over hill n dale: Minnesota thru Wykoff, WI, Chicago, Indiana to home

Somewhere in Minnesota

Wykoff, MN, Iowa and Wisconsin . . .
Very cold and windy weather followed us thru Minnesota. We overnighted in Austin, MN at a Walmart parking lot. Found a back corner that didn't have too much wind and hunkered down for the night as the winds and rain pounded us. The next day was a little better weather wise, but still rough. Guy wanted to take a side trip to Wykoff, MN to see the town named after an ancestor of his. The man was a surveyor, but we were unable to find any Wykoff's in the cemetery. I believe the town was settled by Germans as most of the names looked like German names.

Water Tower in Wykoff, MN

Wykoff Grainery

The old Wykoff Jail

Downtown Wykoff Church

Cemetery in Wykoff

Amish buggy outside of Wykoff, MN

Minnesota Farmlands

A drive thru Minnesota and Iowa farmlands brought us to the Town of Prairie du Chien and the Mississippi River then across the border into Wisconsin.

Iowa Farm barn quilt

Mississippi River at Prairie du Chien

Wisconsin Dells Farmland

Chicago - never again . . .
We could have taken the long way around Chicago to get to Michigan, but instead decided to go right thru the heart of Chicago. Big mistake! We drove through rush hour traffic taking about three hours. This is worse than Atlanta. At least Atlanta is in the South and the people are halfway nice. Up here they go out of their way to run you over. We missed a turn and the GPS rerouted us through some of the worst back streets you could imagine. You could see cars stopping on the side exchanging drugs and money. The cops walk in groups of 4 and 5. Sorry to folks living in the Chicago area, but I won't be returning any time soon, probably NEVER.

I-90 rush hour thru Chicago

Local train transportation thru Chicago

Downtown Chicago Skyline

Tour around Lake Michigan area . . .

Lake Michigan

We managed to pull into a Flying J on the East side of Gary, IN about dark. It was a busy place but safe. The next morning we drove the coastline of Michigan thru New Buffalo, Lakeview, Harbert up to Benton Harbor before heading South back down toward Indiana. Passing some neat little villages gave us a small glimpse of the not so industrialized section of the state, which suited me just fine.

A nuclear reactor

Unusual looking structure along the railroad track

Lovely little cottage near the coastline

New Buffalo, MI, a little community with their own boat dock

Getting tired and heading home . . .
It had been many years since I had been thru Indiana. While this completed our tour of 48 continental states with our RV, we still had a couple more states to go thru before getting home. Although we had been thru Kentucky, we had never seen Louisville. And what a beautiful skyline as we passed over the Ohio River.

Ohio River in Louisville, KY

And a stop in Berea was in store where we saw the Daniel Boone Inn and various roadside craft cottages.

Daniel Boone Inn

A local craft cabin in Berea, KY

The Museum of Appalachia

Then of course we had to make it thru the Tennessee Mountains to get to NC. A short stop at the Museum of Appalachia waylaid us for a little while - a good place to rest a bit.

We were getting tired and longing for the peaceful sight of our little mountain home - at least I was. When we set out on this journey we had the intention of completing a pass thru every state - an adventure we started over a couple of years ago. Personally, I would rather take it slower and spend a week to 2 weeks in each state and after having traveled in this fashion, we plan on taking it easier and relaxing as we travel from here on out.

Museum of Appalachia outbuildings

Museum of Appalachia Goats

And home was such a welcome sight. Traveling is nice . . . you get to see the country. Our trip was a quickie, but the object was to touch all 48 states, and we did. The rest of our trips will be to slow down and revisit places we want to explore further. And of course, who knows, we may make it to Alaska next year and Hawaii!