Wisconsin & Minnesota

This would be one of the very few late night drives we would make on this road trip. I would much rather wake up early and drive as the sun is coming up than to do it at night. We were headed to Bloomington, MN. This would be where we would have our fourth even out of 53. We were quickly getting accustomed to this new life of unpack, pack, unpack, pack again.

Drying the car keys.

In our travel from Chicago to Bloomington we would pass through Wisconsin. So we would have to get our state welcoming signs. We made it to the welcoming center of Wisconsin before sunset, or at least just before sunset. We pulled in, took our bathroom breaks and stretched our legs. While taking our bathroom break, Becca had somehow managed to drop the car keys in the toilet (after flushing). This was incredibly entertaining considering the key chains we had. So it was soaking wet. Well, when all else feels use the hand dryer to dry them out quickly.

We took our photos quickly at the welcome sign and got back into the car. We were off to Bloomington. The only thing I was looking forward to while there, was the Mall of America. What person doesn't want to go just to see the actually roller coaster in the mall?



We arrived at our hotel pretty late. If I remember correctly just after, midnight. This was a Super 8 Motel to be exact. It was decent inside, the rooms were nice, and continental breakfast. Remember, our hotel stays were not in 5star high class hotels, we were on a budge. Backpacker Magazine reimbursed us for all lodging costs and vehicle expenses, however we had a lodging budget of $5,000 and vehicle expenses of $7,000. Seems like a lot, but over a course of 5 months and it adds up.

The next morning was the day of our event. We spent the entire morning doing paperwork, entering in our receipts to our spreadsheets, calling our next stops for the next couple weeks, and typing up the rest of the summers lodging. This was our first time really doing this, and we had to do it about once a month and send it in to Backpacker in order to get paid. This took us pretty much a half day.

By the time we were done doing the actual paper work, it was time to pack up the car and head to our next event. After our event was over, we arrived back at the motel and ate our dinners. Realizing we needed to laundry because we would be camping for the next 4 days after this. 10:00pm the laundry was put into the motels washing machine. These were coin operated. We went back to the wash 5 minutes before it ended, just to be polite and not leave our clothing in there like the person before us.

Once done in the wash, we went back and put them in the dryer. Set the dryer and figured we would come back in the hour just before the time was up. Becca fell asleep and it was now about midnight. I went out to check to see if it was done a few minutes early because I was falling asleep myself. To find my nice Prana jeans hanging out of the dryer with the door open a crack and the dryer stopped at 10 minutes. HUH? That's odd. So I gathered our laundry together into our mesh Sea to Summit bags we used for laundry and brought it all back to the room.

We awake the next morning, separate our laundry, fold it and start packing it to hit the road again. "Becca, I can't find my OBS sweat pants?" "Yeah, me either." Someone stole our sweat pants. Later to find out once we get to Iowa, they not only stole our MWOBS sweat pants, they stole both of our Moosejaw tees, 2 pairs of Wright Socks, my work out shorts, and my pillowcase which I assume is what they put the clothing in.

The Mall of America

Pretty pissed off, and shocked at the same time we knew there was nothing we could do about it. It was just a loss. Let me just say, if you (the person who took them) ever come across this blog, I really hope you enjoyed them and needed them. You poor soul stealing 2 girls who were living out of their car and could only bring minimal of things and that was the warmest piece of clothing they had. How dare you.

It just goes to show that no matter who you are, where you go, there will always just be awful people in this world, selfish, and inconsiderate. This would be the first event on the road that would prevent us from doing and or trusting things, places, and people for the next few months. Thank you for opening our eyes.

On our way out of town we decided to stop at the Mall of America. This place was absolutely ridiculous. I had never seen anything like it. I thought it was just a roller coasted inside, no. There was an entire amusement park. There was like 4 floors of shopping and pretty much ever damn retail shop you can think of in this mall. I did however, buy a couple things and then enjoyed a great cupcake in Minnesota.

Becca and I decided to grab a quick snack and yummy Mojito at the Rainforest Cafe in the Mall before hitting the road for Iowa City.

On to a place neither one of us were really looking forward only to be awaken by a nice surprise. . . .