Day 7: Sioux Falls, SD to Hudson, WI

We're here!

Today was rough. We're not sure exactly what it was, but Tessa was sick all morning from 1:00AM until about 10:30. She couldn't even keep water down. We called around for advice and eventually decided to hit the road and get to our destination for the day. Fortunately for us she only threw up once on the whole ride. Fortunately partly because that sort of thing is no fun, and partly because we were quickly running out of clean clothes for her to wear.

We made a good amount of progress across the state and made our first stop in Fairmont, MN, just outside of Blue Earth. We had a very small brunch of sorts and Tessa did okay. So we pressed on. The big change in scenery today was trees. While southern Minnesota is still essentially prairie, there are progressively more trees and lakes as you head Eastward.

The rest of the drive was largely uneventful. Even the drive around the Twin Cities on 494 was smooth and without too much trouble. The only issue was that Terence hadn't written down the directions Jess' sister had given us. Jenny hadn't been answering up until we got to the cities so we were getting a little nervous that we wouldn't get our directions in time. Fortunately she did get back to us.





We pulled into Wisconsin around 2:00, and finding Jenny's place was very easy. We were all very glad to be there and she was glad to have us. Tessa and Geevee got to see their one year old cousin, Ayden. Tessa played with him in the sandbox outside. She also had a good time harassing the cats. It was really just nice being somewhere familiar.

That's all for now. We are heading to Northern Wisconsin for the final leg of our journey and staying with Jess's family for the 4th of July weekend. Interent access in the Great North Woods is questionable so we'll update later to let you all know how the apartment/job hunt is going. For those midwesterners listening in, we'll get in touch as soon as the craziness dies down a bit. Thanks again for reading.

The Clarks

Day 6: Rapid City, SD to Sioux Falls, SD

Today was long, as anyone who has ever been to South Dakota might expect. We got on the road by around 8:00AM Mountain time. We decided to stop in Wall since it was the last decent-sized town for a long time. Yup, we went to Wall Drug and had their famous free ice water. Wall was pretty much just the way both of us adults remember it, a lot of junk shops crammed into one long building. The newest attraction is a huge animatronic T-Rex that roars every 12 minutes. Tessa thought it was hillarious ('What is that dinosaur doing mom?'). Geevee braved it out for a good while, moreso than some 10 year-olds, but eventually burst out crying as we had expected she might.

Then we found the ultimate entertainment for Tessa in the courtyard. Off to one side there are a series of nozzles in the ground and a huge fake water tower which all spray, pour and drip water in tune with various classic western tunes. She danced around in it and giggled up a storm and just had a heck of a good time. Oh yeah, and she got soaked. We took the opportunity to buy some outfits for Tessa and Geevee that we had been eying up partly because they were cool and partly because Tessa now had no dry pants or shirts.

After a quick lunch at the cafe, we were back on the road. The prairie was also pretty much just like we remembered it. Very, very flat. There were some great views of the badlands from the road, though we opted not to actually take the badlands loop this time, though we both loved it when we were headed the other direction. Wildlife was as scarce as topography, though there were tons of ranches with mostly cattle, but a few sheep, horses, and even llamas.

The morning hours were a little rough this time around. Geeves had her first wake up around Presho, just south of Pierre. Our stop here was at a rest stop just before town. There wasn't much there, just grass and a few pavilions to provide some shade. Tessa kicked a ball around and picked some flowers and got to see some horses up close and personal when a horse trailer pulled up.

On our next leg we covered serious ground, crossing into Central Time and over the Missouri river (pictured). We stopped in Mitchell (though not at the corn palace) for lunch and a supply run to KMart. Mitchell was a good bit more developed than either of us remembered, but largely the same speed bump on the road to Sioux Falls it always was. Lunch was good though

After that it was only 1 hour to Sioux Falls. It turns out that the exit was entirely closed down so we had a lovely drive down a country road through eastern South Dakota for 15 or 20 minutes before arriving at tonight's hotel. We arrived safe and sound and ready to hit the pool and wind down for the night.

As a side note, we are definitely in the upper midwest. The people are nice everywhere, dinner can be had for $25 for three people, and mosquitoes move in clouds. Sioux Falls may as well be Menominee Falls as far as culture goes.

In one more day we'll be in Wisconsin. That's all for now,

The Clarks

PS It's only 293 miles from here to 5 cent coffee and free ice water at Wall Drug.

Day 5: Casper, WY to Rapid City, SD

As last night's hotel didn't have the free wifi (or any internet at all for that matter) they claimed, this is a retroactive post.

On a tip from the front desk person the night before, today we took a backroads route today. It ended up being a great decision. In the few hours after we left we saw only a handful of cars and did 75 the whole way. There was very little civilization on this route either, though there were some extensive oil and coal fields that made for rather unique scenery. The natural landscape was distinctly prairie which was a great change of pace from the desert landscapes of the past few days. The big plus is that, given a large enough shoulder, we can pull off the road for a break if the kids explode.

