BadLands = BadAss

Another early morning for me! I was up and out by 6:45am and on my way south. Today's agenda was packed; a 5hr drive to the Bad Lands, Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse (if time allowed), and my first Couch Surfing spot!

The Bad Lands, South Dakota

This drive just sucked. There really is no other way to put it. I was intrigued with North Dakota's landscape but when I got into South Dakota is was all the same again only less cars on the road and more road ahead of me. Once again I felt that "treadmill" feeling again. I wasn't tired, even though I should have been since I didn't fall asleep until close to 2am, I was just bored. This was the first drive where I really felt myself starting to go crazy.

Bad Lands = Bad Ass!

Mt. Rushmore with all the big-wigs ;)

I made it to SD around 9:20am and was so mad that the welcome sign was small and white...I didn't even know what it was until I passed it at 78mph! Be proud SD! Make the sign BIGGER! So that annoyance got me through the rest of my drive to the Bad Lands. I was only about 10 miles away from the Bad Lands when I almost just didn't go. I figured I had seen it yesterday and all I really wanted was out of the car. But I kept going until I finally made it to the park. Thank God I did because it was spectacular! It was 1,000x better then what John and I saw yesterday! I was so amazed! The colors...purple and yellows. It was truly a sight! So I did the 40 mile scenic drive and got lost in time for almost 2 hours!

Then I high tailed it over to Mt. Rushmore which was about an hour and a half away but closer to the place I was staying for the night. I just thought it would be bigger was my first thought. But I paid to park and got out and took a walk (again, just wanting out of the car!). The scenery here was beautiful! I was in the dessert (corn fields) earlier and now it was like I had entered the jungle (mountains), lush and green! Lots of mountains and awesome fall colors :)

I had made good time and figured I would also check out Crazy Horse since it was only about 10 miles down the road. I don't think I will be coming back to South Dakota any time soon so I should check out it's progress now. I went into the park at Crazy Horse and was surprised at how big it was. It put Mt. Rushmore to shame! In fact, all four heads of Mt. