The Smichna Adventures

We're back for our next adventure.  We're both a little sad that this year will not be our usual month long excusion.  It just was not in the cards this year for a few reasons.  So we're only gone a week.   After much deliberation we landed on going back to the UP.  We wanted to save some money for some home projects that desparately need done so we needed some place we could drive to and not spend a ton of money.  We loved the UP when we went through back in 2020 and decided to explore the Porkies a little more and, of course, go back to Pictured Rocks.   So much to the chagrin of the cat we're packing up our gear! Tomorrow we're going to get as far north as we can in one day.  The Porkies are about a 13 hour drive from here, and we have no dilusion of getting there in one day.  So we'll get as close as we can, camp somewhere and arrive Tuesday to the park check in and get moving!!  

Final day.  One last mini adventure before heading home.  Felt weird stopping for the day when we are maybe 90 minutes from home but we wanted to spend time with friends and not feel rushed. We went to Aullwood Audubon in the morning to see the giant trolls!  Brendan has not seen them yet.  And one last hike to boot! So cool. We were both getting really done with being on the road. One last push home! Made it back safely to one really confused and anxious kitty.   Got stuff mostly unpacked, laundry done and showered.  Looking forward to our own bed tonight.  All in all an amazing trip.  We're very glad we went!  Give me a week and I'll be ready to go again, lol. Miles driven: 5034 Miles hiked: 31 State count: 12

Had a great night with friends last night.  Today heading to Dayton to visit more friends! It was only a 6hour drive but we've had so many longer drives recently it felt so long.  I think we're both about done with driving.  Thankfully tomorrow is maybe 2 hours of driving and we are home. Dinner with friends and i had a meeting.   Games and bed. A great day seeing friends.  ❤️❤️ Miles driven: 4928 Miles hiked: 28 State count: 12

On the road again 🎵🎶 Nice short 3.5 hour drive to St. Louis today.  Going to stay with some friends and visit the STL crew.  Quite a few of Brendan's college chums live out there.  And one of my most favorite places; The City Museum!   If you're unfamiliar, keep reading.  It's not what you think and you'll see why it's one of my most favorite places. I know our trip is winding down and we'll likely be home in a couple of days and we both have mixed feelings.  Sad to go back to "real life" (even though I've been working this entire time) but will be nice to have a while house.  And I sure miss my little man.  Amazing day.  City Museum and dinner/drinks with old friends.  So City Museum...I didnt even take mamy photos because i immediately turn into a 6 year old when we get there.  Like we pay for tickets and I giggle and run off while Brendan has to run after me.  Here's the website but it's still not the best representat...

It's Brendan's birthday!!!  Happy birthday my love! More driving today.  We came within just a couple miles of Colorado.  We could literally SEE it. So close to adding yet another state to this trip.  Anyway if you've never been to Nebraska, here ya go: Now you've seen it. We drove along 80 looking at mostly that but eventually pulled off the interstate, fueled up and drove down some very desolate roads through cornfields with a specific goal:  The Geographic center of the US!  Cute little area set up for it too! complete with a TINY little chapel. Just past this was another goal for us: Lebanon Kansas.  We're HUGE fans of the show Supernatural and this town plays a pretty pivotal role in the series.   The town itself seemed....empty.  Like we literally did not see a single soul in the entire town.  It was honestly a little eerie.  And HOT.   Then just a little further down the road was......*drum roll*...

Another mostly travel day.  But we should get another new state in!  Goal today is really just drive until we're tired.  So I'm not sure where we will end up Driving back eastward the wind is much less obnoxious.  And we're more used to the higher speed limits finally.  A lot more of this today: Which is beautiful in its own way.  We're going back the same way we came in for the first part of the day.  But once in Wyoming we'll go further south before turning eastward. We went alongside Bighorn National Forest for quite awhile  We stopped in Casper for lunch at Sanford's Grub and Pub.  Recommended on Roadside America. Big place full of....stuff.   Pretty cute.  Unfortunately the menu was not anything I had interest in.   We made a brief stop in Cheyenne for a potty break and to get a photo of a sign for Brendan's sister, Cheyenne.  Continued on into Nebraska which is pre...

Today we start the long drive home.  Goal today: Billings, again.  Reserved an Airbnb for the night.  It's only a 6 hour drive (thru anxiety inducing nothingness the entire trip) so we can have time tonight for me to get work done and get a solid plan for the rest of the trip back.  We'd definitely like to make a stop in St. Louis to see some friends.  Overall and (thankfully) uneventful trip. We waved goodbye to the beautiful mountains.   We listened to podcasts and chatted.  I'm deeply curious why there aren't more wind or solar farms out here.  If there is 2 things Montana has an endless supply of it's sun and wind.  🤷‍♀️ We got to our airbnb and I just worked for like 3 hours straight. We ordered a pizza and watched TV for the first time in 2 weeks.  Not the most exciting day but we found some cool Roadside attractions to aim for in the coming days.  (I need something to not get depressed about leaving the moun...