WISCONSIN - MADISON

Well today was pretty much all about me. We had driven to Wisconsin last night (we were originally going to stop halfway to sleep but decided to gun it and got to the hotel at about midnight) and then had a bit of a sleep in before driving out to see some Frank Lloyd Wright buildings. For those of you that know about architecture you will (or should) know who Frank is. For those that don't...............well maybe google him or check out http://www.taliesinpreservation.org/
We went to the visitor centre and took a tour of the Hillside School. This was originally a boarding school he built for his Aunts back in ye olden days but in the early 30's he founded The Taliesin Fellowship there. Students came to study architecture there with him and also lived there. Part of that study included working on the farm as Frank believed that to design building that worked in harmony with nature you should actually get out there and be a part of it. He designed buildings to follow the fall of the land (seems obvious nowadays but back then it was a new way of thinking) and didn't think it was a good idea to build on top of a hill. As he said "If you build on top of a hill, you lose the hill."

The Taliesin Fellowship is now The Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture for about 20-30 lucky students. Six months of the year is spent studying there and the other six are in Arizona (for the winter). On the same site was the Romeo and Juliet windmill tower that he designed. I really enjoyed this and if there was more time would have loved to see more of his buildings.

On the way back to Madison we stopped off at another building tourist attraction. Some guy had built this huge building into the side of a rock. I can't actually remember what it was called because we decided not to go through it. After Frank it just seemed way too tacky and we would rather spend our money on things we really want to see.

We drove back to Madison and looked around but were both pretty tired so instead of going into the State Capitol building we drove past and took a photo out of the window.

KENTUCKY - LOUISVILLE

Kentucky.

Another state we didn't plan on going to. But Nicola worked at a summer camp there years ago so I convinced her we should go. We stayed in Louisville (pronounced Luhavul by the locals) and first up was an oil change for the car. It didn't take too long (although we did get the chance to wander over to the shops while we were waiting - nothing like being productive) and then it was off to Brandenburg.

The camp is in Otter Creek National Park which is closed at this time of year so we had a bit of difficulty getting in despite instructions from the camp director. It was really beautiful there as lots of the trees still had their leaves and it was a sea of orange, red and yellow. The camp director Steve is an Aussie (although he has been in the U.S. for quite a few years) and even offered me a job next summer if I was looking for one!

We walked around looking at the buildings and Nic showed me where her cabin was and talked about how they did things there. I if hadn't had gone to camp this year it might have been a bit boring but it was really interesting to look at all the differences and similarities between her experience and mine. She was really, really excited (and I mean REALLY) when we found some award boards from her time here and she remembered that she had won three awards her first summer.

And then nothing the second year. Too cool for school by then.
After our trip down Nic's memory lane we drove back to Louisville to have a look at the visitor's center which had some kind of Colonel Sanders museum. Bit of a let down. It was just a little display with his history and a freaky looking life size wax museum type statue of him holding a freaking looking wax museum type bucket of chicken.

We wanted to go and look at the river but when we drove there it was difficult to just park, get out and wander around. So we we headed over to a part of town called Old Louisville which has lots of lovely old homes (hence the name) and at this time of year with all the autumn colours and leaves falling, looked absolutely picturesque.

MISSOURI - ST. LOUIS

Our first stop today was to be the City Museum in St. Louis - which is really for kids, with lots of fun, interactive sciency (not really a word, I know) stuff to do. As it was a Tuesday (and not a Sunday or Monday) we felt pretty confident that it would be open.

We should have realised how wrong we were when we found a carpark very easily and one that was very close to the entrance. Not to mention the fact that there was no-one at the gate taking money to park the car.

No. It actually took us getting out of the car, rugging up in coats and walking to the front door and reading "Closed Monday and Tuesday in Winter" to realise we weren't going to get in. Disappointed we were. Not to mention feeling slightly ripped off as, while summer is definitely over, winter it is not.

Undeterred but kind of a tiny bit sad (Nic more than a tiny bit) we made our way to the next thing on the list. The St. Louis Arch. It's a big, big arch (hence the name) that you can go up into and view the town and the river. Under the ground there is a museum, shop and a few other things and the access up to the top of the arch. You get in these little capsule type things and you are taken up to the top in a way similar to if you were on a ferris wheel. Only it's all enclosed. It was a cloudy day so the view wasn't as good as we had hoped but it was still a great experience. Something a bit different from the other really tall structures that you can go up in.

