From Cleveland to Portland: Day 2

States Visited: Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota

Distance Traveled: 706 miles

Time: 13 hours, with breaks

"Heading across IL towards the Mississippi River and into Minnesota. Final destination for today: South Dakota Badlands."

-kinook_creative on Twitter | May 6, 2011 at 7:46am

I remember the moment fairly vividly. It was just as I was glancing in my rearview mirror at the Chicago skyline disappearing behind me when I realized that I was crossing a line into an area of the country I had never driven into before. I've driven the length of I-80, passed through each of the southwestern states on multiple occasions and explored the majority of the Atlantic coast by car, but never had I driven north. This area of America was completely foreign to me. All I hoped was that it would be just as, if not more, exciting of a road trip than the others. It was here that I became nervous, anxious and excited all at once. I honestly felt like I was passing into Oz.

About an hour after passing out of sight of Chicago, I crossed the border into Wisconsin and continued north towards Madison. Another hour and a half north of that, I came to a fork in the road that presented two options before me. The first; continue on I-90 west into the southern edges of Minnesota or two; deviate along northbound I-94 towards Minneapolis and St. Paul, after which I head on into Fargo, ND...a destination that I had kept in mind as an interesting place to check out, not only because of the famous cult film that takes its namesake from there, but also as an excuse to check off North Dakota as a state I've yet to visit.

Sigh...regretfully, in a moment that was influenced by my dad's logic to resist the temptation to drive anything other than a direct route, I continued on along I-90 into Minnesota. Looking back on this, I should have continued north. I've heard amazing things about Minneapolis and spending the night in North Dakota would've been interesting, I think. Sure it would've added an extra day onto my trip, but it was foolish to think that it would actually matter. I mean, who knows when I would be making this trip again. It just looks as if when I drive home to Cleveland one of these years, ND will have to be at the top of my list.

About mid-day I crossed the Mississippi and passed into Minnesota. This was, by far, the most mind-numbingly boring part of the trip that I experienced. For six hours, I drove the southern edge of that state and saw nothing but windmills, flat, expansive plains and and endless count of mile markers. On the recommendation of Brad, however, I did stop off the freeway around a small village called Blue Earth and stood underneath a 65-foot statue of the Jolly Green Giant. After acknowledging the weird factor of what I was doing, I got back in the car and continued west into South Dakota, the hundreds upon hundreds of windmills on the horizon hypnotizing me into a trance-like state along the way.

I hit the banks of the Missouri River just as the sun was beginning to set along the horizon, blanketing the sky in an array of warming colors that are unseen in the eastern mid-west. Deciding that it was a good place to stop for the night, I pulled off the freeway into Chamberlain, a small town whose population mainly consisted of American Indians, most likely that of the Sioux tribe. Exhausted and stiff, I quietly walked Kino up and down the shores of the river before returning to my room at the Best Western and passing out for the night, drifting into a dreamless sleep with Kino faithfully snoring by my side.