In the hot, muggy Midwest

I'm thinking that I may never complain about our weather in the Pacific Northwest again! We have been traveling through almost record heat in the very humid Midwest, and it's like walking into a hot, wet wool blanket:instantly hot, wet and with fogged up glasses. Today we'll head north into Canada so we hope it will cool down somewhat. We traveled through the last bit of Minnesota, all of Iowa and about a third of Illinois. Tomorrow will be a short drive day but today will be another long one. We are a little tired, however its been worth every bit of it. I don't think I've laughed this much, ever! We are enough alike that we tend to see humor in the same things and the billboards (which we don't have in Oregon anymore) have provided a lot of it. I'll explain later however my hand is going numb so I had best go. More on the adventures later.

Here we go again!

We have seen some of the most incredible sights in the last 4 days: the beauty of Coeur d'Alene Idaho, the mountains and sky of Montana; the great colors in Wyoming and the surprising beauty of South Dakota. We have seen things that we have not yet been able to fully digest: the mind blowing creations of man, such as Mt. Rushmore (how did they put expressions in rock??!), and Chief Crazy Horse.And the heart wrenching scene of the battle of Little Bighorn. We have pictures to share of all these things, however we couldn't take pictures of the kindness and generosity of all the people we have met. The people and the joy that Sandi and I have experienced has been the best part of this journey. And onward we go. I will do my best to do another blog today...my hand is going numb and we have to get on the road. Make it a great day!

Days 2 and 3

Well my laptop has decided to go on vacation too it seems. Thanks to Russ I was able to get connected to wifi but it never wanted to stop "loading" and get down to business! So I am once again resorting to my beloved Kindle which will make these blogs shorter than I wanted them to be. You however may be happy about that. I am totally in awe about this beautiful country of ours. I understand why Montana is called "Big Sky" country. I'm sure they somehow managed to steal sky from other States because it's too incredible otherwise. The mountains are dramatic and the river's are blue blue. Blue. We drove through Montana and on to Wyoming. Ok ... I think it took Montana's place in my heart as far as beauty goes. They have pink roads! Well its actually a rose colored stone, but Sandi and loved it. There is a whole new palate of green in the mountains there. I kept taking pictures in hopes that some will show that. Now all was not wonderful...it was hotter than hell. Yesterday morning we drove to Buffalo for brunch and it was 97 at 11am. We loved the town though and had a great meal in a really great gift shop/restaurant. What a wonderful surprise. When we drove on, we passed a lot of gorgeous ranch land. In one field we saw a very handsome bull gazing longingly at another field which held many beautiful cows. I found myself remembering that old Bobby Vinton song "I'm just a lonely boy" only changing some words..."I'm just a lonely bull, lonely and blue, standing alone looking at you". Sandi and I have laughed so much on this trip. I'm loving it and having the time of my life. Its sort of a start to a new me I think, and it's thrilling. I'm going to stop now and tonight I'll let you know about South Dakota and the wonders we've seen. Take care!

Off we go!

We actually got off on time...which isn't too unusual but pretty exciting. The drive was easy and the scenery was spectacular. Did I take pictures you ask? Heavens no. Not until we came upon a motorhome onfire(or rather on smoke by the time we went by) as the local volunteer fire department poured water on the flames from the tanker truck. It was easy to tell that they were volunteers: they arrived in everything from jeeps to pickups. It was dramatic believe me! Even with the delay we made it to St Regis,MT by 9:15pm their time, 8:15pm real time. So we really made good time. And we were really tired! I'm doing this from my Kindle (which should make Russ very happy) and it's not the easiest thing yet. So enough of this foolishness for now and I will continue when we stop in Billings tonight. Hopefully my laptop will be able to connect then.

This is my first time "blogging" so please have some patience with me.  My sister, Sandi, and I are going to travel (by car) from Portland, OR to Tamworth, NH.  The trip is going to start on June 24th and I am REALLY going to try to let everyone know what we see and where we are!  Wish us luck and pray for good driving!  We named Sandi's car "Wonder Car", so we are very optimistic and very excited.  Anyway, talk to you later!
Carol