An interesting thing we had read about in the LPG (Lonely Planet Guide - nothing to do with gas) is a restaurant called "Charley Gitto" which is apparently famous for it's ravioli which is crumbed and deep fried. So of course we had to try it. It was in a great little place. Dark panelled with photos of celebrities on the walls that had visited.

Our last stop was also food. We were pretty stuffed from our lunch but we had read that St. Louis is famous for frozen custard. Not any old kind - Ted Drewes frozen custard, So naturally we drove a bit out of our way to try that. You can pick a flavour (I had cookie dough, what else?) and they can either put that on top or mix it through. They call it a block. Because if you hold the container upside down it doesn't come out because it is fairly solid (until it starts to melt of course). Not runny like the way we know custard. It kind of doesn't take like custard either. Or at least not what I thought frozen custard would taste like. It was however, very nice and worth the drive.

So all in all it was a great day, despite the road works, rain and change in time zones that meant we lost about two hours.

MISSOURI - KANSAS CITY

This morning we drove from our hotel to have a look at the River Market north of Downtown in Kansas City.

Did I mention we were in Kansas City?

No? Well we are. The one in Missouri not Kansas. Although we did drive through there on our way here just so I could say I had been to Kansas (and Kansas City, Kansas is kind of a scary place - you know, lock the car doors kind of scary - at least the part we drove through seemed to be). They are actually quite close together. Don't know why they did that - it seems kind of odd to me. But hey, we are in America where anything can and does happen.

Anyway the River Market was a bit of a let down. Mostly because a lot of the traders don't open on Monday.

Actually as far as travelling goes, Monday is not a great day (especially in the off season) as a lot of things don't open. Sunday too.

There were a few areas in the Lonely Planet guide that were suggested to drive through such as the Art district and the historic Jazz district. Which we did, as well as some sculpture gardens and some Seville inspired architecture.

We did actually get out of the car at two places. The first was Union Station which is a lovely grand old (well I'm pretty sure it's old but maybe they just made it look that way) building. As well as being able to catch a train from there they have shops, places to eat, exhibits (closed obviously, being a Monday) and even a big model train set up.

The parking there is done on an honesty system. There is a panel in the wall with bunch of slots relating to the parking spaces. They tell you how much parking is per hour and you put the money in the slot relating to your space.

Or not, if you're one of THOSE type of people.

Which we are not.

Of course.

The other place we went to (just over the road from Union Station - which is kind of why we went there. We looked over the road and thought "What's that? It looks like the touristy kind of thing we should look at." So we did) was the Liberty Memorial.

Before we started on the drive to St. Louis (our next stop) we dropped by Subway. Where Nic accidentally threw her drink over one of the staff (she dropped something, tried to grab it and the drink went all over the poor girl - who was very good about it actually) and then couldn't eat her lunch because she was crying from laughing so hard.

We then decided to go to Walmart to grab a few necessities. By the end of the night this turned into the stupidest, funniest saga of the trip so far. Here it is in point form.

Went to Walmart. Bought stuff. Drove to new hotel in St. Louis (which incidentally was v nice with a v nice gym). Nic wanted some crackers that we had bought. Couldn't find them. Realised we had left one bag of shopping in Walmart back in Kansas City (4 hours drive away). Called them and they told us to go to Walmart in St. Louis, tell manager there to call them and they will replace the stuff. Also told us that Walmart is open 24 hours. Ask if we can go tomorrow (in pj's and can't be bothered going out to find Walmart). Told we need to do it tonight as she is not on tomorrow until 7pm and we will have left St. Louis by then. Get out of pj's and go to St. Louis Walmart (a massive 4.5 minutes away). Get inside and are told they are closed (amazing we actually got it). Explain our problem. Get looked at like am from another planet. Get handballed to someone else. Explain our problem. Get looked at again like from another planet. Get handballed to manager (who is really who we needed in first place). Explain problem. Get looked at like from another planet but he takes pity on us (think Aussie accent is big bonus - so far only American who doesn't think we are English, although thinks we are Kiwi's). Tells us to just go get the stuff. Run through shop to find the four things we need - yes only four. Feel like we are in one of those competitions where you have 60 seconds to grab as much stuff as you can. Get back in car. Drive to hotel. Get back into pj's. Thanks goodness it's over. Nic can now have a cracker.

