After picking up our things quickly and showering at the campsite, we looked for cheap gas and some bagels in town. After that success, we went in search of 17 mile drive, avoiding Pebble Beach and its hefty tolls but getting a sight of it from the rest of the scenic drive. We finished the drive ending up in Monterey again, then jumped on Route 1 to take the Scenic Drive towards Santa Barbara. On the way we stopped in Big Sur to take in the sights, bought some pastries at Big Sur Bakery due to an article Katy read about it the day before, and continued onward. *While driving, our guidebook mentioned that Neverland Ranch would be on our way. Having only been a week since Michael Jackson's death, we knew we had to drive ... read more

We woke up early after staying at the Avenues Hostel. Though it was nice to have a bed to sleep on, the atmosphere was less than stellar. We left and drove a bit out of town to Ruth’s Diner, featured in our guidebook as one of the best places to have breakfast and the 2nd oldest restaurant in town. As soon as we were seated our server brought out a warm biscuit that topped even the meal that followed. We ordered some dishes the server suggested and then were on our way into the city center to explore. Our first stop, following the map given to us by the hostel, was the Mormon Temple center. We arrived just in town for a tour and were taken on a 30 minute session explaining parts of the religion, ... read more

The best thing about this trip is that each place we go the scenery becomes even more beautiful. The Badlands were majestic a couple days back, but can hardly compare to Yellowstone National Park. We stopped in Buffalo, WY, as our guidebook said it was a quaint and historic Western town and fell for it right away. We went to tourist information first to pick up a historic walking guide and asked for recommendations on where to go to lunch. The woman at the office suggested a place a couple doors down called Sagewood Cafe which was a sandwich/soup/coffee place serving lunch in the back of a gift and speciality store. We ordered soup and half sandwiches each, some coffee drinks, and split homemade rubarb pie for dessert. After, we began the walk down the historic ... read more

We woke up the next morning with plans to drive as much as possible en route to our next big destination of the Badlands Park. First, we ate breakfast (the amish rolls of course) and then explored the Minnesota park a bit, attempting to find a geocache they were advertising, but found that it would take much longer than the anticipated 1.5 hours. After following the coordinates of 3 hints, and accidentally driving on a hiking only trail, we decided to give up and really start driving. Our first stop en route was at a small rest stop to eat the leftovers for the night before. After continuing on, we found a roadside advertisement for the Corn Palace, and drove to it for a short photo op and to buy some caramel corn on the cob. ... read more

We (…Can) tend to be slow risers in the morning, but were able to get up, showered, and have some tea boiled for breakfast before leaving the campsite around …10?....On route to Chicago we spotted in a FAMOUS hotdog place, where even Margaret Thatcher (among many other celebrities and political figures) had gone to eat the famous food and shared a lunch of chilli, loaded hotdogs, stuffed cabbage and other heartburning foods. We made it into Chicago, just to find that the clocks had gone back an hour, leaving us time to explore the city just a bit, with a ride up to the Sears Tower for a breathtaking view of the city and beyond. The city itself, though we didn’t see much of it, seems to be really poppin in the summertime, with even a ... read more