Michigan - No Disclosure from WikiLeaks in This Blog

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The son wrote this blog about Michigan previously when we used an old format.  We've since nixed this format in favor of one that has a little more information, not as much as WikiLeaks, but more info nonetheless...  

Hi everybody DD here. It's time for my Michigan blog.

What were the major events in the state? 

In Michigan we did many fun things. One of which was staying at my aunt's house. We also went to the Ford Museum and the Detroit Zoo.

What did you enjoy the most about this state? 

I loved playing hockey with some little hockey sticks we bought at Kroger. We played with my uncle for a good hour and a half. When we were done, I was all hot and sweaty.

What was your favorite food or restaurant? 
Union Wood Shop had a really fun decor with wood floors, tables, and log walls. They had six different barbecue sauces on the table named after different towns in the USA. Their mac n cheese was excellent, and I loved dipping my chicken tenders in the sauces.

What was your favorite memory?

I still remember doing organ donation at GM. We handed out free cookies to organ donors in a hallway at GM. Then my aunt showed us her cubicle there.

Please write about the zoo/mini golf: 

In Michigan we went to the Bavarian Inn Lodge to play mini golf. It was a course with hard slopes and bounces.  This is in the top ten mini golf course with four out of five stars. (You also get to keep your balls.)

Please tell one story from the state: 

At my aunt's house we played basketball at about nine at night. It came down to me, my aunt, and my dad. After about five minutes I got my aunt out. Then I finally got my dad out to win an ITunes gift card.

This is DD signing off.

Wisconsin – So Much to be Thankful For

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Wisconsin was where Mike’s life was saved, literally, so we’re extremely thankful for Annie, our hero. Because of Annie’s desire to be an organ donor, I have a husband today; my kids have a father; and we’re on this trip around the United States talking to others about the importance of signing up to be organ/tissue donors.  

Of course, we're thankful for their delicious Wisconsin cheese, too!  

Along with occasional cheesiness, here are some highlights from WI:

Most Beautiful Place: Madison. We’re biased, though. Mike received his transplant there, so it will always hold a special place in our hearts. Having said that, it is a beautiful city with all the lakes, parks, and trails.


Best Tourist Spot: Lambeau Field, the Green Bay Packer’s football stadium. It was the thing to do in Green Bay. The kid’s exhibit in the museum was temporarily closed. Rather than paying a bunch of money and boring the kids, we went to the Kids Zone, which is really a fancy name for an arcade.  The football themed action games were a lot of fun, though!

Best Drive: Driving through the country side, seeing the rolling hills and the classic farms with their red barns and silos dotting the horizon.

Best Meal: Bluephie’s in Madison. We have a lot of memories there. This was the first restaurant we went to after Mike was released from the hospital post transplant surgery. We liked the food and have gone back every year when we’re in town for his yearly appointment. We even had lunch there the first time we met Annie’s family.

Classic meets eclectic is the only way I can describe Bluephie’s. They take classic foods, like meatloaf, quesadillas, and mac and cheese, and reinvent them. We love their tomato basil soup and their warm bread with sun-dried tomato butter. I could eat just those two things and be completely happy, but then again why not get something new too.

Worst Meal: Cousins Subs in Milwaukee. This was our first experience at a Cousins Subs. Their slogan is “Better Breads. Better Subs,” which is a good slogan, but it seemed just that – a slogan. We thought their bread and subs were boring, basically meat and cheese on chewy bread. In addition, this location seemed a bit run down, albeit clean. Nothing was horrible, just not what we hoped for with better breads and better subs.

Biggest Twinge of Homesickness: Seeing family and friends that came up to visit us. It was wonderful seeing them but difficult leaving them!

Biggest Surprise: That the competition at fairs is so fierce, that kids spray paint their animals in order to win! We were perusing a cattle building at the WI State Fair and were shocked to see a lad using a can of spray paint to achieve a nice, glossy hue on his heifer. We actually had to do a double take because we couldn’t believe it. When we took out our camera to capture it, the paint can suddenly disappeared. I’m shocked PETA hasn’t stepped in yet.

Worst Closure: Nothing was closed since it was summer, but so many times our tone of voice closes down communication in our family, so it seemed appropriate to write about our struggle and attempt to solve it. This problem seems to have escalated with us being around each other 24/7 in such close quarters! A snippy answer, a bad tone, and a grumpy attitude can all close down communication between us. We just shouldn’t be where we are today: so blessed with a healthy husband and father and on this amazing trip and be disrespectful with each other. One night during Bible study, we decided together that when one of us replies rudely, the offended family member politely says, “Code Red” in order to diffuse and redo the comment. Our Code Red alerts have been going well, not perfect of course, but we have seen improvement in this area.

Best News: Mike had his yearly checkup while we were in Madison, and he’s doing great!

Worst News: While at his doctor appointment at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, Mike learned that the computer systems had been changed so that the government can get its little fingers on our health information much easier.  It will be interesting to see what happens to UW’s excellence and efficiency as they follow the governmental mandates.  It's too bad because they had the most efficient hospital system we've seen, and they were notably slower at this appointment…

Biggest Disappointment: Not being able to be part of the Transplant Games. We arrived in Madison in time for the Closing Ceremony of the 2010 Transplant Games and enjoyed the video montage of the games to see what we missed and all the bonding that took place. Someone from the National Kidney Foundation came on stage and asked if everyone had a good time. The roar from the crowd was astounding! It was clear the games were an incredible experience, and we’re sorry we missed it.

Biggest Revelation: People love free stuff! The WI State Fair Donate Life booth volunteers had a great system. The sign hanging behind the booth said to show them your dot on your license and see what they’ve got. While we were volunteering, the booth was constantly busy with people showing their orange dot, getting signed up for Wisconsin’s new registry, and receiving their freebie. We barely had time to chat with the volunteers to find out how Lynn created comfort shawls for grieving families to take home from the hospital, because she remembered that feeling of going home empty after her son’s death. She has since created a group that knits these shawls for area families. They were asked to make one for each donor family present at the 2010 Transplant Games. What a project, but they came through making over 2,000 shawls!

Cutest Memory: After booking a deal on Hotwire, we arrived at our first Crowne Plaza hotel in Milwaukee. The TV screen welcomed us with, “Welcome Mike!” and there was a nice bag lying on the bed with earplugs, an eye mask, and lavender linen spray inside. Chloe snatched it up, and at bedtime, started spraying lavender everywhere and donned her mask as she lay down to sleep. She was so cute!

Saddest Memory: At the free continental breakfast one morning, a lady came over to us and started talking because she noticed the Donate Life t-shirts we were wearing. She was in town for her brother’s funeral, who had died suddenly. He was a donor, and they just received a letter informing the family that he helped over 60 people! It was obviously comforting to her to know that he helped so many people. To have that information for the family in time for the funeral service is awesome, a real testimony to the hard work of the Organ Procurement Organization (OPO).

Best Memory: Meeting some great people. We gave a presentation at WDOT in Madison and were able to meet Dena. Dena worked for the OPO and was the very person who talked to Annie’s family about donating her organs. Fortunately, Annie and her mom had previously talked about organ donation, so they were aware of her wishes. It gave me goose bumps to meet Dena!

We also met Mary Nachreiner, the mother of Kelly who is the namesake for Kelly’s Law in Wisconsin. Kelly died from injuries sustained in a car accident four weeks after receiving her driver’s license. Her law mandates 30 minutes of organ donation instruction in WI driver’s education classes, and it singlehandedly has increased that age group’s donor sign ups. What a wonderful thing to teach in school!

Lastly, although we first met Annie’s family years ago, we were able to spend time with some of them after the presentation. We had a nice lunch together and even learned the secret to Bruce’s apple caramel pecan pie. You can bet I’ll be making that next fall when I have an oven again, and Mike will be putting Annie’s pancreas into overdrive!

My WI Hike:  Sadly, we were only able to visit some of the bigger cities in Wisconsin, so we didn’t have an opportunity to go hiking.

What We Did Miss: Wisconsin Dells, Dodgeville, House on the Rock, and so much more recommended to us.

In Summary: Wisconsin, you’re a life-saver to us, and we're so thankful!  That may sound cheesy, but it's true.  

The Mom

Wisconsin - Cheese Heads and Butt Cameras

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Every kid's dream is to go to Wisconsin Dells, and ladies and gentlemen that is exactly what we didn't do. Boy, am I bitter. What we did do is eat at a mysterious restaurant, visit Lambeau Field in Green Bay, and go to the State Fair.

The State Fair was our second fair promoting organ donation. We were in a building with at least one thousand booths. Our first fair we were outside, so the air conditioning was nice for a change. My mom and dad stayed at the booth and talked to the wonderful volunteers, while Chloe and I walked around looking at the items. We had lots of fun getting candy and trying out toys. One toy we tried out was a splat ball. It was fun because you throw it against a wall, and it flattens. You have to see it to get how fun it is. There were lots of other interesting booths too.

Lambeau Field was humongous. We played at the arcade. They had two football games that were super fun. The first one set up cushioned gates which opened and closed with football defenders painted on them. Then you try to run through the open gates into a sensor which stops the timer. My favorite game had targets you had to hit with a football. If you got one hundred and eighty points in ten shots, you get one free game. I got the free game and aced both of them.

The Safe House is the most interesting restaurant I have ever been to. It's all about espionage or spying. To get there you will need directions because on the outside it says International Exports. To get in you have to say the password. If you don't know the password, you have to do something crazy like the hokey pokey or the tango. Once you're done with that, a bookshelf will open, and you can walk in. My favorite part was they had a video camera hooked up to a TV, so you could see the thing people had to do to get in. They don't stop there.  They have cool tricks in the restrooms too. One trick is on the back of the men's bathroom door. It has a woman's sign to try to make you think you're in the woman's. It also has a butt camera. What happens is you bend down to look in a hole in the wall, and there is a small TV in it. When you look in, you see your butt because it's hooked up to a camera behind you. There's so much more cool stuff, but if I told you them, it wouldn't be any fun.

Wisconsin holds special memories for my dad because he got his transplant there. As for me, all my memories are at the fair, the Safe House, and Green Bay. The one place I don't have memories is the Dells.

