful day. A long day in the car. The kids were again good – and seem to now enjoy being in the car. We can even quote Sammie when she said - "It feels so good to be in the car again" - this morning. We got up early and were out on the road by 8:30 am and arrived at our first stop – Wall Drug – at about 10 am. A few words come to mind – ant hill, bee hive, labyrinth, lemmings. Apply those to Wall Drug and let your imagination do the walking. WOW! Very cool place with lots of cool souvenirs and attractions. We got a few donuts – homemade right there. Needless to say they were delicious and Sammie gobbled hers down. I had to wait though because my task was to somehow get a couple of glasses of milk for my children. I tell you Gutzon Borglum had an easier task carving Mt. Rushmore (for those of you who don’t know he was the sculptor)(now you know)(if you didn’t). By the time I got back most of the donuts were gone and Sammie had graduated from high school – ok kidding you get the point. We jumped in the car, filled up and headed to our last destination – the Badlands. Since we purchased a pass to all parks for a year we figured we would just do the loop route and then get back on 90. It took us about an hour and we got to see some of the diversity in the landscape. It was very strange. About 45 minutes outside of Rapid City when you come out of the Black Hills – it is mostly flat with lots of grasslands – but then you have the Badlands – massive valleys and pinnacles rising up out of the grass. Kind of like Utah – but on a smaller scale – made Laura and I again marvel at the massive shapes we saw there. It was pretty cool – although it quickly turned into a – keep-the-car-running-so-the-movie-doesn’t-stop-just-jump-out-and-take-a-picture trip. Which was fine – we did get some good pictures. Laura once again tried to make a phone call and disconnected another unsuspecting family member/friend. I think she is going for the record on this trip. Speaking of records we noticed today that our trip is creeping towards 3000 miles for the entire trip. We are at about 2900 now and will pass over tomorrow. What a journey!! We finally got out of the Badlands and Laura took the wheel and put on the after burners. Our last stop of the day was a desperate measure because we needed dinner before the final push. I am happy to say it was the only time the entire trip – we had to stop at McDonald’s! Needless to say that we have done such a good job at brainwashing Sammie that when we told her that’s where we were going she was almost angry! Then when we ordered we of course got the 15 year old trainee. Poor girl, I thought Laura was going to break her when she asked if she wanted a happy meal for the third time – especially when her 16-year old trainer stepped up and asked if she wanted fries with that. Hilarious moment – I was standing behind Laura trying not to laugh. Anyways we got our food and Sammie reluctantly began to eat her food and then provided us with the icing on the cake for the day – she said after taking a few bites – "Hey, this isn’t so bad." 5 years of brainwashing down the drain. Anywho we made it at about 7:30pm and were instantly in the pool. Afterwards we had dinner and the kids got some popcorn while they watched Charlotte’s Web. Ask Laura about how great the Days Inn is. Tomorrow we speed into Madison, Wisconsin and then on to Michigan across the Lake. We are looking forward and I am already scheming on how to get a new TV. Til tomorrow….

What we learned today – There are a lot of fireworks stands in SD; Wall Drug is CRAWLING with tour buses

Midwest musings – at Laura’s fathers request we pondered the question of where the Midwest starts and where does the West end. Well there seems to be many answers to that question – when you come out of the Black Hills and into Rapid City you descend upon the plains. But it seems that there is a transition area from Rapid City to the Central Time zone marker. By the time you hit there it is the Midwest. Plains and flat. In the West there are mountains. The Midwest is flat.

Also when you start seeing Cabella’s by the side of the road you know you are no longer in the West. And finally if there is a tractor at the gas pump – you are DEFINITELY in the Midwest. Less cows more corn. When Laura’s hair goes from straight to curly – you are no longer in the West.

Another question – why is it called the MidWest? Why not the MidEast? Is there a MidEast? West, northwest, Southwest, MidWest, South, SouthEast, NorthEast, East. Where’s the MidEast?

Day 10 - Faces in the Rock and a Plunge

Sorry for the layoff - we are ending our trip and are very tired.

