Day 13 - San Francisco

I do NOT like the big city. That includes San Francisco and its outskirts. I think we all got stressed just thinking about driving, and Dad actually had to! Still, we dropped the car, furniture, and uhaul where they needed to go.

It's weird how cold it is here! I can hardly stand outside without freezing. The wind chill factor makes it really bad. What's weird is it never really gets cold in the winter here - I think Dad said never below 50...

Another thing we saw a lot of in California, at least in the area we drove in, had dry grass and lots of vineyards. There are hills no matter where you turn, and the water here seems browner than most I've seen. And it's different than Chicago. Chicago seemed to cleaner (to me) than San Francisco. And maybe it's just me, but Chicago seems more... modern?

Lindsey

Day 12(wow) - Cali

I can't believe it's already the 12th day already! I had a nice time today. We saw some redwood trees. It wasn't the ones you can drive through, but they were still huge! It seems like that two or three (or more) will grow together and make a huge tree.

I guess when you think of California, you think of the glamorous Hollywood or big cities like San Francisco. It is so different where we were! It was mostly hills, a lot like the Floyd Knobs, and they had towns with an exact population count of like 300. Teeny tiny towns, no phone service. Kinda crazy!

Tomorrow, we're taking the furniture from the uhaul and packing it or something for Hawaii. Then we get to ditch the uhaul(thank goodness). Saturday, the car gets ready to leave, and Sunday I get to see Shannon before I leave! Monday - we leave. So I will keep everyone posted on the last few, hectic days before the first day of the rest of my life comes!

Lindsey

Day 11 - Oregon

I think that is how you spell it.

I can't really talk much tonight as I am working on getting my Algebra II done (yay) I can say that we got into civilization again and it feels nice. I love the feeling of the old Western towns, but I don't feel at home there. Yet. I hope to love in one someday... but that is another story.

Lindsey

Day 10 - Montana/Idaho

We left Yellowstone this morning and went to this old Western town called Garnier. (I think that's how they spelled it) It was so cool - like old time Western towns!

So, besides that we did mostly driving. I could tell a difference between Montana and Wyoming - I think it's because Montana seems so dry. Everyone there seems to live life in a Western style, though. Even people who lived in little sub divisions had horses in the backyard. Very cool.

Now we are in "Scenic Idaho" and 3 hours behind Indiana. Haven't seem much of it too much, I'll report more tomorrow.

Lindsey

Day 9 - Yellowstone

Wow, still in Wyoming.

I got to see many interesting things today. We went to the Grand Teton National Park. It was pretty, but there wasn't much to do. And then we went to like this Mexican restaurant? In the Wyoming mountains? Kinda odd, but my chicken quesadilla was delicious.

We also saw Old Faithful! It's such a shame that the new visitor center opens a month after we leave. It was neat though. They can predict Old Faithful within ten minutes of when it will erupt. For of those of you who don't know, they got the name Old Faithful because it has kept this predictability for many, many, many years. It was quite interesting to see, and I read today that people used to use it for washing their clothes!! Anyway, there are more little geysers we should see tomorrow. I'll keep everyone posted.

Lindsey

Day 7 & 8 - More and more Wyoming

Forgot to update the blog yesterday. Oops.

Yesterday, I got to do something great! I was able to ride for about 5 hours straight with a personal guide! It was so enjoyable. There is so much beautiful land that you can't see in the car. I rode a paint horse named Cookie. (See the picture!)

Today, we entered into Yellowstone. We saw some geysers - not Old Faithful, yet, though. They were so neat. Some were different colors, some were very murky, and some were so clear you could see the bottom, even though it had to be more than 12 feet deep. It is very tempting to dip your feet into the clear blue ones with a gentle steam coming off them, but some are almost 200 degrees hot! Also, it's illegal. They may be beautiful, but the stench is very strong. Sulphur. (It smells exactly like rotten eggs)

The lakes here are gorgeous too! I got a few amazing pictures of the waterfall. Sadly, they are on my other camera and can't be posted. But be sure to check out the pics I was able to upload! If only the elk turned her head... I would upload more but the devil we call a laptop refuses to upload more.

Take care all...

Lindsey

Day 6 - Wyoming Again

Maybe the title suggests I'm tired of Wyoming, or at least that it seems common place, but not so...

I am still loving it! We only drove about an hour from our last destination. Here, there is nothing to do (today) but tomorrow, me and my dad are both heading off for adventures! Me? What else? Horseback riding! 6 hours of straight riding, roaming the untouched mountains of Wyoming. And Dad is going Four Wheeling for awhile.

That's all there is to say today. I even got to write the blog earlier since I doubt the only thing I will be doing from now until evening is read. What's really neat is I'm sitting outside without the rush of the traffic, and I have a sweater on. (And still cold!)

Lindsey

Day 5 - Wyoming

Today we came into Wyoming - it is my favorite state so far! The mountains are so beautiful and the nature is so unspoiled. We went to a national monument called the Devil's Tower. It's a huge, random, towering, rock slab. It was 875 feet tall and people were climbing it! I got pleny of good pictures, but I still cannot upload them. I may not be able to until I get to Hawaii...

