Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota

Today we left Robyn's house at about 8am after getting all four kids and the truck situated for the long road trip. We ended up with a few pit stops, 5 to be exact, for potty breaks and lunch time. Between the dog roaming all over the van and the 47 inquiries as to whether or not we were still in Wisconsin, we managed to maintain some semblance of sanity. The van however didn't fair so well with 4 children sitting in the back seats. Wow, what a disaster. Needless to say, the older ones, 10 and 9, got a stern talking to about the cleanliness of their areas. We pulled into the Albert Lea Super 8 at about 5pm after having to backtrack about 4 miles because we missed our exit. The Super 8 was interesting. My sister and I have to stay in a smoking room with 2 doubles instead of queens because of Doolittle the 11 pound Jack Russell. It really stinks too. I hope it's not like this the remainder of the trip because we may be sneaking him in after tomorrow night. Screw that smoking stench! We have a full day tomorrow of visiting the Corn Palace and Wall Drug before making it to Rapid City in South Dakota. Hopefully I'll have wifi there too and I'll post how our day went. Now, it's off to bed because I'm EXHAUSTED!