Day 10 – Thursday, June 29th 2007 - We took our time getting up today and feasted on the excellent breakfast fare at our hotel in the Black Hills. Sammie had a huge waffle and was very pleased. We stuffed ourselves in the car and drove the 20 some miles to see Mt. Rushmore. It was a rather pretty drive and we were rarin to see the 4 presidents. As we parked we knew we were in for trouble as the Mr. Hyde of Sammie’s personality began to show itself. The next 90 minutes could hardly have been called enjoyable as we tried to corral Sammie and tune out her whining. Outside of that it was great. The initial view walking up the avenue of the states is quite breathtaking and even pictures cannot do it justice. Both Laura and I got the audio tour and it was very informative. Again it was a very crowded venue (tour buses galore) – even though it was a Thursday and very early. Great little movie on the making of the monument as well – the quietest Sammie was the whole time. We also happened to stumble upon a Park Ranger giving a walk/talk around the President’s walk. It was quite interesting and the ranger had a good story telling delivery to keep it interesting. There was also a pulley line that was setup on top of Roosevelt’s head that went down to the path we were on. Right above the path a couple of Rangers were having a hard time moving something on the pulleys. They were steering people around it. It turns out it was a big platform of fireworks they were trying to move up to the top for the fourth of July celebration. Pretty classic – the Rangers did not look very happy about what was going on – they seemed very stressed out. I’m glad we didn’t know what was in there – re: Dynamite! Anyways the rest of the time was spent in the gift shop – or should I say the demolition derby. It was so crowded in there you literally bumped into someone at every turn. Brutal. Can you tell that Laura and I are very tired and are anxious to end the trip?

Anyways we got out of there and went back to the hotel for lunch. Afterwards we went down to a place called Evans Plunge. It is a naturally fed mineral pool that has water slides. It is about 40 miles South of Custer. We had promised Sammie we would go there – just so she could do something to. Kind of a pretty drive and we ended up seeing some more Buffalo (sorry they are actually American Bison) – and even a family of 3 deer eating some plants about 2 feet from the road in Hot Springs. Evans Plunge was a welcome relief. It was not very crowded and was fairly cheap. The water was about 87 degrees – not too hot and not too cool and the main pool was indoors. They had a little kiddy pool and Lucas was having a blast going down a little whale slide they had. He is doing very well in the water. He just wants to jump away from us though. We have dunked him a few times so he can understand that he cannot just jump away from us but it hasn’t worked so far. Sammie was a little timid at first but she ended up going down one the waterslides a bunch of times. Seeing her gliding down the slide sitting up and holding her mat and screaming WOO HOO at the top of her lungs – has to be one of the highlights. After the mornings’ activities it was nice to see her having a good time. Laura and I tried the grown-up ones as we traded off holding Lucas. There were a couple of slides where I thought my stomach was in my throat – very fast! All in all it was a great break for us and got us all back in good spirits. Quick note on our car. It has been a true champion – knock on wood. Today it passed the 100000 mile marker and is going strong. Shhhh - don’t tell it- but we are going to get a new one when we get to AA. Laura and I were feeling ambitious so we went back and went to dinner. Both of us had the Buffalo burger again. We figured we are probably not going to get a Buffalo burger in Ann Arbor so what the heck. I even had mine with BACON! WOW. It was pretty good. Strange restaurant though – seemed like half the staff was under the age of 15. I guess I don’t know what the labor laws are in SD. After dinner we decided to roll the bones and take the kids up to see the Crazy Horse monument to see it and also the laser light show they put on at night. We got there about 7:30 and the show didn’t start until about 9:45 so we had some time to look around. It is a very ambitious project and it still very much in the works. The monument itself is going to be the biggest monument in the world. Mt. Rushmore will actually fit inside the area right behind the face of Crazy Horse. The project has been going since 1948 and it is completely privately funded – twice apparently the group creating it has turned down 10 million dollar grants to help build it. By contrast Mt. Rushmore took about 12 years to complete – and was, of course, a federal project. When we initially walked into the Museum we noticed how beautiful the building was. Very nicely done – and we walked in to see a very informative movie on the making of the monument. Then there is a very nice collection of Indian artifacts and arts. All very interesting. Sammie was behaving beautifully and actually looking at some of the things (Laura and I also had a couple of drinks at dinner so she was walking all over us). We walked out on the veranda where there were some pretty impressive views of the mountain. We found a bench and hunkered down for about an hour. While we waited they were pumping in some Native American music with drums and chants and Lucas and Sammie were charming the pants off of everyone by dancing together. Only problem was that Sammie’s nearly ear-deafening laughter could easily have been heard on top of the mountain – so we had to reel her in a little. The show finally started at around 9:45. Lucas was bundled in his stroller and was minutes away from falling asleep – Sammie actually did fall asleep on Laura’s lap for a few minutes before the start. When it started it was a little disappointing to me – although Laura liked it. There were just some cheesy graphics and one of the songs was a 70’s disco version of chopsticks. I just kept thinking of a bad laser show depicting something completely innapropriate and how I’m sure that if Crazy Horse were alive he would just laugh as I was (Jeff - this has the Simpsons written all over it). I kept waiting the whole time for a more in depth story of who Crazy horse was and why he was a hero and why it was important for there to be a monument to him, but it mostly just glorified the sculptor – which is okay I suppose. It ended with a VERY patriotic song and showed how Native Americans have contributed to our society – which in the end is the point so I guess it worked. Lucas watched most of the show, but faded when they played a very nice Native American chant song. Sammie was a good girl and enjoyed the show, asking many questions about Indians and how they lived along the way. Very sweet. Who knows maybe she will learn something along the way. Lucas was so tired he did not even wake up when we transferred him from the stroller to the car OR from the car to the crib. Sammie was gone almost instantly when she hit the pillow. A tumultuous day of ups and down – exhausting and frustrating, but fun at the same time. Much like our whole trip. Much like our lives right now….tomorrow we have a long haul to Minnesota for our last night in a hotel. Adios….