Moral of the story? Be glad we left stuff at Walmart because when we went to the car we realise I had left the interior light on and that would have meant a flat battery in the morning and a whole other drama a lot worse than leaving the shopping at Walmart.

NEBRASKA - OMAHA

We stayed at a hotel just out of Omaha last night - which incidentally had a gym and you will be happy to know that a workout did occur!
Our plan was to go to a place in downtown Omaha called Old Market but first we drove to the Joslyn Art Museum. It wasn’t open when we got there which was fine with us as we really just wanted to see the building. It is a big art-deco style structure clad in a pinky-grey marble from Georgia.
After getting our culture fix we drove around looking for the area known as Old Market. But do you think we could find the place? After driving up and down all the streets where we thought it should be (according to the map - we didn’t actually think we needed Sheila as it appeared to be simple) we decided it didn’t matter and that we would just look for the bridge Nic had read about and then head on to our next stop.
And suddenly we found it.
And it was really simple.
And we felt kind of stupid (I could almost hear Shelia saying “You dumb asses.” Shelia has an American accent which is why she would say ass).
After spending several hours in Old Market (not to mention several hundred dollars later) I’m almost convinced that there was a reason we weren’t supposed to go there. Now I have never been a high maintenance kind of girl - particularly when it comes it shopping - but I am kind of scared that things are changing. Because I keep buying stuff. Clothes, hats, jewelery, that kind of thing. The clothes and hats I can kind of get my head around.
But jewelery?
Since when did I have an assortment of jewellery? Basically I wear the same earrings, bangle, watch and bracelet every day. I may change one of those things if I am going out but that’s about it. Now I have options and it’s kind of freaking me out. Nic justifies it for me by telling me that for years and years I’ve not spent much money on myself. I don’t drink or smoke or have my nails and hair done every other week. So it’s okay.
I love Nic.
Once I process it, I’ll be fine. But for now I told her it’s on her shoulders as she keeps encouraging me (I must say it’s going both ways though).
So my motto on days like this comes from a note pad that I read in a shop today.
“I’m not saying it’s your fault but I’m going to blame you anyway’.

NEBRASKA - LINCOLN

We really needed to start heading back east or we were never going to make it to New Jersey by the 3rd so we decided our next stop would be Nebraska. After the Rocky Mountains we drove to a place called North Platte to sleep and the next morning headed on our way to Omaha. We had read about some sand dunes you can drive past so we made a detour. After driving along the boring highways in Nebraska (which seemed to have a constant smell of horse and cow manure) a change of scenery was very welcome.
Now, we’re not sure if we misread the info in the Lonely Planet guide (although we did check it again) or we were in the wrong place but there was not a sand dune in sight. As we were pretty smack bang in the middle of America I did find the idea of sand dunes a bit odd. I wondered if sand dunes was a just a metaphor for the paddock upon paddock upon paddock of corn we were driving past. There was literally nothing but a sea of yellow. Anyway we couldn’t figure out the whole sand dune saga. What we did know was that we had just added about an hour to our trip for nothing.
Undeterred we forged ahead and randomly decided to stop in at Lincoln, the capital of Nebraska. We visited the State Capitol Building which was lovely and big and architecturally interesting.
And free. Which is a good thing with all the shopping we have been doing.
When we drove into Lincoln we discovered that a football game had ended and the town was swarming with people all in red, supporting their team.
We also discovered that our timing was not so great as thousands of supporters were leaving just as we were.
So we added another hour to our trip. Darn sand dunes that weren’t actually there. If only we hadn’t taken that worthwhile detour we would have missed the peak hour football traffic.
If only, if only.
Two words that really need to be removed from my everyday vocabulary.

