Day Four - Worthington MN to Chicago IL

We got up EARLY (out the door by 6am) on Tuesday morning (after arriving after midnight). We left MN headed for Taliesin in Spring Green WI. Our path took us through south eastern MN, NE Iowa and into WI. Seeing the sunrise was actually really nice. I just wish the sun could rise later as a general rule so I could see it more often!

In Iowa we saw the Mississippi River, lovely!

The property at Taliesin was just gorgeous! I had NO idea WI was so beautiful!

Unfortunately, we weren't permitted to take pictures inside of Taliesin. The house and property have a really interesting story. If you've read Loving Frank, you might recall this house. I won't say what MAJOR thing happened here in case one of you hasn't finished the book yet and doesn't know how it all turns out. It really is a fascinating piece of architecture.

After the tour we made our way into Chicagoland! Can anyone explain WHY on earth it's referred to as Chicagoland? There's gotta be a story there!

I'm going to let Dad blog about dinner. All I have to say is YUM. And, it's after midnight here in Philly, so images from Chicago and our trek across Ohio will have to wait until tomorrow. Night all!

Day 4 - Four Days with the Father

It continues...

Rebecca and I have been on the road for 4 days now. I've driven almost 2400 miles. I haven't felt like sharing the driving yet. I guess it's okay for me to cruise at 90 MPH in my own car but not ready to let go of the reigns.

Day One

We made it to Shirlene's (my mom's good friend) home in Dalhton Gardens, ID Saturday evening. We had a great meal and some really fun conversation. Shirlene sent us along our way Sunday morning with a bag of trail mix and raspberry muffins. We made those guys last until the middle of Tuesday. Good stuff, thanks Shirlene!

Day Two

We went thru Yellowstone for most of the day. Saw some elk, Rebecca snapped a shot of one with a radio transmitter antena sticking up above its ear. We stopped at several pools of bubbling mud and other pools of hot water with stinking sulfer pouring out and engulfing us. We video taped Old Faithful while chatting with this delightful older couple celebrating their 59th wedding aniversary. Amazing. Real nice folk. I've been making a real effort to talk to strangers and its been kinda fun. I had made it all day without anyone passing me and some local about 20 minutes out of Cody flew by me in the dark, RATS! A perfect day shot to ...

Day Three

The road between Cody and Sheridan, WY provided the biggest suprise so far. There was a canyon that simply knocked our socks off!!! We were later able to see both Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse. Very cool stuff!!! Then we drove another 500 miles clear across South Dakota and about 50 miles into Minnesota. I had a buffalo burger in Mitchell, SD - good stuff. The dinner break lasted long enough for the sun to set and spare us the balance of the mind numbing landscape of eastern South Dakota.

Day Four

We broke camp and hit the road at 6:15am. Neither Rebecca or I were rested or excited about getting out, but the chance to see the main residence at Taliesin in Spring Green,WI motivated us both. It was Rebecca's first time to visit Taliesin and my second. The house and grounds were amazing. He was an amazing Architect. Some very intriguing spaces. Worth the effort. We left for Chicago around 2pm.

All caught up for now...

Time to vote on the PT Cruiser's name!

Dad reserved the right to include a name of his choosing. It's time to vote!!!

If Dad or Adam's name comes out to be the winner, we'll be drawing a name at random. Sorry brother, you're not eligible!

The prize will be either a $20 gas card or $20 to iTunes. Gas and music are road trip essentials. ;)

The poll is in the sidebar!!!!!!

South Dakota - Sturgis, Mt. Rushmore & Crazy Horse Mountain

Our first stop in SD was in Sturgis. Dad wanted to check out Buffalo Chip where they hold the motorcycle thing. He was hoping to eat at a biker bar, but we went through at lunch time and they were all closed! We ended up with fast food in Rapid City on our way to Mt. Rushmore.

I started shooting as soon as we saw Mt. Rushmore, but realized you get plenty of perspective from where the visitors center is. This is looking down the columns with the state flags.

Dad with the mountain

Me with the mountain - you can see how the wind was blowing my hair all over!

This shot may make my brother crazy, but it made the dad mighty happy!

Caught a George Washington profile on our way out to Crazy Horse

Crazy Horse was pretty amazing. It was started in 1949 and all we have so far is the face of the man. They're working on the massive horse head next.

Ultimately it will look like this

You can check out a few more pics here - http://www.flickr.com/photos/rebeccajeanne/sets/72157624778008938/

After Crazy Horse, we got on the road and headed out of South Dakota. It was after dinner that we got the wild hair to drive an extra 250 miles to include the stop at Taliesin. I agree with Dad, it was worth it! Taliesin images coming soon!

Some of the missing images...

On Monday morning we got in the car in Cody WY and started heading east. The route from Cody to Mt. Rushmore took us through Bighorn National Forest. I know both Dad & I have already mentioned it, but it was just breathtakingly beautiful. It was such a treat! Here are my favorite shots from that day...

Sun rising in Cody over the hotel office

The road into the forest/canyon/mountains

Gorgeousness!

As we came down the other of the mountains, we got this view of eastern WY.

From there it was into South Dakota!

ETA: We stopped for a quick dinner in SD and then it was into Minnesota!

Day Three - Cody, WY to Worthington, MN

Um yeah, we're in Minnesota. No, that wasn't on the plan, but whatever! Plan schman. When talking about our possible routes/stopping places east of Mt. Rushmore, I gave Dad several options through SD, through Iowa and randomly through Minnesota/Wisconsin. Dad asked real serious like, "Is there a route that takes us through Madison, WI?" I said, "Yeah Dad, I-90. ;)" He didn't realize that if we keep to I-90 (instead of dropping down to I-80 through Iowa) that we'd go right through Madison. What I didn't know (or remember) is that Spring Green (outside of Madison) is the home of Frank Lloyd Wright. So we drove as far as we could reasonably manage tonight and made it to Worthington, MN. We made it almost 900 miles today. Woot woot! We're speedy. Tomorrow we'll be up early and on the road to WI, hoping to check out a 2 hour tour of FLW's home. Keep you posted!

Hopefully in the near future I'll get some images up from Bighorn National Forest, Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse Mountain. The mountain sculptures are pretty cool, but we both agreed that today's real treat was the forest! It was breathtaking. So glad our path included it!

Video of Old Faithful

Dad captured some video of Old Faithful. It turned out pretty good!