Very LONG Day!

Wow! Today started out just fine but ended crazy!

I spent the night in Wall, SD, which is the home of the (apparently famous) Wall Drug store. It had billboard announcements for it for at least 20 miles before you even get to the town. I was thinking, "how big can a drug store be before it becomes just gaudy?" I came into town too late last night to find out. I got a room in another Bates motel-looking place. I actually like those places over the normal motels; they remind me of my childhood when my cousins and I used to travel to Lawton every summer to visit Grandma & Grandpa. I also like how I can park right in front of my room door and unload my stuff. Anyway, this one was the Welsh in and the manager, Wes, was a peach. He led me to a cafe down the street for (of course) a BLT for the night. I got up this morning and checked out the Wall Drug store. It was more like a little town all unto itself! It starts with the look of an old western town, all the way down the street. Wall Drugs is all of one side of the street! Each of the little stores is connected to another, encompassing all sorts of shops, boutiques and an old fashioned eatery, where I got breakfast. The breakfast was good but a tad overpriced, compared to Denny's or IHOP, but their french toast was the kind that already had the cinnamon swirled through the bread. Yummy! And the place was fun.

I headed east after breakfast. Long drive to Spencer, IA, where Fletch and I visited the former home (and present memorial) of Dewey the Library Cat (full name: Dewey Readmore Books). Dewey was dropped into the book drop of the library as a tiny kitten and ended up living at the library for 19 years, until his recent death. I loved the book, but really wish it had been written before the cat died so I would have heard about him and would have visited the actual live cat. Yes, I'm one of those silly people who would have come to Spencer just to meet the cat who lived his entire life at a library. Read the book!

This is the actual book drop where Dewey was dumped as a kitten, in January, on a freezing morning.

Above, you can see Dewey's memorial (I don't know if he's actually buried in that spot); Fletch checking it out and/or paying his respects; and the window to the chidrens' part of the library where he would cuddle up with kids during reading time. His memorial is right outside that room. I really liked the town of Spencer, too. Loved the old fashioned little homes in the neighborhood next to the library. I will come back here again when I have more time.

Fletch walking around on a leash brought some interest also! Yes, he walks on a leash.

After Spencer is when things got a little crazy:

I got some gas at a station in Emmetsburg, but never saw my credit card again  ; - 0.

After gassing up, I drove another 4 hours to Dyersville where the farm from the movie Field of Dreams is located. I walked into the lobby of a little motel and that was when I realized I didn't have the card. So I couldn't get a room. While I was completely discombobulating the inside of my car to find the card, Fletch got out of the car and scrambled off while I wasn't looking. That card is all I carry and is usually all I need, and I had not picked up any cash recently. So, I was screwed! While I was talking to Kelly and Chip from Suntrust on the phone (which was dying), Beth (on Facebook) was helping me try to contact Linda for her address (where I was headed in 2 days anyway) so they could send me another card, tootsweet. We were able to use my old card number to pay for a room, and James, the motel manager, was WONDERFUL! He was about to give me the room anyway. That may be because he is a sweet guy or it may have been just to get me out of his lobby, where I was camped out for about an hour and a half. In the meantime, my car is a disaster, I've got crap sprawled out all over the parking lot of the motel, and then Fletch just wanders back to the car while I'm trying to arrange everything. OMG! And thank GOD for it all working out, too. I was planning to go to Chicago tomorrow and see the live exhibit of Kate the science teacher living at the Museum of Science and Industry, but now I have no money and 1/2 tank of gas - just enough to get me to Linda's house, where I was going after Chicago. My new card will arrive while I'm visiting her.

Now, I'm finally in the motel room (after midnight), I'm exhausted but wired, and I'm kissing the you-know-what out of my cat because I thought I'd lost him. I need a drink...