Operation Lily Put, Day 1: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana

After a morning of alternating calm and furious packing, we were finally ready to go.  In true Minnesota goodbye style, we said all of our goodbyes the night before, then this morning in the living room, then again on the porch, and finally on the front lawn with some pictures.  It was a tone of excitement rather than just weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Photos were taken, goodbyes said again, and apparently I was in the way of a proper picture.  How was I to know?

When we finally got on the road, we were chatty and thrilled to be beginning the trip.  I managed to get an artistic black and white selfie on I-94 just after we got on that highway.  We would end our day on the same road, so many hours later.

One of my promises for the travelogue was to take a picture of every "welcome to" state sign.  The first I got crossing over the St. Croix river into Wisconsin.  It's a bit blurry, but it's so much better than the pictures for Illinois and Indiana, because I didn't get those.  

Interesting aside:  The story I told the kids when they were little, when they were bigger, and endlessly repeated even these days whether they like it or not.  It's the story of the Welcome to Wisconsin signs.  You know how they're always made out of that wood?  It's because back in the days before states, Wisconsin was ruled by a king.  He was a cranky king and didn't like people from other lands, so he build a giant wall around Wisconsin.  When it finally became a state, they did away with the king and the wall as well.  They took parts of the wall and built welcoming signs with them.  So when you see those signs, you're seeing a reminder of the past.  (I didn't really mean for it to be a political yarn, but I can see the similarities now..)  When I told the story to the kids so many times going to the cabin, I could stretch that shaggy dog story out for 20 minutes, easily.

We've seen enough of western Wisconsin to want to take pictures, or even to mention it.  

A stop in Tomah to get some Subway handed to us at the car - the Subway minion chastised us for using the wrong side of the parking lot for our pickup, and we promised next time we were there we would do it the right way.  (Spoiler:  We'll never be there again.)

When we got to the Wisconsin Dells, it got interesting again.  We hadn't actually been into the main tourist zone of the Dells before, so made a quick trip to check it out.  Took about a block of t-shirt shops and Ripley's Believe It Or Not! locations before Lily tagged out.  I took the wheel and we headed on back roads to our next destination.  But before and during the Dells we kept seeing signs for "Ghost Boat" and every time we saw one Lily would announce it excitedly.  Turns out it's only at night, being a ghost boat and all, so we couldn't take that tour.  There's money and time saved right there.

We had been told of a ferry that was fun to cross the river on - and it was free!  So we made for Merrimac (past Baraboo and the actual Circus Museum!  There is a cemetery there and I guessed there was more than one clown buried there..) and got in line.  A short wait later we were on the ferry and crossing the river.  We had to work pretty hard to not cross the river on an actual bridge getting there - I think it's existence is now a novelty.  Gift shops and ice cream stands available on both sides of the river. 

So strange to be behind the wheel of a car, not steering or accelerating, yet moving.  But it was a really cool side trip, and if we're ever back that way again we may try it again.  Or not, because...

The moment we got to the other side, our cell phone data dropped off.  So some amount of time was spent happily wandering the back roads of Sauk county trying to find either a major highway or a cell signal.  Eventually Lily's phone caught a signal and we were back on track.  I found the experience of not being connected to the world of data quite unsettling.  How on Earth did we live without a 24x7 connection to cat memes?

A long day of driving the same superhighway, glancing off Milwaukee and then bypassing Chicago, we were surprised by both the Welcome to Illinois *and* the Welcome to Indiana signs.  Didn't even see the Illinois sign.  And we crossed into Indiana so seemingly quickly I really didn't understand where on the planet I was anymore.   I thought we were still west of Chicagoland, but apparently bypassing it is so boring you miss everything leading up to signs for Gary Indiana.

We did actually stop once at the first Oasis we came across, for comfort stations and some caffeine at a Dunkin' Donuts that was out of donuts.  Lily slept through the mess that was Milwaukee highways, and she really didn't miss anything.  Except that damn white minivan that kept changing into the wrong lane, slowing down and speeding up randomly, and just in general causing me emotional distress.

By the time we rolled into Valparaiso Indiana, or Valpo as the locals call it, the sun was setting and the clouds were enormous and beautiful.  I've always been in love with the ocean, and the sheer magnitude of it inspires and excites me.  Coming back to the Midwest I miss that feeling, but once in a while I see clouds that make me feel like I'm looking at an Ocean.  The clouds of Indiana did not disappoint.  I think it's the flatness and size of the sky, but for an hour or more before sunset we were treated to some amazing giant white puffy cloud collections.   The picture doesn't do it justice.

I was tired and tired of being in a car, so we checked into the hotel, chilled for an hour or so, and headed off to a late dinner.  Lily had a friend from her summer job that went to school in Valpo and had some suggestions for food.  Stacks was the best reviewed restaurant around, and did not disappoint.  It's a library themed joint, and had not only an amazing menu of food, but a beer list that would take years to get through.  (Funny - we were sat in the bar side of the restaurant initially, until Lily got carded for getting a Diet Coke.  The waitress was seriously freaked out when she found out they'd sat a minor in the bar area.  So she moved us to another table about 30 feet away.  Crime solved.)

There was even an interesting tidbit about the bar woodwork, captured on the menu below.  No, I'm not going to transcribe it because I'm too tired and you're lucky to get as much as you did.   Lily got amazing looking pasta and I got a burger with meat the size of a small steak - pink.  So good!  We left fat and happy with leftover boxes that I'm sure we'll forget in the mini fridge in the hotel.  

Tomorrow is Valpo to Pittsburgh, roughly the same number of miles as today, but no big cities to bypass and the promise of both boring endless flatlands, as well as our first foray into some mountain-like scenery.  Lily's very excited about driving in the Appalachians and the enthusiasm is contagious.  She has been up for every side trip and distraction so far, and makes for a fun, pleasant and interesting tour companion.