The Son

Wisconsin - Hopefully the TSA Won't Treat Us Like Spies After This

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My dad went all the way to Wisconsin and got a kidney/pancreas transplant.  All I got was a lousy T-shirt.  Wisconsin was not the best state, but we did see a football stadium and the coolest restaurant in the world!

Safe House is a restaurant with the best atmosphere in the world! When we walked in, we weren't even sure if we were at the right place, but we were. First they asked if we knew the password. Of course we didn't.  We've never been there. To get in they made us sing and do Ring Around the Rosy. Some other people had to act like bunnies, waddle like penguins, and pretend to be the Rockettes.  It was hilarious! When you finally get inside the restaurant, you can see everybody else do crazy things!

After we ordered, we were able to look around the restaurant. They had a ton of cool stuff! For example, my dad told me one of the men's bathrooms was just a wall that said, "Whoa." In one of the women's restrooms there's a special room that when you turn on the light the person outside can see you, but if you turn off the light you can see them. The food at Safe House was pretty good too. For my first time ever, I tried linguini. It was good, but I have had better spaghetti like things. When you go out, there's a special exit too. We payed a quarter in a telephone machine. The person on the other line said, "Push the numbers 446."  Then a secret door which popped open led us out.

The football stadium, for the most part, was boring because I'm a girl. Most girls aren't interested in football. We did go to the arcade part of it, and they had football games. One of them was about throwing a football and the other one was about dodging defenders. All four of us played, but I didn't win because I'm the youngest. I'm not very good at football. Even though I didn't win, I had a lot of fun. 

My goal for every state is to see an animal.  For Wisconsin, my animal was a camel.  We went to the state fair.  At the fair they had camel rides.  Even though it wasn't a very exciting trail, riding a camel for my very first time was fun.

In conclusion Wisconsin was a pretty fun state. My mom made me keep the lame T-shirt. I could live in Wisconsin if it wasn't for the cold.

The Daughter

Minnesota - Where the Dark Secret of Mike’s Ancestor is Revealed

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You never know what you’ll dig up when you dive into family history, and I found a real gem in Minnesota. That’s not all we found in Minnesota though. We also found a week goes much too quickly when you spend a of couple days at a lake, a couple with relatives, and a couple at the largest mall in America! Once again, I feel like we missed so much.

Here are some highlights from our week in Minnesota:

Most Beautiful Place: Detroit Lakes. The Detroit Lakes Holiday Inn was right on the lake. Our room had a balcony with a lake view, so we spent part of each evening sitting out enjoying the lake, watching the sun set. We even heard a loon! It was so neat to hear their call.  I felt like I was on Golden Pond, but that’s in another state to come.

Best Tourist Spot: Mall of America. It’s the largest mall in America and has an amusement park in the center. We also played mini golf there and ate dinner at the food court. We didn’t see a movie, but we could have at one of the many screens. If we had only slept there, which I heard you can do at the aquarium, we wouldn’t have had to leave at all!

Best Meal: All the ones with family. Don’t make us choose…they were all good, and we can’t pick one aunt over the other!

Worst Meal: Mall of America food court. You’d think the biggest mall in America would have the largest food court in America as well, but it was pretty small and mundane. The mall did have a variety of sit down restaurants, but they were over our budget.  Of course at this time,we hadn’t seen the recent news report about the atrocious number of critical violations at many food courts, Mall of America included, and food safety is especially important for transplant recipients because of their suppressed immune system.

Biggest Twinge of Homesickness: Talking about family with our Minnesota relatives made us miss those not present...Wish you could have come, too!

Biggest Surprise: How the kids spent their money. While Mike and I manned the Donate Life booth at the Stevens County Fair, the kids had a great time exploring the fairgrounds. As a special treat and experiment, we gave them $10 each to spend on lunch, drinks, rides – basically whatever they wanted. It was interesting to sit back and watch what they did with the money. Chloe spent most of hers immediately on nacho cheese chips and fresh squeezed lemonade. Levi took a great deal of time comparing prices and finally spent only $4 on lunch and a drink in order to spend the rest of it later at a store. It was actually a switch from what I predicted would happen.

Biggest Revelation: Sociology is interesting. At the Donate Life booth, it was extremely obvious to tell people opinion’s of organ donation, and it was the first place people actively avoided us. Those who believe the myths would walk by avoiding even eye contact as much as possible, while those who have had or been around a transplant would walk up excitedly.

The booth was kind of quiet until the dairy folks nearby started selling 25 cent ice cream cones. On a hot summer day we were the only place to sit in the shade to lick the quickly melting ice cream. Suddenly our booth became quite popular. We were able to talk to many people about signing up as organ donors that we wouldn’t have been able to otherwise.

Worst Closure: It’s a stretch here because nothing was really closed, but I’d have to say the paddle boat at the hotel on Detroit Lakes. Nasty storms had come through the few days prior to our arrival. The paddle boat was swamped as a result. The employee said he would clean it up that afternoon so that we could take it out, but two days later as we checked out of the hotel, it was still full of water.

