From Niagara to the Prairie (A Brief Review)

Something became clear to me recently.  Plans can change in an instant.  We had so many things planned to happen at specific times that just did not take place.  Whether it be road construction or bad weather, things just did not happen according to plan.  So here we are in Cody, Wyoming waiting to see Yellowstone tomorrow and we are about a day or two behind schedule.  Something else became clear to me though.  I don't care.  Cassie and I have had a blast going with the flow.  I have also appreciated the challenges and the opportunity to face them using whatever resources I could.  I have realized I am much more capable than I previously thought.  Many fears have been realized on this trip only to be conquered with much prayer and quick thinking.  At the end of this day, I am still excited that we did this insane trip. 

With all that said, I do realize it has been several days and road trip stops since the last post.  Let me try to catch you up on what has happened from Niagara to the prairie lands of Wyoming.

Niagara was our next stop from New York City and we were to meet Cassie's family there.  Don, her amazing dad, met us with Marcus her dog.  Although our original plan had been to meet there for lunch, we hit bad weather and didn't roll in until 5pm.  Don and Marcus held out until our arrival and we had a blast looking at the amazing falls.  We even had a much deserved margarita at Margaritaville.  From Niagara, Cassie and I drove to Erie, PA where we waited out a huge thunderstorm.  While it was a beautiful display of God's power, we were thankful to be off of the road.  It had been a long day.

The original plan had been to drive from Niagara to stay in Chicago but the previous night's storm had stopped us very short of that goal.  So, leaving Erie, we drove through Chicago and stayed in La Crosse, Wisconsin right next to the great Mississippi River.  It was a nice stay but a LONG day of driving with no real sight-seeing opportunities.  During this day of driving we did find an Amish restaurant with Uh-Mazing food! 

After our pleasant stay in Wisconsin, we drove another long day to Custer, South Dakota.  Cassie and I have decided that our two favorite states are now Wisconsin and South Dakota for three reasons: high speed limit with no highway patrol officers, no toll booths, and no road construction!  We blazed through these two states so that we could get to Mt. Rushmore faster.  On our way to Custer, we hit yet another storm and it was a doozy!  The winds on the prairie are insane.  We made it safely up the hill and ended up five minutes away from the national monument we had waited so long to see.  When we woke up today, we left our hotel and made a quick stop to visit the presidents.  From there we took up a 500 mile drive to our present location of Cody, Wyoming. 

We are less than 70 miles away from Yellowstone, which we shall tackle tomorrow morning.  Sadly, Yellowstone is our last major attraction stop of our trip.  The great adventure is drawing to a close.  Cassie and I arrived in Cody well before the sun went down (a first for us so far) and pulled into our very nice hotel: the Cody Legacy.  Anyone planning on coming here, stay at this location!  Our wonderful manager helped us find excellent dinner and dancing options as well as entertained us with her great sense of humor.  Her suggested dinner location was the Irma hotel and restaurant.  This establishment was constructed by Buffalo Bill in the late 1800's for his daughter.  It is the original building and restaurant.  I loved it!  From there we went to a honky tonk called Cassie's!  It was a great time watching all of the local folks cut a rug to a live country band. 

And that, dear friends, is a quick and dirty look at the last several days of our adventure.  Tomorrow we conquer Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons.  Then we go to meet our dear friend Ranae and her dashing husband in Utah for much needed rest and catching up.  Goodnight readers!