The Adventures Of Granny and Gramps: Mount Rushmore to Minnesota

Jay: Wha..what?
Mary:Oh, nothing. I was just seeing if it was time to get up. What time is it?
Jay: It's only 2:30.
Mary:Well, I'm wide awake. Would you mind if I got ready now?
Jay: Um, alright. I guess we'll be leaving early again today.

The best part of getting up early is being able to see the sun rise.

And so began our journey from South Dakota to Minnesota. We really enjoyed crossing through South Dakota. The scenery was much prettier than we expected. It was mostly flat, green grasslands, with some unusual sights along the way. Whenever we saw something that looked mildly interesting, we stopped to get some pictures. Those of you that know Jay, know that this is really unlike the big guy (I think he still holds the record for driving to Disneyland with as few stops as possible. I still remember explaining to him that girls can't pee in a bottle). Our first stop was in Wall to see Wall Drug. Of course, it was closed so early in the morning. It was much bigger than I had imagined. If we ever travel that way again, we will have to stop.

I have loved using all my new gadgets on this trip. My camera has been wonderful to use to capture all the fun sights we have seen. My iPad has allowed me to instantly download all the fun pics right away. It also keeps me entertained when the sights just aren't enough. And, our Tom Tom has made finding all the sights so much easier. No more Jay giving me 2 seconds to decide if we head right or left. Tom Tom also tells me if Jay is driving faster than the law allows. It didn't take Jay long to turn off the voice. I think sometimes Jay wishes Tom Tom didn't come along for the ride. The best thing about Tom Tom is that he can talk with just about any voice you want. For now I have opted for the voice of John Cleese. I keep waiting for it to talk about the HUGE tracts of land, or the shrubbery we are seeing.

Just your typical boy walking his pet dinosaur.

The Corn Palace! Every picture is made out of-you guessed it-Corn!

I finally met someone cornier than Jay.

I've always wondered where the Green Giant was from.

We stayed in Minneapolis for 2 nights. This proved to be an inspired decision because Jay came down with a flu bug and spent most of Sunday in bed. We did manage to get out to see Mall of America which was incredible! We were also able to walk over and go to a Twins game. If you ever get a chance, Target Field is an outstanding ballpark. The organization has built a great relationship with the community there, both young and old. The fans were great and, of course, the food was awesome!

We also hit our first bit of bad weather in Minnesota. We saw weird cloud formations and later learned they turned into twisters. Our room was on the 31st floor and it was a glass building. Not the best place to be in a storm but we survived.