Day 12; The Great Sibling Trip 2017 Final Post

Final Post: About Us

            We are a brother (Detroit, MI) and sister (Houston, TX) who love to travel together to parts unknown. This year my sister flew into Detroit and we began our journey West. Stops include Davenport, IA, the Amana Colonies in Amana, IA, Marengo, IA, Des Moines, IA, Omaha, NE, Grand Island, NE, Rapid City, SD, Sioux Falls, SD, several cities in MN including Mankato, MN, Wisconsin Dells, WI, Marinette, WI, Mackinaw City, MI and back to Detroit.

            We are also stopping for selfies and pictures along the way at some very interesting and unusual out of the way places that you will see in the blog. Enjoy!

Fun Facts:

• Total Miles Driven on the complete trip: 3,319 
• Average Miles Per Gallon for the entire trip: 56.8 MPG
• Average Miles Per Gallon today: 53.2 MPG
• Car being driven: 2016 Prius 4
• Miles Driven Today: 266 Miles
• Weather: Perfect with temps around 90

     Well, it was a LONG trip; much longer than we anticipated for two siblings. We estimated 2,800 miles before all the side trips so we drove almost 500 miles extra after reaching our destinations.

     Today was a straight drive home after breakfast. We only stopped for quick rest stop breaks. Both of us were more than ready to get home but my sister won't actually fly home to Texas until Thursday. She's ready. 

     We learned that we could travel together for a long time in the car without killing each other and yes there were arguments about trivial things but in the end, we are siblings; family; and in the end we always forgive and forget the things that annoy each other.

     We learned how useful a selfie stick can be when trying to get pictures of each other with something funny in the background and we learned that the selfie stick must be recharged!

     And now Ladies and Gentlemen, enjoy the highlights from our 3,319 mile trip...

Vulcan Hand

Literary Rest Stop

Worlds Largest Wooden Rocking Chair

Freedom Rock

Peter Toth Indian Head

Mt. Rushmore

Courthouse Rock in Nebraska

Dinosaur Park in Rapid City, SD

Near Mt. Rushmore

Mt. Rushmore

Mt. Rushmore

Wall Drug

Wall Drug

Wall Drug

Wall Drug

Wall Drug

Worlds Largest Prairie Dog

Worlds Largest Prairie Dog

Wall Drug

Minuteman Missile Silo

Wall Drug

Mitchell, SD Corn Palace

Mitchell, SD Corn Palace

Wall Drug

Wall Drug

A Town Dear to our Hearts

A Geocache Location

Amphibious Duck Tour in Wisconsin Dells

Mickey-Lu BAR-B-Q (Best hamburgers in the world!)

Mackinaw City, MI

Mackinaw City, MI

Michigan's Mackinaw Bridge 

Day 2: The Great Sibling Trip 2017

About Us

            We are a brother (Detroit, MI) and sister (Houston, TX) who love to travel together to parts unknown. This year my sister flew into Detroit and we began our journey West. Stops include Davenport, IA, the Amana Colonies in Amana, IA, Marengo, IA, Des Moines, IA, Omaha, NE, Grand Island, NE, Rapid City, SD, Sioux Falls, SD, several cities in MN including Mankato, MN, Wisconsin Dells, WI, Marinette, WI, Mackinaw City, MI and back to Detroit.
            We are also stopping for selfies and pictures along the way at some very interesting and unusual out of the way places that you will see in the blog. Enjoy!

     "Pre-Teen" and pointing...
     The day started with a good hot breakfast and then as we headed back to our room and were waiting for the elevator, the door opened and there were two women and a "girl" holding a large teddy bear in one arm and a curling iron in the other. Her hair was wild and her eyes had that faraway look in them. She walked out and the last woman to leave the elevator pointed at her and said "Pre-Teen" and rolled her eyes.
     Here's to another adventurous and sunny day! The weather is perfect outside.

     Today was spent in the Amana Colonies.

     What are they? Several towns by Cedar Rapids, Iowa where German settlers set up communal villages around 1855.  There are tons of shops including a woolen mill.  On the way, we stopped to see the world's largest wooden nickel.

World's Largest Wooden Nickel

     We also stopped at a "Literary" rest area on I-80 Eastbound. Since we were Westbound, we had to drive past it, pull off at the next exit and circle back. Then we had to go East to the next exit and circle back to continue. The rest area had the cleanest bathrooms ever.

Literary Rest Stop in Iowa

Giant Pencil at the Literary Rest Stop

     Once in the Amana Colonies, we traveled between East Amana, Middle Amana and West Amana and stopped at multiple shops. My favorite shops included the Woolen Mills and the Broom Shop where they had a giant wooden bentwood rocker made out of Maple wood.

     We ate lunch at the brewery in town and had Brats, Sauerkraut and Hot German Potato Salad.



     Our stay was in Marengo, Iowa in a small motel. We were the only guests for the longest time and then they put someone in the room next to us. Go figure; multiple rooms available and they put someone next to our room.

     For dinner, we ate at a restaurant owned by Greek owners and had Gyros. The owner's family was sitting near us and one woman talked non-stop mixing English and Greek together. It was interesting to hear about a shyster lawyer.
    We did some geocaching in Iowa as well We found two geocaches.

     By this time it was around 11 PM. We decided to go to bed and my sister checked her mattress and discovered a bed bug!!! That was it!!! She told me she wasn't sleeping in that room. We called the owner, got our money back and proceeded to drive all the way to Des Moines, Iowa arriving there well after midnight. We ended up getting a nicer room in a new hotel with a hot breakfast for less money than that bed bug hotel. Ugh!!
     One note of interest...the toilet at our hotel in Des Moines had the LOUDEST flush ever.

     That's it for today