Kurt's turn to post. Today we are coming to you from Middleburg Heights, OH 44130. We drove most of the day stopping for a time to eat and go see Lake Erie. We found a nice place to eat called Tony Packo's Cafe. We hope to be in DC tomorrow and have some clean laundry. Here are some pictures from yesterday morning and today. The girls did the rope course before the game of mini Golf and lazer tag. The watter in the background is Lake Erie.

Lost in Chicago

We finished off our stay at the Kalahari by playing laser tag and miniature golf. Kurt and the girls did the ropes course while I took pictures. Then we hit the road again. We were doing great until we got into Illinois. We hit rush hour just outside Chicago. I hate traffic and my stomach was in knots. It took us an hour and a half to go 20 miles. Then we missed our exit. I thought no problem we will just get off at the next exit. We ended up in a very bad area of Chicago. It was Kurt's turn to have his stomach in knots. His knuckles were white on the wheel the whole time. I told him we needed something to write for the blog anyway and to consider it an adventure. He was not amused! Anyway we finally made it back to the highway and to Indiana.

Hidden treasure in Wisconsin

I never would have thought of Wisconsin as a vacation destination but we have had such a good time here, we have already talked about coming again. We are staying at the Kalahari Resort. They have an indoor water park and an outdoor water park, a theme park with laser tag, miniature golf, go karts, etc. Included in our package was an hour long horseback ride. We did the horseback ride and water parks today and will do the theme park tomorrow. We played a trivia game at the place went to dinner and won( just bragging rights) and went to see UP. I will post pictures tomorrow. I am pooped!

Day 4 Corn Palace

We went to the Corn Palace before pulling out of Mitchell, SD. It was interesting to see the pictures made from the corn and to hear the history of the place. We were going to go to De Smet and visit the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum but the weather was not great and we decided to just get out of SD. We actually made it across Minnesota and to the Wisconsin Dells in Wisconsin. We are going to spend tomorrow here also. It is our 17th anniversary and we decided to spend it at an indoor waterpark instead of in the car. This whole town is waterparks (21, I think) and hotels. I think we will all be glad for a day outside the car.

Wall Drug

We started seeing signs for Wall Drug back in Wyoming. Kurt really just wanted to drive but the girls and I kept reading him all the signs. We were just trying to bug him and it must of worked because he pulled off at Wall. We bought Salt Water Taffy and Sara and Emily went mining and panning for gems and rocks. A little hokey but we thought it was fun. Lots of goofy photos and we were back on the road. We were trying to get to Sioux Falls but by the time we got to Mitchell were were getting kind of punchy as demonstrated by the terrible " Why did the pheasant cross the road?" jokes. We must have passed 50 dead pheasants on the side of the road. We decided it was time to call it a night. We checked into a Quality Inn, started laundry , and went for a swim. A local Ruby Tuesdays delivers for free so we a jammied( except for Kurt, somebody has to answer the door) and waiting for dinner to be delivered.

Bear Country USA

On the way out of Keystone , and on our way to 90 we stopped at Bear Country USA. I went here with my mom almost 20 years ago and had a good time. The girls were squealing in the back seat with every new animal we saw and there were a lot of them. After we finished the part you drive through we went to the new part-Babyland. There were baby otters, racoons, badgers, and lots of bear cubs. The girls wanted to bring them home. Thankfully there was a small electric fence although I am not sure if it was to keep the cubs in or the girls out. Nine hundred pictures later (d0n't worry I won't post them all) we managed to pull them away.

No White House

We found out we won't be able to tour the White House. The security information needed to be in by Friday. Unfortunately I didn't get the message until Saturday. Anyway, now that there is no reason to rush we have slowed down and enjoyed the sights more. We are spending the night in Mitchell, South Dakota-Home of the Corn Palace. Off to go swim, do laundry, and order dinner in. I will write more later and post lots of pictures. It has been a fun day!