COLORADO - ESTES PARK

Nic decided that as we had come this far west we may as well go down to Colorado. We were so close to the Rocky Mountains that it seemed almost criminal to not check them out.
We drove from Wyoming to a place called Estes Park and were looking through the brochures the motel had when Nic came across one for Sombrero Ranch. One of the things we had wanted to do was stay at a Dude Ranch and go riding. Most places don’t seem to do one night stays and the ranch that we found that did (courtesy of the Lonely Planet guide again) was booked the night we wanted and you couldn’t ride the horses at this time of year. But luckily for us Sombrero had horse riding all year round. We rang and left a message saying that we wanted to go on a ride the next morning. We had left it a bit late so didn’t know if they would actually get the message in time.
At 6.20 the next morning my phone rang. I actually thought it was my alarm and just pressed any old button until I realized it was a call. Half asleep and in the dark I was desperately trying to find the right button while saying “hello” fifty million times hoping that I hadn’t cut them off.
Nic thought it was quite amusing.
Anyway they were able to fit us in and at 9am we were off - me on Ralph and Nic on a chunky black horse called Rhino (called this because he walked like one). Our guide was Sarah and she took us up hills and down dales (don’t know what a dale is actually - I guess the opposite of a hill) and back around to where we had started. We weren’t allowed to do anything but walk (we would have loved to go for a bit of a trot or canter) but it was a great way to see things and made a nice change from the car.
We had planned to go Rocky Mountain National Park and then off to Boulder but we got sucked in by the township of Estes Park. It was really cute with lots of lovely little shops so we spent time there instead of Boulder. We did some more damage to the credit cards (I bought a beautiful red onyx necklace - no idea when I am going to wear it but it’s beautiful) and then headed of to the Rocky Mountains.
Being the full on nature lover that she is Nic was beside herself at the Rocky Mountains. We drove to Bear Lake and I actually thought she might wet her pants she was that excited. There was quite a bit of snow there and the path was really icy and slippery. We didn’t really have the right shoes on and kept slipping every other step which sent Nic into fits of laughter.
Apparently the idea of me falling over and possibly breaking bones is hysterical.

Or maybe it was the wing flapping thing I did to try to get my balance.

WYOMING - BUFFALO

We hadn’t intended on going as far west as Wyoming.
But what the heck!
We stayed in Buffalo the night and in the morning drove to Bighorn National Forest. It was beautiful with lots of huge rocky outcrops that were billions of years old. Driving through we noticed that on one side of the road the trees and ground were covered with snow and on the other there was none.
Go figure!
We had stopped at a beautiful lake that was partially frozen over when a man in a grader drove up and got out. He looked kind of rough, with long hair, a Harley Davidson cap on and half a finger missing (again not relevant but just building a picture for you). We thought we were in trouble until he offered to take our picture for us as he had been watching us try and take one of the two of us together. You know the ones, you stand as close together as possible, one of you holds the camera out as far as you can and you aim and shoot. And hope for the best. Sometimes it works out okay but more often than not your head takes up most of the shot and looks overly large due to the fact that your arms are too short to hold the camera as far away as you really need to.
We chatted to him for awhile (he was actually a really nice guy) before heading off through the forest and enjoying being “at one” with nature.
On the way back Shelia (remember, the gps) asked us if we were happy to go on dirt roads.
We said yes.
Part way down Crazy Woman Canyon Road we realized that we were kind of crazy to say yes. The further down the road we got, the more covered in snow the dirt track got. Nic managed to turn us around without getting stuck or driving off the edge and sinking into the snow. Sheila wasn’t happy though and kept telling us to turn around when possible. She can get a bit annoying when we don’t do what she tells us.
Good thing we can just turn her off.

SOUTH DAKOTA

Last night we stayed at a hostel rather than a motel. It was recommended in the Lonely Planet guide and is actually the home of the lady who runs it - her name is Joan (the photo of the person you don't recognise is her in front of the house).

When we got there the snow was gently falling and I was pretty much beside myself with excitement. It's not that I've never seen snow (the scars on my knee from an arthroscopy due to a skiing accident several years ago are a testament to that) but I don't think I've ever been out in it when it's falling. And I have never seen a place just as it starts to snow and then wake up the next morning to see it transformed to a winter wonderland.

