For Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri and South Dakota you can click on this word.

For Wyoming, Utah, Nevada and California you can click on our faces.  Thanks for following our journey!

Day 2          Weston, MO                   The sign outside of a photography shop.

Day 2          Somewhere in Iowa       Found in a gas station bathroom.  Read the bottom tag line under the company name.

Day 3          Somewhere in South Dakota         There were many signs like this along the road.  They would not be fans of PETA.

Day 4          Cody, SD                         Outside of a t-shirt shop.

Day 4          Cody, SD                         At a diner.  Had we not already had breakfast that morning we totally would have stopped.

Day 5          Somewhere in Nevada     At a rest stop.  We made sure to keep our stay there under 10 minutes, just to be safe.

Day 7          San Francisco                    On a parking sign along the street.

Day 7        San  Francisco                   I took this picture while our bus was stopped for about 10 minutes.

Day 7          San Francisco                    The street where we ate dinner in Little Italy.

Day 1 – Indianapolis, IN to Kansas City, MO: 565 miles

Day 2 – Kansas City, MO to Mitchell, SD: 460 miles

Day 3 – Mitchell, SD to Graybull, WY: 652 miles

Day 4 – Graybull, WY to Tooele, UT: 552 miles

Day 5 – Tooele, UT to Sacramento, CA: 669 miles

Day 6 – Sacramento, CA to San Francisco: 90 miles

San Francisco, CA

EDT: 3:30 p.m. ; Local Time: 12:30 p.m.

It was our first morning sleeping in!  It felt amazing.  We both wanted to sleep a little bit more but thought we should eventually mosey on over to San Francisco.  After a breakfast at Denny’s we were under way.  We crossed the San Francisco Oakland Bridge in the middle of the day. 

We are staying within walking distance of the Bay along Lombard St.  at the Marina Inn.  Erin decided that they must legitimatly get ice cream now that we were in California so we began walking in search of a place.  After about 15 minutes, we took out Janie to help us out and figured out which street we may went to head toward.  Not one minute later, we saw two girls walking down the street with ice cream.  When asked where they got it, they directed us to a place about three blocks away.  It was called The Loving Cup and it was frozen yogurt swirled with ingredients of your choice.  Everything was local, natural and organic.  They also had wonderful rice pudding which we sampled.  Eventually Erin settled on vanilla yogurt mixed with bananas and espresso (the employee’s favorite combo) and Ben ordered chocolate with bananas and peanut butter.  The yogurt was so thick you could almost chew it.  It was amazing!

After ice cream we went back to the hotel for the daily ritual of charging all of our various electronics and also for a quick nap.  For some reason we were both extremely tired today.  When we woke up we walked to Chinatown for dinner.  Erin didn’t really tell Ben how far the walk would be.  He was a little grumpy up and down the steep 21-block walk.  It was partly because she woke him up from the nap and also because he was hungry.  Eventually we landed at the first Chinese restaurant we saw.  It was a little early so we were the only ones in the place.  The owner fawned over us, making sure to tell us what her favorite dishes were.  Ben ordered her suggestion of short ribs and when she delivered them, she made sure to tell him that she would be eating them right now if she could.  She watched our first bites, watching for approval.  We both finished our dishes completely.

With Ben in a better mood, we walked many more blocks in order to explore the piers on the bay at Fisherman’s Wharf.  While aimlessly wandering, we came upon Pier 39.  What caught our attention first was the slabs of seals basking in the sun on top of large slabs of wood.  We read later that they started to show up in 1989 after one of the large earthquakes and the city didn’t want to remove them because they were so popular with the tourists.  We could hear their barking throughout the area.  It was very unexpected!  While there we had great views of Alcatraz, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the bay…as well as a tourist’s dream of novelties and food.

California!

Arrived at 7:58 p.m. EDT ; Local Time: 4:58 p.m.

Rules for the State of California

1. All vehicles must stop at the border at the Department of Agriculture Inspection Checkpoint.  If you’re from Michigan, your trunk gets checked.
2. The speed limit is just a suggestion.  You may go 15 mph faster or slower if you choose.  Feel free to change your mind and go to the other extreme at will.
3. Lines on the highway are optional.  Particularly around curves high in the mountains you may choose to not to use lines.  The traffic will have to make its own lanes as it goes forward.
4. The grass must be greener than any other grass in the United States.  It must also be sweet tasting so that those out of towners who believe that the governor had painted the grass will be convinced that the grass is natural.

California Rules!

