Wisconsin/Minnesota/South Dakota

It's been a long day. Need to gather my thoughts and no doubt I'll leave things out. There were three states, 620 miles (1700 for the trip so far), 10 hours of driving, more corn, more cows, and even a thunder storm!

Since most of the day was driving, I guess I'll point out some of the things I saw on the road today.

First of all, I have been wearing my seat belt....that may be the only law I observed while driving....

Wisconsin obviously had plenty of opportunities to buy cheese and I missed every one of them. Unfortunately I didn't have the camera at the ready to shoot the Mouse House (being a former Disney employee, I'm partial to that one). This is one of the dozens of signs I saw.

I flew past this sign...

...and was curious about what the place was. I imagined it was some place where you can ride a mechanical bull (a la Urban Cowboy) while taking a break from driving. With a name like "Whoa n Go" you'd expect that, right? Nope. Just a Kwik E Mart. I now realize the "Whoa" refers to you hitting the brakes. Not nearly as good as what I imagined.

Early this morning while cruising through Wisconsin I thought I was having a flashback of the Sausage Race from the Brewers game the night before...maybe food poisoning from the Brat. I had a vision of a hot dog driving east on I-94. Before I could reach for my camera, it was gone! I soon realized that it was in fact a hot dog on wheels....

...the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile! (stock photo inserted) Just my luck to miss that shot!

Listened to a lot of music today. This morning, instead of just shuffling through the iPod, I opted to listen to some full albums that I recently bought or were "loaned" to me by some good friends for my trip. The iTunes Genius suggested ALO's (Animal Liberation Orchestra) "Roses & Clover", quite good. Also based on my interest in Jonah Smith's music, it suggested Eric Lindell's "Low on Cash, Rich in Love" - not too bad. I think he's a New Orleans guy. Liked the songs "Low on Cash" and "Josephine" (more good driving songs). As is Jonah's "I Feel More Like I Did Back Then...". Another download was The Subdudes "Behind the Levee", another post-Katrina cd. Technically, I should be thanking Rob & Scott because I blew through the iTunes GC they gave me for leaving them behind at ABC! The "loaned" cd's were Shooter Jennings' "Electric Rodeo" (thanks Michaela) and Joshua James' "Build Me This" (thanks Steve). Shooter is the son of Waylon and his music is a combination of Country/Southern Rock/Blues. More great driving music (I'm beginning to understand why country music is so popular with the truckers).

I also got to experience my first Midwest Thunder Storm.

Fun stuff. Black skies, wind, heavy rain, flooded roadway....but no flying cows, trucks, or houses. No Wicked Witch crushed by a house either, but I'll hit Kansas on the way back!

I had a brief visit to Minneapolis for a 1 pm tour of the brand spanking new Target Field....still had the "new stadium smell". Yankee Stadium was that way last year - I even considered picking up a piece of prime rib I dropped on the ground once!

Minnie and Paul (below) a logo that was designed back in 1961 when the Washington Senators franchise moved to Minnesota. They represent the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul (the Twin Cities, get it?). The tour guide told us that the Twins were the first professional sports team to be named after a state, rather than a city. I guess I'll buy it.

Inside on the Club Level - the riff raff can't get in here - they have a lot of cool memorabilia, including a wall of giant baseball cards. Even one of Chuck Knoblach, before he got the yips and started throwing balls into the stands and injuring fans. Maybe that was a side effect of the steroids.

They have lounges named after Kirby Puckett (below) and Rod Carew, with a wood-burned image of each guy, MVP Awards, Gold Gloves, Silver Sluggers bats, World Series trophies, etc.

Outside the stadium, they have nine of these light stanchions, which indicate what inning the game is in. They are also growing hops on them. For the uninformed (shame on you), hops are used in the brewing process. They also grow really fast, good for a new stadium.

Also outside are statues to Twins current and former greats - Joe Mauer, Kirby Puckett, and Harmon Killebrew (below). The guide told us that when Killebrew was signed by the Senators, he was 17 years old - the youngest in the majors at that time and he was also a minor. His mother had to co-sign his contract!

Finally after a long day of driving, which didn't feel like 10 hours at all, I'm kicking back in my Super 8 motel room in Sioux Falls, SD (State #10) drinking a couple of Fat Squirrel Brown Ales by the New Glarus Brewing Co. in Wisconsin. Pretty tasty brew!

Thursday (I have to keep checking because I'm not sure what day it is) I'm heading west to Badlands National Park for a little hiking and camping. Somehow I doubt I'll be making another post from my tent, but I do have a wireless card for my laptop (thanks Shana). I'm in a part of the country that has pretty sketchy service, especially with AT&T, so maybe the next one will be from Casper, WY. Legend has it that it's the home of a friendly ghost. Clearly I'm tired, because that was really bad.

Good night.