hello readers!  we're in california!!  we made it! 

sorry for not updating the last couple of days.  we have driven close to one trillion miles.  or maybe just about 4000.  lots has happened.  for starters, we have been to a *few* more states:

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our first stop on tuesday was mount rushmore, which incidentally had wonderful bathrooms. 

the admission fee was $8, but guess what.  it is valid for the Whole Year.  woohoo.  we can go back again and again through this december.  as long as we take the same car, since they recorded our license plate number.  great.

also, we met pres. abe lincoln!!  he is ALIVE!  here is a picture to prove it (he is very tall):

mr. lincoln also gave us a free poster of mt. rushmore, which was signed by his buddy nick (he was one of the people who worked on mt. rushmore):

and GUESS WHAT??!? we finally saw buffalo!  herds of buffalo/bison and their babies crossed the road in front of our car several times during the day.  it was quite exciting.  probably more so for us than them.

we saw tons of other wildlife too at custer state park in south dakota.  this is a pronghorn:

and we also saw some burros (which the park allows people to feed).  here's jo feeding a banana to our buddy (who we named Donkey):

best buddies forever:

here's Donkey sticking his head in the car to beg for food (the car now has burro drool all over the sides and along the windows in addition to the billions of dead bugs, gross.):

we had a great time with Donkey the burro.  and apparently Donkey is a she and not a he, because it was nursing a baby burro, who we named Burrito.

our next stop was yellowstone in wyoming.  here is a picture of yellowstone lake (note the snow capped mountains still!):

at yellowstone we saw some hot springs and geysers.

we missed the matinee showing of old faithful (too busy eating lunch), but made it to the next show:

while we waited for old faithful we got kind of bored.  but we did find a new friend, his name is zeno.  he was bored too.  and sitting under a bench.  we chatted with his owners, who were super nice.  they told us about how he once wandered into a stranger's house and ate their sandwich off the table.  heehee.

that night, we ended up in salt lake city, ut.  it was hellahot.  we ate crappy pho.  in the morning mary did not feel so great and she did something that rhymes with bomit.  ew.  don't worry, she is fine now.  no more pho in salt lake city though.  ever.  jo did have some great coffee and pastries at the salt lake roasting company. 

then we drove and drove.  and drove.  in reno, nv at a gas station we won 20 cents at the nickel slot machines.  that's right, 4 nickels.  yes, you can call us High Rollers.  we then drove some more.  and arrived in berkeley, ca thurs night, where we stayed with christine (aka cuppy).  we were Tired.

this morning, we were so excited to be in california.  we started our day by walking down to the cheeseboard, where we had cheesebread, scones, brioche, and coffee.  yumyumyumyum.  then we went to the rose garden and here is jo who matches the pretty pink flowers:

and then it was off to san francisco!  we ate lunch on irving st, and then walked around the fillmore and japantown.  had some more coffee (still tired from all the driving).  we did a lot of window shopping and a bit of real shopping too.  we also spied someone else in one of the windows:

then cuppy met us for dinner (lots of sushi) at kitaro's.

and that was our last couple of days!  jo is off to the airport tomorrow to return to ny.  we have had tons of fun!  thanks to our devoted readers and supportive friends, we have had a great time chronicling our journey across the US of A. 

until the next adventure, mary & jo! 

we began yesterday in madison, wi.  the day was pretty uneventful and the weather was miserable.  HOWEVER, the highlight of our trip was the spam museum in austin, mn!!  here we are with everyone's favorite canned meat product:

at the museum, mary made a new friend.  the reason you see the kid's mother trying to grab her kid is b/c the kid was trying to lift up mary's shirt.  um, inappropriate.

but we had little time to play, because mary found a job!  say hi to hormel's newest spam employee:

and jo got to work in the factory making spam, an entry-level position (notice how there are all these kids next to her).  she did a great job canning 6 cans of spam, in record time too!

we stayed in sioux falls, sd for the night.  had overpriced indian food, the only ethnic food within miles.  our hotel was...interesting.  while we checked in we noticed a sign and picture on the wall that said "please do not rent to this man:  trashed room & did not pay".  hmmmmm.

we learned that sd is one of the poorest states in the nation.  it has a pretty tragic history, with much fighting and killing between the native americans and the settlers. 

we are now west of the mississippi river.  sometimes it rains torrentially while other times it is clear and beautiful:

we went to the mitchell corn palace in mitchell, sd, where the mural made from 3000 bushels of corn is changed annually!

we also tried on some new hats:

lunch consisted of buffalo burgers, fries, 5-cent coffee, and strawberry cream pie!  al's oasis.  tasty.

there's cattle everywhere here!  here is a HUGE but not-so-alive one.

these are the badlands, made by the gusty winds eroding the rocks over the years:

the gusty winds also eroded us:

it then started to pelt rain daggers and we ran and ran back to the car.  and that concluded our stay in the badlands.

we also went to wall drug, in wall, sd.  starting from wisconsin there were one million signs along the road for wall drug.  every couple of miles.  we're not sure what all the big fuss is about.  but we did get a chance to giddyup:

we're off to mt. rushmore tomorrow!  we are hoping to see some buffalo soon. 

until next time, mary and jo

today we started our day with emily, eating dim sum in chicago's chinatown  very yummy... 

then we went to this cute make-your-own-bag-store in chicago north side.  all day it was rainy and cloudy, look here: 

we then said good-bye to chicago and emily....

and hello to wisconsin with our visit to the mars cheese castle!

where we had lots and lots of cheese curds and some beef sticks too

we tried to go to this danish bakery (recommended by the food network) in racine, wi to get their world-famous kringles, but it was closed.  waaah.  all the cheese and beefstick eating made us late in getting to the bakery. 

then we drove through milwaukee and pewaukee and finally ended up in madison.  btw, milwaukee, wi is also the home of miller beer.

had laotian food for dinner.  it tasted like thai food.  hmm.

here's where we have gone so far:

create your own personalized map of the USA

up next:  south dakota!

we had quite the day in chicago.  the weather was wonderful!  started off with brunch with juyon (yum! ) at a cute french cafe.  then walked around germantown and got some german candy.  (johanna grew up in germany and got to practice her deutsch.)  got some lovin' from mr. chicago brau-haus:

then we walked to a park and johanna hung out with a drinking fountain:

and where i was superman:

then we went to univ. of chicago (where jo went to undergrad) and we saw the place where harry met sally (on the univ of chicago campus between rows of trees).  univ of chicago was very pretty, see here:

and it is the location of the robie house, designed by frank lloyd wright:

then it was off to the lincoln park zoo!  where the gorillas and chimps were Not Home.  sigh.   they are never there when i am there.  however, we did see some sleeping lions and pretty flowers.

met some more of jo's friends (dave and emily) for dinner at a yummy korean/chinese restaurant.  mmm-mmmmmm.

and finally.  we went to second city, a comedy club where many snl cast members started out.  fun! 

now it is late and time for bed.

moving onward to madison, wi tomorrow.  goal=no more tickets, except if they are winning lottery tickets.  word to the wise:  the state police in PA, OH, and IN like to hide out behind bushes in the middle divider.  be careful.  they are sneaky. 

our day:

900 miles
7 states
5 bunnies
3 dead deer
2 gas stations
2 dead porcupines
1 dead skunk

...1 speeding ticket

A FEW PICTURES:

new haven:

ohio:

dinner in chicago:

johanna's new friends: