2016 Minnesota Vacation - Day 3
The day started out pretty normal. Woke up early to let the dog out, then went back to bed. It was in the 60's as the sun was rising, which was a nice surprise. We ended up leaving Osceola, Iowa at 10:20am and headed north. Another beautiful day as we went about 45 miles into Des Moines and started looking for fuel and food, but once again we hit some roadwork causing a bit of a backup. It seems we're hitting a lot of that this trip, and then I remember why. In this area of the country they have a limited window of opportunity to do things like road repairs and other outdoor stuff because you can't very well do those repairs with extremely cold weather and large amounts of snow and ice on the roads. In Texas, they do roadwork, and just about everything else, year-round.
We pulled off and filled up the car. What's very strange and hard to get used to in Iowa is their pricing of gasoline. In Texas we have regular, unleaded plus, and premium. The higher the grade, the more it costs, right? Not here. The cheapest fuel is super unleaded with the same amount of ethanol as we get in Texas (10%). Next highest is the regular unleaded, and the most expensive is just gasoline with no ethanol at all. This is big corn country and ethanol is king. Even the pumps are hard to figure out because they have 5 different grades and 3 hoses. I paid $2.25 for premium. Nice!
We found some lunch next door and again proceeded north. Today we traveled 308 miles and got to Lawrence's brother's house a little after 3:30pm. We unloaded the car, did some visiting, and I decided to take a nap. I drove a total of 1,273 miles over three days, and it can be exhausting. I have a friend Greg who drives an 18 wheeler all over the country, and it's not unusual for him to do somewhere in the area of 600 miles every day. Respect.
I got up from my nap and quickly noticed that it was getting dark outside. A storm was brewing and it was heading right for us! There were all sorts of warnings up for our area, and the radar showed a big blob of red and purple close by, and it was moving fast. 70 mph winds and blinding heavy rain put on a heck of a show. We were supposed to be heading out for dinner, but we decided to wait for the storm to pass. It did pass, but then it curled back around for another swing at us. After it had mostly died down, we eventually headed out. There was lots of debris on the roads, and we saw a patch of trees that were snapped in half. I'm talking tornado-snapped in half! I can believe it after those high winds.
We took two cars because we had a lot of people. On the way, the front car went over debris and started to lose air in one tire. We all got to the restaurant just in time and decided to change the tire after dinner. We went outside and it was still raining (and about 67 degrees) and decided we would leave the car overnight and fix it tomorrow, so we all piled into the CRV and headed back to the house. One of the kids rode in the back hatch area. She's small-framed and had no problems.
At this point, everyone was dozing off and ready for bed. I headed downstairs to the basement (where we sleep) and started to write my daily entry. A big bolt of lightning and BOOM - all the power is off. I'm sitting here in the dark, on the couch, with nothing but the glow of my iPad lighting my corner of the room. I'll use that same glow to make my way to bed in a moment.
No definite plans for tomorrow. We'll probably just do some visiting with various people around town and goof off. To me, that's perfect, and what vacations are for.
I may or may not write additional entries throughout our two week stay. It all depends on what we do, and if it's worth telling. I wouldn't want to bore you with what we eat every day and where we went shopping, which may be all we do. I'll definitely write again on the trip home.
Hey! The lights just came back on! Good night......
Friday, June 17, 2016
Thursday, June 16, 2016
2016 Minnesota Vacation - Day 2
We slept-in this morning since we were both worn out from yesterday's drive from Houston. I did get up early to let the dog out, and then I had a bite of the free breakfast the hotel offered, but then I went back to bed for a few hours. I felt a lot better today, even though I do still have my head cold.
We departed Ardmore at 11:20am and headed north on I-35 towards Oklahoma City. We stopped for lunch at Arby's and I had a turkey sandwich, Lawrence had a Beef & Cheddar, and the dog got bites of both, of course. Close to Downtown OKC, we once again hit construction with a heavy backup.
The weather was beautiful all day with clear skies and lots of sun, but boy was it hot! We hit 101 today in northern Oklahoma, and it stayed in the 90's all day until we got close to Iowa when it dropped to the upper 80's. You could definitely tell we were headed north.
In Kansas, I was surprised by two things today. First, their gas was only $1.81 per gallon. Second, I saw a new casino in the state. I know Kansas is a very conservative state like Texas, so I didn't think they allowed casino gambling, just like Texas. Interesting.
Not much to tell about Kansas or Missouri. Traffic wasn't bad and the weather was good. Lots of wheat and corn growing, but that's not unusual. We made a number of potty, food and gas stops along the way, and finally reached Osceola, Iowa just after 9pm. Osceola is about 45 miles south of Des Moines. We found a Quality Inn here, and it's a bit dumpy, but they allow dogs, so we're good with that. A lot of places don't allow dogs, which kinda sucks, and limits your choices. None of the door locks work in the rooms and the front desk clerk had to let everyone into their rooms.
Once we got settled in our room, we quickly found out there were no food places open after 9pm, including pizza delivery. The only thing open with food is the truck stop next to our hotel, so I wandered over there to see what they had to offer. Their offering, other than the usual c-store fare, was freshly made pizza! It was surprisingly not too bad. Back in the room with pizza and lemonade, we had our dinner, and found out the dog likes pizza. The again, she's likes everything, as evidenced by her fluffy rotundness. Is that a word? It is now.
We traveled 371 miles yesterday, another 594 today, and a couple of hundred more tomorrow will get us to our destination. We'll be in Minnesota for two weeks before heading back to Houston, and so far we have no definitive plans while there. Just what the doctor ordered.
