WICHITA!

We decided to take a three-day weekend and visit a place where we still have a fair number of counties to collect: Kansas. So, on Friday night after work, we drove to the Hyatt Place in West Des Moines, Iowa. On Saturday morning, we headed toward Kansas and the first new counties of our trip. Traveling west on I-70, we picked up Douglas, Shawnee, Wabaunsee, Geary, and Dickinson Counties. We even saw some army helicopters in the air near Ft. Riley Army Base. We continued to drive all the way through Dickinson County until we reached exit 266 near the city of Solomon. We went north a couple miles, hugging both Dickinson and Saline Counties, before heading west another mile to pick up Ottawa County. The unpaved road was littered with something we later learned were Osage oranges.

From there, we drove to the city of Abilene, Kansas, where we visited the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library & Museum to pay our respects to the 34^th president.

Leaving the museum, we traveled south and west to pick up Morris County. We continued south and west, stair-stepping our way to pick up both Marion and McPherson Counties. We then headed directly to our hotel, the Hyatt Regency Wichita. We drove through Harvey County on the way. As we neared the hotel, we decided to pick up a bonus county to the south. We drove through Wichita, headed southwest on HWY 15, picked up Cowley County, then turned around and headed back to the hotel. It was a beautiful downtown hotel right on the Arkansas River. We ate a nice dinner at the Harvest Kitchen, located in the hotel.

On Sunday morning, we drove east out of Wichita on HWY 400. We picked up Greenwood County, then turned south on HWY 99 for two miles to pick up Elk County. We continued east and picked up Wilson County before heading farther north near the city of Buffalo to cross into Woodson County. We continued east and north and basically stair-stepped our way to pick up Neosho, Allen, Anderson, Linn, and Bourbon Counties.

We crossed into Missouri near the far southwest corner of Bates County and then headed right for one mile until we crossed into Vernon County. After briefly driving north on I-49, we got off and headed toward Appleton City, which was just inside St. Clair County. A few miles later, we turned north to cross into Henry County. We then traveled south on HWY 13. There weren’t a lot of food options, so we stopped at the BP in Lowry City, where I picked up a hot dog.

At Osceola, we went east on HWY 82, eventually hitting the tri-corner of St. Clair, Hickory, and Benton Counties. At that point, we headed a little south to HWY 54, then went east into Camden County. A few miles in, we turned south and drove five or six miles until we crossed into Dallas County. From there, we headed northeast all the way to the beautiful area of Osage Beach. We then headed southeast to our hotel, the Hampton Inn St. Robert. Along the way, we picked up Miller and Maries Counties.

On Monday morning, we started our long trip back to Wisconsin. However, we had one final county stop to make. As we headed toward St. Louis on I-44, we got off near the town of Sullivan, headed a little bit to the east, and crossed briefly into Washington County—our last new county of the trip. From there, it was a straight shot home, but we did stop for a pizza lunch at Monical’s in El Paso, Illinois.

So when it was all said and done, we had picked up 32 new counties. We also crossed over the 75% completion mark! So, what's next? We have a long weekend getaway in Texas planned for December. Stay tuned!

NEW COUNTIES - 32

                 TOTAL COUNTIES FOR 2022 - 173

                 ALL TIME COUNTY TOTAL - 2379

THE DAKOTAS!

In September, we decided to take a road trip to a place we hadn’t visited in awhile—the Dakotas. On Friday, we left right after work and went straight to our first hotel, the Home2 Suites by Hilton Eau Claire South. On Saturday morning, we set out for Watertown, SD. We basically had a straight shot across the state of Minnesota on HWY 7, stopping for lunch at Taco John’s in Hutchinson. When we hit the city of Montevideo, we crossed the Minnesota River, entering Yellow Medicine County. We were only in the county for a few seconds before we crossed into Lac Qui Parle County. A little while later, we crossed into South Dakota and Deuel County. 15 miles later, we crossed into Codington County, where the Hampton Inn & Suites Watertown awaited. But before we checked in, we turned left on HWY 81, traveled six miles to the Hamlin County border, then turned around and went back. That evening, we walked to Applebee’s for dinner.

On Sunday, our destination was Bismarck, ND. We started out heading both north and west through the backroads of the Dakotas. We went through Clark and Marshall Counties before crossing into North Dakota and Sargent County. When we reached the small town of Geneseo, we drove east one mile on HWY 11 so we could cross into Richland County. We then traveled west, picked up Dickey County, then went north on HWY 1 into LaMoure County. A few miles later, we turned down a dirt road for a couple miles so we could pick up Ransom County. Near the county line, we stopped for a giant snapping turtle crossing the road.