Best Drive: The pontoon boat on the lake where I got a break from driving while Mike and the kids took over the wheel for the afternoon. Oh, there was fishing involved, too, which was fun because we actually caught fish, unlike my few fishing experiences in Illinois.

Worst Drive: The dilemma over whether to drive 3 hours each way to Walnut Grove to see the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum and home site. I just couldn’t drag my family 6 hours round trip to see a sod house and museum, even though I’ve loved Little House on the Prairie since I was a girl. I regret it now!

Biggest Disappointment: See above. Seriously, I was quite disappointed because we weren’t able to see the Laura Ingalls Wilder home in South Dakota either, due to the distance, only to find out this one was too far again! I’ve cried through many Little House episodes, so I guess it was only fitting that I almost shed a tear over not seeing the real thing.

Best Memory: A special afternoon with Chloe at the American Girl Store and Bistro in the Mall of America. It was fun hanging out together, just the two of us, for the first time on the trip. Whereas the American Girl Café in Chicago is much fancier, the Bistro in Minneapolis was more casual and therefore cheaper too. The three of us, Chloe, I, and her doll, had a table next to the window overlooking the indoor amusement park for our special date. 

Worst Memory: Having to leave family so soon. Chloe had really connected with her second cousin which made it especially difficult. 

Funniest Memory: The gem, the real jewel I acquired in Minnesota, was learning that Mike’s great, great grandfather, Judge Hezekiah Bragg was the person who introduced carp to Stevens County, MN. They had it brought in from California - and were excited about it! We couldn’t determine why carp was a good thing, but never the less in 1880 it was.

My MN Hike…errr, Bike: The hotel on Detroit Lakes had free bike rentals for their guests, so one morning we pedaled the eleven or so miles around the lake. I really enjoy riding bikes, and this was our first time on a bike since we’d begun the trip. It was so nice to ride a bike again - and to find out we hadn’t forgotten how after all that time!

What We Did Miss: Little House, Itasca State Park, the whole North Shore of Minnesota, lute fish, lefse, and so much more all recommended to us.

In Summary: Minnesota, with so many lakes, that must be a lot of carp. All of which we feel guilty about.

The Mom

Minnesota - 10,000 Lakes But Only Three Fish

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Have you ever driven a pontoon boat on a Minnesota lake? With my driving skills you better wear your life vest. In this northern state we did three things. We stayed at a superb hotel, went fishing, and visited relatives.

Minnesota is home to one of my favorite hotels: Holiday Inn at Detroit Lakes. Our room had a nice balcony overlooking the lake. Almost every night my family would sit on the balcony and watch the sunset while we ate our microwaved s'more Pop Tarts.

Staying there I experienced several new things. My favorite was fishing off a pontoon boat. Fishing is one of my favorite past times, so naturally I jump at every chance to go fishing. We were fishing in Detroit Lakes, and Dad and I were in a competition. I caught the first fish. Then he caught one. It was intense. Finally after five hours, Dad won: four fish to three fish.

Also at the Holiday Inn they had bikes, so you could ride them. My family and I hopped on the bikes and started out on our mission to ride around the lake. On the first try I got a loose chain, so we had to postpone until after lunch. The second try we biked five hundred miles around Detroit Lakes - at least that's what it felt like. That was the most tired I've ever been in my life, but that was nothing compared to being attacked by millions of dogs.

My dad has relatives that live in Minnesota. One of them whom we visited has one million dogs minus 999,997. Now I wasn't bitten or anything, just attacked by three slobbery tongues. I'm a dog lover, and
since we're on this trip we have not been able to own a dog because we can't fit it one in our van. Since we don't own a dog, that made my aunt's house that much better. Playing fetch with their dogs was the most fun I had. They also own three cats. One of them, named Rocky, reminds me of a cat that would come by our old house in Lincoln, Illinois. That made Rocky my favorite cat. Another relative we visited showed us my family time line.

Minnesota is an extraordinarily fun place. Because I was able to go fishing, Minnesota rocks. One problem is I don't think I could live there because of their winters. After three years I might get used to it though. Speaking of three years, that's the amount of time it will take to stop driving on water and start driving on roads.

The Son

Minnesota - Land of 10,000 Mosquitoes

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Minnesota is the land of 10,000 lakes, 10,000 mosquitoes, and 10,000 degrees below zero!  I will be talking about fishing, stuff that's top secret until Rhode Island, American Girl store, and Mall of America.

Fishing, which was my animal for Minnesota, was a blast. (In every state I want to see an animal.) We rented a pontoon boat and went out on Detroit Lakes. My dad even let me drive! It was really easy because you don't have to worry about crashing into anything. I caught one fish. On a Rhode Island fishing trip I caught four fish, but that's a different story that you'll have to wait for. My mom caught two fish. My dad and brother caught three each. My dad caught the biggest fish out of the four of us. My dad's fish was one foot long.

We went to the American Girl store restaurant. It was AWESOME! It wasn't the food that was awesome, it was the memories. I have a bunch of good memories about American Girl stores and playing with American Girls with my friends.

