As soon as the family reunion was over, Caroline and Andrew flew home so that C could go to girls camp. A few months ago, when I realized that, I called Barb and asked if she would be up for road tripping across the country with me. I thought she might need some time to think it over, check her calendar, talk with Dennis... but as soon as I finished asking she excited replied, "Yes!" Woo hoo! Girls trip! We were both so excited to have that time together exploring and playing.
First stop:
50 cent ice cream cones at Little America.
Yes!
We decided we should try to include ice cream
in our agenda every day. Ha!
Second stop: Laramie
Spent some time exploring the cute shops
that Caroline and I discovered last
time we were in Laramie.
And we discovered our favorite new place:
The Sugar Mouse
It is THE cutest little tea shop.
And they have ACTUAL sugar mice--
a traditional British treat.
Aren't they adorable???
I was in love with the decor.
Cute little mice everywhere.
We got yummy cool beverages for the summer day.
I definitely want to stop here again.
Just the two of us...
and miles of highway ahead of us!
Next stop: Cheyenne
Our good friends, the Browns, just finished serving
as mission leaders in the Charlotte mission and have
returned home to Cheyenne. It was SO fun to stop
at their place and have dinner with them.
I love the Browns!
And I hope our paths cross again in the future.
AI helped plan the stops for our next day of travel.
And one of the gems that it found was on
the University of Nebraska campus:
The International Quilt Museum.
What a perfect stop for the pro-quilter in the family!
Oh my gosh.
The quilts were stunning.
They were works of art.
We had so much fun exploring them.
Even the building is quilted!
The next AI-recommended stop was at
the church's visitor's center in Winter Quarters.
It was not far out of the way AT ALL and I can't
believe I've never stopped here before.
There's a temple across the street through
those trees, but you can't really tell...
We enjoyed walking around
and reading about the pioneers.
The above pic is an odometer that
allowed the wagons to measure the
distance they had traveled.
Our next stop was spontaneous and one of those
where effective billboards worked and made us
take the exit to find little Denmark in the middle
of small-town Elk Horn, IA.
There were some CUTE little buildings.
And a bust of Hans Christian Andersen.
Also drove to the Museum of Danish America,
but it was closed for the day.
The no-longer Ugly Duckling
We did a little birding and I got a new lifer--
the Dickcissel.
Pretty sunset
The next day we got to drive through Iowa City
and stop by the University of Iowa, where Grandma
spent many summers growing up while her Dad
was working on his doctorate.
The stadium
The city
The Iowa River
One of Barb's fond memories from her childhood was
the "twirly bridge". How the heck do you find that???
Our googling didn't help, so we just walked around campus for a bit.
And we found it!!
What a thrill!
She also remembers going to church in the Student Union.
and hearing people bowling during sacrament meeting. Ha!
We picked up our daily ice cream cones while we were there.
Yum.
Walking around college campuses is fun.
And we made it Michigan!
It was a new state for me.
And I think for Barb, too.
We got to have a quick visit with Jonas and Carly!
Look at that sunset!!
Jonas is getting his PhD at the Univ of Michigan.
They took us to our second college campus of the day. :)
They have GORGEOUS buildings!
They took us downtown to get...
ICE CREAM!
Our second of the day!
Living our best lives. Ha!
So glad we could have a quick visit with Jonas and Carly!
