Feeling hot, hot, hot!

Feeling hot, hot, hot! Bloomington, MN

Bloomington, MN

We got up early and finished our last-minute details, and were on the road by 8:15 (ET). Our first stop was the Cracker Barrel in Merrillville to drop off our doggie, Jolie, with Grandpa and Grandma H. We enjoyed a nice breakfast and visit, and actually took shifts eating, so that Jolie only had to spend a few minutes in the car. It was so hot already at 9:30 in the a.m. that we were worried it would be unsafe to leave her in the car. Tom's quote (by text), "Mmmmm...breakfast and a hot dog!" Hahaha.

After a rather lengthy stop we were back on the road. The whole trip was uneventful except for the extreme heat every time we stopped for gas or a rest stop. The car thermometer read "104," which was our car's personal record!

We arrived in Minneapolis/Bloomington around 6:00 (CT), and after checking in at the Fairfield, we headed to Culver's for our traditional first day stop. Since we had had such a big breakfast, we were able to skip lunch, have snacks in the car, and then have a light supper. After supper, we headed to REI, a great camping/outdoorsy store that Jared had introduced us to last year. We were able to find a wind/rain jacket for Leah, and Chloe bought a new Camelback water bottle.

After shopping, we headed back to the hotel for a dip in the pool, and a good night's sleep. We needed to rest up before our big shopping day!