And so once more we set out. On roads both new, and well traveled. Driving slowly and surely (if not necessarily in a straight line) eastward. Toward our origins, our family. Our winter life.
But some things are different about our return trip this time around. First and foremost, our direction and route have been planned and re-planned almost daily, as Andre's traveling work takes him to schools in a host of different cities and states, with only a few days notice. Luckily, the assignments have progressed generally in an easterly direction, although they have jagged north and south and two steps forward, one step back at times.
And of course, wherever we travel, we continue to see strange and wonderful things on the road.
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| Where is Little-Bo-Peep when you need her? |
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| This trio was just trotting alongside the road in rural Wyoming |
To recap, we left the park on Monday, September 7th and the first few days took us west to Idaho, then Eastern Oregon, then back to central Wyoming for a few days, before finally leaving the true west and heading into the transition states of South Dakota and Minnesota and finally Wisconsin, for a few days, before dropping down to Chicago for one night and then Michigan, where I am tonight. Despite the directional challenges of our journey, it has been a boon to have much of the mileage expensed as we traveled from school to school, and quite enjoyable to be spending most evenings in hotels with pools and hot tubs along the way (on someone else's dime).
Since we left the park, we have only spent one night in the van, which is fine with us as it is packed pretty tightly with stuff that needs to be moved around when the bed is assembled. And the van itself is one of the other things that is different on our travels east. In many ways it is showing it's age and we left the park with the goal of getting it back to Tampa in one piece and then selling or trading it in for a new transportation option (most likely a pick-up truck and travel trailer). As we speak, however, the van is in a repair shop in Green Bay, Wisconsin, having broken down on the side of the road while Andre was driving back from a job north of Green Bay a few days ago. We hope to have it back and road ready on Tuesday or Wednesday of next week and will shoot back up to Green Bay to retrieve it and resume our travels (we currently have a rental car).
Although most of our travel has been driven by Andre's work assignments, we have still had frequent opportunities to explore our surroundings and see new things (including a new state - South Dakota), including Mount Rushmore and Badlands National Park. In Wisconsin, we stayed at a hotel across the street from Lambeau Field and enjoyed some Green Bay Packer craziness in advance of this week's home opener. Here are some photos from the last 10 days on the road...
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| Beautiful Thermopolis, WY where we spent two nights |
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| Andre taking a last look at Wyoming as we enjoyed Thermopolis |
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| Hot Springs State Park (Thermopolis) |
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If you're looking for these things in a motel, this place is for you...
(This sign just struck me as funny)
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| Coming around the corner to see Mount Rushmore for the first time. |
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| The evening lighting ceremony on September 11th |
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| Badlands Bunny |
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| Don't we all feel like this sometimes?? |
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| The van's last National Park? |
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| Entering the land of Cheese heads.... |
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| Did not appreciate this one... |
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| But felt better after a trip to Badger State Brewing! |
