Day Six: North By Northwest Close Encounters

We packed up the Cube, left the Badlands and headed west. Our first stop today was the site of the finale of North By Northwest –  Mount Rushmore. In fact, in the town of Keystone, we passed an area where the movie was filmed. Unfortunately,we weren’t allowed to escape from spies and climb down George Washington’s face, but we did get lots of pictures including the obligatory picture:

After leaving Mt. Rushmore, we travelled down the road to the Crazy Horse Memorial:

And after a bit of traveling in circles, we finally got back on the way to Devil’s Tower. I’ve been dying to see this ever since I saw Close Encounters of the Third Kind. I am, however, very disappointed to point out that I didn’t find the hidden military base behind the mountain or UFO’s flying around:

From there we travelled on to our eventual destination of Gillette, Wyoming. Here’s some random scenery on the way:

The thing that struck me today was the scale of the dreams of Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Monument. Both of these projects are measured not in days, but decades and both projects outlived their originators. That kind of long term vision and thinking is something we don’t see in the age of internet time, where unless it happens instantly, it’s too long. Seeing these demonstrations of persistence of vision makes me wonder if we as a society are capable of attempting projects like these that require perseverance measured in decades, and not days. It’s inspiring and reconfirms my commitment to my novel.

Tomorrow it’s a long travel day as we traverse the state of Wyoming to arrive in Yellowstone National Park.

Happy journeys!

Mike

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Day Five: Into The Badlands

We got an early start because we had a bunch of South Dakota to drive through to get to the Badlands and our campground. Not long after we got on the road, we started seeing signs for Wall Drug every mile for the next the 292 miles – the seemingly western equivalent of South of the Border.

During that time, the scenery had changed from corn and soy bean fields to fields of sorghum, sunflowers, and just plain grass.

We stopped at Wall Drug – a tourist attraction of epic proportions, but we did enjoy looking around and as you can see, I was able to ride the elusive Giant Jackalope

After a quick picnic lunch in the car, we continued to the Badlands National Park.  When got out at the first Scenic Overlook, we were treated by a sign similar to this:

In case you can’t read it, it says “Beware of Rattlesnakes”.  Gee Toto, we’re not in the North East anymore!

Below are just a few of the nearly two hundred pictures I took while we were in Badlands. The scenery was amazing!

Tomorrow it’s on to Mount Rushmore, the Crazy Horse Monument, and Devil’s Tower.  Disappointingly, we are not going to be able to stop at the the town of Red Shirt (a silly Star Trek reference).

Happy journeys!

Mike

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Day Four: On The Road Again…

I got up nice and early and went to Rosen Nissan who was kind enough to fit us in this morning. Turns out the noise was from the connection between the muffler and the center pipe.  They clamped it together and we should be good for now! So, a little later than planned, we were on the road again.

We drove a little distance out of Madison and stopped for coffee. When we did, there was also a Cheese Market and a Jerky Outlet, so we had to partake. After refueling the car (and us), we hit the road.

We saw this cool site around Orange, WI:

 

We drove into Minnesota, which apparently seems to be embarrassed about itself because this was the only sign we saw on Route 90 when we crossed the border:

No fancy, welcoming sign, just information.

So we continued to drive across the bottom of Minnesota.  And drove some more…And drove some more…..

Until we finally made it to South Dakota:

It was kind of a long day because of the late stuff, but we’ve just got back from supper and settling in for the night.

One thing I’ve noticed so far is that during much of our trip, the landscape (with a few exceptions) could be anyplace in upstate New York.  We’ve seen plains that go on for over and gentle rolling hills; lakes and rivers. Tomorrow, we drive to Wall, SD and then into the Bad Lands. This will probably be the point where the landscape REALLY changes.

Happy Journeys!

Mike

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Great American Road Trip Day 3: Badgertown

Today,  was the first official college visit: University of Wisconsin – Madison. With the Cube still sounding like a poor man’s Harley (we have a 7:30 appointment tomorrow morning to get it fixed), we headed for downtown Madison.