Which is what happened the night we stayed in Lead. I couldn't wait to open the curtains in the morning and see the street, trees, houses and our car covered in snow.

The hostel was a great place to stay and Joan was lovely and welcoming - we were very tempted to spend the day in bed reading and stay another night.

But we had people to see, place to go.

Well not so much the people part I guess, although we are meeting some interesting folk along the way (think that is the first time I have actually used the word "folk" in a sentence).

Our next stop was Deadwood and as I was in the show Calamity Jane a lifetime ago, I was really looking forward to it. The town was pretty quiet (as a lot of places are now that summer is over) so we were wondering how all the businesses survive. And all Deadwood is (mostly), is shop upon shop of slot machines and places to eat with the odd souvenier shop thrown in. But despite that it is a great looking town full of wild west store fronts giving it an authentic feel.

After wandering the streets we headed up to Mount Moriah Cemetery on Boot Hill where Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane (who incidentally was originally called Martha Canary) are buried side by side.

We left the snowy town of Deadwood and on our way to Buffalo (our next stop in Wysconsin) we stopped off in a place called Sturgis. Every year in Sturgis there is a big motorbike rally that people ride across the country to get to and stay for the week doing biker kind of things. Paul (Nic's wonderful hubby who can so kindly lent her to me for a month) is really into bikes so we went there for him!

Hopefully he will go himself next year!

And unlike us, let's hope he goes in August when the actual event is on.

SOUTH DAKOTA

We stayed in Rapid City last night and it has been the best motel so far, not too mention the cheapest. It even had a water slide inside the building.
We didn’t use it. But we could have.
This morning we went back to The Badlands as we felt that we didn’t get to see much last night. It was very foggy and cold but still amazing and this time we drove the whole way through. We even saw some prairie dogs and white tailed deer.
After The Badlands we high tailed it to Mt Rushmore (while driving throught the Black Hills) with the weather getting worse the closer we got. But that was okay with me because it meant we were getting closer to snow. And the further we drove, the more we started to see little patches of it next to the side of the road.
When we got to Mt Rushmore I was really excited because there was definitely snow around.
Oh yeah, I was also excited to see the monument too.
Mt Rushmore was amazing though. It was massive and fascinating to watch a movie and read all the information about the sculptor. It took years to finish and there were openings for each President as their face was completed (Jefferson, Lincoln, Roosevelt and Washington - not necessarily in that order) and although many people worked on it over the years, the sculptor died before it was completed. His son, who had also worked on it, did the final reveal.
We also wanted to go and see Crazy Horse (which is a rock sculpture of an Indian) although it isn’t finished yet even though it was started in the 1940's. We drove there late in the day when the sun had almost set and the weather had gotten really snowy. It was going to cost $20 just to go into the park and we wouldn’t be able to even see the sculpture.

We were disappointed but $20 better off.

So off to Lead (pronounced Leed) we drove to stay the night in a hostel.

SOUTH DAKOTA

We had booked a hotel in Sioux City that had exercise equipment (after all the good work I did in Minneapolis I was determined to keep it going) so we got up early to get our heart rates up and burn off a few calories.
Bad idea. I am just not a morning person when it comes to exercise unless I really have to.
The breakfast there was great and soon we were on our way to De Smet to visit one of the homes that Laura Ingalls Wilder lived in when she was growing up. For those of you that don’t know she wrote Little House on the Prairie (amongst other books) about her life growing up. Interestingly she didn’t write them until she was in her 60’s.
We were on our way to Rapid City after that and we stopped off to see the Corn Palace. Every year it gets decorated in corn cobs. Sounds tacky (which I guess it kind of is) but it is an amazing work of art (I use that term loosely) and they use 12 different types of corn to give all the different colours they need to make the design work. Nicola got talking to the lovely old lady in a hair net (that’s not really relevant but I thought you might like to know) who was volunteering at the entrance counter. She loved the corn palace and could talk about it till the cows came home (love that saying), so we had a bit of trouble getting away from her once she started to chat.
Then it was off to The Badlands National park - one of the must do things on Nicola’s list. We got there later than we had hoped but it was still amazing especially as we got to see the sunset as well as some White tailed deer which were very cute and surprisingly curious about us.

