Road Trip, Day Two
Today could have benefited from a little more planning. First of all, had I realised I had an old friend living about 30 miles down the road from the hotel where I stayed last night, I would have pushed that little bit farther and made an effort to see him. If I had done so, I wouldn't have been staying at a hotel sitting practically on the line between two timezones, which confused my phone and caused me to oversleep. (I set the alarm for 8:00 AM, and it went off at 7:00, so I reset it for 9:00, and it went off at 9:00.)
If I had been that much farther down the road, and had gotten up in time, I might have made it to Minnesota in time to hit up the Laura Ingalls Wilder museum that my sister wanted me to check out. As it was, I got there about 30 minutes after they had closed. I did, however, stop briefly at the lovely Kickapoo Creek Winery in Illinois. As some of you know, it's my goal to try wine from every state in the US, and IL hadn't been crossed off my list yet. I'm glad I picked that winery. It was really excellent. Their October Red rivaled some of the best red wines I've had (I was not surprised to discover it was made with Chambourcin grapes), and they also had a line of chocolate-fruit wines which is not something I've seen since I was in Colorado in 2006. It was a chore finding space in the truck for even the two bottles I ended up buying. I think I'm going to stop collecting wine glasses though. A large collection of glassware is something a frequent traveler like myself can ill afford.
I've discovered a couple variations on Murphy's Law for roadtripping with a cat:
1) If you plan to eat or drink something, you WILL drop it in the litter box.
2) Electronics WILL end up in the water dish.
Made it to Mitchell, SD just like I hoped tonight, though the wind across the prairie took a serious bite out of my gas mileage. Yesterday, I was doing a little over 300 miles per tank of gas, and today I barely managed 250. We'll see how tomorrow goes. I am now in the land of 75 mph speed limits, but I'm not sure my poor little truck can manage that, loaded down as she is (I should get pictures). I'm going to try to make it to Butte, MT tomorrow night, which is a long push, but I want there to be less mileage to cover on Day Four when I have to tackle the Rockies.
If I had been that much farther down the road, and had gotten up in time, I might have made it to Minnesota in time to hit up the Laura Ingalls Wilder museum that my sister wanted me to check out. As it was, I got there about 30 minutes after they had closed. I did, however, stop briefly at the lovely Kickapoo Creek Winery in Illinois. As some of you know, it's my goal to try wine from every state in the US, and IL hadn't been crossed off my list yet. I'm glad I picked that winery. It was really excellent. Their October Red rivaled some of the best red wines I've had (I was not surprised to discover it was made with Chambourcin grapes), and they also had a line of chocolate-fruit wines which is not something I've seen since I was in Colorado in 2006. It was a chore finding space in the truck for even the two bottles I ended up buying. I think I'm going to stop collecting wine glasses though. A large collection of glassware is something a frequent traveler like myself can ill afford.
I've discovered a couple variations on Murphy's Law for roadtripping with a cat:
1) If you plan to eat or drink something, you WILL drop it in the litter box.
2) Electronics WILL end up in the water dish.
Made it to Mitchell, SD just like I hoped tonight, though the wind across the prairie took a serious bite out of my gas mileage. Yesterday, I was doing a little over 300 miles per tank of gas, and today I barely managed 250. We'll see how tomorrow goes. I am now in the land of 75 mph speed limits, but I'm not sure my poor little truck can manage that, loaded down as she is (I should get pictures). I'm going to try to make it to Butte, MT tomorrow night, which is a long push, but I want there to be less mileage to cover on Day Four when I have to tackle the Rockies.