We were up early this morning ready for Day One of our next trip. Terry had a hard time sleeping, no doubt excited about embarking on yet another adventure. This particular adventure has been in the planning stage for several years, to explore the one state Terry had never been to, North Dakota. As coincidence would have it, he just finished Stephen Ambrose’s book “Undaunted Courage”, the story of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Surprised to find that Lewis and Clark spent so much time in North Dakota, spending their 1st winter with the Mandan Indians near present day Bismarck, we decided to set out on this adventure sooner than later.
But I digress, before we explore new, uncharted territory of our own, we have a few stops to make along the way with dear friends. For the first leg of our journey we left the house at 7:40 for a 357 mile drive to Rockford, Illinois where we will spend the night with Terry’s fraternity brother, Bob, better known as “Cob”, and his wife Sue. The route we took to Rockford was by way of Champagne/Urbana, avoiding the Chicago area, and took us a little over 5 hours, arriving at Cob & Sue’s home by 11:45 (we gained an hour due to the time change between Indiana and Illinois).
But I digress, before we explore new, uncharted territory of our own, we have a few stops to make along the way with dear friends. For the first leg of our journey we left the house at 7:40 for a 357 mile drive to Rockford, Illinois where we will spend the night with Terry’s fraternity brother, Bob, better known as “Cob”, and his wife Sue. The route we took to Rockford was by way of Champagne/Urbana, avoiding the Chicago area, and took us a little over 5 hours, arriving at Cob & Sue’s home by 11:45 (we gained an hour due to the time change between Indiana and Illinois).
Cob and Sue gave us the grand tour of their beautiful condo. After the home tour Sue prepared a delicious crab and pasta salad for lunch before heading off to Anderson Japanese Gardens for the afternoon. The weather did not look promising, however the weather report predicted the rain would move in later in the afternoon so off we went to the gardens. The gardens were absolutely beautiful, so serene and peaceful. We did encounter a little rain, luckily there was a covered structure close by were we could wait out the rain. As we were standing under the wooden structure, employees came around and passed out umbrellas for the guests to use during their visit. The rain didn’t last long and we were soon on our way enjoying sights and sounds in the garden. For more information on the garden go to: www.andersongardens.org.
After the gardens Cob and Sue took us on a driving tour of some of the beautiful old homes in Rockford and their church. Then it was back to the condo for cocktails, grilled steaks, a wonderful strawberry salad with homemade poppyseed dressing (need to get this recipe), potatoes, cauliflower, red wine and great conversation. We called it a night around 10:30. What a terrific day... thanks Cob and Sue!
Day 2 - August 22, 2009 - Rockford, IL to Emmetsburg, IA
This morning we were up early and after a delicious breakfast of cantaloupe, grapes, homemade strawberry bread, sweet rolls, juice and coffee, we bid our hosts goodbye and we're on our way shortly after 7. Today our travels will take us to Emmetsburg, Iowa for a little R&R with our friends John and Jan.
The drive through northern Illinois was beautiful. Our travels took us through Galena, home of Ulysses S. Grant, and then on to Dubuque. From Dubuque we travelled west to Mason City, Iowa, home of Meredith Willson, author and composer of "The Music Man", but most recently of my good friend Marcia. We arrived in Mason City by noon, just in time for a pleasant lunch with Marcia and her mom, Lil and a couple of hours of catching up on old times and what's new in our lives.
By 1:30 we were back on the road bound for Emmetsburg and cocktails on the front porch of our friends home. After a few hours of reminiscing it was time for dinner - thick Iowa pork chops and sweet Iowa corn. After dinner and a little more pleasant conversation it was time to call it a night.
August 23, 2009 - Day 3 - Emmetsburg, IA
Today we woke up early to a big pot of coffee and a couple hours of catching up on what's been going on in our lives since we last were together. Eventually we got around to breakfast and then Terry and I took off for a couple hours to walk 9 holes at the local Emmetsburg Golf Course.
After golf we cleaned up and headed out to visit a reproduction of "The Little House on the Prairie" constructed by a local Emmetsburg resident, Howard Argabright. This is an exact replica of the Little House on the Prairie as seen in the TV series. It was completely constructed by hand and without blueprints. It is surrounded by several acres of natural prairie grasses. It is a labor of love in which he has reproduced the house, barn, and furnishings, and farm equipment as they would have been during that timeframe.
From the little house we came home and packed up a few supplies and headed out to Turtle Oaks, John & Jan's cabin on Ingham Lake. It wasn't long before we were out on the lake for a leisurely ride in John's pontoon boat, after which we spent time relaxing on the back deck with cocktails, conversation, and cuisine a la Jan.
August 24, 2009 - Emmetsburg to Bismarck, ND
We were up early this morning and on the road by 7:40 in search of new territory to explore. The trip was pretty much uneventful as our goal was to reach North Dakota, Terry's 50th state. We drove straight through stopping only for gas. When we reached the North Dakota state line we stopped for pictures to celebrate the momentous occasion.
After the state line celebration we enjoyed a picnic lunch at the ND Visitors Center and then moved on to Jamestown to visit the world's largest buffalo and Jamestown historic buildings, then on to Bismarck where we checked into our hotel at 4:40. We had driven for 9 hours, 560 miles. Time to relax and unwind during dinner at Red Lobster.
