Day 3

Day 3 (Saturday) Started with such promise. Or not.

A horrible night at the Jellystone park led to a mercifully early waking. We crawled noisily through Wisconsin Dells. Along the way I noticed 132 different Water Parks. Each one better than the last and all of them able to speak directly to Jeffrey's brain with soothing visions of days and days of gravity-based watery fun.

We finally found the car repair place (hovlandtire.com‎) and met the incredibly nice, but overly optimistic mechanic who hoisted the car up on the jack and announced that our car was not suffering from a frozen caliper, but a seized bearing that had led to a ruined rear axle. After watching him work the phones and hearing estimates of Monday, it became clear that, at best, parts would be in on Monday and the car would be on the road Tuesday, but the more likely scenario was Parts ordered on Monday, arriving at the earliest Tuesday, with the car on the car on the road no earlier than Wednesday.

Rather than wait for the car, we decided to rent something and get back on the road. It meant changing our return route, but waiting for the car meant changing the route as well. So, we called Hertz and by around 1:30 we were in a Honda and on on our way once more.

To get back toward our schedule as best we could, we drove the 600 miles to Badlands Np that day and night. But, it was still the trip, and that meant not stressing too much that we missed the bits we shouldn't miss.

The bigs finds of the day were:

Great River Bluffs (http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/great_river_bluffs/index.html). About a 3 mile (round trip) hike to a beautiful overlook of the Mississippi just across the River in Minnesota.

The Spam Museum (http://www.spam.com/museum/)
As surreal as the words "Spam Museum" are, they don't prepare you for the greatness.

Jolly Green Giant statue in Blue Earth, Minnesota (http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2127)
Huh?

Sadly, the demolition derby next to the statue had already begun, and looked packed to the gills.

Chief Joseph plaque larger

Day 2 - July 25

I am going to start writing a day by day recollection while I remember. This was supposed to be a daily exercise on the trip, but I ended up driving all the time instead.

Day 2 started well and ended like shit. We woke up in Indiana Dunes, had breakfast of pop-tarts and boiled eggs for snack. The campsite was nice, but a bit dirty (not with trash, the ground just had loose dirt on it).
Packing proved that packing would be fun throughout the trip, but we managed to get everyone and everything in.

We hit the road later than planned. This was the only day we had a time to be anywhere, but we e-mailed ahead and there was no problem being later. We hit Chicago around 11am and traffic was hell. I now pause while you all collectively say, "duh". I am not saying I wasn’t expecting the traffic - only that it sucked.

We went to the church in Rockford where Laurie and I met (http://www.uurockford.org/). The secretary’s were kind of enough to let us meander freely through the church for a bit and I reminisced and took a few pictures and we were on our way. We stopped at the McDonald’s where Laurie and I had walked when we first met.

Now that we were past Chicago, traffic still sucked. To spread the fun throughout the state, Illinois had 90 under construction (adding a lane) from Rockford North. Once we got into Wisconsin, traffic eased and we started making good time. Every exit through Wisconsin had some sort of cheese shop. We came over all peckish, so we curtailed our travels momentarily, sallied forth and infiltrated a place of purveyance to negotiate the vending of some cheesy comestibles.

By this point, Jeffrey had burnt to a crisp. He had slept most of the way to the church and just baked in the back seat. I had reminded him to sunscreen before we got going, but did not follow-up.

So we were cruising along, past Madison. We wondered if the city acted like an early teen, slightly spoiled, rich girl. Then the car made a horrible screeching noise and started driving like it was in sand. I got out and saw some fluid on the back, right tire and thought that the caliper had frozen shut. We limped to the next exit (exit 92 - route 12, Wisconsin Dells, Baraboo). It was just after 5pm so I crawled through town looking for anywhere that might be able to fix a car. Nothing.

I stopped in the parking lot of the Crystal Grand Music Theatre and called State Farm for Roadside Assistance. I found out that it wasn’t Roadside Assistance, so much as Roadside Reimbursement, cursed a little and moved on to find somewhere to spend the night. The first place I looked, an Econolodge next to the theatre had just filled, so I headed up the road. I found a little place called the Olympia Motel and got a price of just over $100 for a night at an outside entrance, tiny room. The guy behind the desk also gave me the name & number of a repair place with Saturday hours. After balking at the price, I noticed a billboard for a Jellystone park only a mile away. I called, they had a spot I could put a tent, they charged m Rack rate for an RV spot, but I still took it, thinking $20 saved is $20.

We squeaked our way up there and found a horrible spot for a tent. Additionally the mosquitoes were horrible. After 5 minutes, I called and asked for a refund. No dice, I was told. After pushing I got the second of the 2-night mandatory stay refunded, but I was still stuck there for the night. 132 Cindy’s Circle.

We walked 1.5 miles to an Uno’s had some dinner and walked back and slept.

Map of the Day:


View Larger Map

Home

We pushed through the night after getting the car. Killed few hours at a few rest stops and got home a couple hours ago.

I will try to get some more pictures up today to Flickr and will post if I get that done.