We left Traverse City at 8am on Saturday, a stunning feat given that the girls had been sleeping in till 8:30 or 9 all week and that we're traditionally late in most things that we do as a family.  The skies were just beginning a soft drizzle of rain, a fitting farewell (that helped the kids realize that even if we'd stayed, we wouldn't be hanging out at the lake as they were wont to do).  We gave our farewell hugs and toodled off down the peninsula on a Volvo and a prayer.

We reached Grand Rapids just in time for lunch. I think I've only been to Grand Rapids once or twice before (on visits to see Bakkes and Wags) but I'd never been downtown.  We parked on Ottawa Ave, which is roughly perpendicular to Monroe Center St. where I'd found 3 restaurants with positive ratings online.  We walked to Monroe Center and found XO Asian Cuisine right off the bat.  But since we didn't really want to haul leftovers in a car with no refrigeration, we thought we'd pursue the sandwich shops on my list instead. We ended up eating at Blake's Turkey Sandwich Shoppe, which was fine, though their veggie selections were ac knowledgeably slim.  Finding the sandwich shop was the first of several "find the restaurant games" we played in which Meg felt quite confident that she could find the spot, but Rob held doubt in his heart.  :-P


The downtown area was quite nice (if not a little empty, but maybe that was because of the time of day we were there).  We were severely impressed with how clean the city was. There wasn't even gum on the sidewalk! 

After lunch we set off again and made it through the traffic of Chicago with little incident.  (We had planned on taking a ferry across Lake Michigan in order to avoid the traffic, but when we found out it would cost $350 and only save us about an hour and a half, we decided to toss that idea out the window.) 

We had dinner in Davenport, Iowa at a very nice little brew pub called the Front Street Brewery that was right across from one of the locks on the river. The kids got a chance to scooter around in the parking lot, letting off a bit of steam.  And then we drove through town to get back to I-80 and saw several cool old houses and other buildings.


We hit two torrential downpours as we crossed Iowa.  During the first one we couldn't see beyond the end of our car and pulled over for awhile.  We arrived in Omaha at 11 and found a crummy hotel to stay in.  (All the decent hotels were full.  What's with that?)  It was cheap, at least, and had free wifi.



We stopped in Lincoln, Nebraska for breakfast in a little coffee shop.  I was impressed to see a Russian shop across the street and Rob was impressed by the size of the Cornhuskers football stadium.  We then set off once again and stopped in Kearney (where we had stopped on the very first day of our trip for dinner).  We had seen a little French Cafe listed in a tourist mag that we'd picked up on our first visit to the city.  So we thought we'd give it a go for lunch. 

Colorado corn field

On Friday morning, Rob rushed off at 7:45 to defend his technical paper.  (He took all his masters' level classes a few years back, but the paper took a bit longer -- especially since he's been working full time since then.) He was a bit groggy still, having just got in from San Francisco at 1:30 am, but he bravely stumbled out the door to discuss "The Governance of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act".  In the meantime, I packed, fed everyone, ran several errands and spent too long looking for Nathan's long lost glasses.

Around 9:30, Rob called to say that his paper had been accepted and that he had a few more things he had to do to shove it through the system and then he would be home.  When all was said and done, we ended up leaving Fort Collins by noon.

As we headed north on I-25, I snapped a photo of corn fields and Rob started rustling around for a map to glance at.  "Map?" I said, aghast.  Who needs a map?  We drive north till we hit Wyoming, then we turn right."  Rob looked a little leary, but went with it. 

Colorado/Wyoming border

We weren't in Wyoming long (which I found to be problematic since I was trying to get a quick pic of each state.  I got one right at the Wyoming border into Nebraska.)  Then we passed a wide-load truck hauling the weirdest pipes I've ever seen (looked like water pipes but full of little holes) so I snapped another shot.

Wyoming/Nebraska border	Weird pipes

At some point in either Wyoming or Nebraska, Nathan (who I had told numerous times over the last few days to scour the house for his glasses) popped out with, "Oh look!  My glasses!"  They were in the kid's backpack.  *eyeroll* 

Around 7-ish, we pulled into Kearney and ate at an Old Chicago.  We don't generally frequent chain restaurants, but when you're on the road, it's hard to find the little local places that we'd prefer. (I did grab a local tourist mag. while we were there, though.  So on the way back we might try a French Café that's listed there.)  We sat down to order and Nathan noticed that they'd only given us two kid menus and while the girls were given water in plastic cups with tops, he was given a big glass of water just like Rob and I got.  He asked me about it and I pointed out that when we walked in, the server probably saw two kids and a teenager.  It took him a moment to think that one out.  (He's only 10, after all.)  But then it dawned on him that I meant him and he blushed and sunk a little lower in his seat, smiling but embarrassed.

Nebraska

Our plan had been to stop in Des Moines, but it was getting so late that we decided to just find a hotel on the far side of Omaha. Unfortunately, when we passed the last hotel it looked like we were still in town -- we had no idea we were at the edge.  So after that there were no more hotels for several miles.  We stopped at several hotels over the next hour and a half and every single one was full because of some Harley event in the area.  (Whatever happened to "No Vacancy" signs?)  We eventually ended up in a Motel 6 in Des Moines.  (No continental breakfast.  Internet was $2.99.  After staying in several hotels during Spring Break, each of which gave complimentary breakfasts and wifi, I was a bit dismayed.)

We set off in the morning and figured we'd eat breakfast after traveling a ways.  We pulled over in Kellogg, Iowa, which was a really cute little town.  But the only restaurants were bars, so we headed off for nearby Grinnell instead.  (Some guys in Kellogg recommended a diner there.) 

The diner in Grinnell	Iowa wild flowers

The diner was a real hit.  I got a veggie omelet that was very good. It had caramelized onions and peppers that were really tasty.  Nathan got the French toast with ham.  (I don't eat meat, but the ham really did look good.) Anna got a pancake and Naomi got two pancakes with bacon.  Rob had a philly steak omelet (which also had the yummy caramelized onions and peppers).

Corn fields as far as the eye can see	The Mississippi river

We drove into Chicago by 4:30 and visited with friends who not only fed us dinner, but they also let us hold their bearded dragon, Draco.  The kids had a great time running around and it was nice to have a break from the car. 

Draco	Chicago

But then we all piled in one last time and headed off toward Detroit.  We pulled into Canton well after midnight.