Apple Creek

Location: Apple Creek Rest Area, ND
Miles: 1818

This will be brief, and just because we can: I'm writing this entry at the lovely Apple Creek Rest Area off I-94 in the bloody middle of North Dakota. Several states ago, I said to Thomas, "You know what? Highway rest areas should have wireless Internet access." Lo and behold, as soon as I walked into the building here, I saw the sign: WIRELESS INTERNET ACCESS AVAILABLE. So now I'm sitting at an outdoor picnic table in a cool breeze, overlooking the endless prairie and listening to the calls of birds, the chirping of crickets, the flags flapping, and the occaisional whoosh of traffic going by on I-94.

This is a trend that should definitely be encouraged.

We are currently hell-bent* for Bismarck, which is about 30 miles away. (*Hell-bent indeed, the speed limit out here is 75 mph, and Eurovan (which likes to go fast) has been creeping up to about 90 before I notice and slow down some.) At Bismark we will make a left turn (all roads out here are straight, and they all meet at right angles) and head into South Dakota too see the Badlands and such.

More later.

-Don

Twine Ball At Last!

Location: Alexandria, MN
Miles: 1532

We departed lovely Winona, MN at about 11 am. A little after noon we stopped for gas in Stewartville. Then, about 1 pm we arrived in Austin, home of Hormel and the Spam Museum. Below, Thomas poses with a friend at the Spam Museum.



The Spam Museum, which has no admission charge, is well laid-out and quite fun. The best part, though, was the gift shop. We will be bringing home spam-based presents for many friends.

After Austin, we took I-35 north to Minneapolis, then headed west on Highway 12. Traffic around Minneapolis was slow (although not as slow as Chicago), and Highway 12 was fairly congested. Eventually, however, we found ourselves in Darwin, Minnesota, home of the world's largest ball of twine.

The Twine Ball lives in a little glass-enclosed pagoda (see below).



Below, a closer view of the Twine Ball.



And finally, below, the proud boys with the Twine Ball.



Unfortunately, due to the delays around Minneapolis, we arrived at the Twine Ball after 5 pm, and the museum & gift shop was closed. In a desperate search for Twine Ball postcards or other souvenirs, we tried other merchants in town: the Shell station, the liquor store, and the local pub -- but there was no Twine Ball merchandise to be had, not even for ready money. Obviously, the folks in Darwin need to get with the program.

We left Darwin about 6 pm, and headed north toward I-94. We met up with the Interstate and continued west toward our next destination, the town of Alexandria, home of the Kensington Runestone. Of course, it was too late and the museum was certainly closed...so we decided to stop for the night in Alexandria. We found a great place to stay: the L Motel and RV Park; for a very reasonable charge we have a great room with refrigerator, microwave, free internet, and even a laundry. Of course, the internet connection is wired, not wireless -- so we are roughing it.

We settled in for a great dinner spread of fruit, bread, crackers, and fine Wisconsin cheeses. Then we wrote some postcards, answered some email, and started on the blog update.

Thanks to everyone who has left comments so far (Betsy and Melissa, to be specific). For the rest of you...what, are your arms broken? Sure, we're having a great time, but we miss all our friends, and we'd love to hear from you. It's not that difficult!

Tomorrow, the Runestone, and then on to North Dakota.

-Don

Caves and Cheese: Wisconsin

Location: Winona, MN
Miles: 1189

We awoke around 9 am at the lovely Knight's Inn in Beloit. This late in the morning, the motel was deserted: all the deadline-bound tourists off on their frantic journeys. We independent travelers are free to set our own agenda.

(Below) Here's a sign that we hung in Eurovan's window. That's the Hamster Puppet looking out below the sign.



By 11 am we were on the road. We stopped almost immediately at Wal-Mart in Beloit, where we did some grocery shopping. At the suggestion of my dead mother, we've brought along our electric frying pan. With this most versatile piece of equipment, we can make occasional meals in motel rooms, saving on restaurant costs.

Of course, Thomas found some Star Wars toys at Wal-Mart.

Driving on I-90 through Wisconsin, we saw billboards for "Cave of the Mounds." Caves and caverns are a favorite of ours, so we decided to follow the signs and visit the Cave of the Mounds. Wow, was that a great decision! The Cave of the Mounds is a really great cavern, with lots of colorful features. Our guide was the boyishly-cute Trevor, who did a superb job. At one point, he explained limestone erosion by making an analogy: "Carbonic acid is also present in Coke and Pepsi, and it erodes your teeth, making cavities. So basically, the cave is just a big cavity. So brush your teeth, or you might wind up with tours going through your mouth."

