Bye bye West

After a night in Jackson Hole, WY, we stopped at this sign to capture these mountains.

Then we drove into Idaho and Utah to say that we'd been there. This picture is Idaho, but what I saw of Utah looked pretty much the same. Wish we'd had enough time to go to Salt Lake City, but I think we were at our capacity as far as how far West we could go.

Wouldn't you know - we ran into an intense storm in Kansas. Shocked? After being freaked out about the wind and sheets of rain, things got better. I saw a double rainbow for the first time. And the first rainbow I'd seen from horizon to horizon. It was too big to fit it all in one picture, though! I wish I'd taken a video of it.

This kind of gives you an idea of how big it was. So cool!

Then we pulled off into Good_____, Kansas for dinner. The blank isn't for an expletive. I just can't remember the name. This was definitely a treat to see. And also definitely the biggest easel I've ever seen. Please note the barn and power lines in the background.

Though the trip has been good, there are a couple of things I wouldn't mind not seeing for a long, long time:

1. Cutoff t-shirts

2. Wrangler jeans

3. "No service" in the upper left-hand corner of my phone

4. Golden Corral

5. Buffalo traffic jams

That's all for now. I may or may not text more thoughts directly to this blog today. We have approximately 793 miles to go to Indiana.

Yellowstone National Park, a great American asset

Yesterday was my first day in Yellowstone. It was definitely the fullest day so far. So here we go:

Gallatin River on the way into the park. Made me think of Tennessee.

Apparently when my dad came to Yellowstone during his college career as a geology major, he stepped in the river. I was instructed to do the same. Almost had to amputate my feet due to how cold the water was. At least I look happy!

And then we decided to go see Old Faithful. I filmed it. And yes, I realize I sound ridiculous:

In case that video wasn't sufficient or was too wild to view, this is Old Faithful during its eruption.

and during again...couldn't decide which I liked better.

Soon we saw this creature. This is for Bratalie, as she doesn't believe my wildlife encounters.

And yet another creature. Wish I captured him while he was looking at me.

Mammoth Springs...I liked this place a lot. You will soon notice that due to all the pictures.

Mammoth again.

And again. I kind of want to live here or at least take a mineral bath. The only problem is there's a sign before you go exploring that dozens of people have been scalded to death by stepping off the path.

Oh, Mammoth. I loved you.

Found this going across a bridge after leaving Mammoth Springs. Might sound crazy but this is probably my favorite view thus far. When I was little I used to draw pictures of the house where I wanted to live, and it looked just like this. I'll put my house on the hill to the right of the river. Yellowstone won't care.

And this is Tower Falls.

Can't get tired of mountains...

Let me summarize the rest of the night:

1. Had to go 72 miles from our last stop to exit the park

2. Buffalo traffic jam

3. Hotel we'd booked in the morning was 250 miles from the exit of the park

4. Almost out of gas

5. Tried to find a gas station/closer lodging

6. Ended up in Jackson Hole, WY, which is apparently one of the richest per capita locations in the country

7. Went to bed around 3 AM, 5 AM Indiana time as Mom and Dad kept reminding me- apparently after six days my parents still haven't adjusted

Today I have no clue where we're going. I've really enjoyed this trip, but I can't wait to be back in Nashville!

Bananas in Montana, roaming in Wyoming...

Okay not so much on the bananas part, but we have been roaming everywhere. Yesterday we left Spearfish to head to Devil's Tower in Wyoming.

Right before we left, we decided we'd go to Yellowstone. We weren't planning on going because it's even further west, but why not? We're already out here. Too long of a journey to make it during daylight yesterday, but we did get to see some amazing sights along the way. I'd never been to Montana or Wyoming, but that changed yesterday.

Here's Devil's Tower. It used to be a volcanic neck:

And this was in South Dakota but I just uploaded it to my computer. It's a Longhorn Sheep. I don't know if that's supposed to be capitalized. I'm not good with animal identification.

Now we're moving onto Montana, where we stayed for the night. I saw the Yellowstone River along the interstate and really wanted to get a picture of it during the sunset.

We pulled off at an exit and drove toward the river. When we finally found it, it was marked with "No Trespassing" signs. My dad then proceeded to knock on the door of the nearest home and ask if we could take a few pictures.

And after we were harassed by the mosquitos near the river, we traveled a short distance and found some pretty spectacular sunset views.

It was all so beautiful! Getting ready to leave for Yellowstone in a few short minutes.

Yesterday and some stragglers...

So...the Christensen Family Reunion was a success. Except for this picture of me circa 1998 that my uncle so kindly brought for some reminiscing:

Not nearly as bad as the picture I had for my speech at my high school graduation...

Anyway, we left Watertown around 11 am yesterday. After a few hours of riding in the backseat, I decided it was time that I take a turn at the wheel. And I sure drove us to exciting locations.

We saw signs for hours and hours for the world famous, one and only Wall Drug Store (apparently there are even signs in Europe!). Finally, we arrived to do some shopping:

But this was the most exciting thing I found:

After much fun among mullets, denim, and scurrying children, we decided to head to the Badlands. I drove through approximately 30 miles of this:

I can't complain - there's nothing like the South Dakota sunset.

