Mississippi Road Trip Day 2: Monticello to Bemidji

The Rundown

High point of the day: We stop at the Boondocks Cafe in Wadena on our way to northern Minnesota and the waitress gives my husband a free slice of cheesecake for Father's Day.

Low point of the day: It's pouring down rain outside. Our waitress at the Boondocks Cafe tells us there was a tornado warning last Thursday, the night of the town parade. The police department directed the spectators into the restaurant basement. I begin to worry about the weather.

Quote of the day: "What's all that stuff on your sandwich?” my 4-year-old son Dante asks his father about the turkey sandwich that is drowned in gravy at the Boondocks.

Sound bite of the day: Boondocks Cafe waitress Laureen Huttenen shares the day's specials.
Photo of the day: An 18-foot-tall Paul Bunyan and his blue ox Babe in Bemidji, Minn.
Miles: 200 miles
Total miles: 320
Hours in car: 4
Weather: It's raining! It's pouring!

Expenses
Hotel: $86.25 (Best Western Chelsea Inn, Monticello)
Breakfast: free at hotel
Lunch: $21.41 (Boondocks Café, Wadena, Minn.)
Dinner: $25 (Dave's Pizza/I read on Chowhound.com that it's as good as what you get in Italy, and the thin crust pizza slathered in a fresh tomato sauce and heaped with tasty mozzarella is really that good. Who would have expected this in northern Minnesota?)
Total for the day: $132.66
Total for the trip: $188.25