Now THAT Was a Long Day!

Well, we decided to plow our way home today rather than spend another night in a motel. We were up and out of the Hampton Inn in Fairmont, Minnesota by 7:30AM ready for the long drive. We stopped once for gas, twice for snacks, twice for pictures, and twice to pee. That was it. The boys held it together pretty good. We rolled in to Livonia after driving 727 miles in 12 hours. It's new Patrick family record! Everyone is glad to be sleeping in their own bed tonight. Over the past 16 days we drove 5,831 miles through 15 states. We saw the Rocky Mountains, the Grand Canyon, Legoland & Magic Mountain, San Francisco, Mount Rushmore, and a million other things...

Final tally: Justin and Joshua spotted License Plates from 47 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, 6 Canadian provinces, and 3 Mexican provinces. Good job, boys!

Michigan!

Home Sweet Home...almost.

Almost...

Chicago, Illinois

Mouse House, Windsor, Wisconsin

Rapid City, South Dakota to Fairmont, Minnesota

Are we home yet? No? Darn. Another day of driving with not a lot to see. We were lazy getting up and didn't get to our complimentary breakfast at the Comfort Inn in Rapid City, South Dakota until 9:15AM. Back on I-90, the only highlights were stops at Wall Drug in Wall, South Dakota and the Corn Palace in Mitchell. Basically, two tourist traps. Oh well, at least we got out of the car for a bit. Driving by the Badlands was pretty nice. Jennifer thinks she spotted a couple buffalo's grazing on the side of the road. Hmm. We've definitely left the mountains behind now. In fact, it's flat and boring again. At least it didn't rain. We stopped for dinner at Perkin's, then tried unsuccessfully to find the state of Iowa. They must have moved it. This gave John another headache so he moped for the last hour or so. Once we checked into the Hampton Inn in Fairmont, Minnesota we headed for the pool as usual. It was nice and warm, but way too crowded. We swam for 45 minutes or so and called it a night. Only 2 more days and we'll be back in Michigan...or maybe we'll be home tomorrow.

License Plates: Georgia, Rhode Island, Mississippi, Guam, Manitoba Canada

Corn Palace, Mitchell, South Dakota

Wall Drug, Wall, South Dakota