Day 5: Sheridan, WY to Coeur D'Alene, ID

Day 5 took us from Sheridan, WY to Coeur D'Alene, Idaho.  Because we knew some great things were waiting for us in Idaho, we got up early (for us) and were on the road by 8 o'clock.  We spent most of the 10 hour drive in Montana, which was possibly the most beautiful state of the entire 3,000 mile journey.  Everywhere you looked was breathtaking scenery.  Sadly, the only picture we captured in the entire state was this: 

When we passed the state Montana state line into Idaho, there may have been a happy dance or two.  Not only were we one state closer to the finish line, but we also gained an hour which meant one extra hour to relax in our state de'jour.

Coeur D'Alene is an adorable little town on a huge lake. 

Our evening and night there was simply lovely.  We started with a little bit of window shopping and exploring the town and quickly discovered a great little lakeside bar where we relaxed and watched the sunset over a icy beverage.

From there we scoped out the dining options and decided on a fabulous wine bar and restaurant called The Wine Cellar.  To say the flank steaks were delicious would be an understatement, so I'll just leave it at this:  if you find yourself hungry here, stop in and tell Cammi that Emily & K sent you. 

After dinner, we ventured back up the main street where we stumbled upon a bar with karaoke which was good for more than a few laughs.

But, the best part of the night by far was going to sleep knowing that tomorrow, this crazy Cannonball run would be over!

xo,

E

Day 4: Sioux Falls to Sheridan, WY

After such a fun evening in Sioux Falls with Kali last night, this morning came way too soon.  But, not as soon as you might expect since we didn’t get on the road until 10.  Not a big deal- it was only one of the longest driving days and the day with probably the most things on the to-do list.  Oopsie.  Anyway, our first stop was the Corn Palace.  We had been practically brainwashed by every South Dakotan who crossed our paths about the importance of visiting this amazing building decorated with corn, so we obediently took the advertised exit and winded through the city of Mitchell, SD to hit the tourist attraction. 

I don’t know the story behind this whole “palace”, but basically it’s a convention center type building that is decorated on the outside with corn, and the decorations are changed annually.  I think K & I are in agreement that the Corn Palace most definitely does not fall into the Must See category.  At least, not for us.  But, we came, we saw, and we used their bathrooms, so I guess all was not lost.

Next up:  the Bad Lands.  We opted to drive the 35 mile loop through the national park, and we stopped at most of the strategically placed overlooks.  I don’t really know how I could ever do anywhere near justice to what we saw in the Bad Lands via a blog post.  So, I’m not even going to try.  I will say that as we approached the park, a wicked storm was brewing on the horizon.  During the hour or so we were there, the storm rolled in, bringing some heavy rain, winds and lightening, and then rolled back out leaving a gorgeous afternoon in its wake.  So, without further ado, I present to you:  The Bad Lands, a photo diary.

We couldn’t help but be drawn in by yet another tourist trap on our way back to I90 from the Bad Lands:  Wall Drug.  For you east coasters, think South of the Border.  The billboards started somewhere around the Missouri River and advertised 5 cent coffee and homemade donuts (among other things).  So, after a quick (and magically deliciously) break, the caffeine and sugar high kicked in and we were back on the open road.

This was about where we had to start making the tough decisions.  Because of our late night in SD and our lazy morning, we were on track to arrive at our destination at about 10pm.  And, that was without any additional South Dakota stops.  We considered blowing off our loose itinerary but ultimately decided against taking the time to stop at Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Monument, and instead decided to buckle down and get to Sheridan, WY before calling it quits for the day.

And, so, about 12 hours after leaving Sioux Falls this morning, K & I arrived at our hotel in Sheridan, WY a little tired and a little cranky (me), but very happy to have only 16 hours of driving between us and Seattle and two days in which to finish it.

Tired,

E

Sioux Falls

Hi, this is "K", and I am guest blogging, which is also called glogging.

I'm here to tell you about Sioux Falls, SD.  But first, I will tell you that our nifty little soft-sided cooler is not waterproof.  It holds ice cold ice.  And when that ice cold ice becomes ice cold water, the water runs out the bottom onto Emily's luggage.  Sorry Emily.

So back to Sioux Falls...this is a charming little town, full of restaurants, bars, quirky shops, etc.  A nice collection of sculptures line the street we're staying on (Phillips).  I don't know if they were created by local artists or what, but they're all pretty unique, and we took a bunch of pictures of them.  Such as...

Lady with a kite.

Child riding a pig.

Some dudes in cool suits.

Bear hug. (Bear on left.)

Lucky bird experience. (Bird on right.)

Hey batta batta batta batta sa-wing batta.

Bad news bear.

