is there any more pie?

We are in  South Bend, Indiana tonight.  Home of Notre Dame football, which is only interesting if you are a ND fan (which I am not) or want to get a hotel room on a home game weekend.

Lucky for us, Notre Dame is playing at Soldier Field in Chicago tomorrow.

Our Hampton Inn is filled with **hundreds** of 5th grade hockey players.  After we’d checked in we’d learned that several teams are staying here, and boys are running up and down the hall to the elevator to the pool, etc.  Glen and I are laughing now (we’re so happy we are not chaperones or parents) but it might not be so funny at midnight.  They are really getting wound up and it’s 9 PM. 

I never travel without ear plugs. 

I’m just relieved they’re not teenagers or college kids, because I’ll bet the parents aren’t going to let this go on all night.

On the other hand, Banjo Man saw lots of fathers with lots of beer coolers. <g>

We were on the road at 6:30 AM and drove almost 600 miles today.  I’ve been getting in a couple of hours writing before getting in the car, and then I sleep for an hour or two.  We trade off driving every 2 hours.  The days–and the miles–go by quickly.

I still can’t attach photos to the blog posts or I would show you a Minnesota sunrise.  Darn. 

We stopped at a travel plaza on I-80 and Banjo Man’s eyes lit up at sight of a restaurant called “The Red Burrito”.

And yes, that’s what he had for dinner.

Dear Retired Mountain Man,

You asked me to keep blogging about the road trip.  You said you read the blog every morning.  Do you realize what you’ve unleashed?

Trivia, man.  Trivia.

The slowest-ripening tomatoes on the planet are travelling well.

I was up Tuesday at 5 am, tiptoeing out the door of my room at 6:30, when breakfast would be available in the lobby.  There were, um, sounds coming out of the room across the hall.  The woman inside was either giving birth or having a particularly satisfying sexual experience.

This hotel has the Big Ten Network in HD.  Can someone explain why Nebraska is wearing black helmets?  They look scary, but they don’t look like the Cornhuskers.

Check out the fine precision of a packed trunk:  never mind, the internet here is very odd and won’t let me do much.  I’ve tried and tried to upload pic–even had a black helmet photo from Nebraska–and can’t spend any more time.  Will try again in Billings.

I have mixed feelings about this stretch of  highway.  When I’m heading west, I cry.  When I’m heading east, I cry.

There are large sections of Highway 200 that are always a little blurry.

Today I protested having to leave the lake by not taking a shower or putting on makeup or brushing my hair or donning clean yoga pants before packing up the final bags and getting in the car.  Pouting isn’t pretty.

Too much information?  Sorry.

Okay, on to more cheerful blog info: 

I did not hit a herd of wild turkeys, which would have been messy and my car is already a mess and maybe I’ll find a car wash tomorrow before getting to Billings.

I saw two dead deer (I’m still holding a grudge over the whole tomato-plant-destruction disaster).

The weather was perfect.

My fake i-pod worked for three whole hours (which might be a record).

CLOSE CALL:  the nice young woman at the front desk of the hotel managed to get my television to work tonight before I had a complete and total meltdown.  When I called for help I pretended to be calm, but then I started to wail, “This may sound crazy but this is a big deal because I haven’t watched tv in three months because I was in the mountains and I didn’t mind not having a tv but I’ve LOOKED FORWARD TO WATCHING TV ALL DAY AND I CAN’T GET THIS TO WORK AND I’VE READ THE DIRECTIONS AND I NEVER HAVE TROUBLE WITH REMOTES AND I CAN’T FIGURE OUT HOW TO GET IT TO WORK AND I’M SORRY TO BOTHER YOU!!!!!!!”

I think I may be a little over tired.  So…no photos tonight.  I’m going to go watch television until I pass out.