Last night in the hotel room I took the opportunity to take some pictures of my girlies. Here is the lovely Francesca Von Kneaderbird lounging on daddy's pillow and doing her best model pose.


And here is Zelda Whiskerpounce, obviously contemplating more mischief. The fur on her head has also started to grow back, and I can definitely tell you that she is not short on energy at all.


In Iowa, we found the cheapest gas so far. It's more than a dollar cheaper than it was in Arcata. *sigh* The Motel 6 in West Des Moines was the nicest one I've ever seen. It was terminally small, but it's not like we need that much room, and it even had a bath tub! Hurrah for bath tubs. Sitting in the car for millions of hours makes my legs hurt and my feet swell up, so soaking in the tub was very nice.


Look, it's the Mississippi River! This is the second time I've driven over it. It's huge!


And after crossing it, we are in the fine state of Illinois, home of Wayne Campbell and the Blues Brothers. But before you get to those places, you pass a lot of roadside farms, like the one that hosts this cute little barn.


We are staying on the outskirts of Chicago, in a town called Naperville. We're just vegging in the hotel, and the rest is very much welcomed at this point. Tomorrow morning, bright and early, Chris takes the test to be an air traffic controller, and then we press on to Ohio to visit Meigan and rest before the last day! Two more day and we'll be in New York!

Oh, and we got some really yummy chinese food delivered to our hotel room. Decadence!!! The almond cookies were to die for!