But I must say the most exciting part of yesterday was dinner at Golden Corral because I saw a Native American man in the parking lot. I'm 1/16 American Indian but I don't know which tribe. Maybe I will find my descendants soon.

Goals/agenda for today:

1. Wyoming

2. Montana

3. Sleeping less than one hour in the car

4. Colorado?

I don't know how my goal could be an entire state. Seems kinda lofty.

Oh well...more tonight or tomorrow. You can't wait, right? Hahaha.

Top 10 on Lake Kampeska and surrounding areas

Okay, so I'm going to pull a Ben Kann and make a Top 10 list for today.

(Check his blog out at http://benkann.blogspot.com)

1. No humidity=great hair.

2. Wearing my sweatshirt in the summer (all day long!).

3. Watching my grandma's 89 and 91-year-old brothers interact. They're still so sharp!

4. Swinging in the hammock while enjoying the stars over the lake.

5. Eating three types of dessert after dinner. Actually, make that four.

6. Getting kicked out of Henry High School by a hippie because it is now a private residence?

7. Watching my second cousin make origami elephants and butterflies out of dollar bills.

8. Singing Beach Boys songs in unison as Mom's cousin played the piano.

9. My uncle is a magician.

10. Fireworks over the lake. It felt like what July 4th should feel like.

Here's a photo recap of today:

Pretty field...what all of South Dakota looks like

My grandma's brothers Edward, 89, and Raymond, 91, at the Veterans' Memorial

I want to take them home with me!

Medicine Lake

Henry High School, where my grandma, Edward, and their sister Helen all graduated valedictorian. Runs in the family. :)

P.S. This is the one that's a private residence. What?!

Pretty, pretty country. I know it looks like all the other pictures.

Showcasing my love for animals/obscure statues again. This time it's a giant pheasant.

My uncle is magical! Post-dinner entertainment

Fireworks over the lake. I looked but didn't touch.

I like the Christensen side.

"Fowl" play and "horsing" around

Okay, so I guess being in the car for 12+ hours two days in a row results in me developing my mom's corny sense of humor (hence the title of this blog).

I was really questioning the excitement factor of this trip until we reached New Ulm, MN (about six hours into our drive today). It was then that I saw this: the Hermann Monument.

What is it, you ask? I don't really know. I just wanted to get out of the car.

But I did learn two things about Hermann:

1. He was German.

2. This is the second largest statue of its type. I don't know what "type" that is. But the only one that trumps it is the Statue of Liberty.

After visiting Hermann, we continued traveling through New Ulm. One of the most exciting findings was Martin Luther College.

Most of you probably aren't aware of the fact that I spent

grades 1-9 in private Lutheran schooling with a maximum of 15 people in my entire grade. However, eight of those years my family went to a non-Lutheran church. I decided it was time after all these years to please Grandma and take a picture with the one who put the "Luther" in Lutheran.

I mean, if I marry a Lutheran before age 30, all Grandma's goals for my life will have been accomplished.

You may think that New Ulm could hold no more excitement, but you would be wrong! Guess what I stumbled upon? A rooster.

We decided to leave New Ulm on a high note. It's hard to beat posing with a rooster.

Then lo and behold! About seven miles down the road, Sleepy Eye caught my shouldn't-be-sleepy-because-I'm-unemployed-and-have-been-sleeping-the-whole-way-but-I'm-still-sleepy eye:

And just about 0.2 miles down the road I found Rudolph/my new boyfriend:

And then we watched a romantic sunset together.

We arrived at the Christensen party zone about 12:30. It's now pushing 2 AM and my parents are snoring loudly. I must rise for family breakfast time at 9 AM.

Today was so much fun, I don't know if tomorrow can compare.

Prairie du Chien, WI

Yep, that's where I am. It's French for "Land of Dog." How appropriate since I am such an animal lover.

Here's a recap of yesterday:

9:30 AM: Dropped dogs off at All About Pawz. Sounds cuter than it smelled.

9:50 AM: Stopped in to visit Grandma. (Summary: Do you have a job yet? What is a vocal coach? Have a boyfriend? I know someone who got married at 30, maybe you'll do that too? When are you going to sing at a jamboree again? Why do you have them [my hair] straight?)

1:30 PM: Left my house 5.5 hours behind schedule....but that's still early for my parents.

1:30-5:00: I-65 and iPod

5:30-7:45: Lake Shore Drive, Chicagooooo. Rushour. It was still pretty! Please see below.

7:45-???: And as for the rest of the day, there's not too much to say. The time changed at some point. It was dark out so I couldn't see much. We finally arrived in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin at 12:45 AM CST.

Then I simultaneously watched the Real World: Cancun episode I'd missed and downloaded photos from my computer to my phone and assigned them to several contacts. I have not been optimizing my iPhone for the past 10 months.

We'll arrive at my mom's cousin's house tonight for the remainder of the weekend. Today's goal: learning the family tree.

I will be better at taking photos today. And tomorrow. And the next day.