Good Timing

Timing is everything.   Blizzard warnings and 3 feet of snow around Mount Rushmore, combined with the government shutdown, makes the 70+ degree sunshine of a few weeks ago even better.

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An amazing trip.

Final Numbers:
Total days on the road:  22
Total nights:                  21
Total number of states visited:    14 + Canada
Total miles driven:   4998 (does not include 46 miles being towed)

Number of items knocked of the bucket list:  14
1.   Mt Rushmore
2.   Crazy Horse Monument
3.   Spending night in Canada overlooking Niagra Falls
4.   More baking classes
5.   Mall of America
6.   Mary Tyler Moore Statue
7.   Corning Glass Museum
8.   Oak Park
9.   Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
10. Flight 93 Memorial
11. Monona Terrace (another Frank Lloyd Wright design crossed off)
12. Minuteman National Park
13. Wall Drug
14. Baseball Hall of Fame:  Cooperstown NY

I can't name a favorite

Unexpected finds
1.   Sertoma Butterfly Garden
2.   Downtown Cleveland
3.   Madison WI State Capital
4.   Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Museum
5.   Touring University of Michigan with the Family


Favorite Meals:  Both in Chicago with my family:
    Hemingways for Brunch
    Weber Grill Restaurant

(This is the first post done on a computer and not an Iphone, much easier to type).

4998 Miles

4998 beautiful fun miles

The last 46 not so good

Had to be towed home for the last 46 miles.  I am fine and the other driver was at fault and received three citations on her ticket.   Still a great trip.  

Flight 93 National Memorial - Stoystowm, PA

A moment for reflection and contemplation as the trip winds down

Downtown Cleveland Ohio

Beautiful day by the waterfront in Cleveland

The Brown's Stadium

Midwest Science Center

City skyline

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - Cleveland Ohio

A great way to spend an afternoon

Mick Jagger's jump suit

Bruce Springsteen's jacket worn at Obama's inaguration

The hall of fame inductees 

Finally

Dinner in north Chicago

Had dinner with my brother and sister in law in North Chicago at the Weber Grill Restaurant where everything is cooked on Weber grills ( They are manufactured close by) 

Had a good time visiting

Monona Terrace - Madison Wisconsin

Went to another Frank Lloyd Wright designed property.  It is Monona Terrace, a multipurpose convention center on a lake in downtown Madison.  It has beautiful views of the lake and the state capital

The above is a view of the state capital of Wisconsin as seen from the terrace

Crossed the Mississippi River

Left the Great Plains and crossed the Mississippi River to enter the Mississippi River Valley.  Spending the night in La Crosse, WI.    I can see the river from my hotel room. 

Sertoma Butterfly House -Sioux Falls Sd

An unexpected stop 5 minutes from the hotel.  An indoor butterfly garden with over 800 butterflies.  A bit strange when they swarm around you when you walk in, but fun once you get used to it. 

 

One went for a ride on my pants leg

Minuteman Missile National Historic Site

The facilities represent the only remaining intact components of a nuclear missile field that once consisted of 150 Minuteman II missiles, 15 launch-control centers, and covered over 13,500 square miles (34,964.8 km²) of southwestern SD

The launch tube's 110-ton cover has been rolled partly away and welded to the rails it rides on. The launch tube was then covered with a glass viewing enclosure. Not only does this permit visitors to see the missile, it means Russian satellites are able to verify that the site is not operational, and hence in compliance with theStrategic Arms Reduction Treaty.

The blast proof cover of the missle

Looking into the dome to see the decommioned missile

Entrance to the silo

Keystone SD hotel

View of the lobby

Rustic to put it politely

Heading East

First stop a return visit to Wall Drug.  Missed the pharmacy museum on the first trip

Had lunch across the street at

Mammoth Site of Hot Springs SD

Excavation site where so far over 59 mammoths have been excavated . 

Blog Title - Suburban Club

Not related to the trip, but the title of the blog Suburban Club comes from an old manufacturer of soda in Maryland.  They made a product called Almond Smash - a cherry and almond flavored soda.  They also made other flavors like ginger ale and orange soda.  

Afternoon in Keystone

Went back to Mt Rushmore to see it with a different light.  Then toured Custer National Park and the Black Hills National Forest.  Simply beautiful

The monument from Custer National Park

A remarkable experience

My sister in laws brother ( aka my brothers brother inlaw) arranged for me to go out on the arm of the Crazy Horse monument.  The views , including the mountain goats were fantastic. 

Mount Rushmore at night

The park service does a nightly lighting ceremony.   Pictures don't do it justice. 

A full moon and a starry night added to it 

Mount Rushmore - Made it Here

Simply amazing.  Words and pictures don't do it justice

Going back tonight for the Park Service lighting ceremony

Wall Drugs

The first sign said only 335 miles to Wall Drugs, and the signs kept coming every 5-6 miles.  

The place was about 2 city blocks long, full of all sorts of stuff??  Rocks, leather goods , etc.  There really is a pharmacy and I stood there just staring.  I'm glad they didn't throw me out.  

My only comment is that in pharmacy school we had to take Pharmacy Marketing since in those days they thought everyone was going to own their own pharmacy.  I wonder what Professor Sal Ligouri would have said about this place