South Dakota Trip: Day 0

Well, it's the night before I leave of South Dakota and I'm prety excited! I'll be traveling with my buddy Ann for the first time. We've each done some traveling on our own, but this is the first overnight together. I hope we're ready for this!
Earlier, I stopped by Oregon Trail Roasting, a new coffee shop in town, and enjoyed a Cafe Latte while reading the Belleville News-Democrat. I was trying to savor the joys of home one last time before hitting the trail myself. The latte was great by the way! Afterwards, I talked with one of the owners/managers (?) named Andrea. She said that they bought the building 9 months ago and just opened on Monday. Since I've been in town (about 10 years) the building has been a photography studio, an antique shop, a gift shop, and mostly just empty. I hope they have better luck. My first impression is very positive. They totally redid the place top to bottom. (Literally! They refinished the hardwood floors under foot and uncovered a fabulous tin roof over head.) She said the nine months of labor was "like a pregnancy", and what a beautiful baby they now have! They make everything from scratch: roast their own coffee beans, bake their own breads, prepare their own sandwiches and cook their own soup. As a matter of fact, I tried the Butternut Squash Soup (Andrea made it herself!) and loved it. It comes with whipped cream on top and a sprinkle of cilantro. It was good, but next time I'm going to try it without the cream so I can savor the cilantro even more.
Anyway, now I'm not onlyhyper because I'm excited about the trip but also because I'm wired from the latte. Oh well, I guess that's OK since I haven't even started packing!
I will post updates when I can. So, if you would like to know where Ann & I are or see pictures of what we've seen, check back here.
Al