This was our "long" leg. We set out to get from Wisconson Dells to Mount Rushmore in one drive.  That's halfway across Wisconsin, all the way across Minnesota, and almost all the way across South Dakota.  And, we wanted to stop off at the Badlands and Wall Drug along the way. Well we made it ... with the help of 75 MPH posted limit along the way.

BADLANDS

You just can't convey how BAD this area is in photos.  But believe me, they are BAD.

Rushmore/Crazy Horse

Gotta work ... to buy dogfood!

Two great noses ... don't you agree?

What a great looking family.  Whose heads are bigger, my family's or the guys in the background?

The guys pictured, the beauty of the sculpture, the process of getting financed and finishing the project ... truly inspiring.  So glad we visited Mount Rushmore.

On the pillar behind this handsome group is inscribed "VIRGINIA, 1OTH STATE ADMITTED TO UNION, 1788".

Crazy Horse was interesting in learning about the American Indians in the region though not as inspiring as Rushmore.  However, the structure even unfinished, is IMPRESSIVE in its size and scope.  Truly a miracle that this is being done solely thru private monies.

I have so much to catch up on.  Its a little easier to Facebook or Tweet our status from my Droid Eris phone along the road but updating my blog takes a little more time. Might as well get started.  I'll try to do a couple of posts tonight.

Our next leg took us to Wisconsin Dells ... the Water Park Capital of the World (or something like that).  And there are dozens of water parks.  We went to the grand-daddy of them all, Noah's Ark .  There is a ride there called the Scorpion's Tail.  And, for real, you climb up to multi-story height and climb inside a clear cylinder.  As you look out from that height, a voice slowly calls "3, 2, 1" and whoosh, the bottom drops out of the cylinder and you drop at like 70 mph down the tube of gushing water.  Its scary but a blast.  We didn't carry our camera while in the park but here are a few under-water photos of Sam and Casey from the KOA's pool.  I thought they were cool!

We also went on a speed boat tour of the namesake of the area ... the "Dells" along the Wisconsin River. This was also a blast and educational.  One weird thing about the landscape is that many trees close to the river bank had a significant bend in their trunk caused by the slow movement of the bank substructure toward the water and as this movement "points" the trees horizontal, they develop an upward bend as they try to reach again for the sun.  Here are some pics from the speed boat.

One dry spot after the boat ride .. the center of my back.  The speed boat's captain had a knack for braking or spinning the boat in such a way to splash the passengers fiercely (below).

We had the traditional Friday Night Fish Fry at a locals' hangout, Club 23.  It was awesome! Here's a picture of their sign and a little helpful advice to us husbands on a wall placard behind the checkout desk.

After leaving Cedar Point we were excited about seeing a "BIG" city.  Chicago didn't disappoint.  Although our hotel wasn't the best nor in the best of locations (far out near the airport), our trip to Chicago included a stop and tour of the University of Notre Dame, Chicago has a free Zoo called Lincoln Park Zoo which was very fun, and finally we had a great Italian Beef sandwich from Al's.

A map and some photo's from this leg:

Notre Dame Golden Dome (that's Allison running ahead).

Notre Dame - Touch Down Jesus (Maybe UVA needs one of those?)

Lincoln Park Zoo Entrance (animal photos are ... well iffy)

My son, Casey's hair is getting "out there".

Al's Beef in Chicago ....

The entire sandwich is dipped in the beef juice and it is Mmmm Mmmm good:

And along the way to Chicago ... so after getting on the road, we saw this very funny sign at a fishing shack.

PS. I'm behind in my posting.   I'll try to catch up.  I'm currently in Jackson, WY so I have a few more legs of the trip to fill you in on.  My blog story is in Chicago with this post ... up next, Wisconsin Dells, WI.

Well its decided.  We're going to Cedar Point.  What's there? We don't know.  Its an amusement park.  Supposed to be big and fun with lots of roller coasters.

So this is the first "true" part of our adventure.  We'd been to Allison's parents house in Apalachin, NY many times.  Now we're are pointing the nose of our minivan westward and embarking to the unknown.

Along the way, we stopped to have lunch at St. Bonaventure University.  A small, beautiful Catholic school in western, NY.  Thomas Merton spent a year there before moving on to Kentucky.

And this funny sign is located at an establishment right across the street from the entrance to this religious school.  

We also stopped at the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, NY.  This place is really cool and deserves more time than we had to give it.  Allison and the boys went on a short tour while I had a conference call with my team from work.  Here is where I need to pat my team on the back. Jeff and Jilian are awesome and are a major reason I'm able to take a trip like this.  Thanks guys!

We stayed a great little campground called East Harbor State Park near Cedar Point. We weren't there long and didn't get to do everything, but check out their site and I'd recommend them if you're camping in the area.

And finally we arrive at Cedar Point.  We spent a whole day there and it was great fun.  There are more roller coasters than you can ride in a day.  If you arrive early the lines aren't long.  As far as amusement parks go, this one is great.  And if you like ROLLER COASTERS ... well this place is the roller coaster capital of the country and I can't think of a place to challenge that claim.