We went to the Mall of America, and I went on every ride except one and the kiddie rides. (I never go on kiddie rides anymore). The one that I didn't go on had about a three hundred fifty foot vertical drop, and I'm not very good with vertical drops. The Mall of America was the best. I highly recommend it for anyone.  There are little rides, more extreme rides, and in the middle rides. There was also mini golf and an American girl store which I thought was the best part.

Minnesota is one of my favorite states, but I do NOT want to live there because it's freezing in the winter. I know because we went there in January last year for a funeral, and it was below zero!  Overall I think Minnesota is one of the best states to visit in the warm seasons, but not one of the best to live in.

The Daughter
P.S. Minnesota's state bird should be the mosquito.

Trip in Review – The First 6 Months

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Our year long trip promoting organ donation is officially half over. It's gone so fast!  We’ve spent a week in 25 different states and compiled a list of some of the best and worst things along the way.

Best Hotel: Grand Canyon Holiday Inn in AZ because of our free upgrade to the Family Suite, complete with a kid’s room that had bunk beds! It was also located minutes away from the Grand Canyon.

Worst Hotel: Hilton in the San Francisco suburb of Concord, CA where Gore supposedly stayed. Nasty, plus they nickel and dime you for everything. No breakfast, no frig, no micro, no free internet, no free business center, and there was an old, yucky comforter on the bed. Who still has comforters?? Levi even found a bug on the wall, so we checked for bed bugs. Clear, just stained sheets. We had to switch rooms twice because of a broken toilet and then a dirty room where Chloe stuck her bare foot in candy! Ugh.

Best Hospitality at a Hotel: Holiday Inn, Spokane, WA, with a dog named Kip who lives there as a hospitality employee. They even provided balloons and baked a muffin for the birthday girl!

Best Donate Life Group: Utah. They came up with all sorts of creative ideas and worked hard to get news coverage, making our job easy!

Best News Coverage: Bismarck, ND. Two different stations, CBS and NBC, spent over an hour each with us and compiled great stories.  View them and all the news coverage here.  Scroll down "In the News"

Best Restaurant: Euro Pizza Café in Fountain Hills, AZ mostly for the ambiance sitting outside on the patio with the lights twinkling and the lake and fountain in the distance. I don’t even really remember the food!

Best Themed Restaurant: Safe House in Milwaukee, WI. From the entrance to the exit, everything is spy related. You’re encouraged to get up and check it out while waiting for your food to arrive.

Worst Restaurant: Subway in Sedona, AZ because of the manager who cussed, threw things around in the backroom, and stormed out after the customer in front of us who accidentally took our sub sandwich. We were actually fearful that he was going to pull out a gun. 

Best Grocery Store: Stew Leonard’s in Newington, CT. It’s set up like an old general store with lots of samples and quirky singing chickens. Their customer service is outstanding. 

Best Pizza: Arcaro & Genell’s white double crust pizza in Old Forge, PA. (In non-Pennsylvania language, white sauce is not alfredo but rather no sauce.) To say the white double crust pizza was delicious is an understatement. The crust was flaky and done to perfection with a wonderful blend of garlic and spices. The white cheese was oozing out the “cuts,” as they called them, not pieces. Delicious!

Worst Pizza: Any NY or New Haven style where they purposefully burn the crust.

Best Dessert: La Scala $1 baby gelato in Fountain Hills, AZ. Delicious gelato made on-site at rock bottom prices.

Worst Dessert: Is there such a thing??  The Italian donuts at Joey Garlic’s, Newington, CT, if I had to choose. Blah. Not worth the calories.

Best Drive: Oh, so many! Of course Pacific Highway One in CA but also Wind River Canyon Scenic Drive in WY which was beautiful despite the rain.

Worst Drive: Las Vegas to Reno, NV. Long, deserted, and dangerous.

Most Unusual Drive: Driving through a giant Redwood tree in northern CA!

Where the Kids Drove: Detroit Lakes, MN on a pontoon boat where we spent a fun afternoon.

Worst Roads: New Jersey.  Most roads there don’t allow left turns or U-turns. You have to turn right and swerve around to cross the road at an intersection, but sometimes these right turns are few and far between. Also, the main turnpike splits into 2 for quite awhile, but both retain the same name…Really? They can’t come up with a different number?

Worst Congestion: Newport, RI on Labor Day weekend. Do visit Newport; it’s a cute town on the coast with historic mansions, but if you go on Labor Day weekend, plan extra time just sitting in traffic – hours extra.

Best Drivers: Boston, MA. We were driving in rush hour and were impressed with how polite the drivers were in merging every other car. 

Best Mini Golf: Pine Creek Golf Course, NJ. The course was on 12 acres of beautifully landscaped grounds. Unfortunately, the owners retired October 31, so it’s no longer open. 

Worst Mini Golf: Holy Terror Mini Golf, SD because it was “impossible” as Mike and Levi say. (Note: Sheri won.)

Best Hike: Great Head Trail in Acadia National Park, ME. Absolutely stunning views and it's fun to hike over the rocks.

Most Unusual Hike: Rocky Mountain National Park, CO. We hiked on 42 inches of snow around Bear Lake while wearing windbreakers.

Worst Hike: Grand Canyon, AZ.  Any hike where you're walking around mule poo just isn't as nice.

