The Road: Day 1

We had a bit of a late start this morning, and didn't hit the road until almost 11 a.m. Today was just a driving day: nothing to see, just miles on the highway.

We stopped for lunch at a Culver's somewhere in Wisconsin. Neither of us had ever been to a Culver's before, and I'm not sure if it was our Chicago gear (Cubs for me, 'Hawks for Steve) or just our out-of-town-ness, but we weren't given the friendliest welcome as we attempted to decipher their menu (butter burger?) and quizzed the girl behind the counter. Yup, we're not from around here.

And it wasn't the only time today we were given the once over: we stopped in the large--yet seemingly empty--town of Austin, Minnesota at a place called The Donut Connection, and the single patron in the shop looked at us as though we just came in from Mars (close, Massachusetts). The shop proudly proclaimed that they had the "best donuts in America" but that they didn't, under any circumstances, accept "internet-generated coupons."

Minnesota stretched on, and on, and on. The only sightseeing highlight of the day was crossing the Mississippi as we left Wisconsin.

We're currently holed up in Sioux Falls, South Dakota in a suite at the Marriott, where it's 14 degrees and snowing.

-wc