WY Road Trip - Day 14 (last day)

We spent most of the day driving.

We dropped grandpa off in Columbus so he could turn around and drive back to WY. Here's his rental w/Kid C, who liked the color:

No pictures, but the "Mr Medium" nickname was born in Ohio when we took a break to get ice cream. Mr. Medium, you know who you are.

And a grand welcoming home:

WY Road Trip - Day 13

Next capitol...Madison. There was a weekend farmers market going on outside:

Inside the dome:

The "Liberty Bell" was inside at this capitol:

Interesting decor...

View from the top, of my car on the street:

On to Illinois next, and the Illinois Railway Museum in Union:

There were a ton of trains there:

And they restored trains (look at that big smile on Kid C's face):

There were old run down trains too:

We walked up and down the aisles of at least 10 barns full of trains:

(look at that smile still...)

Eating in the dinning car:

A train ride to lull them to sleep:

Until the train horn blared:

Train car from Michigan City, IN...which we drove through later that same day (although it was getting dark, so no pictures):

But first, we drove by downtown Chicago and the Sears Tower ("No, Auntie, it's the Willis Tower"):

WY Road Trip - Day 12

South Dakota continued...

Capitol building in Pierre:

Of course had to find the "Liberty Bell":

Inside the dome:

Kid B goofing off:

Impressive stairway:

Overseeing the legislature:

While this picture doesn't accurately portray it, I think this was the lightest and brightest capitol yet:

Prelude of things to come:

Sorry Elmo, we had to leave you in the car:

Next up, Mitchell - the home of the infamous Corn Palace!

They were still working on the side of the building when we were there, one of the nearby roads closed for the staging area:

You can see the outline of the design where it isn't finished yet:

Kid B - "That's so cool, the sky is really green"
Grandpa and I exchange slightly worried looks as he hits the gas...
We were racing a bad storm across South Dakota and lucky for us the tornadoes that touched down were a good 40 miles north of us!

Next state - Minnesota, you betcha:

But not without a quick detour into Iowa, much to their father's dismay ("I said no Iowa!"), to stand on the highpoint - Hawkeye Point:

Yes, they let you just drive up onto the grass:

And yes, it's only a whopping 1,670 feet above sea level!