We continued west on HWY 13, stopping at The Freeze in Edgeley for lunch. The cheeseburgers were delicious! After lunch, we continued west, picking up Logan, McIntosh, and Emmons Counties before heading north to our hotel, the Hampton Inn Bismarck. After checking in, we decided to take a little bonus county collecting trip to save time on a future trip. We headed north into McLean County. At the city of Washburn, we crossed the Missouri River on HWY 200 and entered Oliver County. As the sun was setting, we then continued west until we picked up both Mercer and Dunn Counties. From there, we turned around and went back to our hotel, just in time to watch the Packers beat the Bears on Sunday Night Football. We ordered Domino’s Pizza, which was waiting for us upon our return.

On Monday we set out for our first sightseeing destination - Devils Tower National Monument. On the way there, we picked up Grant and Hettinger Counties in North Dakota. Once we were back in South Dakota, we stopped at the No. 3 Saloon in Buffalo. The food was fantastic! If you’re ever in this remote area, be sure to stop in. Try the beef tips!

Since we were so close to the border of Montana, we decided to take an alternate route to Devils Tower. We ended up on a winding gravel road for maybe 25 miles. We didn’t anticipate that. However it was still slightly quicker than the route on the paved roads. We crossed into northeastern Wyoming from Montana, and drove straight to Devils Tower. When we left, we went back into South Dakota to our hotel, the Hampton Inn Spearfish. For dinner, our first restaurant of choice had a one-hour wait, so we went back to the hotel, crossed the street, and ate at Culver’s.

On Tuesday, our first stop was Mount Rushmore. Since it was around lunch time when we arrived, we decided to eat there. Upon leaving, we went south and viewed the Crazy Horse Monument. We then drove on to Jewel Cave National Monument, where we toured one of the caves. Our next stop was Wind Cave National Park. We stopped on the side of the road to watch a herd of wild bison. We also saw a coyote and hundreds of prairie dogs.

Since we were relatively close to the Nebraska state line, we drove southeast and crossed over into the city of Whiteclay. From there, we drove to Martin and ate dinner at the local Dairy Queen. After dinner, we drove straight to our hotel, the Holiday Inn Express Pierre-Fort Pierre.

On Wednesday, we drove north to pick up a couple of remote counties we needed. We crossed the Missouri River and headed north on HWY 81. We drove through Sully and Potter Counties. We then wormed through a few backroads to enter both Campbell and McPherson Counties—the latter being the least-visited county by county collectors in the lower 48 states. We then stopped in the city of Roscoe and had a great lunch at Ricky’s Restaurant & Lounge.

After lunch, we worked our way south and east. We went south on HWY 45 to pick up Faulk and Hand Counties. We then went east on HWY 212 to Redfield, picking up Spink County. At Redfield, we went south on HWY 281 into Beadle County before hitting HWY 14 and heading east. When we got to the city of De Smet (in Kingsbury County), we stopped in the cemetery to view the graves of the Ingalls family of Little House on the Prairie fame. We also visited one of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s former homes, as well as one of the schools she attended. From there, we picked up Brookings County (our last county to collect in South Dakota) to the east and checked into our hotel, the Hampton Inn & Suites Brookings. For dinner, we stopped at the local Buffalo Wild Wings.

On Thursday, we traveled east on HWY 14 from our South Dakota hotel nearly all the way to our hotel in Minnesota. In one straight shot, we picked up Lincoln, Lyon, Redwood, and Brown Counties, the latter of which completed the state of Minnesota for us. We even passed through Walnut Grove, the setting for TV's "Little House On The Prairie." In Mankato we stopped for a late lunch at McDonald’s. From there, we had one final tourist stop - the Spam Museum in Austin. It’s a free museum, and it's definitely one of the most quirky places you’ll ever visit. We highly recommend it! After the museum, we drove right to our hotel, the Home2 Suites by Hilton Rochester Mayo Clinic Area. For dinner, we ate at a nearby Red Lobster.

On Friday, we drove back home. We had no new counties to collect, so it was a straight shot all the way. When it was all said and done, we had picked up 35 new counties and finished two states. So, what’s next? We have a weekend getaway in Kansas and Missouri planned for next month, so stay tuned!

NEW COUNTIES - 35

                 TOTAL COUNTIES FOR 2022 - 141

                 ALL TIME COUNTY TOTAL - 2347