And we had a great dinner, and we had fun hanging out with Kali, and then my glog post ended because it was too late at night to really come up with any more details.  Oh, the crab cakes were surprisingly good here.

Thank you.  This has been a glog post laboriously written by K, and completely unedited, checked for accuracy, or read by anyone.

Day 3: Chi-town to Souix Falls, SD

Day 3 brought lots of hours in the car.  About 11 of them.  But, no worries, it was another pleasant drive overall.  The first highlight of day occurred as we were fighting Chicago rush hour out of the city.  I was driving and nonchalantly said, “Let’s listen to some Chicago tunes.”  I pushed the radio button to find some music, and an already tuned Chicago station started blaring none other than Chicago’s Saturday In The Park.  Of course, Kirk and I busted out into laughter (and song), and I think that pretty much set the tone for the rest of the day.

Fast forward a couple hours to Wisconsin where I enjoyed my very first cheese curds.

Yummy and salty pretty much sums them up.  Next up we crossed the Mighty Mississippi River into Minnesota.

I would have loved to rent some kayaks and spent a day (or 7) paddling around the river, but instead we settled for bit of river access where we were able to stretch for a moment and put our toes in.

But, really I am getting ahead of myself.  Because, I think it was at the Wisconsin welcome center where Kirk was attacked and nearly killed by what we have heretofore referred to as the Oriole but is actually the Red Winged Blackbird.  After extensive research, while dealing with fleeting 3G, Kirk was able to identify his feathered foe.  You see, as we were attempting to document our 5th state line crossing, K apparently came dangerously close to a nest of these birds that have been following us around.  Of course, this caused the good Mama bird to dive bomb K’s head.  But, don’t worry, we still got the shot.

Okay, so back to Minnesota and the myriad of windmills.

Eventually we reached South Dakota, where we had decided to call it a night.

We met up with another one of my online friends, Kali- a Sioux Falls native- for dinner and drinks at a pretty sweet local spot.

And, that concluded Day 3 of the Greatest Roadtrip Ever (of 2012).  Ever.

xo,

E

Day 2: Chi-town

Day 2 started in Cleveland, Ohio.  Nothing too remarkable to report here.  I managed to find a couple more guitars this morning.

And, we did venture down to the water before leaving town, since we didn’t have time last night.  Having never been to any of the great lakes, I was super impressed.  It really felt like the ocean.  And, actually, as weird as this may sound, it felt a lot like Baltimore to me.  Or maybe the Maryland shore.  The harbor, the boats, the seagulls.  It all felt so familiar.

 We also saw the Cleveland Brown’s stadium and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but only from the outside.  :(

By mid-morning, we were headed west on route 80, Chicago bound.  The pleasant 6 hour drive was punctuated by three Baltimore Orioles sightings (odd, did they follow us from Charm City?) and my first ever lunch at a Steak and Shake where I had a solid burger and a super tasty Orange Creamsicle Shake. 

At about 3 o’clock local time, we were pulling into a parking space in front of Parker’s Pets in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago.  We decided to make time for a stop at Parker’s because Katie, the owner, and I have been online friends for several years now but have never met in person.

Parker’s Pets was totally awesome, and after lots of lovin’ from the resident Poms (ahem, Kirk!), we were on our way.

Once we checked into our hotel, we hailed a cab for Navy Pier.

 

The windy city was certainly living up to it's name, but the wind was actually a welcomed relief, because it was 95 degrees.  We poked around the Navy Pier, did a little people watching.

And then, by sheer luck, we discovered some free live music.  For free.  Craig Morgan, a country artist, happened to be putting on a free concert at the end of the pier.  So, we moseyed on down and took in the tunes.  Did I mention it was free?  Free country music makes Emilys happy.

After catching the sunset over the Chicago skyline...

 ...we decided on a water taxi ride back in the general direction of our hotel and where we wanted to have dinner.  The water taxi might have been one of the best decisions of the day.  The night was perfect for it- there was a nice warm breeze off the lake, and the quick trip up the river was breathtaking.

Upon a facebook recommendation, we popped into Portillo's for some local Chicago cuisine, and let me tell you:  Portillos sure did make our tails wag! 

And, truthfully, I debated an entire blog entry on just this experience, but I only wanted to fork over enough moolah for one hour of wifi.  So, here's the reader's digest version:  in short, K & I both agreed that the Portillo's meal has been the best of the trip so far.  We got one loaded hot dog:

And, one italian beef:

And we went halfsies.  Best.meal.ever. (of the roadtrip) ever.  Okay, and well, there may have been another hotdog, but I can't really remember.

And, so, that was Day 2 of the Best Roadtrip Ever (of 2012).  Ever.

G'night!

E