North by Northwest - June/ July Trip Day 5

Well, on Day 5, it was time to say good bye to Chicago.  Sadness.  

But we were actually pretty excited because today we would head slightly north and then due west toward South Dakota!

We were headed to the Badlands and Mount Rushmore!

We drove through Minnesota and Wisconsin.  Our drive was uneventful, but very, very pretty!
Traveling Champ:

Big Daddy spent a lot of time camping in the woods of Wisconsin growing up.  Black Hawk Ridge was a family favorite.  We also drove right through/ by The Wisconsin Dells.  I had never been there before, but it seemed much like a northern version of Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

 We stopped for lunch just beyond the Dells at a place called the Machine Shed Restaurant.  It was a hometown version of Cracker Barrel and it was really good!

Mighty Mississippi River between Wisconsin and Minnesota:

We had dinner at a Pizza Ranch - also a first for us!  But a great, fast place for weary travelers to stop and eat.  (Because once you get to a certain point, there aren't many options!)

We decided to stop just short of the Missouri River in South Dakota in Chamberlain, South Dakota.  We stayed at the Americ Inn and had a pleasant enough stay.  My only complaint was arriving very late and desperately needing to do laundry - there was only one washer and one dryer in the entire hotel.  I was told by the front desk clerk when I booked that there were two, but she turned out to be wrong.  Oh well!  Still got the laundry done and managed to be in bed before 2 am!  :-)