Even though it was still snowing, we went back to Mt. Rushmore in hopes that visibility may be better. This first picture is at the entrance to the park. If you look at the trees in this morning’s photo versus the photo taken yesterday evening at the same location, you’ll get a sense of just how hard it was snowing.

Visibility was better. There was still cloud cover and most of the time the faces were completely obscured, but as the clouds moved, you could occasionally catch a glimpse.

We got back on the highway and went to Devil’s Tower National Monument in Wyoming, where visibility was similar to Mt. Rushmore. Sometimes we could get a hazy glimpse of it, but most of the time it was obscured by clouds.

We spent the night in a cute little log cabin in Buffalo, Wyoming

Thursday, May 12 — Day 20: Buffalo, Wyoming to Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Bighorn National Forest, Wyoming

Buffalo Bill Dam & Water Reservoir, Cody, Wyoming

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

We spent the night at the Old Faithful Snow Lodge inside the park.

Visit to Taliesin, famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s personal estate, in Spring Green, Wisconsin. The second photo is his school, one of his earliest designs that he constantly revised over the years. The first is the only restaurant Wright ever designed, near the end of his life.

Dayton House Bed & Breakfast in Worthington, Ohio

Tuesday, May 11 – Day 18: Worthington, Ohio to Keystone, South Dakota

Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota

Feeding the Prairie Dogs in Interior, South Dakota

Badlands National Monument in South Dakota. As you may have guessed, it was really, really cold

Wall Drug in Wall, South Dakota

Shortly before arriving at Mt. Rushmore, South Dakota, it started to snow. The first photo is Christi at the entrance to the park.

The second is of the famous faces from the viewing station. Thanks to the cloud cover, we couldn’t see a darn thing.

We spent the night at a hotel in Keystone, South Dakota, which is near Mt. Rushmore.

Lunch with Dan, Lisa and Joella in Edgewater (AKA Viet Nam Town)

Exploring Downtown

Dinner with Christi’s half-brother, Andronikos

Sunday, May 9 — Day 16: Chicago, Illinois to Plain, Wisconsin

Visiting Adler Planetarium

Daytime view of downtown from the Planetarium, which is just a block away from Burnham Yacht Club

We spent the night at the Bettinger House Bed and Breakfast in Plain, Wisconsin. Christi was sick upon arrival, and the owner, Marie, healed her with some homeopathic remedies.

Sunset in Plain

Historic Schenectady

The Eerie Canal

Niagara Falls, the most powerful waterfalls in North America, located in Niagara Falls, New York.

The Cave of the Winds attraction at Niagara Falls. Don’t let the name fool you. There is no cave – the attraction is a walkway that takes you under one of the falls.

The next major city on our route is Chicago, so we decided to take a short cut through Canada. We crossed over the border to find that Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada has quite a few themed buildings. It kind of reminds us of a less glitzy Las Vegas.

Sunset in Ontario, somewhere between Brantford and Sarnia.

We spent the night at The Gables Inn in Sarnia, near the American border.

Friday, May 7 — Day 14: Sarnia, Ontario, Canada to Chicago, Illinois, USA

First thing in the morning, we crossed the border back into the US. Trying to get into the US with a trunk full of fuel containers is not the smartest thing we’ve ever done. We’re sure you’ll be amused when we post the full story. Anyway, we only made a couple stops between the border and Chicago.

The Chocolate Garden in Coloma, Michigan

Grandpa’s Cider Mill in Coloma, Michigan

We arrived in the mid-afternoon and checked into a Best Western downtown. In the evening, we did a presentation on our around the world journey at the Burnham Yacht Club, located on an island just off downtown. This is the view from the yacht club.

So today we got fuel for the first time since leaving San Diego. Read on…

Eric’s cousin’s cottage in Kennebunk, Maine

Downtown Kennebunkport, Maine

Former US President George HW Bush’s estate in Kennebunkport.

Since we had three quarters of a tank of fuel left, we decided to head north on route one for a while. We drove through several small towns (some more scenic than others) before getting to Portland, Maine.

In Portland, we turned off route one and took some other roads north to Presumpscot Falls in Falmouth, Maine before we turned around. We still had half a tank of fuel left and probably could have made it to the Canadian border, but we were out of time. As an FYI, the dam has been removed, so the waterfalls are gone.

We hopped onto Interstate 95 and headed south to Interstate 495. We made our first fuel stop in Tewksbury, Massachutses. We had started with a total of 88.9 gallons of fuel (14.5 gallons in the tank, one 5 gallon container and thirteen 5.3 gallon containers) in the car. We did 3,586 miles in total and still had ¼ tank left!

We got some dinner, then continued south on I-495 to the I-90 east. We didn’t make any more stops until we got to our hotel. Here is a shot of the sunset as we were driving. We are not sure where it was exactly, but in New York near the Adirondack Mountains.

We stayed at the English Garden B & B in the historic part of Schenectady, New York

We added our very last 2 containers of fuel:

We took a fascinating guided “Freedom Trail Tour” in Boston. Our tour guide was an actor playing the role of Barzillai Lew, who was a free black man who served as a soldier with distinction during the American Revolution. Here he is showing us Paul Revere’s headstone in the Granary Burial Ground:

We want to save most of the great information and pictures for the full write up we will eventually do, but here are a few teasers from the Freedom Trail. This building was built in 1865. Prior to that, this site held the first public school in America, started in 1635. Notable attendees included John Hancock, Samuel Adams and Benjamin Franklin (who dropped out):

This is the oldest public building in Boston, built in 1713 as the seat of the British colonial government. The Declaration of Independence was first read to Bostonians from the balcony of this building on July 18, 1776:

A visit to the USS Constitution, the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world. She was built in 1797–one of the six ship fleet built for the brand new United States Navy:

And we had lunch at the oldest restaurant in America, apparently one of John F. Kennedy’s favorite restaurants:

Then we drove to Kennebunk, Maine, where we stayed at Eric’s cousin’s cottage.

We still have some fuel left, so we are going to continue a bit farther tomorrow. But we have made it from San Diego, California all the way to the state of Maine on one load of fuel, so we have accomplished our goal! When we reach our farthest point north we will share the full stats of the trip.

Friday, April 30, 2010 – Day 7: Lake St. Louis, Missouri to Dayton, Ohio
Via: I70
Total miles for the entire trip was 2430 at the end of the day.

Adding 2 containers of fuel before leaving the Hocker’s house:

Visit to the arch in St. Louis, Missouri:

View from the top of the arch:

Covered bridge in Greenup, Illinois:

Stopped for the night at a Best Western in Dayton, Ohio.

Saturday, May 1 – Day 8: Dayton, Ohio to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Via: I70 &
Total miles for the day: 454

This was pretty much a driving only day with no sightseeing stops

Adding 2 containers of fuel in the rain (we were under cover):

Stopped for lunch in the historic town of Zanesville, Ohio:

Stopped for the night at a Best Western in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Sunday, May 2 – Day 9: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to Brookfield, Connecticut
Total miles for the day: 286

We added 2 containers of fuel, but the photos didn’t come out.

Scenic drive through the Amish country:

Lunch with Mike and Teresa in Elmwood, New Jersey:

Visit with the Rodrigues family in Brookfield, Connecticut:

Monday, May 3 – Day 10: Day of rest.

We were ready for a day off to do nothing at all. We stayed in Brookfield and had a lovely visit with the Rodrigues’ family.