Sorry you can't really hear what we are saying in this video of The Badlands. Probably a good thing really as we are most likely speaking a whole heap of rubbish.

MINNESOTA - MINNEAPOLIS

We sadly checked out of the hotel (we had gotten over the whole pay for parking/breakfast/internet thing - well alright we hadn’t entirely forgiven them but we had decided we needed to move on, until we got the bill that is and we were pissed at them all over again - but that’s another story) and took a short drive downtown where we thought a laundromat was located.
But no. So after asking around we finally found it and spent the next hour or so with half of Minneapolis (obviously what they do on a Sunday - why weren’t they at church?) washing and drying our clothes. Which was lucky as Nic was on her last pair of undies.
After that we went to Loring Park. We walked around looking at the pond, the birds and very strangely, the part of the park that housed the Minneapolis Horse Shoe Pitching Club.
Every park should have one!
We then wandered over to the Basilica of Saint Mary which was the first one built in America and then to the Sculpture park. Which, not surprisingly, was full of sculptures.
We were running short of time to check out the river so we just drove past it and then went to see Americas largest mall. We were only there for an hour or so but it was obvious that it was huge. It even had a theme part for kids in the middle of it.
We stayed the night in Sioux City, South Dakota.

MINNESOTA - MINNEAPOLIS

The three days in my pajamas didn’t actually work out that way. Which is a good thing really. Although my days were very relaxed. Here’s a rough idea of my time.
Sleep in, have some breakfast (generally fruit that we had bought at Walmart), go to Starbucks, buy a caramel latte and sit on my laptop (well not literally) for two hours (if you have $5 in credit on a Starbucks card you get two hours free internet a day and the hotel was charging an outrageous $6.95 per hour as the cheapest option) looking up stuff for our trip/emailing/face book/blogging etc, go shopping, back to the hotel and work out in the gym for an hour, have a shower and by then Nic would usually be back.
There were of course some minor variations - occasionally Nic could meet me or I might read my book. One day I even did some writing and another day I watched the first half of Bones that I had missed the night before due to time zone differences (praise the Lord for being able to stream and/or download it). But essentially my days were much the same. But oh so lovely.
Nic would also bring me back goodies from the conference like food, drinks, chocolates, pens, usb drives and one day even some vitamins and a rubber duck. It was heaven! (Sarah you would have been so excited by all the freebies).
Following on from my previous successful shopping, my trip to The Gap was even more so. Two long sleeve tops, two skirts and a jumper later (all for about $193), I left a happy girl. And because of the difference in sizes between America and Australia one of the skirts was size 8 and the other size 6!!!! God bless America! And that’s with me having put back on a fair bit of the weight I lost last year.
It could be all of it actually but as there are no scales here in kilos I really haven’t checked. I mean I could weigh myself in pounds and convert but really, why would I want to do that?
But imagine what size skirt I could have bought if I was the size I was at the start of the year. A size 4??? It blows my mind to just think about it.
Anyhoo after our cheap Cats tickets in Chicago we decided to see what was playing in Minneapolis and it came down to 101 Dalmatians and The Little House on The Prairie (both musicals believe it or not). We decided on 101 Dalmatians (after all who doesn’t enjoy a good kids show) and had a great time. They even had real dogs in it but they didn’t do much.
When I walked to the theater to get the tickets I noticed a poster for an evening with David Sedaris - I had just missed it. It was the first night we got here. I have just finished a book he has written that Fiona lent me which is hilarious - he also writes for the New Yorker (do you like the way I just dropped that piece of info in, like I‘m a local and in the know about stuff?). Anyway if you are looking for a good read, look him up.
The last night in Minneapolis Nic had a dinner so I went along too. We didn’t quite know where to sit when we got there (we were a bit late - not my fault by the way), so we found a table with only two women as they kind of looked a bit lonely. As it turned out they were doctors from Russia and one of them knows a friend and co-worker of Nic’s. It’s a small, small world………of all the tables we could have sat at!
And although I am not a dancer I am proud to say that I let Nic drag me up onto the dance floor.
The things you do for friends!