Day Six: The "Mini-Apple" is...

Before I go any farther, we would like to apologize in case the next few posts are difficult to read. The hotel we're staying in has Internet access, but it's a little sketchy to log on to the computer. So we are doing this from our phone, which is rather difficult. This is also why we haven't put up pictures in a few days.
After making a rather large list of things to do, places to visit last night, we came up with a plan for today. We got three of the places on our list done. We wanted to explore St. Paul first, since that seemed the most logical. Our first stop today was Rice Park. It's a tiny park, all of like a square mile wide, but it has a handful of Snoopy statues. Apparently, Charles M. Shultz was from St. Paul. We couldn't park because there was no close spots, but we got a few pictures of some of the statues, like Peppermint Patty kicking a ball and Marcy, reading on the park bench. Our second location was Summitt Avenue. This stretch of road is so neat. It is the longest continuous stretch of Victorian-age houses and buildings in the country. We didn't want to be super creepy and walk up and down the road, but that's apparently what they do. So we got pictures of a few of those. Probably the coolest, most architectually interesting is the St. Paul Cathedral, that anchors the road. Depending on where on the horizon you look, there are two buildings that can pass off as the state Capitol, and this is one of them. It is a huge building.
Anyway, from there, we headed west to the Mall of America. On the way to the mall, we passed the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport, so we were able to see all of the planes take off. This area is very commercial/industrial. They have the airport, a Delta hub (we're thinking), the mall, and the "Waterpark of America". Not quite as impressive as the mall itself. I have never seen anything that big before. There are four floors- three Bath & Body Works stores, two Victoria's Secret, and even entire stores for flip-flops & scrapbooking! There are even stores dedicated to the Mall itself, uniquely called "The Mall of America Store"! Unfortunately, none of the stores had very good postcards.
After that, we decided we'd go on an adventure through Uptown Minneapolis to find the Sculpture Garden. We parked the car (MUCH cheaper than Chicago!) and went on a hunt. We walked and walked, and couldn't find it. We reached the highway and decided to turn back. The walk was not much fun- it was close to 100 today, which wouldn't be so bad, but with all of the cars and road work, it made it much hotter. Anyway, we got back to the car and headed for the hotel, and found a bridgeway that we think might have led to the Garden. We got stuck in some traffic, threatened to throw Rhe out the window, then the co-pilot. After awhile, everyone made it back safely!
We got back to the hotel and took a break before going out on the town. We met up with a friend who worked at summer camp with Dawn, and spent a few hours talking. It was nice to catch up and reminisce. We also drove through the University of Minnesota campus and it is ginormous! We've added it to our list of places to visit tomorrow, when it's light out so we can wander and gawk at its immense size. Apparently their stadium is huge, but they can't get enough people there to fill it because they are not very good. So, that is where we are now. We just finished our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (Dad-style), and now it is time for bed. We are planning on seeing the sights we missed today, and adding a few more to the list. Until then!

States Visited: Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Wisconsin (7/50)
Provinces Visited: Ontario (1/10)
License Plates Seen: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming (45/50)
Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan (7/10)

Day Five: Out of Chicagoland and Into Just Land

There hasn't been much to see on today's drive. As soon as we left the Chicago area, all there is is farm land. There are a lot of farms, but not really as many dairy farms as we would've thought in Wisconsin. Most of the farms look to be corn and wheat. We did see some "happy cows" (that's for you mom!) in the middle of nowhere, but that's about it. There were a few cool rock formations along the way, but not much more than that. They do have some fun names though, like Menomonie.
We looked through our "Best Road Trips" book and found a cute little place called the "Norske Nook" with AMAZING pies!! We each got a slice of pie (didn't have anything for lunch in order to save room for them) and still didn't finish all of it. That means we now have dinner too!! Yum!! (Yes, it deserves that many exclamation marks!!) And it was in a cute Norwegian town with all kinds of quilting places too. We also took a small detour that according to the book was supposed to have all kinds of large roadside attractions, but apparently they shrunk or something. We did see a large mouse in front of a "cheesehaus," a beaver or something like that, some whales jumping out of a pool, and a very angry looking bull. We have also seen some great water towers, like the one with the giant pumpkin, the one painted as a rose, and the one in Loves, Wisconsin with a heart on it.
The weather's been great. It has been sunny the whole time so far. Who would've thought that it got this warm up here? It's about 85 today and tomorrow is supposed to be hotter with heat indexes into the 100s. Can't wait to get to the real heat down in the South.
Oh, and Dawn started driving. I finally gave up the wheel to let her experience the open road. She's doing a great job by the way. This afternoon, we crossed over the Mississippi and into Minnesota. OMG! It was so cool!! The scope of our trip is getting to us. A-ma-zing! We did see a sign for a drive-through liquor store. I'm not sure how they can get away with that...
Anyway, we had planned on going to the Minneapolis Sculpture Graden today, but after all of the driving we did, we decided to find a place to spend the night and go tomorrow.

