Day 7: Billings, Montana to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

Today we drove 504 miles through breath-taking scenery. There wasn't much traffic on the roads, and we started to see some of the same people at consecutive rest stops. It seems like most of the people traveling on I-90 are moving out west (as evidenced by the cars stuffed with personal belongings and attached U-Haul trailers) or truckers. Towns are far between.

Molly and Duckie did pretty well today. Molly likes to trot around in rest stops shrieking and listening to her voice echo off the tile walls; Duckie likes to get wedged between the carseat and the door.

All pictures were taken with our iphones, and most were taken through the windows of the car, so we are by no means doing justice to the magnificent beauty of these states.

Kevin and Phil heed a warning about rattlesnakes at a rest stop.

Obligatory Molly napping shot

As beautiful as Montana is, we do have one little bit of constructive criticism: your rest stop bathrooms are among the worst we've seen on this trip! Dank and spare, they reminded us of all those nights we spent in county lock-up. A disembodied human voice droning on about the weather supplied the mood music. 

Note the personalized label on this "Sturdy Station": Turd Station.
Also, most babies can't read, so why the magazine on top?

When we finally got to Coeur D'Alene, we decided to go out to dinner to a local Italian restaurant.  Since the first room given to us at the La Quinta actually had not been cleaned, which led to a very exasperated Grandma, we got a coupon for a free cocktail at one of several restaurants.  The place we chose, Tito's, was actually pretty good.  We lucked out that a tired Mollybear was not the loudest female in the place; there was a rowdy group of middle-aged women in the back part of the dining room.  I guessed that it was the Society Ladies' Drunk Night, but the waitress informed us that it was instead a "Diva Party," so I was right after all.  Check out the incognito photo taken over my shoulder of the party, which looks subdued in the photo but was not.  Molly also decided to try some spaghetti, including by holding the spaghetti in both hands and biting the middle (sorry, we weren't quick enough to catch it with the camera).  All in all, a good day and a good meal.  We can't wait to arrive in Dupont tomorrow!!

Molly tries to like spaghetti; fails. 

Whoooo hoooo!

Day 6: More Big Squarish States (SD, Wyoming, and Montana)

Today we finished our lovely stay in South Dakota (read: SD kind of sucks).  While the scenery is fantastic and the horizons seem impossibly far away, it is a bit disconcerting to see a warning placard on every window in the room strongly urging guests to leave the windows closed due to frequent, severe weather.  It was loads of fun carrying our luggage in and walking the dogs in pretty strong winds and often sideways rain.  That what we experienced was not an anomaly is evidenced by the design of the front door.

If you look closely at this stock photo of our hotel,
you can see that our hotel is attached to an indoor waterpark.
None of us brought bathing suits.

There is a large glass wall that provides entry approximately 15 feet to the right of the double sliding doors so that the wind and rain won't actually enter the lobby along with guests.  It wasn't until we experienced that little storm on one of our two days in the state (it is May, right?) that we understood the popularity and sheer number of indoor waterparks - they are everywhere around here!

Before leaving South Dakota, we had to go see Mt. Rushmore.  We knew that we would not be able to take the dogs into the park nor did we want to pay for parking so we just drove toward it until we found a good vantage point.  This was Molly's view of Mt. Rushmore.

 The rest of us got a slightly better view, though it was a bit underwhelming.  I thought that it would be a lot bigger (yes, it would have been bigger if we got closer, but still).  We got lucky that the rain stopped before we arrived so we had a pretty good view.

There are four presidents on my head!

 After we left Mt. Rushmore, we went to Kohl's to get Lisa some new shoes.  Said earlier storm left her shoes caked with mud and pebbles after walking the dogs next to the hotel, and the bathtub could only do so much to clean them. (Her shoes should be named the Reebok RealTrapEveryPebbleandMudParticle instead of RealFlex, but they didn't ask me.) The highlight of the Kohl's trip was that Molly saw a pair of shoes that she absolutely had to have, having gotten the bug from trying on mommy's new shoes.  Yes, we gave in to that tantrum so quickly that we only realized much later that we had been had by toddler manipulation.  Molly is tricky.

Don't you think Molly's new shoes go well with
the new theme of my car decor? I call it
"Molly's sticky, crumb-filled bouncy castle"

The views on the drive through Wyoming almost made up for the dangerously high winds and constant rain.  The lunch at the Chophouse in Gillette was a wonderful respite and repast.  It kind of looked like a place we had seen on Kitchen Nightmares from the outside, but inside the food was awesome.

Day 5: Sioux Falls to Rapid City, South Dakota

Sunday was a very busy day despite the fact that somehow we are still in South Dakota. First we went to the eponymous Sioux Falls...

As we drove away from the park, we suddenly had a horrifying realization...DUCKIE WAS NOWHERE TO BE FOUND!!! (For anyone who doesn't know about Duckie, he has lived in Molly's crib since she came home from the hospital, and is now crucial to our family's well-being.)

NOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!

We pulled over immediately and rifled through the luggage. Toni called the hotel and thank God (and St. Anthony, if you ask Toni) they found him! We explained to Molly that Duckie had decided to sleep in and was probably reading the paper and having his breakfast and just forgot to get in the car with us. She hadn't even missed him yet so she wasn't too fussed about it.

Reunited, and it feels so good.

After the Duckiegate, we headed to the town of Mitchell to see the famous Corn Palace, which is apparently remodeled every year (at a cost of ~ $130,000). It is the world's only corn palace, which is probably just as well.

Apparently lots of stuff is made of corn.

We went across the street to a local eaterie for a
corn-filled lunch of corn dogs and corn chowder. 

Our visit to the Corn Palace coincided with Mitchell High School's graduation in the auditorium. Here's a clip of their choir warming up.


Next we set our GPS for Wall Drug in Wall, South Dakota. This is a major attraction in this state, and for which signs start appearing all the way back in Minnesota. (This is kind of like seeing South of the Border signs on your way south from Richmond.) Anyway, Wall Drug is a big deal. The proprietors weren't having much luck with their business back in the 1930s, so they put up signs offering free ice water and the customers started pouring in (get it?).

Main hallway inside Wall Drug.

Some dead animals above the front door.

Molly is ready to take your drink order now.

After Wall, it was one more hour in the car to our hotel in Rapid City.

Day 4: Rockford, Illinois to Sioux Falls, South Dakota

On Saturday Molly traveled through Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and South Dakota. Another long day, and Molly was a trooper. The weather was beautiful, the roads were mostly clear, and when we hit South Dakota, the speed limit went up to 75 mph.

After we crossed into Minnesota, Molly became
the cutest toddler west of the Mississippi

Molly the Pantsless Wonder gazes out at the
Mississippi river at the first rest stop in Minnesota.
(Molly's pants came off after they became crusted
with strawberry breakfast bar)

All hail Toni Mitchell! We are so glad and grateful
to have her on our trip, though we have
our doubts about her sanity for wanting to come with us. 

Molly and her parents next to the great Mississippi River 

Molly is a goofball

We passed lots of wind farms in Minnesota

Welcome to Blue Earth, Minnesota.
Home of  the Green Giant.

Obligatory family photo beneath the Green Giant.
Look how tiny we are!

Molly's favorite thing at Green Giant park was throwing rocks...

And running away!

Molly was in generally good spirits

Zonked!

Molly enjoys a delicious yellow crayon at the Cracker Barrel.