What we learned today – 90% of the rock sculpture of Mt. Rushmore was done with explosives; Laura likes waterslides – a lot; a lot about the sculptor of Crazy Horse, not enough about Crazy Horse; bikers like crazy horse;

Day Nine - Driving and South Dakota

Day 8 – Wednesday, June 27th – A mostly uneventful day. Lots of driving. We decided to take our time out of the hotel in Cody because it offered everything and was very comfortable. WE finally got out of there about 10 am and decided to stop at a couple of stores in Cody. The highlight of those stores – AND maybe the entire trip – FOR ME – was stopping at the fireworks warehouse. I think I could have spent a thousand dollars in there. They had all the types of firecarackers I used from when I was a kid. A little reminiscent. Look out Platte Lake – you are going to see some fireworks this year. Anyway after that we got some cowboy hats for the kids and some Buffalo Jerky for the parents – hmmm good. From there it was just a long drive – about 7 hours onto Custer. We passed through a small town called Upton which claimed - very boastfully I might add - to be the best place on earth. Hmm - the first thing you see upon passing upton - is a junkyard. Yeah - I don't think so. Near Sheridan we passed over the Custer mountains – very beautiful with about a 10,000 foot peak and rocky grassland all around. I guess this is where they were when they Rode the High Country. The drive down was a twisty turnny pretzel of a highway – with everyone asleep in the car I somehow made it through. Laura took over from there and we literally jetted across Wyoming. Some very majestic countrysides for certain. We got to the hotel around 6:30 and we instantly went to the pool. It was a pizza dinner and then quiet time. The kids were particularly good today. Just playing and sleeping in the car. I think they are used to the routine. Although Sammie asks everyday – “Are we on the way to Michigan yet?” Very sweet.

Tomorrow we will go to Mt. Rushmore and to a local indoor hot springs pool called Evans Plunge with Water slides and fun for the kids. Should be a fun afternoon. The weather has cooled down quite a bit and we are enjoying the milder tempatures. Of course it helps that we now have clean clothes as well. Til tomorrow.

What we learned today – Uptown is the best town on earth; Buffalo Bill was commissioned by the government to make a city so that people would think the West was inhabitable, Buffalo Jerky is good, Cody is a cute little tourist town – but expensive. The drive from Yellowstone to Cody and from Cody to Custer, SD – is very beautiful. Classic views of the old West.