WE'RE ALL HOME AND STUFF!

Today was a good day. We headed out from Sheridan @ 7:33AM (MST). Wendy had an egg & cheese bisquit from Burger King, I had coffee (breakfast), and we found the highway. Just plant that cruise control at 80 MPH and steer. Wyoming was really scenic and the roads were SMOOOOOOOOTH.

South Dakota? Not so much. Bad roads, weird towns, lots of road repair that didn't help much (doin' it on the cheap, I'm sure), and a lot of nothing. I did find a two-SUV caravan from Michigan to follow - the lead driver had a radar detector, so we were able to achieve an average of 80-85 MPH, which makes for good time (specially when you want to get the hell through South Dakota!). I did take particular notice, though, when we passed by Mount Vernon and Mitchell, South Dakota. Mount Vernon is where my Dad's mother's parents had a small farm. It was opening pheasant hunting day in SD today, too, and my Great Grandfather, Harry Hanson, was a pheasant hunting guide there. Great Grandmother Cora was in a nursing home in Mitchell the last time I saw her (probably 1973??) before she passed on. And Mitchell is the home of the Corn Palace, so .... South Dakota ain't so bad (but, really, pretty bad ...). probably gets better the farther away from the interstate that you get -- a lot like many states, I imagine.

At the border of Minnesota (the higher taxed state), there was a huge greeting sign, the interstate turned to velvetty-smooooooth blacktop, the road signs were prominant and informative (thanks 3M and your sign making contracts! Ha!).

When we pulled into Cannon Falls around 8:40PM, we were greeted at the Super America (and ain't America just SUPER!??!?) by Kitty's buddy, Travis, who works there. Picked up some Half&Half and some eggs. Got home. The dogs were wimpering, leaping, and happy (thanks to Maureen, who probably gave them more attention than they get from us in a year!).


It's good to be home, dammit!!! What a ride ........... sigh. The scout and I successfully spent 21 days together 24 hours/day, but we did get into some fights. The first one was about a U-Turn (I think), the second one was about not hearing what Scout or Navigator said (You know, "assuming makes an ass out of you and me"). Both "fights" lasted a couple seconds and then we made up. It was a test: Could we remove ourselves from the normal day-to-day comforts and familiarity and still be Scout & Navigator on the road across America? Well, we did it. We're in love (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), and that's why we didn't fail it. Thanks to all who traveled along with us via these here internets!!!! It was so good to have you with us (duh!).

Now, I'm going back to writing my new smash-hit country song: "ADOPT A HIGHWAY"