Vansterdam

For you non-airport code folks, that's Coeur d'Alene, ID to Vancouver, BC! Ahhh, the last leg! We got on the road at 7:30am PST and arrived at our final destination at 5:00pm PST. H ooray!! To our surprise, we were able to get a photo op in Idaho... And while Bella slept soundly through this part of the trip, I did not.  In fact, it was a continuation from the previous white-knuckle night - we did figure out that part of the white knuckling was due to the fact that we were down to only one head light. With impromptu waterfalls from the rain spilling over the road, winding, slippery roads, and idiot drivers.  Previously, I thought that title belonged to Ohio drivers (although, Brandon would argue, it belonged to Utah drivers - trying to get to God faster), but I think we both could agree now that Seattle drivers own the title. They don't even use HOV lanes properly, instead of passing all the single drivers, the HOV lane continues down the highway at the...

For you non-airport code folks, that's Billings, MT to Coeur d'Alene, ID! We left Billings at 7:30am CST after defrosting the car, as it snowed overnight, and arrived in Billings at 5:30pm PST. While not quite a 12-hour day....IT....WAS....L-O-N-G!!!! Our first stop after leaving Billings was to visit Julie, my sister from another mister, in Bozeman. Because I was more focused on spending time with her, sipping on a turmeric steamer , and eating a green stuff sandwich , I completely forgot to snap a photo memento of the monumentous occasion - being her first friend/family to pass through Bozeman. In lieu of this, I will share this gem. I told you Julie, "mistakes have been made." Montana Obligatory photo op: Then things took a turn....a U-turn in fact. After leaving Butte, MT our oil lamp light came on. Damnit! We were only 20 miles out from the Butte Subaru dealership (and more than a hundred miles away from the Missoula one) so we turned around and w...

For you non-airport code folks, that's Mitchell, SD to Billings, MT! We left Mitchell at 7:30am CST after saying "Well that is a lot of corn!" to the Corn Palace and arrived, back on schedule , in Billings at 6:30pm MST. Another 12-hour day.  The Corn Palace was actually quite fascinating! This year's theme for the exterior murals (the only thing we wanted and actually saw) was South Dakota weather. Can you find the Travelope? Here you can see how the murals are made. After filling up at M&H - they still exist M om & H ad! - we were off again. We stopped at one of the most beautiful rest areas (I would argue) in North America while in South Dakota. I will note that these cool teepees are at each rest area in the state, which brings the grand total to 4. After this gem of a stop there was ::almost:: nothing for the duration of the state, well except for Wall Drug, so of course we stopped there too. Wyoming While we weren...

For you non-airport code folks, that's St. Louis to Mitchell, SD! We said "good bye" to St. Luis at 7:30am CST and arrive in Mitchell at 7:30pm CST. It seems like a 12-hour day is becoming our norm. "Why Mitchell, SD?" you may ask. Because it is home to the Corn Palace and we were tired. I would like to take the time, first and foremost, to celebrate Brandon's ability and tolerance for driving nearly the whole day today. HE IS A GOD, in my eyes. I know that I will pick up more of the driving tomorrow, but I still have to give mad props to him. We began the day by trying to visit the Missouri Welcome Center, as per our now established ritual, but were DENIED! You stink Missouri! (Well, actually, we would find out later that South Dakota truly stinks of cow manure, Iowa too.) Travelope, our travel buddy had a day of photo ops: bridges, dinosaurs, fake Oregons, and teepees, "Oh my!"    Us on the other hand, only had ...

For you non-airport code folks, that's Atlanta to St. Louis! Brandon and I left Atlanta this morning at 8:30am EST and arrived in St. Louis at 7:30pm CST. To remind you, as I will write a post about it later, our Atlanta farewell party was last night. So....today was a long but excellent start to our adventure. We've decided to take pictures at all the Welcome Center rest areas so get ready! Tennessee We stopped for brunch/lunch with Jeannette, my late Grandpa's girlfriend, at BJs Brewhouse and had a delicious and reminiscent meal. It was so nice to see and to catch up with her as it has been too long. Along our travels, we noticed that there was a trend of funky red cars, unfortunately, I was only able to catch one on camera. Kentucky While driving in Kentucky we came across a freak rain/wind storm where everyone slowed down to a crawl and while we were mere feet away from a semi we could barely see him!  I mean, I hail from Florida and even I felt my...