Vacation: Chapter One - The Drive

I'm back! First of all, I apologize to the 3 people out there who actually read this and wonder why I haven't had a new blog for awhile. The reason? Vacation.

We left Tuesday after work, and 2,555 and 3/10 miles later, we returned. Our journey took us into 8 different states, about 30 gas stations, 4 motels, and more hours on the road than I work in a week. But, in the end, I would say it was worth it.

TUESDAY:

We drove from 4:30 to midnight, crossing from Indiana to Illinois, to Iowa. It was dark, so not much to see, but I would like to comment on Super 8's motel in Northern Iowa...in one word, stinky.

WEDNESDAY:

If you've ever hit the open road in the Mid-West, you've probably driven along I-90. This is not a treat. Upon hitting the Minnesota border, we had exactly 504 miles on I-90 until we reached our destination...Deadwood, South Dakota. Now, fortunately for us, the speed limit on I-90 is 75 miles per, which made the trip more like a Nascar race than a drive. Other interesting points of note...pink roads.

PINK ROADS:

I, for the life of me, cannot figure out the mystery of the pink roads. I've noticed them in West Virginia, and now in Northern Iowa, and Minnesota. The highway, instead of being normal grey or blacktop, has a pink tint to them that makes them oh so eye-friendly and enchanting. It's like the road crew said..."let's make sure people are smiling while driving our roads."

Upon our return, I have searched endlessly (ok, for about 5 minutes) for some answers to his road oddity. The only things I turned up were: Pink Neon signs to go up on the Highway...Pink's Vietnamese Restaurant...and a touching tale of an albino alligator that was transported to an Iowa Zoo and turned pink. Apparently, he was excited about his new surroundings (how do they know this? ANIMALS CAN'T TALK!! Sorry, please refer back to my rant on animals.)

WEDNESDAY:

We arrived in Deadwood Wednesday evening, and I was shocked to see that the town was 95% casinos. Every little shop had Slots in them...so did the eateries...so did the hotels...so did the library. Well, I actually couldn't see in the library, and I sure didn't go in for a visit, so technically I don't know if there were any slots in there, but I'm betting there was.

THURSDAY

A trolley around Deadwood began the day, followed by a search for breakfast. Before you think, "surely there are eateries in Deadwood," let me also tell you the problem with South Dakota in August...STURGIS. Not the town, the Rally, as in Choppers, Motorcycles, Harley's, Bikes, Goldwing...redwing...bluewing...soap-on-a-string...whatever, they were there, and they were there in full force. Endless bikes lined the streets of all surrounding towns. Want to go to the little diner? I don't think so. Where do you park? How long would you wait? Wasn't gonna happen.

So, we troll down the road. Our next stop, President's Park. We start by eating at the President's Park Cafe. I ordered the Angus burger, Becky the nachos (picky-picky). I didn't expect them to have a grill out back they cooked on. I actually saw the lady cooking my angus on a grill. It was mighty tasty, I might add.

Anyway, President's Park is a little place that has these amazing busts of all 43 president's. The busts are at least 20 foot tall each, along with a nut-shell bio of each pres. We read Washington, Adams, and most of Jefferson, before we realized it was taking too much time...who needs to know about Chester A Arthur anyway? I highly recommend the park, however...very neat.

(to be continued...next blog, "The Heads")