Anyway, we are staying at a nice place in the mountains. We are looking for a guest ranch to go real horseback riding - not that lame nose and tail trails you usually ride on. I bought the coolest bracelet in the world. It's real horsehair, tightly bounded and currently one of my favorites.

I will keep everyone posted on how the ride went. (Hopefully we'll get to ride tomorrow)

Lindsey

Day 4 - Mount Rushmore

EDIT: Pictures!!!!

Today was a looong one. We entered into the Black Hills. You may wonder why they're called that. We were thinking was the color of the rocks were black, or at least some other dark color, but it was the trees. From far away, they looked black. I guess I better tell you what they are too. They aren't really hills as the name suggests. They are mountains - not big - and it's the location of Mount Rushmore!

Mount Rushmore is amazing. You've likely seen pictures of it, but it just can't compare to the real thing! Unfortunately, it was extremely foggy so it was kinda hard to see George, Thomas, Teddy, and Abe. I got some amazing pictures, though! I have found a way to upload them, but I probably won't be able to since we were all very eager to get settled down tonight.

Anyway, I can't close today's entry without talking about Custer! It was so amazing. We went into the state park, and wild buffalo just got on the street, right next to the cars! There were also deer, prairie dogs, and "wild" burros we got to feed. I guess some of the burros have figured out humans mean food, but others stayed away.

When we left there, we went to an amzing place... in the middle of nowhere. It's really hard to describe the beauty we saw, but I guess I can put it this way: No matter where you turn, there is trees sitting on mountains everywhere. The biggest town was only a block long, and there were only log cabins around. The valley was hidden in a misty fog that transfixed you into a different world....

Lindsey

Day 3 - South Dakota

Today we left Minnesota and entered South Dakota. At first I wasn't all that impressed, it looked a lot like Indiana.

But when we started going out further, I could see how unique it was! Hills and valleys flooded the area, as far as the eye could see! There was so much hay, it was bundled on the side of the highway. What was really interesting, though, was when we entered the Badlands National Park. I don't really know how to describe it. There were HUGE pillars of what seemed to be dirt and sand, some hundreds (thousands?) of feet tall! I can't wait until I can show everyone the pictures. They were absolutely beautiful.

Before we entered Badlands National Park, we entered an "old" town. It was set up like you would see in the 1800's, very cool! It said some of the buildings were originals, from like the prairie times and travelled from different places. There was a saloon, school, homes, barns, firehouses, post offices... you name it. There was also a homestead with long horned cattle. Not to mention a horse (he was soooo sweet!) and get this. A CAMEL!

Didn't get to Mount Rushmore today, actually. I am almost 100% positive we will make it there by tomorrow. It's probably less than an hour away from where we are staying now. Until tomorrow night...

Lindsey

P.S. I am two hours behind you guys right now. So if you are looking for someone to talk to when it's late (your time) feel free to!!

Day 2 - Driving!

The name says all. We drove a lot, all day, rather. We went through Wisconsin and got to sample some cheese. It was odd. Kinda an eggy texture and very salty. Not sure if I would pay close to 6 dollars for a small bag, but it was kinda neat to try it!

We also went through Minnesota. Like Wisconsin, there was a lot of corn and farms. Really, they both reminded me of Indiana, except for one thing. It's not nearly as humid here, thank goodness! It's actually kinda nice!

I was able to get a picture of the Mississppii (never learned how to spell that) River. I may be able to upload it later. We ate dinner at a locally owned resteraunt. It wasn't very good. The meat in my spaghetti was processed and Dad said his fish was tasteless, and the mashed potatoes were instant! Oh well. It was clean and warm.

Tomorrow we're heading off to Mount Rushmore. I will try to take plenty of pictures!
Until tomorrow...

Lindsey

Day 1 - Heading out

July 18th, 2010 - Today I woke up at 6:45 AM. It was such a weird feeling to wake up in an empty room with no sunshine coming through the windows, but it matched my mood perfectly. Since we already packed the Uhaul the day before, there really wasn't much to do. Take a shower. Clean the house. Say goodbye. It was bittersweet leaving, but when I was on the road, there was no going back.



The ride to Indy was not all that great. I worked on some schoolwork, and did a little reading. We hit a bad storm when coming out of Indianapolis but we (thankfully) got out of it quickly. We got stuck in traffic for at least an hour, the GPS had us going around in circles, and we were pretty hungry. To add to the stress, we entered Chicago. It was very, very busy and there had to be hundreds of people and cars no matter where you turned. Despite this, the city was beautiful. You didn't see a lot of smog - the skies were blue and Lake Michigan sparkled at the edge. Yet, I learned I am, no doubt, a small town girl.

Out of Chicago, we grabbed a bite to eat and now we are at the hotel. I think I will be heading down to Wisconsin tomorrow.