Most of today was relatively flat and grassy. The views were absolutely stunning. The sky was clear and with few trees or buildings we could see for many miles into the distance. The antelope were out again in full force and one took a jump into traffic before clumsily wiping out on the pavement and almost falling off the road.

As we came up to Newcastle, just outside of South Dakota, the rolling hills gave way to steeper more pronounced mountains in the foothills of the Black Hills. We stopped briefly to recharge and stock up in anticipation of the high prices in the national monuments. Our first official stop in the hills themselves was at Jewel Cavern National Monument just inside the South Dakota border. The cave is huge, with over 80 miles already mapped and more discovered literally every day. The maps are truly impressive and, we were told, they are taken down and replaced with updated maps every few days. The wait was over two hours for the cave tour so we decided against it. We did take a short walk on the trails to get our first glimpse of the black hills. Though both of us adults have been there before, the mountains never ceased to be impressive.

We passed by Crazy Horse next, though we didn't stop. We got some great shots of the monument from the road. Our actual destination was Mount Rushmore. I have to admit, we'd both seen it before and been underwhelmed, but decided to go for the sake of getting the classic family road trip shot. Rushmore did not disappoint. It was actually rather interesting and, much like the Statue of Liberty, was far more breathtaking up close. We got a great little one-on-one talk with the Sioux information center about the various tribes in the area as well as a few comments about Wisconsin native history and its impact on the plains tribes. Terence once again got a chance to go crazy over rocks in an area he was more familiar with and gave the guide a few new facts on the rock she had been using for her discussions. Tessa got a chance to check out a tepee and dig in the dirt a little. And Jess took a great picture up Washington's nose.

The last stretch was a little crazy. Rapid City ended up being a little crazier than we had remembered and finding our hotel was a trick, especially since Econolodge has changed its logo. The hotel, however, was nice. There was even a waterslide in the pool area, which Tessa thought was great. Daddy took her down a few dozen times and by the end she was waving her hands in the air and screaming the whole way down in excitement. After a few hours of that, the little ones crashed a bit early.

That's all for now.

The Clarks

Day 4: Rock Springs, WY to Casper, WY

Today started rather uneventfully. We got the usual continental breakfast at the hotel and hit the road by 9:30. We made some seriously good time on I-80 straight through Rawlins with a slight detour for road construction, and up WY798 into another small salt flat. It was in the middle of this flat that Geevee decided she needed a snack break, so we stopped at the first opportunity, which ended up being a 'town' called Lamont. In the tradition of small desert towns it was a trailer home and a half cafe/half derelict structure that would be flattered to be labeled a building. All told, it was not that bad of a place and reasonably popular if only because it was the only thing for 30 miles around. We ate a small picnic lunch in the surprisingly chilly wind, took a few snapshots, made a few comments, and moved on.

Today was the first day we really got a glimpse of wildlife. There were antelope scattered every mile or so in some places. They often hung out with the cows pasturing in the flats, which didn't seem to bother the cows one bit. We spotted a few prairie dog towns along the way as well and Jess nearly hit one little guy who was luckily smart enough to stop short of the white line. Though I believe we're now officially in buffalo country, there were none to be seen.

There were also more spectacular specimens of Wyoming geology. Unlike other rocky areas where the rock formations remain largely the same for many many miles, southern Wyoming seems to want to change things up every 20 or so miles just to keep it interesting. There was even a monument class formation called Devil's Gate (the devil apparently lays claim to much of Wyoming's geology) that was quite impressive.


We made spectacularly good time today (since there is literally no where to stop anyway) and ended up arriving in the Casper area by 1:00 local time. As with previous days the girls were both crying and we all really needed to get out of the car and into the hotel pool. There was a pool, unfortunately it was empty. The tension was through the roof as Tessa begged for bathroom breaks (yes, plural) while Terence madly tried to book a new reservation and fought with Orbitz to cancel the one we had booked.

At last we got a refund and made our way to the hotel just across the street. The new hotel is perfect and didn't cost much more, it feels like a paradise compared to yesterday with a working ice machine, a warm pool, soft beds, fluffy pillows, and a REAL breakfast with waffles and fruit for tomorrow morning. Geevee took to the pool a little better this time, getting up to her waist and floating around a bit before crying. Tessa was in love with the pool after the previous two ice-cold pools. She splashed and kicked and played and had a great time. It was exactly what she needed.

We had dinner at the Applebee's up the street which was quite tasty after the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches we had for lunch in the middle of nowhere. Tessa performed a beautiful impromptu predinner concert for us as well. She was off by a few states but her rendition of 'Oh, what a beautiful morning' from Oklahoma was well worth recording. We then went back to the room for some more swimming, relaxing and repacking. Tessa was WAY beyond tired and had broken down to hysterics by bed time came. Once we convinced her she actually wanted to go to bed, she didn't even make it through her story time though.



Thanks again to everyone who's following along.

The Clarks

Day 3: Wells, NV to Rock Springs, WY

Today was a big day for milestones and a good day for sites as well. We are now officially half way to Wisconsin, at least time wise. We are now in the Mountain time zone and have also gone over 1000 miles since we left Monterey.

