Trippin'

There has been – over the last week – a noticeable lack of posting to this blog. This was, I assure you, intentional. The Significant Other (SO) and I took an eight-day road trip looping through a number of states. In order to really feel as if we were “getting away,” we imposed a number of restrictions upon ourselves. One of these was “no computers.” When one combines that restriction with the fast-pace of the trip itself, one realizes very quickly that no blog-posting will be taking place.

On the plus side, the vacation has provided enough though-provoking experiences to feed a number of interesting postings, which you will undoubtedly be subjected to for some time.

J – my SO – had never been on a true “road trip” prior to this past week. When I revealed this fact (with no small amount of relish) to friends, I encountered many expressions of concern – even some preliminary condolences on the certain demise of our relationship. I can now say – with my feet safely planted in Madison – that this was not the case. As it turns out, J and I are quite compatible travel companions. This is good, as we traveled through seven states in eight days – an unusually bad idea in the eyes of many people.

While I won’t get into the entirety of the trip in this posting, (why ruin it when I can drag it on…and on… and on… in multiple postings) I’ll recap our first day – which entailed a mere 12 hours of driving.

Hour One: Wisconsin

Wisconsin was nothing new to neither J nor me, and was – therefore – not exactly exciting. We stopped at Starbucks, where we got into an unfortunately long discussion about the merits of the organic apple juice boxes. (As it turns out, the manager was resistant to stocking this particular item for some time. The cashier cannot imagine what her problem was, and now that they’re stocked they are one of the best selling items.)

Hours Two – Fourish: Minnesota

A lovely state, certainly, but it’s no Wisconsin. Their most attractive areas lie along the Wisconsin/Minnesota border. Unfortunately, that’s the area that we left behind early in the day.

Hours Five – Twelve: South Dakota

Every time I drive through this state, I am struck by the absurdity of the unbelievable length of time that one can drive through corn fields. (More on this later…. Watch for upcoming postings.) In my opinion, the universe took all of the “coolness” allocated to this state and piled it into the Southwest corner. The rest of South Dakota has been – obviously – shafted. Miles and miles of nothing…. And nothing…. And nothing… (Fairly traumatic for J, although he did have Day 1 Of Vacation Energy going for him.)

To J’s credit, in the interest of time he did opt to make a major sacrifice by not insisting upon visiting the “real General Lee” (the car from the Dukes of Hazard.) To make up for this, and to create a true “South Dakota” experience, we visited the Corn Palace in Mitchell. (Again with the corn…) Anyone who has not seen this particular building MUST stop by. The torture should not be limited to a select few. To tide you over - while you make your travel plans – I’m including a link to the website: http://www.cornpalace.org/

In actuality, there is something impressive about the perseverance of this iconic site. This year’s theme – in case you haven’t had a chance to look it up yet – is “Rodeo 2007.” Also to note: There is a LOT of ice cream available for purchase in Mitchell, South Dakota.

After Mitchell, the only exciting stop available to us (other than the truly impressive Badlands) was the world-famous Wall Drug. Wow. What a nightmare-inducing experience. I have never seen such an explosion of tourism in such and undeserving location. When one considers the absurdity of their success, it actually induces a bit of appreciation. (Note: Once again, the ice cream abounds.) See photos if you would really like the tourism point driven home.

Final destination: Rapid City, South Dakota. To summarize: Dirty hotel. I think I lost my jacket there. Or perhaps at the IHOP, one of the few acceptable restaurants available (and this coming from a staunch support of “local businesses”) and the location of both our dinner and our breakfast the subsequent day. Sigh. I really like that jacket.