Best National Park: Glacier National Park in MT…Beautiful! Check out our Montana pictures if you haven’t already. 

Worst National Park: Yellowstone National Park in WY…Too touristy and overrated.

Most Unusual State Park: Slide Rock State Park in AZ where you slide, as the name says, down smooth rocks in the creek.

Best Deal: National Park pass. Buy it for $100 at the first park and get in free to any national park for an entire year.

Best Beach: Bethany Beach, DE…Love the waves and quintessential boardwalk.

Worst Beach: Holiday Inn Express, St. Ignace, MI. They advertised a beach at their hotel. Don’t believe them. It doesn’t exist.

Best Amusement Park: Lagoon in UT but maybe we’re a little partial since Chloe celebrated her birthday there.

Worst Amusement Park: Lego Land in CA. We went expecting a Disney experience with Legos. Had we not expected the entire park to be Legos, had we not expected the rides to be entirely Lego themed, had we not expected the Disney customer service we all know and love, we might not have been so disappointed. It really was fun just not as great as we expected. 

Best Place to Play Hide and Seek: Whit’s End and the rest of the kids' area at Focus on the Family, CO. 

Best Tour: Alcatraz in CA. We participated in the Park Ranger program entitled, “Escapes” all about, you guessed it, the few escape attempts at Alcatraz. The ranger was very entertaining and informative. We had no idea Alcatraz was for prisoners who caused trouble, nor did we realize they were close enough to San Francisco to hear and smell it, that being part of the torture.

Worst Tour: Independence Hall, Philadelphia, PA. The tour could have been fascinating if the Park Ranger was the least bit interesting. History could have come to life, but the guide was uninterested and therefore boring. The room where the Founding Fathers crafted the Declaration of Independence was much smaller than I imagined. Of course, for only 13 colonies, instead of 50 states, you don’t need as much room.

Best Statue:  Statue of Liberty, NY.  It's such a symbol of our country that it gives you goose bumps.  

Best Tasting Factory Tour:   Ben & Jerry’s, VT. The tour was great, and the ice cream was even better! We enjoyed Ben & Jerry's sense of humor, like the dead flavor graveyard.

Largest Factory Tour Sample:  Cape Cod Potato Chips, MA.  The self-guided tour was lame, walking down a hallway, peering in windows, but the samples at the end made up for it.  We were given 2 bags of chips each.

Best Factory Tour Sampling:  Jelly Belly, CA.  After the tour, you could visit the sample bar to taste different flavor jelly bellies.  Some were good, and some were gross, like dog food.

Best Pool: Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, NV with a wave pool and lazy river.

Worst Pool: Kokopeli Hotel, Sedona, AZ. The kids were afraid to swim with all the unidentifiable floaties in the water. 

Strangest Sign at a Pool:  "Warning this Pool is equipped with a Urine Detector" sign in ND.  We didn't test it but did wonder what happened when urine was detected.  

Best Road Trip: Snoqualmie Falls, WA. Maybe it was just being outside on a rare sunny day in Washington that made it so impressive. After all, we’ve seen plenty of waterfalls, but this was just really nice.  It’s taller than Niagara Falls, not as large or U-shaped, but taller.

Worst Road Trip: Geographic Center of the USA, SD. We couldn’t even find it, and the deserted road turned to dirt.  Then, we had cows in the middle of the road...Cows!

Best Bathroom: Richard Nixon Presidential Library & Museum, Yorba Linda, CA. It had ornate gold and marble and smelled nice, too!

Worst Bathroom: Beatty, NV. It was a nasty gas station bathroom, but on a lonely road, you don’t have much choice. We’ve dubbed it “Ugly Betty.”

Chloe’s Best Animal: Horseback riding in the Badlands of ND.

Chloe’s Worst Animal: A slug in OR. We were so busy enjoying the coast and having fun in OR that we forgot to do an animal for Chloe. Then at Multnomah Falls, Chloe spotted a slug, so we counted that as her animal for the state…pretty pathetic.

Most Unusual Place to See An Animal: Deer on the city street in Helena, MT. Apparently, it’s a common occurrence, too.

Best Zoo: Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in CO. It's built into the side of a mountain, and you can feed the giraffe there.

Best Fishing: Rhode Island, where Chloe caught a 26” blue fish.

Worst Fishing: New Hampshire. If it weren't for the tiny mackerels, we wouldn't have caught anything.  

Best Timing: Vermont during fall foliage. Nice. I figured out why New England is so well known for its fall colors: there are so many trees!

Worst Timing: Colorado in early May. It snowed, and Pikes Peak was closed because of the snow. Since we’re from the Midwest, we didn’t realize May was too early for the mountains.

Best Volcano: Mt. Rainier, WA. Not that we saw any other volcanoes, I just really needed a category to mention Mt. Rainier. It’s awesome.

Best Waterfall: Niagara Falls, NY. Shhh, but the best views are from the Canadian side.

Best Big City: San Francisco, CA:  the cable cars, Alcatraz, and the crookedest street. It has a lot of character and many unique activities.

Best Main Street: Hershey, PA. The streetlights are shaped like Hershey kisses! 

