Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Marathon Day thru South Dakota


 We spontaneously decided to try a scenic loop that took us through the Badlands on Wednesday. Wow. The landscape is eerie but beautiful. The rock formations are so unlike anything I have seen before and you can just barely grasp the concept that all of it was at the bottom of a sea years ago.


 We saw invisible buffalo. That was a thrill.


And some really cute prairie dogs...




As I have mentioned before, when you travel with Geoff, strange things happen. Unfortunately, a pre-historic Metamynodon took a small chunk out of Adeline's leg. Luckily she recovered enough to enjoy a donut at Wall Drug.

Corn Palace Baby!

Not much to say about the rest of Missouri or St. Joseph. Though we did hit St. Joseph during summer training for the NFL football team there. It was way too hot and humid for me, playing football was the last thing on my mind. Especially after the margarita I had for dinner!

We made it to South Dakota on Tuesday and fell in love with it immediately.


The kids were a bit disenchanted with eight to ten hours in the car thing. They exhausted their bag of tricks and perfected the art of irritating each other. And if I never hear a Miley Cyrus song again coming out of one of their cute little mouths, it would be way too soon.

We visited the Corn Palace, which we have been dying to see after playing a game the kids have about US landmarks. It did not disappoint. I was enthralled with the building made of cobs and kernels.







We had dinner at a saloon that was decorated with dead things.


And we thought of Casidy when we saw that they served fried pickles! That kid loves pickles so much, I'd bet she would even eat a fried one.


That night we pulled into Oacoma, SD during a spectacular storm with a crowd of Sturgis bikers. Geoff set off the hotel's smoke alarm after trying to dry off from the rain. I found that pretty funny.

The best quote from that segment of the trip was when I asked Geoff in the morning how the pastries were. He said, "Well. They are not stale." Yum!!!!!

A delightful goodbye in Missouri

We headed out at dawn on Monday morning, we put the sleepy girls in the car after giving Grandma and Grandpa Baur some last hugs and thank you's. We drove to St. Louis to see Emily's beautiful house.


She made a delicious egg dish with asparagus, potatoes, a fruit salad, and some peachy yogurt. We were in heaven. There was no comparison between this breakfast and a breakfast sandwich I had gotten earlier at a truck stop in Missouri. Or Iowa. Or Nebraska.

Here is Emily and Hailey, their goofy and sweet dog that makes honking and moaning noises when she is excited...



We took some last photos before saying goodbye...



Thank you Emily and Chris for a memorable breakfast. We miss you guys already.

Last night in Indiana at the Overlook on the Ohio River

Our last night was a quiet night with the grandparents. We went to a beautiful restaurant along the Ohio River and had some home-cookin grub that I am still trying to work off.


The sunset was beautiful and we saw the sun set in a stunning red glow that was nothing like I have seen before. Unfortunately, I did not get a picture of it! But it was great lighting to take some pictures of the girls' last night in Indiana.


We were sad to leave the Baur's house but I bet they enjoyed the deafening silence when we were all gone.

Getting to know you!!!!!!!

The kids were fortunate to get to know their great grandparents while we were in Indiana. We visited everyone as much as we could and loved seeing everyone.

Here is Grandma Hagedorn...


Here are the Baurs...

Aunt Agnes and Grandma Hagedorn...

Family Reunion

We had a family reunion on Saturday and played a serious game of cornhole. The complicated bracket is below and be assured we followed the Cornhole Association's official rules and regulations!



Here is the kitty, worth $70!

In the end, Ciera and Aunt Paula Jo kicked everybody's booties! Way to go, Ciera! You will need that extra cash at UC Boulder!

Here are some other pictures from the evening....

Adeline hit it off with her Great Uncle Bernie. She dressed him in pioneer gear and made him gallop around the yard.


Here are some of the inseparable Baur cousins...


Here are the rest of the Baur kids with their doting and sweet Aunt Emily...


You can see why Sophie is called Emily all the time, she looks exactly like her Auntie!

By the end of the night, we were glistening from the lovely Indiana evening and a crazy round (or 2 or 3) of cornhole...