And We Are Off!

🚙 Here We GOOOOOO ✌


Road Trip Day One Recap

We hit the road bright and very early—3:00 AM sharp—traveling from Eldersburg, MD to Lincolnshire, IL (just northwest of Chicago). It was an 11-hour haul with three quick stops to refuel ourselves and the car.

Everyone was in surprisingly high spirits for such an early departure. The highlight game of this leg was Battleship, which kept everyone entertained between naps and audiobook chapters. The girls also kicked off their road trip scrapbook project. They packed plenty of stickers, markers, and other artsy supplies to document every stop and memory along the way.

You sunk my ship! 

Most of the time was spent reading, dozing, or peering out the windows—until we had two unexpected close calls with deer wandering across the highway. (Luckily, we managed to avoid them!)

We also discovered a snafu with our EZ Pass that caused a little confusion at the tolls, but nothing we couldn’t sort out with a bit of road trip resourcefulness.

Reminder: Check the EZ Pass Account Before You Travel!

In Indiana, we discovered the issue when the gate wouldn’t go up. The attendant told us we had to take a ticket since our transponder was invalid. 🤷🏼‍♀️🤣

After researching our account status on the road, we realized the problem was that the credit card on file hadn’t been updated. As a result, we owed $118 in past tolls, dating back to November 2024!

✅ Everything is now paid and updated, but we still had to pay the toll in Indiana and wait in a toll line for the first time in years.

Sitting at the Toll Plaza to pay our paper ticket.  😬

Lesson learned: Always double-check that your EZ Pass account is current before a trip!

Afternoon in Lincolinshire

After arriving in Lincolnshire, we spent the afternoon relaxing and avoiding the tangle of Chicago city traffic. We’ll have to save our deep-dish pizza fix for another trip west! 

The highlight of the day was definitely Par-King Mini Golf, proudly named the World’s Most Unusual Golf Course. According to TripAdvisor, it’s also the world’s best mini golf—and we completely agree.

Par-King has been around since the late 1950s and has evolved into a wonderfully quirky landmark with 18 moving obstacles and 7 water holes spread across two courses. We played the Red Course and absolutely loved every hole. From the elaborate windmills to the creative ramps and spinning features, it was unlike any mini golf we’ve ever played. 

Even though we finished around 4:00 PM, our East Coast time zone appetites were still in full force, so we headed to Half Day Brewing for dinner and drinks. It was the perfect way to end a long day on the road.

Tomorrow we’re off to Sioux Falls, SD, excited to cross more states off our list and keep the adventure going!

All in all, it was a long but smooth first day on the road, and everyone’s excited for the adventures ahead.

Check out our full photo album here: Wander West Day 1 Photo Recap


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

From Panguitch to the Grand Canyon

Image
  WanderWest – Day 12: From Panguitch to the Grand Canyon Today, July 10th, we packed up and said farewell to Panguitch, UT and Bryce Canyon—and honestly, we left with a little heartache. We didn’t quite get the time we wanted there, and it felt like we were just getting started. No one’s fault, just one of those travel hiccups. But Bryce has now officially landed on our “must-come-back-and-stay-longer” list. Next time, Bryce, we’re doing it right. We hit the road south toward the Grand Canyon, rolling through the wide-open beauty of Arizona. And then the time warp began. Our phones couldn’t decide if we were in Mountain Time or Pacific Time—jumping around like they were on a caffeine buzz. After way too much googling and debating, we discovered that Arizona doesn’t do daylight saving time (bold move), which means they stick to Mountain Standard Time all year round. Except for the parts that don’t. So, yeah… time is fake here. 😂 We made a stop at the Desert View Wa...
Read more

Smoke, Sweat, and Cliff Dwellings

Image
WanderWest Day 14: Smoke, Sweat, and Cliff Dwellings Reality check: road fatigue has officially settled in. After 14 days, 4,800 miles, and 14 states, we’re all feeling it — shorter fuses, wearier mornings, and the constant grind of packing and unpacking the car. Living out of a duffel bag has lost its charm. BUT… we’re not done yet! 7 days of excitement left to go!  This morning we left the Grand Canyon just in time — the North Rim was filling with smoke from the White Sage fire as we drove out. Eerie, but kind of stunning (check out our photo — the haze drifting into the canyon looked surreal). Today we headed into Colorado for a reservation at Mesa Verde's Balcony House tour , with a quick detour to the famous Four Corners Monument . Olivia took one look around and said, “This is such a tourist trap.” Honestly? She's not wrong. $8 a person to stand in a line and awkwardly pose on a plaque while strangers stare? Definitely a “been there, done that” kinda stop. ...
Read more

Arches National Park: The Fiery Furnace Playground!

Image
  WanderWest Day 16: The Fiery Furnace Today was hands down the best day of the trip—the mic drop day. The “this is why we’re doing this” day. One of those rare, soul-filling experiences you know will stick with you forever. We had a self-guided permit to hike the legendary Fiery Furnace in Arches National Park, and holy wow… it did not disappoint. It was everything we hoped for and more. No marked trails, no crowds—just us, the rocks, and the thrill of the unknown. We scrambled up sandstone walls, wedged our way through narrow slot canyons, and dropped into bowls of smooth red rock that looked like they belonged on another planet. We felt like Mother Nature built a playground for adventure junkies and forgot to leave a map. Trail finding was half the fun. One minute we were confidently navigating, the next we were spinning in circles like, “Wait... where was that white arrow?” But every misstep led to more awe—secret corners, epic views, and silence so deep it echoed. The be...
Read more