Today was another driving day as we were supposed to get to Bozeman, Montana to spend the night before heading down through Yellowstone National Park. So we left Whitewood and drove through the rest of South Dakota, through part of Wyoming, and through Montana. Again it was so interesting to see the changes in each state and realize what crops they grew and how much irrigation was necessary. These are big time farmers out here and they have huge operations. I just can't imagine the amount of work going into their farms and the number of people it takes to get the job done. We stopped at Little Big Horn Battlefield and Cemetery. It preserves the site of the June 25 and 26, 1876, Battle of the Little Bighorn, near Crow Agency, Montana, in the United ... read more

Today we had a great breakfast at the hotel and headed toward our first stop of the day.....Antique Archaeology in Le Claire, Iowa. This is the home of the American Pickers, Mike, Frank, and Danielle. I didn't originally plan this stop but when I was looking at the GPS I learned that it was only about 2 miles from the Interstate we were traveling. It seemed logical to stop there since we all watch the show. The place was just like you see on TV, but it seemed to be much smaller in person. Since we all watch the show it was exciting to visit their shop. Le Claire sits on the banks of the Mississippi River and has some beautiful homes. Though none of the stars were there we still had a great time! Back ... read more

So this will be our last post for this trip. It has been an awesome trip and feels like we have been gone forever......this is day 25 away from home!! We are at JFK awaiting our flight to PIT at 9:30 We land there at 11:00 and then head for WV. No matter hw much I love to travel, my favorite part is coming home. While it may sound trite "There's no place like home!!" This post will be a wrap up of the trip.....the things we loved, hated, laughed at, & found challenging. So, as Shealyn says, lets start at the very beginning....a very fine pace to start(obviously we watched The Sound of Music on the flight home). First of all we liked that we exchanged some money before we arrived. It helped us with ... read more

Today is the day we have looked forward too since we started this journey. Today was Keukenhof Garden day! Keukenhof Garden is a beautiful showcase of tulips, hyacinths, daffodils, orchids, calla lilies, and many other flowers. There are over 7 million flower bulbs planted so that they bloom continually throughout May. When we first starting planning this trip we decided we wanted to come this time of year so we could see the tulip fields. Sadly the tulips are harvested the first week of May or the end of April so we didn't get to see the fields of tulips but Keukenhof remains open until May 21 so we did get to see the beautiful flowers there. They are everywhere! So while this particular tour did not go to Keukenhof, we ventured out on our own, ... read more

Today started with breakfast at our hotel. I think it was by far the worst breakfast we have been offered. All the breakfasts on this trip are buffet. Typically there is plenty...scrambled or hard boiled eggs, various rolls and breads, meats, cheeses, bacon or ham, yogurt, cereal, fruit and a variety of coffees or cappuccino. Today the yogurt was not very good; the fruit was from a can; the scrambled eggs and bacon were not cooked well and so on. Surprisingly enough the hard boiled eggs were NOT cooked. You had to cook the yourself! BUT the croissants were the best we’ve had and topped off with Presidents butter....marvelous. The coffee was from two coffee machines. We weren’t smart enough to figure out one and he other only had had chocolate, cappuccino, and cafe au lait ... read more