Day 19 - La Porte, Indiana to HOME!

Ms. Perrin:  "Well, today was the long drive home.  I thought that it might make for a long day because I wanted to see my husband and boys so much but it was actually fun knowing that the clock was ticking and at the end of the day, I'd be home with my whole family!"

"The border was no picnic!  We crossed at Sarnia and had a long line but after that it was smooth sailing in the lowest speed limits that we've seen this entire trip! :\  The rest of Canada was 110 km/h and most of the States was 110 - 120 km/h (70-75 mph)."

Ms. Perrin:  "We arrived home in the evening and all the boys were waiting for us in the driveway.  Even the dog was happy to see me! :)  It was so nice to see them - I had missed them so much!"

"What can I say...our trip was incredible!  We saw so many amazing things and had such a great time together!  We spent this last day reminiscing about our favorite parts of the trip and I commended her on never once complaining about how much time we spent driving.  I loved our adventures, singing along to the iPod in the car and her making fun of how many times I stopped to pee. :)  We had 3 weeks of only crazy girl stuff and it was great!  I'm so glad that we did this together!  We will both remember this for life!"

Day 18 - Meeting Kelsey's Penpal

Ms. Perrin:  "Today we spent the day with Kelsey's penpal and her family.  It was really neat - when we were planning the trip and I told Kelsey which states we'd be driving through, she jumped up and asked how close we'd be to her penpal.  As it turned out, visiting her was right along the way.  We met up with her and her mom and the girls spent the day at the beach on Lake Michigan while the mom's chatted and I got to have a conversation with someone over the age of 12. :)"

Ms. Perrin:  "It was really great to meet their family.  When the rest of the family came home from work, we all went out for pizza and had a great time.  The only disappointing part of the whole day is that they live so for away.  Our families would be a great fit to hang out together! :)"

Day 17 - Sioux Falls, South Dakota to La Porte, Indiana

Ms. Perrin:  "Today was a lot of driving that pretty much looked like this:"

Ms. Perrin:  "We went from South Dakota to Minnesota to Wisconsin to Illinois to Indiana.  LONG day!  We even managed to hit Chicago just in time for rush hour. :)"



Ms. Perrin: "We were so happy to finally reach our destination and it's absolutely lovely!  I can't believe that our trip is almost over."

Day 16 - Custer, South Dakota to Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Ms. Perrin:  "I am feeling much better after a good night's sleep.  We had a king size bed last night so all of Kelsey's flailing and kicking didn't reach me.  Yahoo!! :)  First thing this morning, we went to Mount Rushmore.  On a side note, Kelsey has been 'collecting' license plates all through this trip.  She has seen every state but 4 (Rhode Island, West Virginia, South Carolina and Louisianna) and she's still missing Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and the Territories.  She also needs Washington DC.  She prioritized the day by stating that the first order of business at Mount Rushmore was to do a 'lot crawl' and see if we could find any of her missing states/provinces in the parking lot.  This has almost become more exciting than the trip itself.  You should've seen us when we got Hawaii.....3 TIMES!!!  Anywho, we only added South Carolina to our list but now she only has 3 states to go! :)"

Kelsey:  "I am determined to get those states!!!!!

Ms. Perrin:  "Mount Rushmore was amazing but what I found the most interesting was The Hall Of Records.  Apparently it's blasted into the mountain right behind Lincoln and holds all kinds of historical stuff regarding the United States.  I didn't know it existed until today.  The public are not allowed to see it but they show you a model of it at the Visitor's Centre.  If anyone's planning a visit here and you'd like to walk the Presidential Trail, take the left entrance to the trail from the Grand View Terrace.  That way, you get to walk DOWN the 250 stairs....unlike us!"

Kelsey:  "I have now lost the love that i never had towards stairs."

Ms. Perrin:  "Then we went to Sitting Bull Crystal Cavern.  I've been to caves before but this was my first crystal cave.  It was very cool and the crystals were HUGE!  I am embarassed to say that I thought that all of the crystals would be clean, sparkling points.  Of course, they are not.  They have all kinds of cave stuff on them but it's really cool.  It feels like you're standing inside a big geode."

Kelsey:  "The cave was fun, but the cave beside it you didnt need a tour guide to go in and we were allowed to just go into the cave with the supplied flashlights. my flashlight didnt work, buti went in with a group of people. Somehow, i got a bunch of mud stripes on my leg. So, Tony the tiger, now that i have earned my stripes, what have you to tempt me to eat your nutrcious-and-not-delicious terrifying cereal???????"

