2011 Summer Adventure Day 3

Lets start today off with a riddle....What state has more of our money than any other so far, has the worst highway system we've ever seen, a freshly fertilized farm from Sarah and the worst DDD site of our 2011 summer vacation?....Give up?....Well it's Minnesota of course. Don't mean to be negative but today was a day Steve would like to forget...

but at least we have these beauties....

Now on with the story....

So today started off in normal fashion.  We woke up, got ready, had a good breakfast at the Eagan Country Inn and Suites

and set out for the Mall of America. 

Our original plan was to stop by for a few minutes. Maybe take a few pictures. Check out the "awesomeness" of the place then move on but....



There is a giant amusement park, a big Lego store

Store after store after store....Five stories of endless capitalism at work just sucking you in like a dust ball to a Hoover.....

but at least we have these beauties...

Our 10 to 20 minute excursion turned into 3 hours.  We were hungry at this point so we decided to venture off to our third DDD site - a decision we would soon regret.  Plugging the address into the Nuvi took us on more twists and turns of a highway system that must have been created by the inventor of the pretzel.  We missed our exit and wound up in a heavy construction area.  We finally found our 3rd DDD site but it was about the size of a dime, in a lousy section of Minneapolis, with the name "Wienery".  Three strikes and we were out of there....oh well

So we decided to move on to our next destination....The Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum in Walnut Grove, MN.  Again, weaving our way through the highways and byways of Minneapolis, we finally made it out of the city and were on our way.  Just 2 1/2 hours to go.  But first, Steve decided to show you what a speeding ticket from Minnesota looks like....

did we mention we're not big fans of Minnesota?

"Press-On!"  So that we did and finally made it to the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museaum before it closed.

But not before this...

The wagon

The jail cell

The Postmaster...

...with beautiful feet

The Piano Player



There's always time for prayer

The School

We finally left Minnesota (Amen to that) and headed to our resting place for the night in Chamberlain, SD.  The speed limit in SD is 75 in most places...nice.  Can't wait to get to the Wall Drug Store

It's time to say goodnight...

...and to put these beauties to bed

2011 Summer Adventure Day 2

After a long first day of travel, our second day would include a few more 'touristy' things to do.  We "camped" out in South Bend, IN, so we decided to visit the historic University of Notre Dame (UND).

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
We saw many famous coaches:
 
David Leahy

Ara Parseghian

Lou Holtz

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
...and of course, Knute Rockne

I can't help but want to go and watch the movie Rudy....

This giant mural of Jesus is still under construction.  The picture doesn't do it justice....

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
UND was quite impressive and nicer than expected.  Even the squirrels were friendly!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
It was as if UND forced you to become a free thinker....
 

Truly a beautiful place and worth the visit....
 

Infamous Dome

 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

We spent about an hour at the UND and then moved up the street to that "Toddlin' Town" known as the Windy City - Chicago.  In true form, Shannon assumed position for the 1 hour 45 minute ride. 

Our first stop was to the old Sears Tower.  Today it is known as the Willis Tower.

We thought we would all go to the top...

...but some of us were just not that adventurous.  So Jackie and Shannon stayed behind while Steve, Sean and Sarah rode the elevator to the top.  Our ears popping all the way.  It was truly an awesome scene...

At first, the usually quiet, reserved little girl, turned into a wild maniac venturing out onto the clear platform deck on the 103rd floor...

...while the wild maniac, turned into a quiet, reserved little girl - he wouldn't go out onto the platfrom









After our Willis Tower excursion, we went to our second DDD stop - The White Palace Grill on the corner of Canal and Roosevelt. We're not exactly sure if this would be classified as a Diner or a Dive...lets say both.  Although less expensive than DDD #1, we were not overly impressed with the food - but good nonetheless...

Shannon and Steve with Guy Fieri



After lunch, we decided to drive by Jackie's old neighborhood where she was a little girl (K, 1st and 2nd grades).  It was just 20 minutes outside of Chicago in a little suburb known as Hinsdale.  It took us a while but we finally found the old/new house on Elm Street where she lived for 3 years.

We also saw her elementary school and the house where her dog went in and ate the neighbor's guinea pig (oh my)

It is now time to head to our second day's resting place in Eagan, MN. It was a 7 hour jaunt from Chicago and we were all pretty tired by this point....espescially you know who...














after our first rest stop....

We did lots of singing and dancing in the car. And the day finally came to an end....



2011 Summer Adventure

Today, July 9th, we set out on our 2011 summer adventure.  In true fashion, Shannon began our trip in standard position...

Being big fans of the Food Network, we decided to include various stops along our route to include Guy Fieri's "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" (DDD) locations.  If you are not familiar, Guy would drive around the country stopping at DDD locations and trying one of their specialty dishes.   Today, in the heart of Cleveland, was a rather large place called Sterle's Slovenia County House - famous for its German cuisine (of course our girls ordered spagetthi and a cheese omelette).  You could tell by the smell that it had that "I've been here for years" odor to it.  But still had that German look and judging by the number of patrons at opening, a large following. 

One of their signature dishes was this dessert called Placinka.  Since we were stuffed from our dinner, Sean was the only one to get it.....and have trouble sharing....

The food was OK for the price but overall we had a good experience.  Jackie, our waitress was polite and very helpful.  Here she is standing with us....










We had a chance to talk with the owner of the place too.  She was telling us about Guy's visit to their place and how personable he was.  In fact, the 2nd anniversary of his visit is July 12th - we just missed it.  She took our picture with Guy below....

After dinner, we then set out for first overnight stay at the Comfort Inn and Suites in South Bend, IN.  Here is a picture of the sun setting which was close to 10 pm.  That was pretty cool....

....until tomorrow.