US Road Trip 2012 - Days 17-18

Leaving Deadwood, we travelled the winding backroads to Mount Rushmore. Foiled on our previous visit several years ago by fog, on this day we would not be denied under blue skies. There, waiting for us, sat George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln....past a walkway lined with the flags of all fifty States.

We returned to I-90 at Rapid City, and pounded eastward, now sensing home and journey's end. We altered our original plan of heading north into North Dakota and across the top of Minnesota and Wisconsin to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, before turning south. Eager to be home, we opted for the shorter route around Chicago and slipping south of Lake Michigan.

A long day at the wheel and another lost hour in time zones saw us clear the entire width of both South Dakota and Minnesota, finally stopping in late evening as we crossed the Mississippi into Wisconsin. The sunny skies, high temperatures and budding trees lent speed to our travels, and buoyancy to our spirits....and hope that Spring would have also found Wheatley in our absence.

Already well into the final installment of "The Hunger Games" on audiobook, we finished off "Mockingjay" by the end of the day, before starting into "11-22-63" by Stephen King.

The final day of the trip was equally full, as we left western Wisconsin at 730am and arrived home at precisely 730pm (including yet another lost hour), having traversed the width of Wisconsin, the top of Illinois and around Chicago, passing briefly through Indiana before crossing the lower peninsula of Michigan.

At the border, the beers were duty free, and Customs was mercifully brief. We arrived home to blooming daffodils, leafing trees, and all furry people accounted for. The final tally for the Juke was 10,353 km and not a single incident beyond a small stone chip in the windshield. Looking back at the previous similar trip in an overloaded Civic, the nearly doubled horsepower was a welcome addition for passing slow traffic and climbing mountain canyons.....and cruise control was a nice addition too.





March 21-22, 2012