The Final Entry... for now

Well, as most of you know, Jef and I have been home for quite some time now.  And I'm just now making myself write the last blog entry for our trip! I think I was procrastinating it because part of me didn't want it to be over. We had such an amazing time on our trip--it was one of the best decisions I've ever made, and I can't wait to do more traveling.

I'll try to pick up roughly where I left off. After we went to Yellowstone, we spent a few more days in Bozeman and then decided to work our way over to Minnesota, Jef's home state.  We traveled back down through Wyoming and over to South Dakota so we could see Mount Rushmore on our way.  Traveling through South Dakota was spooky.  I never really considered why they call it the Badlands until we were driving though it. I didn't take any pictures because I guess at the time it didn't seem like there was much to take a picture of.  It was the most desolate place I've  ever seen--like some setting that Cormac McCarthy dreamed up.  The landscape was empty, there were hardly any trees, only rugged shrubs that looked like they had a hard life. The land was harsh, threatening, and it made us feel small. Jef said he thought it had the lowest winter temperatures in the country--I'm fine with never knowing what that must look like.

As we approached Mount Rushmore, the landscape started to change--into tourist shops mostly.  Jef and I were so distracted by all of the obnoxious tourist traps that we were almost startled when we saw Mt. Rushmore appear so quickly beside us.  For some reason, maybe because we'd seen so many pictures of it, we weren't expecting to be blown away.  But both of us were pleasantly surprised --the size alone, especially at first glance, was stunning.

 There was a really nice walkway that was framed with the state flags leading up to the monument.

 Jef using the binuculars to get a close up of the monument. Each eye is 11 feet wide!!

 We were not expecting the faces to look so alive. Borglum carved the stone in such a way that the sunlight reflecting off of the pupils made their eyes almost sparkle--it was hard to look away, you half expected to them blink!

After Mt. Rushmore, we made a bee line for Minnesota!

We drove until we got to Minneapolis, which was a much bigger city than I expected!  Jef had a long list of restaurants that he frequented when he lived there and we were eager to start checking off the list.  Because dessert is the most important meal, we decided to start with Izzy's Ice Cream.  As some of you know, Jef's favorite dessert (and maybe his favorite food..) is ice cream.  We both fell in love with Wilcoxson's, the gold standard ice cream in Montana, but Jef still claimed that Izzy's ice cream in St. Paul was the best he'd ever had.  I was of course suspicious, but excited to eat ice cream.  We tied Olive up outside and went inside.  I was shocked and disappointed to find the most expensive ice cream prices I've ever seen!  Jef admitted that he'd forgotten how pricey it was.  Feeling somewhat deflated, we spent $12 on two single scoop cones.  Maybe it was just that I was too upset about the cost, but I was not impressed. We both agreed that Wilcoxson's is the champion.

Later that day we decided to drive out to Forrest Lake, the area where Jef grew up. It was such a beautiful place.

This is where some of Jef's neighbors lived.  They had a dairy farm and Jef spent a lot of time over there as a kid. 

 Another beautiful house in the area. 

Here it is! This is the house Jef grew up in.  His dad bought it as a little cabin and then added on to it.  The small tree in the foreground is an apple tree--Jef's family planted it! It just so happened that the people who are living here now happened to notice us looking at the house--they were so kind. The woman invited us in and gave us a tour of the house!  She even invited us out for a cookout she was hosting a few days later.

Here's Jef wading in the lake that felt so endless to him as a child.  He kept remarking about the gravel--how it triggered so many sensory memories for him.  He said it was probably because he spent much of his time barefoot in the summers, so he looked at the ground a lot when he walked. I thought that was sweet.




Since Forrest Lake is near the Wisconsin border, we decided to camp along the St. Croix river on the Wisconsin side.  As we were driving there, we found this old fashioned burger stand.  It had been there since the 50's and was largely unchanged. They made their own root beer--it was delicious!

When we arrived at our campground, we were a little wary of paying $28 dollars per night for the "delux" campsite, which was all they had left. It turned out to be the most perfect campsite either of us had ever seen--we stayed two nights and had a blast.  The site was secluded and was located right next to an ice cold stream that flowed down a hill of rocks and into the St. Croix.  We let Olive run wild and she had a ball.  It was really something to see her bounding up and down the steep ground, weaving in and out of trees.  We walked down the stream and built miniature dams at the bank of the river until our feet were numb from the cold spring water.

Olive exploring the chilly stream.

 Yeehaw!!!

 Sweet, tired Olive. 

 So sad to be chained up. 

The next day we were headed to the Minnesota State Fair!  I've never seen so many people.  We did end up going on the last Saturday before the fair ended, so it was probably the busiest day.  Jef and I exercised commendable control on fair food--we shared everything and ended up having: a famous Pronto Pup corndog, a rootbeer, a beer, mini donuts, cheese curds, and of course, 25 cent all you can drink milk. 

 One must be careful to savor the mini donut. 

 Jef got a free beard trim!

 We also had fun seeing all of the livestock shows. All in all it was an over the top fun day.

 I sure do hope we can have goats some day!

The Minnesota State Fair was the last big activity we had on the trip.  That leaves just one more exciting thing to write about--our engagement!  

Jef proposed on August 10th in Bozeman, Montana.  We were on a walking trail one evening.  We'd walked up a hill that overlooked downtown and the mountains behind it. I had a feeling he was about to ask, and even though we'd talked about it so much, I haven't felt so nervous around him since the first day we met. It was the happiest I've ever felt within the space of a few minutes. 

My ring.  The diamond was worn by Jef's grandmother and then his mom. I feel so special to be wearing it now. 

Jef and I truly loved every minute of this trip.  We saw and did so many things that we'll never forget.  I am so glad we decided to have this little adventure, risky as it may have been.    Traveling with Jef, I'm learning that you really can do the things you want to do. You might have to sleep in the car sometimes along the way, but it's a small price to pay, isn't it?