3 Generation Roadtrip - Day 1

Day one of our road trip - grandma, me, niece - we left the morning after the derecho hit the DC area. Luckily we didn't encounter any closed roads, just a few traffic lights out in the Chevy Chase area.  But I wasn't thinking about how power outages across southern Ohio would affect us filling up the gas tank.  Several towns had no power, and therefore, their gas stations weren't open.  We then hit our first mile backup of cars waiting to get into a gas station that did have power.  So when we got to the next town with power, we decided to top off just in case.  We had to wait about a 1/2 hour in line.  I think part of the problem was people like this women, who were filling up multiple gas cans, probably for their backup generator.

49th State, and 26 Miles

I finally made it to my 49th state - North Dakota - while traveling to cheer for my brother running his 3rd marathon.  I flew into Fargo to meet my dad, pretty much just with the sole purpose of finally setting foot in ND and checking it off my list.  (unfortunately I didn't stay the night in ND, so now I have to go back...according to my new way of calculating what "counts" as making it to a state)

I then continued on to Duluth, MN for Grandma's Marathon.  And drove back home with my brother, visiting two state capitols along the way.  More pictures will be posted soon...I hope.

Oh yeah, and Elmo came along for the ride :-)

St. Paul, MN

Des Moines, IA