We slept-in this morning since we were both worn out from yesterday's drive from Houston. I did get up early to let the dog out, and then I had a bite of the free breakfast the hotel offered, but then I went back to bed for a few hours. I felt a lot better today, even though I do still have my head cold.
We departed Ardmore at 11:20am and headed north on I-35 towards Oklahoma City. We stopped for lunch at Arby's and I had a turkey sandwich, Lawrence had a Beef & Cheddar, and the dog got bites of both, of course. Close to Downtown OKC, we once again hit construction with a heavy backup.
The weather was beautiful all day with clear skies and lots of sun, but boy was it hot! We hit 101 today in northern Oklahoma, and it stayed in the 90's all day until we got close to Iowa when it dropped to the upper 80's. You could definitely tell we were headed north.
In Kansas, I was surprised by two things today. First, their gas was only $1.81 per gallon. Second, I saw a new casino in the state. I know Kansas is a very conservative state like Texas, so I didn't think they allowed casino gambling, just like Texas. Interesting.
Not much to tell about Kansas or Missouri. Traffic wasn't bad and the weather was good. Lots of wheat and corn growing, but that's not unusual. We made a number of potty, food and gas stops along the way, and finally reached Osceola, Iowa just after 9pm. Osceola is about 45 miles south of Des Moines. We found a Quality Inn here, and it's a bit dumpy, but they allow dogs, so we're good with that. A lot of places don't allow dogs, which kinda sucks, and limits your choices. None of the door locks work in the rooms and the front desk clerk had to let everyone into their rooms.
Once we got settled in our room, we quickly found out there were no food places open after 9pm, including pizza delivery. The only thing open with food is the truck stop next to our hotel, so I wandered over there to see what they had to offer. Their offering, other than the usual c-store fare, was freshly made pizza! It was surprisingly not too bad. Back in the room with pizza and lemonade, we had our dinner, and found out the dog likes pizza. The again, she's likes everything, as evidenced by her fluffy rotundness. Is that a word? It is now.
We traveled 371 miles yesterday, another 594 today, and a couple of hundred more tomorrow will get us to our destination. We'll be in Minnesota for two weeks before heading back to Houston, and so far we have no definitive plans while there. Just what the doctor ordered.
Wednesday, June 15, 2016
2016 Minnesota Vacation - Day 1
Surprisingly, we actually got out of Houston a lot earlier than expected this morning at 11am. I was thinking that's perfect so we would miss afternoon rush hour in Dallas. That realization came to a screeching halt early on as we got stuck behind a huge accident on I-45 just south of Conroe. It involved an overturned 18-wheeler, a haz-mat spill, and the freeway shut down. That's an hour and a half I'll never get back.
Once we got through that mess, we stopped at Buc-ees in Madisonville for a break. Potty breaks for everyone, including the dog, sandwiches, drinks, chips, and of course, beef jerky for me, and we're back on the road. All the way to Dallas, and after Dallas to almost the Texas border, there was road construction everywhere, thereby causing more delays. Right on schedule, we hit Dallas rush hour promptly at 5:00pm. It was also 101 outside. It took a little over 71/2 hours to get out of Texas and into Oklahoma, and I was exhausted. I'm also suffering from a major head cold and not in the best mood. We were planning on staying in Oklahoma City tonight, but we stopped in Ardmore for gas and noticed the La Quinta across the street. Close enough! We're all checked in for the night, I'm finishing this entry, and we'll be on the hunt for dinner soon.
Oh, you'll be proud of us. We actually passed the Winstar Casino when we crossed the border. It was difficult, but we just kept staring forward and keep my foot on the gas! Our gambling budget is very limited this trip, so any gambling will be with Lawrence's parents in Minnesota. If we have any money left on the way home, we may stop in at Winstar.
Tomorrow we traverse Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, and into Iowa where we will stay the night in Des Moines. We should arrive in New Ulm, Minnesota sometime mid-afternoon Friday. It will be good to see everyone up there, and we have a lot of catching up to do!
Surprisingly, we actually got out of Houston a lot earlier than expected this morning at 11am. I was thinking that's perfect so we would miss afternoon rush hour in Dallas. That realization came to a screeching halt early on as we got stuck behind a huge accident on I-45 just south of Conroe. It involved an overturned 18-wheeler, a haz-mat spill, and the freeway shut down. That's an hour and a half I'll never get back.
Once we got through that mess, we stopped at Buc-ees in Madisonville for a break. Potty breaks for everyone, including the dog, sandwiches, drinks, chips, and of course, beef jerky for me, and we're back on the road. All the way to Dallas, and after Dallas to almost the Texas border, there was road construction everywhere, thereby causing more delays. Right on schedule, we hit Dallas rush hour promptly at 5:00pm. It was also 101 outside. It took a little over 71/2 hours to get out of Texas and into Oklahoma, and I was exhausted. I'm also suffering from a major head cold and not in the best mood. We were planning on staying in Oklahoma City tonight, but we stopped in Ardmore for gas and noticed the La Quinta across the street. Close enough! We're all checked in for the night, I'm finishing this entry, and we'll be on the hunt for dinner soon.
Oh, you'll be proud of us. We actually passed the Winstar Casino when we crossed the border. It was difficult, but we just kept staring forward and keep my foot on the gas! Our gambling budget is very limited this trip, so any gambling will be with Lawrence's parents in Minnesota. If we have any money left on the way home, we may stop in at Winstar.
Tomorrow we traverse Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, and into Iowa where we will stay the night in Des Moines. We should arrive in New Ulm, Minnesota sometime mid-afternoon Friday. It will be good to see everyone up there, and we have a lot of catching up to do!
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