Our first stop of the day was just across the border into Utah. We stopped at the rest stop for the Bonneville Salt Flats. The landscape was impressive. There were large flat expanses of salt stretching far into the distance on all sides. We stepped out of the car to check out two of them. Terence played rock nerd and collected a few samples (and ate one) while Jess and Tessa raced across the salt flats. This is a first for all of us. It's nice to see that after as many different places we've been to, there are still so many surprises left to discover.

It's good that we enjoyed the flats so much as they stretched on for over 100 miles. The kid factor worked in again here. While they both ended up behaving quite well, embarking upon a stretch of desert with few rest stops (one sad little picnic table covered in salt) and almost no services takes a certain amount of courage. The long stretches of desert and high heat led to such severe distortion that it blotted out the bases of the mountains in the distance which was disconcerting.

The next big milestone was the Great Salt Lake. The view was so incredible we are at a loss for words to describe it. The contrast between the red rocks and the deep blue waters were striking.
We took a bunch of photos, but none of them do it justice.

The amazing views were quickly replaced by a traffic nightmare in Salt Lake City. The lanes were narrow, the entire city was under road construction, and it all happened at 75 mph. Yikes! After the city itself and a stressful trip through the canyon immediately outside it, we needed to get out of the car for a break. The No Worries Cafe in Park City was perfect, partly because it was the only restaurant for miles.

After that we made a final push through Utah and about two hours into Wyoming to our destination, Rock Springs, Wyoming. The views were spectacular with gigantic and varied rock formations. There were painted desert features, bluffs, and huge mountains as well as hilly high desert plains. We caught a glimpse of a few truly huge dust devils as well. Geevee had a few touch and go moments, but Jess kept her cool and used her acrobatic skill to perform an emergency car feeding (use your imagination).

We ended the day with a trip to the Rock Springs Wal-Mart, which reaffirmed our faith in our own parenting abilities and scared us to the core with the number and ease of gun purchases in the self-checkout lane. As a side note, the state of Wyoming is in a permanent state of road construction.

Thanks to everyone who is following our journey. We love hearing feedback from you all.

The Clarks

PS for those of you who wanted to comment, but didn't want to sign up for a blogger account, we have turned on anonymous comments.

Day 2: Reno to Wells (Nevada is huge, btw)

Today was a harrowing day. We started our day with a big breakfast with Lisa and were on the road by 10:30. We made some serious progress on I-80 through Nevada. It's mostly flat and empty freeway so there's little to slow you down.



We made it to Battle Mountain before we had to make a stop. First Geevee fought to stay awake and cried. Then Tessa started to get cranky and whiny, and had a huge accident which she neglected to tell us about. Then both kids were screaming as we pulled into the dodgy truck stop. Today was a challenge for both of us as parents trying to keep both kids entertained and happy while still making progress. Jess would like to add: "I've been pooped on, puked on, spit on, and peed on several times today."




After a quick milk and cookie break we got back on the road with the intent of driving the last 2 hours to Wells. We made it, but barely. Tessa had yet to take a nap and was beyond crabby. Geevee was passed out for the first hour but was thoroughly unimpressed with the last painfully long hour. We did, at last, discover the magic of the aquarium feature on the Finding Nemo DVD. At least our sense of humor is still intact.


Wells was pretty much as we imagined it: a strip of hotels and a gas station/casino/restaurant. At least the pool was open and now we have free internet. Now we're off to sleep before we are in the car again. Good night.

Day 1: Monterey to Reno

This is a quickie post as we don't have free wifi in this hotel. More to come on today's adventures later.

So after a long morning of running around packing, cleaning, and bidding folks farewell we hit the road at 10:15AM Monterey time. We had hoped to catch Geevee's nap time and succeeded in doing so, but only after losing about half the time packing. So it looked as though things were off on a very bad foot when Geeves started squawking in Marina, a mere 10 miles or so from home. She fought like only our kids would, but fortunately for us, she passed out again.

We took full advantage of our portable DVD player and got Tessa wired for a bit (it's only for the trip, I swear). She munched a few graham crackers and passed out herself. Aside from some serious butt cramps we had a very good drive out for the first 4 hours. Things were a little scary in the Sacrammento area, but we made it in one piece to Auburn, at the base of the Sierras.

We survived Donner pass without having to eat anyone, but had to make an emergency pit stop just before it for Tessa. We took advantage of the opportunity to walk a short trail where we saw piles of snow in the middle of 90+ degree heat. It's just one of those oddities of mountains and deserts. We pulled into Reno at about 6:00. The smoke from the California fires had drifted all the way up there and was making it a little rough on the breathing.

More later...

Update: Now that I have a moment (an free wifi) I wanted to finish the post for the 25th.

In Reno we met up with our friends Lisa and Jeremy and hit the pool. The Nugget Hotel in Reno has a fabulous pool with little bubble tubs on the side and a big waterfall along one edge, both of which Tessa loved. Geevee went swimming for the first time, which amounted to dipping her toes followed by a lot of screaming. She did, however, take a nap in the lounge chair by the pool.
That's all for now.