Day 9 - Oregon

Bakery City, Oregon: I'm assuming it says "Baker Truck Corral" because "The Creepy Baker Truck Corral" didn't fit.
Caught in the act at a rest stop near the Columbia River...
This was exciting. We stopped for coffee in The Dalles, Oregon. At first it seemed to be a beautiful waking dream, we had found a real-life chocolate factory! Err, no... It's a water treatment "pond". *Sigh*, the search continues. Part of me still wants to go swimming in it's chocolatey (looking) goodness.
Picture of Shelly in a bunker at the Bonneville Dam (don't get me started, dams are evil and bad). There was something that looked suspiciously like a poop in the bunker after Shelly left, but it might have been a pine cone.
It looked like this all day. This part of Oregon is a "temperate rain forest". Look it up. In other words, it rains; ALL THE TIME.
Horsetail Falls.
Multnomah Falls.
Let's see, vacation itinerary. Historical landmarks, geological wonders, famous waterways, cemetery. You don't go to cemeteries on vacation? You haven't lived.
On the road to Mt. Hood, you can't escape the long arm of Obama. No, we didn't put the sign up.

Day 8

This is what Montana looked like through our windshield. Note the bug remains on the windshield. We've orphaned a lot of larvae on our trip, neither one of us is proud.Yes, we can in Boise, Idaho. I don't think Obama needs help here...
This is a park in Boise, Idaho by the state capitol building. If there's a port-a-potty "Bermuda Triangle" somewhere, this is where they end up.
Not a lot of pictures today as it poured rain most of the way through Idaho. Stopping for the night in Baker City, Oregon.

Day 7 - Jellystone

The "Crazy Woman Saloon" in Dayton, Wyoming. There were parking spaces for brooms right next to the truck.This was the view from US-14 going west into the Big Horn National Forest. It may be the coolest road in the world, it was actually scary to drive up it. Highly recommended.
Yep, there were cows on the mountain. Why not?
View from the top of Big Horn National Forest. In some ways, it was better than Yellowstone. There, I said it.
View "coming down" (physically) from Big Horn. Something tells me there's treasure in this thing.
Perhaps the highlight of the trip for Shelly. This was in the middle of nowhere in Wyoming. Why is this suprising? Wyoming might be the only state that has more guns than mosquitos.
On Interstate 90 heading west to Cody, Wyoming we saw a large black bird on the side of the road. We stopped, I missed the picture of the black bird and took this picture of what I thought was a small man (okay, a man with a beak) on top of the telephone pole. It's a golden eagle. They are big. Go outside and look at a telephone pole, then look at this picture again.
This is a mile or two inside of Yellowstone. That's snow on the mountain in the background!
It can be slow going in Yellowstone. Blame the buffalo (incidently, they looked quite tasty).
No, this is not a crow. It's a raven, waiting for someone to drop food at the Old Faithful Lodge. It was suprising (and a little unsettling) how much bigger than a crow they are. A group of ravens (a group of ravens is called a murder) caused quite a stir when they carried off a small french woman while we were waiting for Old Faithful to do it's thing. Oh wait, that didn't actually happen.
Old Faithful. I'm not sure it's either, I need proof. Oh, it smells like farts.
Lots of stuff gives off steam in Yellowstone. What's the deal with that?
In one of the native american tongues (I forget which one) "Yellowstone" means "land of water, steam and rocks".
These geese have had enough of this crap and are getting the hell out.
The last picture on the way out of Yellowstone. Staying in Idaho Falls, Idaho then on to Oregon...

Day 6

Mt. Rushmore (South Dakota): the Dead Presidents. Where's Van Buren?Shelly's Boyfriend. Abraham Lincoln. There's a booger in his left nostril... or it might be a tree.
This was the view from the other side of Mt. Rushmore. Some old guy told us there's gold in them hills (but he didn't tell us where, what a jerk!).
A resevoir in South Dakota near Rushmore, you could probably put a dead body here and nobody would ever find it.
Deadwood, South Dakota... If you like gambling this is your town. Well, if Atlantic City and Vegas are closed. It has a little bit of everything. Bill Hickok was shot here and you're reminded of this constantly (Wild Bill yo yos, Wild Bill T-shirts, Wild Bill aspirin, etc).
Cows are the state bird of Wyoming. Maybe not, but they should be. There have got to be more cows than people, and honestly, they are mostly prettier than the people.
The Devil's Tower, Wyoming. This was the first "national monument". Apparently the Devil is in there somewhere trying to plot evil deeds and get the democrats back in the Whitehouse.
Rain falling a few miles away before we stopped for the night in Sheridan, Wyoming. We can finally see real mountains (it's about time)!

Day 4 & 5

Had technical difficulties yesterday (the blog disappeared), so there are 2 days worth of "photos". This is from a small campground in Cordova, Illinois along the Mississippi River. Since everyone has seen the Mississippi River, I thought a public phone was more interesting (when's the last time you saw one?).Windmills just outside Mason City, Illinois... It smelled like poop when I got out of the car to take this picture.
Don't need to add to this...
Shelly achieves "warp 10" going across South Dakota on interstate 90.
The "Badlands" in South Dakota. They're really not that bad.
The Indians thought an alien race built all of this... and so do I.

Wall Drug came recommended from Aunt Doris and Uncle Richard (what up?). The billboards advertising it started in Minnesota (really!). They sell pretty much everything, it's like Walmart on acid.
This is considered the "poor man's" suv here in Rapid City, South Dakota. The kids are inside the bale of hay.

Day 3

You'll have to click on this picture (to view it full size) to figure out what is wrong (other than the fact that you can't see any water). Yes we can what?

This is near Arthur, Illinois. I wanted to take a picture to give everyone the sense of corn that this part of the country has. We have no concept of this in New Jersey. Yes, they grow corn in New Jersey. It is taken to a whole other level here. They are serious about it. It is everywhere. The newspapers are made of corn. Cars have corn in the ashtrays. People wear it. Really.Apparently, Illinois is raising a sunflower army to take over the world. We have pictures of where it started. Arthur, Illinois. You heard it here first.
I couldn't help but post this... The irony is killing me. Oh, in case you don't get it, Subway sucks.
Quite frankly, I think Satan has better things to do...
From Springfield, Illinois: This is what Abe Lincoln would look like if he were a 100 foot tall monster, destroying tall buildings and making you wish you had never been born to live through his reign of terror.
My heart stopped when I saw this. Grateful Dead fans sit down (if you stand while you're on the internet) before you look at this picture. Jerry Garcia is alive and well and living in Springfield, Illinois! If this picture isn't proof enough, then you live alone in a prison of ignorance constructed just for you (by you).
The house Abraham Lincoln lived in before he moved to the White House. It looked neat.