DJ Petersen Stories: AK to VA Part 2!

Iowa to Illinois

I woke up giddy and awake with excitement knowing we would be in Chicago in a mere 5ish hours! This was the part of the road trip I was looking forward to the most!!

Iowa kept getting better and better as we drove through. We stopped in Le Claire, Iowa to get gas and see the Mississippi River! As we were driving to the gas station D saw a sign for Antique Archaeology! He loves the show "American Pickers" and this is their store. Totally "unplanned" D says but it was cute to see how excited he was to see their stuff.

How cool is this store?!

Le Claire is right next to the Mississippi River so we just walked on over! It was pretty big and muddy! But I can now say I've put my feet in the Mississippi!

AHHH! Illinois!!! Chicago was so close I could just smell it! haha!

Let me just say that Chicago traffic is AWFUL! We almost got hit in downtown probably 5 times in 30 minutes... AND parking is ridiculously expensive... but hey, When in Chicago right??

YAY!!!!! THE BEAN!!!!!

As you can tell I'm THRILLED to be there!!!

We went to the Navy Pier and I of course had to ride the Ferris Wheel! The view was to die for. And Lake Michigan is HUGEEEE!!! Like Ocean Huge! Un-freaking-real!

Can you find us (D, Bro-in-law, and I) on the swings?

Seriously though.. look at this lake beach! It reminded me of Hawaii!

Illinois to Ohio

Indiana wasn't anything special... at least the part we drove through. But this Indy Colts fan was excited to be in the state! But I have one HUGE complaint... THERE WERE NO COLTS ANYTHING IN ANY GAS STATIONS!!! What in the world?! You have an NFL team!!!! You should represent!! Needless to say, I was disappointed I didn't get my colts ornament FROM Indy..

The Indiana sign going East you can't get a picture with... So when we stopped at the Ohio sign this is the best picture we could get of the Indiana sign without killing ourselves crossing the road..

So funny story.. On our way through Ohio, we got lost... Highway signs are not well marked. We got lost in the middle of nowhere Ohio and it was PITCH BLACK! I hate navigating through new places in the dark because my photographic memory and directional skills aren't as great because well... YOU CAN'T SEE!! So we drove around for another 50 miles to find our motel.. I was actually in good spirits.. the rest of the group however... Haha! I was just enjoying the ride because how many times will you get lost in a small town in Ohio? Probably never again! Yay for Adventures!!!

We stayed at the hotel and woke up the next morning to head to the Kirtland Temple! D was excited for the Church History stuff. But this temple was beautiful! Crazy to think that our Ancestors helped build this in the 1800's

Joseph Smith's house! History becomes WAY more real when you are actually in places they have walked on.

After Kirtland we drove right on through to Virginia! We didn't stop anywhere special in PA or MD because we just wanted to be done driving! Also, the Virginia welcome sign is literally on the free way... so we couldn't stop and get a picture with it! SAD!