Cave of the Mounds is most highly recommended; when you go, make sure you get Trevor as a guide.


(Above) One of the magnificent features in Cave of the Mounds

Following Cave of the Mounds, we set off in search of a cheese shop (it being Wisconsin, after all). The first cheese shop we found was closed on Tuesdays, boo. So we set forth on the highways, confident that we would find a cheese shop. Leaving lovely Sauk City, I noticed a huge sign in the rear-view mirror which read, "EROTS ESEEHC" -- so we turned around, and found ourselves at Carr Valley Cheese (one of four locations in Wisconsin). No, there was no bouzouki player, and there was plenty of cheese. We bought about $20 worth of cheese to see us through the rest of our arduous joruney.

While driving around, we searched for NPR stations on the radio, as is our wont. And we found a few...but we also found two independent public radio stations, not connected with NPR. One was considerably more liberal than NPR, and the other was similar.

Along about 7pm we crossed over the Mighty Mississippi and into Minnesota. (below)



The terrain changed on the other side: we climbed steadily upward until we hit a plateau, where it was flat farmland as far as the eye could see -- except much higher.

We stopped in lovely Winona, MN, where we are now in the Sugarloaf Motel. We fired up the electric frying pan and made a delicious meal of scrambled eggs, toast, and fine Wisconsin cheese. And now, with Futurama on the TV, we're settling down for a restful evening.

Tomorrow, we have a full day planned for Minnesota sightseeing. First there's the Spam Museum, then the Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota (made famous in the Weird Al song of the same name), and finally the Kensington Runestone (we'll explain tomorrow, or you can google it).

-Don

Adventures in Michigan

Location: Beloit, WI
Miles: 915

This morning we toured Ann Arbor with Matthew-who-is-called-Sid as our able & enthusiastic tourguide. Ann Arbor is a great town, well worth visiting, with many attractions. The highlights of the tour were the giant cube and the alley of art and graffiti.


(Above) Here's Matthew/Sid and Don at the giant cube.


(Above) And here's Matthew/Sid and Don in the alley of art & graffiti.

Before leaving Ann Arbor, we stopped in at Middle Earth, a fantastic shop that sells jewelry, books, cards, buttons, bumper stickers, toys -- all aimed at the literate, liberal adult. Lots of cute anti-Bush graphics and jokes. Among other things, Thomas bought a button that says, "God doesn't believe in me, either. It all evens out." If you are in Ann Arbor, you cannot miss Middle Earth.

We also stopped in at Kaleidoscope, a marvelous book-and-curios store that is crammed full of used books and all manner of knick-knacks. Like a great air-conditioned attic, the store is crammed with unknown numbers of old books. If there's ever a fire, it will burn for days...and dozens will be trapped under collapsing piles of hardcovers and bookshelves. Don bought a couple sf paperbacks, and Thomas found a vintage Empire Strikes Back Luke Skywalker halloween costume, complete with flimsy plastic mask.

Around noon we headed west on I-94. By two we were in Battle Creek...who could resist? We stopped to go to Kellogg's Cereal World, which is basically a museum of Kellogg's cereals, including great displays of cereal premiums throughout the ages. Definitely well worth the $7 admission charge.


(Above) Thomas and a friend at Kellogg's Cereal World.

From Battle Creek we continued west on I-94, which bent south just in time to miss Lake Michigan. We followed I-94 through Chicago...what with construction and traffic, it took us two hours to crawl through downtown Chicago. Memo to big cities: this idea of having multiple Interstate Highways go directly through your downtown is never a good one. Beltways and bypasses exist for a reason.

Finally, around 9:30 (Central Time) we stopped to eat at Beefaroo in Rockford, IL. Beefaroo is one of those faux-fifties burger joints, but with great food and an innocence that somehow transcended the tackiness. Highly recommended.

At 10:45, we reached Beloit, Wisconsin...or at least, a stone's throw away from Beloit, Wisconsin. (We didn't see a "Welcome to Wisconsin" sign, but it was dark and we were both very tired.) And now we are safely ensconced in the Knight's Inn, which is a nice enough place for a roadside motel.

