Devon and Geoff's Excellent Adventure

The Mountain West did not treat us well.  We planned to leave Gillette WY and go through the east gate to Yellowstone, the drive the Yellowstone loop on day 1.  The east gate was closed and we had to reroute through Montana.  Once in Yellowstone we tried to drive from Mammoth to Madison (quickest route to Old Faithful)- closed.  We had to go around the long way, so no geysers on day 1.  No signs of the snow that caused all the closures, but plenty of good wildlife and nice views.  We did not get into our hotel until after dark, by which time we were exhausted and ravenous from a  13 hour day. an old geyser Mammoth hot springs where the wolf watchers are Road closures were a theme of the next day to- the old faithful to west thumb road closure caused us to add over 60 miles on our way to geysers.  At least snow caused this one.  We pushed through to the geysers, despite the 35 degree temperatures, rain/snow, and winds maki...

Monday was over 650 miles.  We left at 7 central, and arrived at 8 mountain.  Add in the side trips and it was an exhausting day. First up- a rainy and cold Minnesota.  Don't mistake dad's clothes for warmth.  We wanted breakfast, so we stopped through Blue Earth Minnesota- In no small part because of a highway sign advertising the Jolly Green Giant.  We also found the little green sprout! Around that time we got this discouraging set of directions which has about described our last two days.  1-90.  Forever.  We listened to all of Harry Potter 3 (shout out to Carolyn for finding it right when we finished 2) on I90.  We killed so many butterflies going 80 on I90 that we had to get a car wash. Eventually we made it across South Dakota.  Somewhere in the middle was the Mitchell Corn Palace- where we had popcorn for lunch.  Fiberful and delicious! \ As you can see, by now the weather had taken a turn for the better,...

In the last 2 days we have driven about 900 miles.  Today (Sunday) was shorter than yesterday, but I am just as tired at the end of it. sunrise view from our room Day 2- Canada, Ann Arbor, Indiana Dunes, Chicago After doing some math and trying to figure out a central time conversion, we decided to leave our hotel at 7 am.  Being in Canada, we could not use the phone GPS.  We also had no maps (except for the cached one on my dad's IPad).  Anyway, we left the hotel, printed directions in hand... and our first highway was closed.  Between some Tim Horton's timbits and looking at the IPad we figured out how to get back on track.  The trip to the border (In Sambia Michigan) took a long time, and the toll line to take the bridge seemed to take even longer (not customs, just tolls).  Conviently we also finsihed Harry Potter 1 right as we crossed the border.  We then rolled through Michigan, into Ann Arbor on game day (luckily after kickoff) and ...

enough wifi for one  For an expensive hotel, our Radisson has mediocre wifi.  It has a great view of the Canadian Falls though.  I will add pictures tomorrow when I can use Brendon's wifi. Anyway, we made good time to Niagara, leaving at 6 am and arriving by 1 pm.  When we got there we attempted to eat lunch at food carts set up for a blues festival... and ended up at a burger joint.  We then took the Maid of the Mist, did the Cave of the Winds (which included wearing Niagara provided sandals), and walked around Goat Island.  Particularly notable was the hurricane deck in cave of the winds (which is not a cave, by the way).  Dad went back for more pictures, got caught behind an Asian tour group, and got completely soaked despite the poncho. After escaping the "cave" and walking back to the main drag, we listened to a little bit of the blues festival.  Then we went through the easiest customs experience of all time- waiting to see...