Road Trek 2005 is underway! We were on the road Friday at 5:30 a.m. Quick run to Oshkosh to drop our dog off with Amy’s parents. Thanks Mom & Dad Verwiel! Hope she’s doing well! We then hopped on 21 and raced across Wisconsin. We stopped in LaCrosse to drive up Granddad Bluff. Took some great pictures up there. We were then on I-90 westbound over the Mississippi and into Minnesota. I was a bit crushed that we didn’t have time to visit the SPAM museum in Austin, MN. We rolled into Walnut Grove, MN around 3:30 p.m. We established our campsite and then did the whole “Laura Ingalls Wilder” thing in town. It’s a neat museum and a nice visit for two history majors. We then drove out to the site of the original “dugout” house back in the 1800’s. Amy had a field day snapping pictures of wildflowers in a prairie restoration project in this area.
95 degrees today and pretty humid. I had a whole thought in my head about how I could gain sympathy about the heat on this trip. However, Amy and I later received an email from our friend Pete who is based in Iraq. He’s got us beat regarding temperature… (Great chatting with you Thursday night Pete…)
We’re off to Mt. Rushmore, The Badlands, and the Crazy Horse Monument on Sunday. See ya…
Love,
Jeff
P.S. – It’s unreal how much corn this country produces…
Kline Road Trips 
the spam museum! catch it on the way back if it’s on-route and you have time. susie and i visited on our way to (or back from?) cottaging the year we road tripped it out there. we both found the spam museum to be pretty durn hilarious!glad to hear you are having a great time so early into the trip. have been thinking of you both! motor on!
Jeff,You can never call me a techie or geek again, you are just as bad. GPS, laptop computers, blogs….You are a history guy and part techie geek.Hi flower.Take care and have a nice trip, go to Vancouver IslandGreenwells
You remember me, Janie’s sister, Nancy? Can I come along? I’m so excited for you. Chimney Rock, NE has one of the best visitors’ centers on the Oregon Trail. If you stop in DeSmet, SD, you can see the cottonwoods Pa planted. That might be behind you by now though. I have a picture of Danny, age 3 standing in the dugout depression in Walnut Grove. You guys are going to have a great time! I’ll be in Salt Lake City in August. First, I’m going out to Wendover, Utah to try to find the place where the Donner Party abandoned their “palace car” in the salt desert or close to it anyway. It’ll mean at least 50 miles on dirt roads. Have fun! I love to hear about anyone doing historical stuff!
Nancy – great to hear from you! Looking forward to New Years Eve already! :)Pat – I’ll be amazed if we don’t kill our battery with all of the 12 volt cords plugged into our lighter. I think I’ve even beaten in the world of “nerd-om” on this trip. However, we haven’t made a wrong turn yet in almost 1,000 miles!