States Visited: Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Wisconsin (7/50)
Provinces Visited: Ontario (1/10)
License Plates Seen: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming (45/50)
Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec (5/10)

Day Four: The Windy City

Today we decided to go Outlet Shopping. We know we could go shopping at home, but it's not very often we can go to a Vera Bradley Outlet! So we spent a few hours there. We decided to have lunch in a nie little park. There wasn't much to it, but it had a few picnic tables and we were able to even out some of our tanlines. We headed back to the hotel to rest up for the second half of our day.
In the afternoon, we headed for the city. We wanted to see the sights we missed yesterday. The first stop was Wrigley Field. There was actually a game today. When we were there it was the bottom of the 5th and the Cubs were losing 5-11, but a large roar went up in the crowd as we continued down the road. The next stop was the Navy Pier and Lake Michigan. We went up on the Ferris Wheel and it was so scary! The Wheel is so high!! It was totally worth it. We continued on towards Michigan Avenue, a.k.a. The Magnificient Mile. It was as if you were walking down the streets of New York- all the same over-priced stores. However, the farther down you walk, the more it opens up. We walked down the Chicago River Walk, and saw the Chicago Tribune Building. We decided to head back to the hotel afterwards- and didn't get lost! We made it out of the city with no big problems!
As a side note, we went to the grocery store this morning and it was amazing! We were able to buy our coffee and creamer for under five dollars! So, along with cheaper gas (for the most part), they also have cheaper food prices!
We are planning on leaving Illinois tomorrow, and head to Minneapolis. Time for more shopping!! It is now time for bed. All of this excitement and time-zone-change is making us tired! Good night!

Here is the link to our pictures. These are the ones that have not been updated yet to include today's pictures.
 https://picasaweb.google.com/117778525927249268593/LifeIsAHighway02?authkey=Gv1sRgCJWbkIzJgIjRlQE&feat=directlink
Hope it works!States Visited: Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New York (5/50)
Provinces Visited: Ontario (1/10)
License Plates Seen: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin (41/50)
New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec (3/10)

Day Three: A Taste of Chicago

After a very restful night in Port Huron, Michigan, it was off towards Chicago. It was definitely an interesting drive. We passed through Flint, without much flare, except for the GM facility, which was kind of cool, at least the building was. Next up was Lansing, which wasn't anything special, either. We went through Battle Creek, and were really looking forward to seeing the cereal plants, but couldn't see anything from the highway, except the sign for the Kellogg Arena. So, then it was off to the Windy City. We crossed into Indiana, and they didn't even have a sign welcoming you. We had to go to the rest area to find it, which was a little disappointing. Then it was through Gary. It is definitely a city, with lots of smokestacks and buildings. Not very attractive. In other words, there's not much to see on the Michigan highways, except that they are working on all of them and the cones all over the place.
After the disappointment of Toronto yesterday, we were a little worried about Chicago. It is actually amazing, like Adam said. We found a parking spot and walked around the city. We went to Millenium Park and saw the Cloud Gate and walked around the Taste of Chicago. That was intereresting because they really know how to take people's money. The tickets were a little expensive so we decided against buying them. And then there was the guy we saw with the SUPER BAD comb-over. All of his hair was short, except for a piece that was long enough to wrap around his baldspot. We continued walking around, trying to see what we should do tomorrow. There's a list going, including some shopping :0)
We spent an hour looking for a hotel room since the traffic pattern made it very difficult to exit when we wanted to. We ended up in a suburb of the city. Unfirtunately our room is right in front of the stairs and apparently no one here knows how to walk down them quietly. Also, we are pretty sure that the lady down the hall is having an affair. Two people came out of a room, hugged and kissed, and then only one left. It might not sound very suspicious, but it looked very sketchy. Maybe it was just the two people involved. The guy's car had a photon shooter decal on it. Then we went to dinner at this place called "Connie's" and it was delicious. We had a deep-dish pizza and some breadsticks. The pizza was probably the best we've had (even better than Country Pizza...) And now that it is 9:00, it is time try to get our pictures up, but the WiFi at the hotel is not working very well. Until tomorrow!
States Visited: Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New York (5/50)
Provinces Visited: Ontario (1/10)
License Plates Seen: Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin (38/50)
New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec (3/10)

Day Two: Canada?? Eh...

Today's task was two-fold. First, before leaving Niagara Falls, we needed to experience the Maid of the Mist. It was the best $16.50 we spent today. We were lucky enough to get towards the front of the boat, so we got some pretty cool pictures. We decided that this was all we needed to do before leaving, so we headed out to Toronto. The ride there was interesting. Not quite what we would have expected, but Lake Ontario was rather impressive. It was a pretty quick drive, so when you drive into Toronto, the first thing you notice is the CN Tower. We decided to find somewhere to park and get out to walk around. (Pretty sure the angry money collector cheated us just because we are American.) We walked down the boardwalk, which was really cool, but not too much to see other than boats for tours. We stopped to watch the street performer, but he wasn't really doing much more than just begging for money. We continued on and met a guy who was so surprised to see twins. Luckily the trolley went by and ended the conversation. (Pretty sure he pushed his friend down who was cleaning his wounds from rollerblading...) We were going to go movie stalk, but had no idea where to go, so we'll say that there was indeed a star in the limo that pulled up next to us. Other than that, there was not much to the city. We were going to stay in the city, but decided to carry on to our next destination.
There is not much between Toronto and Michigan. We wanted to leave Canada today since it just wasn't very interesting. We crossed the border at Port Huron this afternoon. It is now 9:47 and the sun has finally set. It's weird eating dinner at 9:00 and it's still very bright out. And with that, it is bedtime, with a really comfy bed!!
(Oh, and of course we pick the hotel that has no view of the fireworks but will keep us up for a little bit longer!)
Promise the link to the pictures will be up tomorrow!
Until tomorrow!