Most Patriotic City:  Medora, ND.   The whole town is run by a non-profit foundation whose mission is to preserve the history and values of Theodore Roosevelt.  You cannot leave without feeling proud to be an American!

Best Oddity: The gum wall in Seattle, WA. You actually chew gum and then stick it on a wall, along with a million other pieces of chewed gum. Gross?  Yes.  Unusual?  Yes.  Worth the walk down the stairs from Pike Place Market?  Yes.

Worst Oddity: The Chihuly glass bridge in Tacoma, WA. It’s not a bridge made of glass but rather a bridge with a few glass sculptures atop. Very disappointing if you’re expecting to walk across a bridge made of glass. 

Worst Place to See Duct Tape: The railing of the observation deck on the Space Needle, Seattle, WA.

Most Fun: Zip-lining in Oregon. Big trees + zip lines = Fun.

Least Fun: Sitting around waiting for the van to be repaired when we could be out seeing sights and promoting organ donation around this great country.

Biggest Thanks: God. Thank you for this trip. We wouldn’t be on it without your miracles and blessings.

North Dakota - Where the Jobs Are

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You want a job? Go to North Dakota. Their unemployment rate is only 3%. It’s the lowest in the nation, partially because they have plenty of wind and oil jobs, but as one North Dakotan explained to us, “We put you to work here.”

Not only do they have the lowest unemployment rate in North Dakota, but they’re patriotic as well. We spent several days in Medora. You cannot leave that town, especially the musical, without feeling patriotic and proud of America. Not being from around North Dakota, we didn’t realize Medora is a vacation destination. Now, we see and understand. Read on to find out why.

Here are some highlights from North Dakota:

Worst Closure:  Nothing. Tourist season has its advantages!

Biggest Surprise:  The reporter wanted to ride in the van with us! We had two television interviews in Bismarck, CBS and NBC, and they both did a fantastic job of covering our quest to promote organ donation. One reporter wanted us to drive around the parking lot so she could film our van, which we’ve done before, but then she asked if she could get in and ride with us. Now, that was something new!

Biggest Disappointment:  That we’re not able to play more disc golf. We played our first round on the trip in Bismarck. We used to play frequently in Illinois and had hoped to play in every state, but we’re just too busy. It was fun, though, and I wish we could play more often for the exercise, the enjoyment, and the scenery.

Most Beautiful Spot:  The Medora Musical. I purchased the tickets, and Mike about fell over when he heard how much we were spending on a musical. Neither Mike, nor Levi, nor Chloe wanted to see a musical, but some things just have to be done, and I sure hoped this was worth it! It turned out that it was.

The musical is held in an outdoor amphitheatre with a nice view of the countryside. We took in the first half of the musical which included a Gospel sing. We were pleasantly surprised by their boldness in proclaiming God. After the intermission the feature act, a comedian, performed. He had us rolling, and we wished he could have continued longer. Then the musical finished with the historical Teddy Roosevelt portion and finale: it was so patriotic and inspiring! We left feeling proud to be Americans and impressed with North Dakotans.

Best Tourist Spot:  Everything Medora!  Medora (the town and everything in it) is run by a non-profit foundation whose mission is to preserve the history and values of Theodore Roosevelt through the whole Medora experience, and boy do they ever!

“Bully the Play” is a one man act, performed with passion and gusto, about Theodore Roosevelt. The actor portraying Teddy began by calling all the kids up on stage. Chloe was so excited because she had just been talking about how thrilling it would be to be on stage. It was a fun way to get the kids interested from the onset. The play was entertaining and educational for all of us, and I think Chloe, who is not a history fan, even enjoyed it and learned something!

Worst Tourist Spot:  Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center in Mandan. It was not worth the 40 minute drive from Bismarck. Fortunately, we happened to visit on a free day, so we weren’t out any money. The center contained almost all reading exhibits with only 2 or 3 interactive ones. Chloe, our hands-on learner, was bored stiff. We high-tailed it out of there to visit Fort Mandan, which I do recommend if you’re in the area.

Best Meal:  Pizza Ranch Buffet. I’m not normally a fan of buffets, especially pizza ones, but this was very clean and had a nice selection of not only pizzas but soup, salad, and dessert.

Worst Meal:  A quick buffalo dinner. There really wasn’t much of a choice for dinner in Medora on a limited budget. When we asked around, everyone said that all the restaurants were good. It was a little strange, as if the workers were robots programmed to say all the restaurants were good and not able to say what they really felt about the different dining establishments. We settled at Maltese Burger because we could eat outside, and they had buffalo burgers. Mike tried a buffalo hot dog which he thought was okay, ditto with my buffalo burger. Basically, it was your typical fast food which has been sitting around far too long. We also ordered a bottle of Sarsparilla to share. It was like sweet root beer, too sweet for me, but Chloe really liked it.

Grossest Memory:  I had a pretty good horse on our trail ride through the Badlands. His only problem was following too closely to Chloe’s horse. One of the instructions we were given was to maintain a good distance from the horse in front of you; however, my horse kept riding on Chloe’s horse’s butt…literally. At one point my horse even got pooped on – on his nose - because he was tailgating too closely! If only our van could do that to the cars who follow too closely behind us on the interstate…

Worst Memory:  Barely being able to walk after getting off the horse. It was nice to see the Badlands from horseback, but I realized how old I am when I got off the horse and could hardly walk. My knees were actually in pain walking down stairs afterwards.