Ms. Perrin:  "Then we drove to Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  We came through a massive storm with hail and ridiculous winds coming out of Rapid City and then we arrived here to a beautiful light show of heat lightening lighting up the sky behind the B & B we're staying at."

Kelsey: "apparently, the attic room looks awesome, but the lightswitch is halfway across the hall and the only light we get to GET to the switch is from the lightning in the bathroom window. its scary out there, so im going to wait til morning!!!!!!

Day 15 - Cody, Wyoming to Custer, South Dakota

Ms. Perrin:  "I AM SO TIRED!!!!!  The driving is starting to get to me.....wishing that I had a second driver in the car.  Kelsey thinks that I should just let her drive.  Tempting........."

"Today we slept in and then got up to see where we are.  It's beautiful here.  We've definitely found the Wild West.  I can't believe that I used to be naive enough to think that canyons only existed in Arizona. :)" 

Day 14 - Alberton, Montana to Cody, Wyoming

Ms. Perrin:  "First let me say that the place we stayed at in Alberton was so cool.  It was the Montana Hotel, set up beside the railroad in 1909.  It’s a genuine old west hotel and was SO cool.  It’s name is now the Ghost Rails Inn and well worth the stay!"

"Then we were off to Yellowstone National Park.  As usual, the drive was awesome.  We’re definitely in cowboy country now!  There is ranch after ranch after ranch and they are absolutely massive." 

"And speaking of massive, Yellowstone is much bigger than I could’ve imagined!  First we stopped in the town of West Yellowstone, just outside the park.  If you’re looking for tourist shops, this is the place to go.  It’s located right before the West gate to the park." 

"Then we spent 4 hours in the park and 2 of that was driving time.  The only stops we made were to see some of the geysers.  I did not realize what an active volcanic area this is.  Kinda freaks you out! J  The smell of sulphur is common and there is steam rising up out of the ground everywhere.  We also arrived only 40 minutes before Old Faithful was scheduled to go so we got to see that.  Very cool – I love the rumble that you hear coming out of the ground!"

"There is wildlife everywhere and we saw plenty of elk and bison.  One thing that really struck me is that in several areas, all of the trees are dead.  And I mean dead trees for miles and miles.  I’m going to have to look up what’s killing them.  The only thing that I thought of was either disease or the volcanic activity and sulphur."

"Anyways, the drive out was another scary one down the side of the mountain only this time I got to do it in the dark.  Woohoo to that!!  (please read sarcasm!)  They have these little pull outs to the side with NO guardrails and sheer cliffs and you’re constantly wondering if it’s another curve in the road.  All I can say is pay attention, drive the speed limit and watch the center line of the road to see which way it curves.  You cannot afford any distractions when you’re driving up here!"

"We arrived safe and sound just after 10:00 pm local time at the Red Pole Ranch in Wyoming.  It’s dark so I’ll have to tell you tomorrow what it looks like out here" 

Day 13 – Salkum, Washington to Alberton, Montana

Ms. Perrin:  "Wow what a day!!!!  The B&B we stayed at said not to miss Mt. Ranier National Park and they were right.  It took us an extra 4 hours (which put as at our next stop at 11:15 pm!) but it was well worth it!  I imagine that this is how beautiful Mt. St. Helens was before half the mountain disappeared.  As the day before, the mountain was clouded over when we first got there but it showed itself within the next couple hours.  You can’t begin to understand just how big it is from photos.  I’ve never felt so small as I did at 5,000 ft looking up at this mountain.  I can’t begin to imagine what it would be like if it blew.  Mt. St. Helens only had one glacier on it.  Mt. Ranier has somewhere around 15 to 20!  That’s a lot of melted ice!  They said that it is one of the most dangerous volcanoes in North America."



"Then there’s the drive up and down the other side of the park.  Holy mackrell!!  For those of you who have driven into Golden, BC through Kicking Horse Pass…..whoopdee lala!  This is much worse and without the guardrails.  I was amazed at how far the drop off was and they have signs to warn you that it is a sheer cliff.  It just goes down for thousands of feet!  And of course it’s winding along the side of the mountain and in some places, it weaves back and forth in a switchback." 

"Then there is the drive from the park to Idaho.  There’s a beautiful canyon on I-82.  The state of Washington is absolutely breathtaking.  Definitely worth the trip and probably the most impressive state that I’ve been to yet!!!"