Man.  We're are wiped.  Amusement parks can drain you.  But we had a great time. We don't have many pictures.  We put all our stuff including cameras in a locker so we wouldn't lose them on the fast moving rides.

We've been going to Allison's hometown since before we were married ... well, um ... several years ago.  It was kinda an agreement or maybe more of a stipulation of moving her from her job and friend network in Richmond, VA to Pulaski, VA (my hometown) when I transferred.  So each July 4th weekend we make the trek from Christiansburg, VA (I couldn't get her ALL the way into Pulaski) to Apalachin, NY.  So this is the first leg of our trip.

Its about 500 miles and we did it all on one day.  Its always nice to spend a few days with my inlaws.  Allison has 3 brothers each with 2 boys.  So my two boys have lots of play time.  And we always see a movie.  This year it was Toy Story 3, which was awesome, by the way.

We always go to Nathaniel Cole Park for the reunion picnic where the local favorite, Spiedie's, are grilled.  Here's a picture of my boys, Casey (10) on left and Sam (13) on right at the park entry. I'm going to try to get photos of entry signs as we travel so I remember the names of places for my blog posts.

And here we are in our "Sunday best" as we are going to Catholic Mass at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church in Vestal, NY.  I will try to get photos of the entry or signs to churches we attend along the way as well.

And my personal favorite activity when visiting Allison's family ... a visit to the local ice cream stand.  A true picture of Americana if I ever saw one.  And, very tasty I might add.  By the way, I'm a big fan of frozen custard.  Yum.  Yum.

A BLOG'S JUST A THING

I had intended this blog to be my "CEO" blog.  To share mistakes, challenges, successes, and just general information about running my company, Internet Databases, and our furniture industry B2B extranet, FurnishWEB.  Well .... for whatever reason I have not done it.  Excuses abound: writer's block, too busy, unsure that what I have to say is relevant, scared ... I don't know.  But I'm here now and I'm going to use this blog for something a little different because ... well ... a blog is just a thing so I'm going to blog about my 'working' vacation, cross-country trip with my family.  Its not exactly "CEO"-type stuff, but its a good venue to share our story.

CAN WE DO IT?

We've talked about traveling across the country since last summer.  But life blew past us and we weren't prepared that first day of summer 2010.  My two boys, Sam (13) and Casey (10), and my wife Allison finished school on June 10 we knew were going to Apalachin, NY for Allison's annual family reunion ... but nothing planned after that.  So we were destined for a summer of sleeping in late, playing Wii, and whining there is nothing to do.  So I suggested to Allison "Hey, forget renting a camper or researching Amtrak, let's just point our mini-van west from Apalachin and see the USA.  What do you say?".  Well, the rest is history.  We've got our 1998 Toyota Sienna minivan loaded to the gills with camping gear, food, cooking supplies, laptops, chargers, cameras, et al.  And we're doing it!

WHAT ABOUT WORK?

I'll post some details about this later.  But essentially I needed to stay connected to my team at work, I needed phone, Skype/chat, email, FTP, file editing, etc.  Internet connections would be spotty I knew, but here was my plan ...

I have a MacBook as my work horse.  That would have to come with me and should prove very useful when we're in hotels or camp sites with WiFi.  I have a Droid Eris phone from Verizon.  That should give me some coverage in most areas.  I bought an iPad 3G which uses AT&T's network.  Maybe this would provide coverage in places Verizon doesn't.  And, it would a great tool to boot up quickly while in the minivan and "communicate" ... email, chat, blog, tweet, etc.

This post is getting a little long.  I'll end it here with a photo of me working late at night in a hotel room ... ah a fully charged laptop.  How sweet is that!

Z. Kelly Queijo was coming to our Internet Databases office the following day for Handshake Media, Incorporated to make my first video for YouTube...for publication...for all the world to see. 

So many thoughts went through my mind that night.  Tens of thousands of people make videos and upload them to YouTube  - singers that can't sing, kids being kids, moms shopping for deals.  Why was I nervous?  I was going to talk about a familiar topic, FurnishWEB.  I was going to be in a familiar setting, my own office.

Looking back, I think my feelings of discomfort were fear - fear of how i would come across in an unfamiliar medium, video.  I would be "out there," out there for all the world to see, hear, and...judge.  How would I look?  Would I sound dumb?  Would I come across as stiff and uninteresting?  Or would I seem silly and irrelevant?

Well, the videos are done.  Posted.  Published.  Viewed.  The fear has subsided.

The actual experience of making the video was not nearly as bad as I thought it might be.

I still have lingering thoughts.  I wonder what people think about what I've said and how I was perceived.  I wonder if I've reached any of my intended audience.  I wonder if many months from now, some potential client or contact will happen across the videos in some blog, or through a Twitter, Facebook, or You Tube search.  And if they do, what will they think then?  Will my content be of any use if it isn't viewed today?  I'd love to be a fly on the wall when someone is watching for the first time.

I'll probably keep making videos.  Hopefully practice will breed confidence and confidence will remove many of my doubtful thoughts.

In the meantime, I am glad I delved into the YouTube world. I am happy with the results.  Especially since it was my first time.  What do you think?

And, would you please share your own video experiences?

Photo credit:  Casey Welch