Best Memory:  Waterslides with the kids. After the lackluster day at the interpretative center, I figured we had to do something fun. The weather was going to be 90, so a water park was just the ticket. Raging Rivers Water Park is definitely showing its age, but we still had fun going down the slides and in the lazy river.

My ND Hike:  How can you hike after getting off a horse? Seriously!

Biggest Twinge of Homesickness:  Nothing.  I guess we're getting this travel thing down...another year anyone?!?  

Biggest Revelation:  So that’s what you do during a tornado warning at a hotel! Thanks to his supersonic hearing, Mike awoke to the sound of the siren going off at 1:30 am. Shortly thereafter, the front desk called everyone informing them about the tornado warning, so we and the other guests waited in the lobby until the rotation passed through Fargo. Thankfully, there was no tornado.

What We Did Miss:  A tornado, the northern lights in Rugby, International Peace Garden, Devil’s Lake, and others all recommended to us.

In Summary:  North Dakota, we love your family values and patriotism. If we could handle the cold, we’d move there…and be put to work right away!

-The Mom

North Dakota - Lots of Horsing Around

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North Dakota may sound like a dull state, but the people are far from dull. They are the most patriotic people I've ever seen! Below I will be talking about horseback riding, Schlotzsky’s, Medora, the Medora musical, and playgrounds.

In North Dakota we did my favorite thing, which is horseback riding. In every state I want to see an animal that I don't usually get to see. Horseback riding, which was my animal for North Dakota, was the best thing I've ever done! We went horseback riding in the North Dakota Badlands, and it was beautiful. My horse's name was Rawhide; Levi's horse's name was Pepperjack; my Mom's horse’s name was Socks; and my Dad's horse’s name was Poncho. Pepperjack liked to wander off the trail, and Rawhide always follows Pepperjack. That meant Levi and I were stuck going off the trail and then coming back on the trail over and over again. (It was actually kind of fun.)

We went to a restaurant called Schlotzsky’s that I've loved since I was four, and I still love it at ten. What I usually get is a ham, cheese, and mayo sandwich. Their bread is delicious, and their mayo is very melty! Sometimes I branch out and get their personal pizza which has excellent sauce.

We also went to a really cute town called Medora. In Medora we went to a musical, and in the middle of the musical a comedian came on stage. He was hilarious! The musical was kind of interesting. There were different scenes. One scene was about a cowboy wedding. Another scene was about the musical's fiftieth anniversary. We went to a fun playground, and I actually missed swinging on the monkey bars and playing “Don't Touch the Ground” (Don't Touch the Ground is self-explanatory) with Levi.

In conclusion North Dakota was one of my favorite states, probably because I rode my first horse there. North Dakota is far from dull. The people in North Dakota are far from dull as well as the state.

The Daughter

North Dakota -- Too Many Butt's in a Blog

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Have you ever had to make a putt from behind an elephant's butt? In North Dakota I had to try that putt. Mostly we went to a little historic town called Medora. We went to a musical and saw a play, played mini golf, and ate at Schlotsky’s.

Considering my favorite thing is easy. The Medora Musical was by far the most superb. The Medora Musical is just as it sounds. It's a musical. I liked it because they had a comedian who had me laughing the whole time. Sadly, they only gave him fifteen minutes. We were lucky because they switch out the final act, so the comedian isn't always there.

We also saw Bully. Bully is a play about Theodore Roosevelt. Since there is only one actor in the play, it's more of a narrative with the actor portraying Theodore Roosevelt. It was one of the best plays I have ever been to. It was about an hour and a half long and worth every minute of it because you got to learn a lot about Teddy.

In Medora we also went mini golfing. They had a challenging mini golf course. Most of their holes involved things like windmills and loop de loops. My favorite hole had me hitting my ball from under an elephant's butt. They’re also the first course to have nineteen holes. The nineteenth hole was the one where you hit it in the clown's mouth. I think three stars out of five is an accurate rating.

When we were in Medora, we went horse back riding as well. My horse's name was PepperJack. It was an hour ride which is my longest horse ride ever. We rode through some of the Badlands. I liked it because Pepperjack kept going off the trail and on to a different trail which means I had to steer him back on the trail. Besides having to steer him back on the trail, all the horses knew the path, so you didn't have to steer them. After going bump bump for an hour, my butt hurt.

Regarding food, Schlotzky's is by far my favorite restaurant. We could walk there in about five minutes which is why we ate there almost every day. I would eat there every day if I could. Mostly I get their kid's cheese pizza. They always make it differently. Sometimes they have a different cheese. Others are light on the sauce. I always love their pizza though. Since I love them so much, I'm putting them in my top ten restaurants.

When we went to North Dakota, my expectations were zilch. During our visit there, I figured we would work, eat, and sleep. Apparently I was wrong though. North Dakota was booked with activities, so that means the only thing that stunk was the elephant's butt.

The Son