Roadtrip! Day Two and Three

Day two and three go into one post because they were really just one long day.

We originally planned on getting up early each day on the way over because we needed as much time to drive as possible, but so far this wasn't happening. I set the alarm for 7 AM so that we could sleep in a little, but that ended up being extended to about 7:30 AM and then I got up and took my shower, letting Jason sleep a little longer.

However, it was finally time to get going, later than we had planned, as usual, and we got our stuff together and headed down for our free breakfast and then headed out on the road. Then the driving fun began.

The wedding rehearsal was at 4:00 PM the next day (Friday) and Jason figured out that if we were to start driving to our hotel in Illinois right then, we would be able to rest for 7 hours. That's including any breaks we would take at rest stops, for food, and any time we'd want to take for sleeping. So, instead, we decided to just drive straight from Butte, MT to our hotel in Lansing, Il. According to Google Maps, this was a 22 hour drive, 1,496.6 miles. And it was really long. I drove for the first few hours and the Jason took over. I took back over the driving later that night.

But along the way we stopped at a Hardee's in North Dakota because of raving reviews from my coworker who is from Minnesota, and a rest area, also in ND, that had warnings for rattlesnakes.

We ended up not getting the one thing my coworker had recommended (the ham and Swiss) but their burgers were decent and we enjoyed our orange cream shake. As for rattlesnakes, we didn't encounter any. As my friend Molly asked, "Do the rattlesnakes know to stay off the sidewalks?" I was wondering the same thing.

We also happened to pass by the World's Largest Cow outside of Bismarck, MT, but we didn't have time to stop and see it. There are so many things we want to come back and see.

We made lots of stops that night to get out, use the bathroom and do some jumping jacks to help keep us awake, and even got some coffee at a Starbucks. We made it to our hotel around noon and had just enough time for showers and quick naps. Then it was off to the church for the rehearsal and then to Aurelio's Pizza for dinner (which was really yummy). Dinner ended up being our only meal of the day and since we had stopped at a Taco John's the evening before.

Getting back to the hotel was really nice. Although we were still staying up late and having to get up early. I had to be at the bride's parents' house at 8:15 AM to meet up and then head out to get our hair done.

This is Jason relaxing when we got back to the hotel after the rehearsal dinner.

And this is the cricket that we found outside the window of the Hardee's we stopped at for lunch. I think it was hoping someone would bring it a burger. :)