Counting Headlights on the Highway.

My husband BJ and I started our marathon road trip to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota on Saturday, May 11^th. You can read my post on how we ended up being referred to the Mayo Clinic here.

It was a beautiful day for a drive. The sun was shining, and there was a light breeze in the air. We said our goodbyes to one very sad Rottweiler as BJ got behind the wheel.  I settled down in the passenger seat armed with my cell phone and the latest John Grisham novel. The book would remain closed the whole trip.

We were in for a long drive. Instead of ticking off the hours, we checked off the states as we passed through them, one by one. We played a game I called “how well do you know this state” where we quizzed each other on state birds, or populations or state mottos. Did you know PA’s state moto is “Virtue, Liberty and Independence”? Neither did I.

Our first state, and also our first stop after leaving NY, was PA. I had a winning scratch-off ticket from PA in my car and figured no time like the present. While BJ was gassing up the vehicle, I ran inside the mini-mart and cashed in my ten bucks. Two more lottery tickets later, a full tank of gas, and some munchies, and we were off and running again. (I won $10.00 more bucks on the scratch off).

Our next state was Ohio. We were doing great and making good time. And then this happened.

It seemed like the accident was in slow motion. A tractor on the other side of the road plowed through the median and onto our side of the highway. The truck ahead of us had no time to put on the breaks to avoid a collision. And BAM! Just like that our trip is set back over an hour as we waited for the tow trucks and emergency personnel. The good news was that no one was hurt. The worst part? I had to pee.

We had some time to kill, so we learned some facts about Ohio, like the state tree is the Buckeye tree. That’s why Ohio is known as the “Buckeye State”.

Once the trucks and debris were cleared away, we were off once again. This time as the “Lead Dog”. The road ahead of us was empty, and we made up some time. Before we knew it, we landed in Indiana.

We made a quick stop to top off the gas, and so I could take a much needed bathroom break. The store inside the gas station was filled with Notre Dame University swag, so BJ decided to see how far away we were from the college. Turns out only 15 minutes. Time for a detour. BJ is a huge Notre Dame fan, and going here was like walking on hallowed ground.

We had fun exploring the campus, despite the steady drizzle that started falling, and we took pictures like tourists. We kept waiting for security to shoo us along but it never happened. Side visit over, we jumped back in our min-van and continued on our way.

Fun fact – Indiana does NOT have an official state animal. The state drink is water. Boring. You would think a state that is home to Notre Dame would have Guinness as the state drink.

Around 8:00 that night, we finally reached Chicago. BJ said he wanted to drive through Chicago before stopping for the night. Even at this later hour, the highway was packed with other drivers, but the skyline was beautiful and all lit up. I got my first glimps of majestic Lake Michigan as we drove out of Illinois and into Wisconsin.

Indiana may not have a state animal, but Illinois does.  It’s the white tailed deer. and FYI, the state bird is a Cardinal.

As we drive into Wisconsin, I hear “hello Wisconsin” in my head.  I think that is from “That 70’s Show”.

The dashboard clock showed 10:00 pm, and BJ and I made the decision to keep driving straight through to Minnesota instead of stopping for the night. We were both a bit wired, and after driving so many miles we figured “what’s a few more”? (It was actually a little over 5 hours more but who’s counting).

We passed a sign announcing that we would be crossing the Mississippi River. I had no idea the Mississippi River ran so far North. For some reason this made me happy and made me think of our cruise out of New Orleans last year. What also made me happy was discovering Minnesota’s state moto is “Forward”. That seemed like a good omen to me.

Finally, around 1:00 in the morning, we were crossing the boarder into Minnesota. It would take another two hours before we reached Rochester, Minnesota, home of the famous Mayo Clinic. By now, BJ and I were both starting to feel the long drive. My body felt numb and so did my brain. But finally, around 3:30 am, we were pulling into our hotel parking lot and dragging our sorry bodies up to the check-in counter.

Were we crazy for making the whole journey in one shot? The state bird of Minnesota is the Common Loon. I’m just going to let that statement sit there with no additional comments.

It was Sunday, May 12^th. Mother’s Day. We had been on the road for approximately 18 hours, and we were ready to drop. I mustered enough energy to wash my face and throw on my pajamas. I think I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.

Our first appointment at Mayo was scheduled for 7:00 am Monday morning. We had a whole day to explore our surroundings and recover from our drive.

We would spend our Sunday drinking mimosas at a Mother’s Day brunch, exploring the above ground and underground pedestrian passageways that circle the entire city, and getting ourselves oriented with the huge Mayo Clinic campus. But all that wouldn’t happen for another 6 hours.  Now was our time to sleep, and sleep we did.

Here are some fun state facts we learned from our trip.

State	State Bird	State Animal	State Drink	State Flower	State Moto	State Nickname
New York	Bluebird	Beaver	Milk	Rose	Excelsior or I Love NY	Empire State
Pennsylvania	Ruffed Grouse	White Tailed Deer	Milk	Mountain Laurel	Virtue, Liberty and Independence	Keystone State
Ohio	Cardinal	White Tailed Deer	Tomato Juice	Red Carnation	With God All Things Are Possible	Buckeye State
Indiana	Cardinal	none	Water	Peony	Crossroads of America	Hoosier State
Illinois	Cardinal	White Tailed Deer	none	Violet	State Sovereignty, National Union	Prairie State
Wisconsin	Robin	Badger	Milk	Violet	Forward	The Badger State
Minnesota	Common Loon	none	Milk	Pink and White Lady Slippers	*L’Etoile du Nord	North Star State

* The Star of the North