Day 10: Taylorville, Il to Nashville, TN

Day 10, Sunday: Taylorville, Il to Nashville, TN

KM start: 150,024 km

Trip Meter: 722 km

Time Driven: 6am - 1:30pm (7 1/2 hours driven)

Trip End: 150,800 km

We headed off bright and early from our B&B.

We hit the road and chatted most of the way there. 

A small switch for a bit - I drove and listened to an audio tape while Paul napped. 

Then we got back to chatting.

It was beautiful.

Also including strange amounts of bugs hovering in clouds together. 

Weird.

Day 9: Springfield Illinois & the Lincoln Presidential Museam

Saturday we got up bright and early and headed into Springfield Illinois.

Leaving Taylorville we were reminded how cute the area was.

Day 9: Taylorville, Ill and Market Street Inn B&B

For our two year anniversary, Paul and I stayed in Taylorville, Illinois at Market Street Inn (B&B). We live in Canada, so it was a bit nerve wracking to book at a place we had no way to check out before hand. Thankfully we were very happy with the results! 

We booked a deal with them through livingsocial that included two nights stay, breakfast and a gift certificate towards dinner. We were particularly looking forward to the fact that they advertised a double sized tub. Since Paul is a tall, big man, he hasn't been able to fit in a bath tub since he was 14, so this was exciting for him. 

We got there pretty late at night on the Friday, but as we pulled up we saw that the place was super cute. Sharon let us in, and we went up to our room to see a super cute display laid out on the bed for us (photos below). They had provided complimentary chocolates and wine - and boy those chocolates were amazing! They had these gooey caramel, chocolate pretzels that were to die for!

Breakfast Saturday morning was great, they even had a warmer tray for the mugs so your mugs could be nice and toasty. Sharon, the cook, joined us for breakfast at our request, and it was fun to get to know her. She answered so many of our questions and filled us in on what life in Taylorville was like. We then spent the day in Springfield Illinois (half and hour away) seeing the historic sights there (more to come on that) and then headed back to grab dinner at One Market East, where we had a gift certificate. 

Dinner was wonderful. We were so impressed with the food, the selection and the prices. The service was also wonderful. You can see pictures on that below. We were very happy with our anniversary meal

All in all our time at Market Street Inn was lovely. The owners, the Hausers, have a done a wonderful job of keeping the victorian history alive in the home, while keeping up to date with the amenities. Clean, fresh bathrooms. Frilly, lacy bedrooms. Convenience, mixed with beauty. Great, friendly service meeting with privacy and professionalism. It was a lovely way to spend an anniversary.

The B&B

Day 8, Green Bay, Wisconsin to Taylorville, Illinois (Green Bay Packers)

We woke up at 8am (sleep in, woo), packed and grabbed some tasty tasty breakfast.

$53 dollars for the night and breakfast. Rad.

Then we headed off to Lambeau Field.
Home of the Green Bay Packers.
Paul's beloved football team.

The training center

Packer licence plates

The hallowed ground

Day 7, Thursday: Maple Grove, MN to Green Bay, WI

Day 7, Thursday: Maple Grove, MN to Green Bay, WI

KM start: 148,741 km

Trip Meter: 3,575 km

Time Driven: 4pm - 11:30pm (7 1/2 hours driven)

Woke up early to finish some blogging. Then slowly we all made our way upstairs for breakfast at leisure. On and off we chatted with Morgan and Jamie, packed our stuff and looked at photos. I got some great QT time to with Aunt Jamie and it was lovely - it felt like chatting with Auntie Sandy or Nana. It felt like family. It was much appreciated. I very much enjoyed the time.

Then Morgan, Aunt Jamie, Paul and I went to Weaver Lake for a picnic lunch and some softball catch.
It was awesome.

Day 6, Wednesday, Maple Grove, MN

Day 6, Wednesday: Maple Grove, MN

No driving!

Wednesday was basically a perfect day.  I made sure not to set my alarm and didn’t wake up until I was ready. I slept from about 11pm to 10am. It was glorious. I woke up feeling so much better. We made our way upstairs and joined Morgan and Jamie for breakfast. Then we got ready for a bike ride, hopped on some bikes and headed out along a series of paths that wind through Maple Grove and around some gorgeous lakes and homes.

Day 5, Tuesday: Badlands, SD to St. Paul, MN

Day 5, Tuesday: Badlands, SD to St. Paul, MN

KM start: 147,333 km

Trip Meter: 1,586 km

Time Driven: 6am – 6:30pm (12.5 hours driven)

It is surreal to drive these highways and make these tourists stops again. When I was 14 my family drove across Canada and came back through the States, crossing over into the US in Detroit. We are backtracking all the tourists stops we made then…with Mt. Rushmore, the badlands and Mitchell (with it’s Corn Palace). To think I was last here 15 years ago is CRAZY. I remember so much of it like it was yesterday, but that was half a lifetime ago! Or at least, almost half my lifetime, being 29. 

When we last made this trek, we were on a time crunch like we are now. But this time we were able to spend some time in the Badlands, and last time we were only able to drive through and briefly stop. As I scrambled over the rocks I’d yearned to climb last time, and as Paul called my name to show me a cool cave and ask for a hug I was in awe of the blessings of God on my life. Who am I that He should love me so extravagantly?  Paul and I have talked a lot about this in the past few days of driving – we are reminded, over and over again that it is not because of who we are that God loves us, but because of who God is. God is love. He made us. He said we were good. He loves us perfectly. Whatever that looks like in a moment, however that feels, that is the truth. And it is good.

Edited to Add, later: Well camping in the badlands sure was interesting. Paul managed to forget our tent, and we discovered that our air mattress no longer works. We had gone to bed under a tarp roof that Paul had rigged up. It actually wasn’t that bad…we could see the moon and feel the warm, breezy wind. We cuddled up on our air mattress and got ready for sleep. And within in hour the mattress was totally deflated. So we refilled it and Paul went to sleep on the ground, in case that was the problem (he only sleeps on an air mattress to be with me). Nope, within another hour it had mostly deflated. Plus with the wind, sleep was feeling impossible. The moon was so bright that Paul couldn’t sleep – he ended up in the car sleeping in the passenger seat. I took all of the pillows and lined them up under me, and used his sleeping bag over my head to help block the wind and moonlight. We were frustrated because we knew we needed a good sleep for the days 9 hour drive to Minnesota.

However, we managed to wake up fairly rested. Sore and achey but rested. The views around us, as we packed up and made breakfast and lunch for the day, really helped redeem the nights sleep. And despite the mishaps we would definitely camp there again.