Tomorrow: Wisconsin and, if we're lucky, on into Minnesota.

-Don

Ann Arbor

Location: Ann Arbor, MI
Miles: 532

We rolled out of home at about noon. After a brief stop at the Wal-Mart on Route 40, we were on the road.

We went west on Interstate 70, where there is a road sign that lists distances to several points, including "Denver, 1700 miles."

West on I-70 to lovely Breezewood, PA, where the expressway ends and everyone must turn right at the light. No, I'm not kidding: instead of merging with I-76 like a proper Interstate Highway, I-70 ends at a traffic light and to continue onto I-76, all traffic must turn right. Ever fast-food joint, tacky motel, and fireworks store has an outlet in Breezewood. We sailed blissfully past them all.

West on I-76, the Pennsvylavnia Turnpike. Through the Alleghany Mountain tunnel, then a pause on the other side to take pictures of the giant windmills. Then, westward ho.

About 20 miles before the Ohio border, we stopped to get gas and eat. You see, we didn't want to spend any money or pay any taxes in Ohio. Ohio has some of the most obnoxiously anti-gay laws in the nation (only Virginia is worse): if we were in an accident and one of us went into the hospital, the other would not be allowed to visit because that's a privilege that belongs to marriage, and unmarried couples can't have any such privileges in Ohio. (Courts there have recently ruled that unmarried couples -- either gay or straight -- can't get state protection from domestic violence, because that's another privilege that's reserved for marrieds. In Ohio it's okay to beat your girlfriend half to death, but not your wife.)

Needless to say, we did not take the "Welcome to Ohio" sign very seriously. We know we are unwelcome.

Anyhow, we stopped in lovely Koppel, PA, an area that is not so much economically disadvantaged, as economically devastated. Lots of abandoned, boarded-up or burned down buildings, very few places to shop or eat. We bought gas at Al's Corner, then drove down the road to Beaver Falls, where we happened upon Guiseppe's Tuscany Grill: a wonderful oasis of delicious Italian food and great service, literally in the middle of nowhere. Thomas says that his tiramisu was the best he's ever had; me, I didn't have room for dessert. Definitely recommended!

We continued into Ohio, where we were unable to avoid paying the highway toll, but otherwise paid nothing. As a matter of fact, the only thing we did there was pee. That, I didn't mind doing on Ohio.

Around 9:30 pm we crossed over into Michigan, and by 10:30 we were in Ann Arbor. Matthew (aka Sid) Jacobs, a student at University of Michigan, talked us in from the highway, met us outside the Pita Pit (where he works), and gave us the run of his apartment. Matthew/Sid is the son of one of Don's coworkers (hi, Sylvia!), and a really nice guy. We bought him something to repay his hospitality...if his mother is reading this, it was beer; if his father is reading this, it was textbooks.

So here we are, using Sid/Matthew's computer to update our blog. Tomorrow we'll hang around Ann Arbor for a while, then be off westward.

-Don

Starting Out

Location: Meerkat Meade, Baltimore, MD
Miles: 0

Eurovan is loaded, we've said our goodbyes to Rob & the hamster, and soon we will be off!

Further bulletins as events warrant.

-Don

Six Days and Counting

Less than a week to go before departure, and we've been making arragnements.

Many thanks to our friend Rob, who will be house-sitting for us while we're away.

We purchased a digital camera (a Canon Powershot A410) for taking pictures on the trip; with any luck, you'll see some of them in later posts.

We've also been looking at our tentative route. There are a couple of things that we definitely want to see, other than that we'll be playing it by ear and wandering where fancy takes us. Among the definites on our list are (a) the Minnesota Twineball, (b) Mount Rushmore/South Dakota Badlands, (c) Yellowstone, (d) the Grand Canyon, and (e) Barringer Meteor Crater. Otherwise, we're going to try to hit as many states as possible and see as many kewl things as we can during 10 days out and 7 days back.

Stay tuned....

Greetings

In about two weeks, we'll be off on a cross-country trip, driving from Baltimore to Los Angeles and back again. In LA, we'll be attending the World Science Fiction Convention. Other than that, we have no hard and fast plans; we intend to meander out West, and then come back a little more directly.

We hope to chronicle our journey in this blog. Wish us luck.

-Don Sakers & Thomas G. Atkinson