Driving Driving Driving (Friday)

Driving, Driving, Driving, keep that car a driving….Rawhide! 17 hours of driving. Sounds boring, right? Wrong. We got to see some sights. We even stopped to see the Jolly Green Giant in Blue Earth Minnesota. We left Michigan, into Indiana….. We crossed into central time zone…. on to Illinois for the toll roads and the Chicago traffic. ARRGG!!! That felt like 16 hours of the driving…… All the way across Wisconsin….then Minnesota…. and into South Dakota…… After a couple of false starts, we were to find the best treat we had had in a long time. ….The Siding 36 Motel….. What a respite for weary travelers! It was the best place we have stayed the whole trip, except maybe our NYC hotel. The motel had been completely remodeled in 2008 giving it a feeling more like a home than a hotel. I definitely felt rested upon rising in the a.m. …almost as good as staying at the Kliewers…they even had cool lamps…I think that is what made me this of her house…that and the cool colors on the walls…. This would be the perfect place for my guys to stay and go pheasant hunting! We hear that is really popular around that area….
Donna: It’s a good thing Melody’s driving! We got an early start, hoping to make up time and get miles out of our way to get started on our next stop. I started the morning by promptly falling asleep. Hee! The only pit stop allowance we gave ourselves was the Jolly Green Giant. 60 feet tall! We also met Jonathan and Zach. We now know that the state of Iowa will have access to “Bud and Me”. I agree with Melody about how wonderful the Siding 36 Motel was. It’s off the road a bit. A hidden treasure! My original thought when we were trying to find it was that it would be another “Bates Motel” adventure. It was a far cry from that!
Melody: I think my favorite part of the day was giving the book to the two boys and the owner of the Siding 36 motel. It is such a joy to see the excitement in people’s eyes when they are told the story of Bud and Temple. At first, the look is of skepticism, but turns to amazement and joy as we continue telling the story. We did not even realize what a treat our rooms would be when we told the owners we would leave a copy for them in the morning, but I am so thankful that we did. Rhonda assured me she would read the story and then share it with her grandchildren. How fun to know that many other people have the chance to be impacted by this story of courage and integrity! And although today takes us out of Bud and Temple’s path, I think it is pretty important to see Mt. Rushmore and the tribute in stone to four great men, two of whom the boys admired greatly.