In the morning, we sat through the obligatory Admissions presentation and then did a 90 minute walking tour around campus. Here are a few of the sights along the way:

Here is the view from campus towards the Wisconsin State Capitol Building:

This is Bascom Hall; one of the three oldest building on campus and site of the annual snowball fight:

This is Van Hise Hall which is the language building and probably the place my son will spend the most time if he decides to come here:

Here’s Washburn Observatory which I photographed because I thought it was cool

After the tour, we ate lunch on campus and made use of our coupons at the Daily Scoop, an ice cream shop where the ice cream is made by the Agriculture Department. It was excellent ice cream and we enjoyed it greatly. But if there were any doubt about the existence of the Agricultural Department, here’s a photo I took in downtown Madison:

Yes, Virginia, there is a silo in downtown Madison!

I found the whole trip very fascinating. According to US News and World Report, my alma mater, Clarkson University has an undergraduate enrollment of 3,247. University of Wisconsin – Madison has an undergraduate enrollment of 31,289 – nearly ten times the enrollment of my college. My wife and I were discussing this and remarked that in New York, we don’t have very few giant schools. Interestingly, the average class size is around 27 – which I find remarkable for a school this size.

I envy my son in many ways. While I don’t think I could ever go back to living in a tiny college dorm room (which the tour reminded me exactly how small those rooms were), I envy him all of the opportunities that await him in college. I have very few regrets about my own college experience, but I just envy the opportunities and experiences that are available now. Like even considering a college nearly halfway across the country. When I went to school, the guidance office pretty much could only get you information on schools in your region – mostly New York, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania. Thanks to the internet, you can find out about any college anywhere.

Now, we’re just relaxing in the hotel room – the wifi seems to be a little more cooperative tonight. Tomorrow, after a quick stop to get the Cube checked out, we’re off to South Dakota!

Happy Journeys!

Mike

 

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The Great American Road Trip: Day Two, or One Does Not Simply Drive Through Chicago

As Day Two dawned, we left Toledo and headed west.  Unfortunately, we seemed to have ran over something that seems to knocked something loose under the car and now the Cube sounds like it’s auditioning to be a Harley.  But once we get under motion, it returns to normal.

We left Ohio and after driving past fields of soy bean and corn, we entered Indiana:

The morning saw us cruise past more soy and corn and drive by the alma mater of Professor Harold Hill:

And before we know it, we were in Chicago (no “Welcome to Illinois” here – just straight – You’re in Chicago):

And now the fun began. My wife had the misfortune of driving and the great progress we made dwindled to nothing as we hit construction and traffic.  The stop and go traffic was great for me to get pictures, not for my wife who had to deal with the noise the car made overtime it stopped and stress of dealing with the drivers who insist on switching lanes when there isn’t necessary space.  But I got a few good pictures of the Chicago skyline:

And finally, the most intriguing shot:

Are we in Chicago or Morder?

I’m going with Morder personally, because I found the Illinois section of Route 90 to be the worst we’ve dealt with so far! We complain about how expensive things are in New York, but we’ve got nothing on Illinois! We must have paid over $30 in tolls (I wish we’d actually kept track) for the pleasure of driving through Illinois.  And instead of doing something sensible, like give you a ticket and pay when you leave, if you don’t have EZ Pass, you have to exit off the highway, pay the stupid toll and then get back on. And you get to do this a bunch of times.

Thanks goodness we accidentally got off when we didn’t need to because we eventually found a park where we could get out and have a nice picnic.  We then circled around forever trying to get back onto Route 90 and finally got on the way.

And we finally left Illinois and made it to Wisconsin:

And we had the enjoyment of more bumper to bumper traffic, this time as a result of an accident.  We finally made it to our hotel and we were all glad to get out of the car!

A great meal at the Great Dane Brewing Company was a great way to end the day.  However, crappy wifi at our hotel has not been any fun.

Happy journeys!!

Mike

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