I now HATE Rand Mcnally and their maps

August 14-19

Trying to enjoy Chicago is a lot harder when you have to navigate the hellish streets and dozen or so freeways that cover everything for at least a 20 mile radius. Add to this the construction that is EVERYWHERE in Illinois, Rand Mcnally's complete lack of details (even when they zoom in on a city), and me getting less than 8 hours of sleep the night before, and you have a very frustrated, rage-filled driver. The City and lake were very beautiful, but when the Planetarium/Aquarium/Museum wanted 15$ just to park (with no idea how much more admission was for each), Gpa and I gave up and left. I take back what I said about Madison, it was a cakewalk compared to Chicago. The worst part was trying to get out.

We continued West into the bottom tip of Iowa, and through the top of Missouri, which makes a total of 7 new states I have never been to before. When we crossed back into Iowa on our way north, we spotted an Amish settlement, right on the highway. They looked just like you see them in the movies, with traditional clothing, big beards, and carriges. I've always been curious to talk with some, but I figured it would be rude to just pull over on the side of the road and start asking questions.

Straight north through Iowa put us back into Missouri, where we hit I-90 which we plan to take all the way to Washington. Today we went through Mt. Rushmore, but not before stopping at the "Reptile Gardens", which turned out to have quite a few very nice exhibits and shows. Rushmore itself was nice, but half the tourist at any given time insist on stopping and taking photos in the middle of the walkway, instead of waiting to get up to the viewing area. I shouldn't criticize, I'm extremely shutter-happy when I have a camera in my hands. However, the 20$ digital camera we got at Walmart is a piece of absolute shit that didn't come with the software necessary for it to work properly. I spent over 2 hours online trying to find the driver or software, but still nothing. So, we are without a camera, much to the dismay of my mother.

Getting out of Rushmore and headed west again proved to be another fiasco. This time, I know for a FACT it wasn't me missing something, Rand Mcnally really did fuck up the map in this area. After I was done frothing at the mouth and we were away from the giant tourist trap that surrounds Rushmore, we took highway 16 west into Wyoming, which is were we'll be spending the night. Next is Montana, Idaho, and then back to Washington. Just 3 states to go!

Lesson of the Day: Cheese becomes a liquid-plasma substance when not refrigerated. Many/Most motels do not have a mini fridge. Trying to bring cheese back from Wisconsin is a risky prospect.

-Kings of the Road