Welcome to those of you popping in thanks to Holidailies, which yes I am doing again. Rather than post an introduction and/or reflection on this online journal/blogging collaborative project, I’m just going to plow ahead with what I’d likely do if it weren’t Holidailies time: continue to work on catching up with my daily photo diary project. We now join a vacation in progress.

Monday, October 27: Left our rental condo at 10 a.m. and had one last Disney experience with breakfast at the Polynesian Village Resort before hitting the road for home.

 
Tuesday, October 28: Mostly a driving day, though we did have lunch with a couple of Mr. Karen’s cousins in Georgia and got to see their house and say hello to their dogs. There were some patches of fall color along our route though many trees were well past peak.

 
Wednesday, October 29: Kept driving north and spent the afternoon with more of Mr. Karen’s cousins in Cincinnati. Mr. Karen made a new feline friend.

 
Thursday, October 30: Woke up in Danville, Illinois. Made our way to visit Mr. Karen’s mom and dad in their final resting place in small town Illinois. The restaurant in town we planned to eat at was closed for vacation (this is like the 3rd time that’s happened to us with this particular place; starting to feel like the fact they were open after the burial was an anomaly). Found a similarly named but unrelated place a few towns away so now we have a backup for next time. Fall colors were more evident on this stretch of the trip, until it got dark, of course. Needing a pick me up in the evening so we could to keep driving, we followed the internet’s directions to a smoothie place in small town Iowa which turned out to be a food service counter inside the rec center of Wartburg College. We were approximately three times the age of the other customers.

 
Friday, October 31: Started our day in Mason City, Iowa. Soon got onto our old friend I-90 and drove and drove. Stopped for dinner in Wall, South Dakota. The drugstore was long closed by the time we arrived, but there was a nice restaurant open down the street. We got to see folks dressed as the Scooby Doo gang do shots at the bar while we had a meal; gotta love Halloween. Pushed on to Spearfish, SD before we stopped for the night.

 
Saturday, November 1: Just driving and driving. Stopped for dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Bozeman, Montana that was in the same building as a Chinese buffet that we’d enjoyed on a previous trip. They’d completely redone the interior and it didn’t look like the same place at all.

 
Sunday, November 2: Last day on the road: Butte, Montana to home, with a side trip to the airport in Spokane to pick up my car. Our treat for the day was huckleberry shakes at the gas station that has the live trout tank in their very large gift shop.

 

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On this date in 2024: Happy Holidailies
2023: Ho-Ho-Holidailies
2022: No journal entry
2021: One Month Ago Today
2020: End of Year Tradition
2019: Another Trip Around the Sun
2018: A Trio of Firsts
2017: It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
2016: Another Ride on the Holidailies Train
2015: Not Dead Yet
2014: Lucky 13
2013: And So It Begins
2012: Holidailies Time
2011 through 2009: No entries
2008: Turkey Day Weekend
2007: Pinwheel Blanket
2006: Somethin’ New
2005 & 2004: No entries
2003: Goal Check-In: Month 8
2002: Holiday Weekend