Nearing Sacramento and looking for a hotel, a giant carnival ride caught our eye.  It was next to a motel…which was next to a Denny’s.  Upon further inspection, the ride was part of a larger complex that included batting cages, mini-golf, an arcade, go-karts and bumper boats.  With no discussion, Erin pulled into the motel and checked in.  We played mini-golf an hour later.  Ben won, but Erin managed three holes-in-one.  We’re going to Denny’s tomorrow. This is the life!

Battle Mountain, NV

West on I-80

EDT: 2:23 p.m.

Local Time:  11:23 a.m.

Erin’s been talking about getting ice cream since Missouri.  She finally got it!

We discovered during the middle of Day 4 that we have had a slightly scary adventure every day of this journey.  Day 5 helped prove our theory.

Day 1: Near Greenup, IL

On the way to the non-existent Lincoln Log Cabin we were driving down a small country road.  Up ahead we saw two dogs at the side of the road both who eagerly ran up to greet our tires with hearty barking.  Ben came to a dead stop.  He honked the horn, tried to slowly move past, but these guys were in love with the tires.  Neither of us felt like running over dogs on the first day of our trip (and not really on any other day, either), especially since one of them already had three legs.  We probably were there starting and stopping inches later for a good five minutes.  Had Erin not been laughing maniacally, we probably would have had a video of it.

Day 2: Iowa

So this one is a bit of a stretch, but I think people really can die of boredom.

Day 3: Big Horn Mountains in Wyoming

Read: Maybe Technology is not Always Right.  I think we both had a few heart attacks that night.

Day 4:  Thermopolis, WY

On our hike on the Spirit Trail we ended up going to the top of a large rock, which offered spectacular views of the springs, the city and more mountains.  But once we wanted to get down and continue on the trail, we couldn’t find it.  Rather than going back the way we came, we used “trails” that we “saw” on the steep side of the mountain.  There were a few times when we had to scoot down on our butts.  When we got back onto a real trail, it ended up leading us to nowhere.  We had to do a bit of bushwhacking and jump a fence to get back to the car.

Day 5: East of Wells, NV

The Check Engine light came on.  We pulled off immediately, checked the belts and the oil.  Nothing out of the ordinary.  Ben tightened the gas cap for good measure.  But don’t worry, after starting the car at our next bathroom break the light turned off.

Day 6 and 7: ?  But we will be in California.

Bonneville, Utah

EDT: 11:20 a.m.

Local Time: 9:20 a.m.

Maybe it was the fact that the sun was rising over the Great Salt Lake and illuminating the mountains all around, but Utah, Day 2 wasn’t so bad.  We back tracked a bit to take a picture of the lake.  It was beautiful with the rosy colors of the sunrise still in the sky. 

On the road and driving west again, we passed through the Salt Lake Desert.  Along the side of the road we could see people had pulled off and drawn pictures or written words into the wet, flat sand that went on and on.  Some people used rocks, other bottles, and other just used hands and sand.  We didn’t see anything too original: lots of names, a smiley face, JOY, GOD, LOVE, hearts with initials.  Ben caught a glimpse of a mini Stonehenge – so at least one person was creative.  Also, out of nowhere was this giant tree sculpture.  We didn’t stop to find an explanation, but it was a cool interruption to the flat.

About two hours later, we caught sight of the sign for the Bonneville International Speedway Salt Flats and decided to check it out.  It is 44,000 acres of lake bed.  In the early summer the government prepares it to get ready for the speed trials that take place there.  Most of the rest of the year, there is a little bit of water on the surface.   Yes, we did make sure that it was salt water.

Tooele, UT

EDT: 9:28 a.m.

Local Time: 7:28 a.m.

After Erin’s navigating cut 50 minutes off of Janie GPS’s original directions into Salt Lake City, we decided that from this morning on our chimp buddy will be taking the place of Janie.  We’ll see how he does.  We know he’ll be more forgiving when we divert from the path.

Utah, West on I-80

EST: 8:15 p.m.; Local time: 6:15 p.m.

1. When we crossed the border, there was no welcome sign.  Bad beginning.
2. Stupid drivers in Salt Lake City.
3. Great Salt Lake State Park = Marina that charges $5 for parking.  No Visitor’s Center or view points.  No thanks.
4. Burger King had no shakes.  Taco Bell had no spicy chicken.
5. They couldn’t even get the shape of the state right.  It’s almost a perfect rectangle, but what happened to the northeast corner?

Two hours of driving left in Utah for Sunday.  Maybe they can redeem themselves.