3,000 miles and counting

With our super sweet Nissan mini van rental car loaded down with all of our belongings, we set off for the West Coast on July 17th. Over the next 10 days, we traveled across every different type of landscape in America. Fittingly, we chose to listen to an audiobook titled Undaunted Courage, which was a documentary on the Lewis and Clark expedition West. Coincidentally, many of our routes and rest stops coincided with points along their journey. For our trip, the first stop on the list was Lexington, Kentucky.

In Lexington, we went to some bourbon distilleries (Buffalo Trace and Bluegrass), Keenland racetrack, the Kentucky Horse Park and explored downtown. I got to see my favorite breed of horse... a Friesian! I almost cried! :) At Keenland racetrack, we saw some Thoroughbreds exercising in the morning and it brought back some memories of Ocala when I worked on a racehorse farm! Loved it.

Up next: The Windy City! Chicago! We stayed in an up-and-coming neighborhood called Wicker Park, which was much more "hip" and young professional focused than downtown. For our tourism spots, we went to the Sky Deck of the Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower), which is over 100 stories high and allows a magnificent view of the Chicago skyline. We had one of our best dining experiences at Boka, a Michelin Star rated restaurant, and it did not disappoint!

After Chicago it was time to leave the bustling city life for open plains, farms and vast lands of South Dakota. Staying just one night in Sioux Falls, it was pretty much the total opposite of where we came from!