States Visited: Connecticut, Michigan, New York (3/50)
Provinces Visited: Ontario (1/10)
License Plates Seen: California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin (30/50)
Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec (3/10)

Day One: Canada, Eh?

We left home (only) an hour and a half later than we planned, but we finally left around 9:30. Our first stop was to see the World's Second Largest Garden Gnome. You would think that it would be difficult to hide a garden gnome 15 feet high, but we couldn't find it anywhere!! We looked and looked all over the small town in New York and couldn't spot it. That's why we aren't detectives, I guess... But we did spot a very interesting consolation prize- a *very bad* fake cow on Rollerblades. Who knew!
After about 6 more hours of driving through New York, and several very heavy downpours, we saw signs for Niagara Falls. Of course, with our combined ability of using the GPS, we managed to get turned around quite a bit. (Sad, I know.) Then we had to sit on the bridge to get to Canada for about 35 minutes. I was kind of surprised that we only lost a total of 50 minutes on our entire trip today! That might be a record for the two of us over such a long drive. And of course, there were very few rooms left in town, since there are apparently a lot of Connecticut people around (according to the hotel clerk), we had to settle for an overpriced room. Oh well, I guess that's what we get for waiting around too long.
Anyway, after we had the room all set, we decided to take a walk down to the Falls. Thinking it was a short walk, we left the hotel around 7. Well, it was about a 3.5 mile walk. Should've put on the running shoes. We checked out the Falls. Did some of the touristy stuff. Then we decided to stick around to see them lit up at night. The friendly police officer said that they were lit around 9:30, so we decided to stop and get a coffee to waste some time. We wasted a little bit too much time, and they were already lit up by the time we went back. They did look very pretty though! We decided that it was time to make the 3.5 mile trip back to the hotel, uphill this time. Definitely got in a great  lower body workout with all that walking around, after doing all that sitting!
We are going to check out the Maid of the Mist tomorrow morning and then off to Toronto for a couple of days.
A link to pictures will follow tomorrow.
Thanks for checking in!

States Visited: Connecticut, New York (2/50)
Provinces Visited: Ontario (1/10)
License Plates Seen: California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia (24/50)

After almost a year of planning, it's finally time for our AMAZING roadtrip! In honor of our trip, here is the last picture I want to add before we start blogging about our trip. This is the card I made for Robyn, and I think it is fitting enough to put it up here today!!

On the inside of this one, it says, "Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass; it's about learning to dance in the rain." I saw this quote and knew that I wanted to use it for a card like this. And now, it's off to begin our "Summer of Awesomeness" as Po from Kung Fu Panda would say!!

Class of 2011

Since today is the last day of school, I have decided to show this card. It is one that we made for the seniors on the track team this year.

And now that summer is finally here, tomorrow is the big day! We have been waiting for almost a year to start our roadtrip. Hopefully we won't get sick of each other over the next two months, or I'll be the one left in Montana!!

Hello There!

Today is our last full day of school- finally! And to celebrate, here is another card I dug out of my collection of pictures. This one was for our sister in Texas, and she just loved it! I love these colors together. They are the same ones used on another card we made, but I'll post that one on Saturday!

Summer!

After a wicked winter, and a pretty decent spring, it's finally summertime! Time for some sun, and more importantly, relaxation! Here is the card we made to celebrate this time of year. The sunglasses are charms, and the bright colors remind us of the season. The itsy, bitsy, teeny, tiny, yellow polka dot bikini adds a nice touch!!

After this card, I can't wait for school to end and vacation to start!! Only have to make it through 3 more days!!

Another Project

Here is another card I made for a co-worker who is retiring this year. It's a nice and simple card, but I think it's just so adorable!! It's shaped like an apple, and there is white paper to write inside. I love the little sparkle added to it.

Only a few more days until summer vacation! I can't wait!!

Happy Father's Day!

So, today is Father's Day. We're lucky to have such a wonderful dad, who will do anything for us, and we'd do anything for him! He is enjoying some alone time this weekend, which he definitely deserves! Here's to the biggest fish in the pond!!



I got the idea for this card from another person, but I can't remember where I saw it. Unlike most of our projects, I can't take credit for this one.

Catching Up

I didn't realize how long it's been since I updated this. We've been pretty busy, and haven't done as many projects as we would like. Now that the end of the school year is close, we have some more time on our hands. I do plan on putting some of them up here this weekend.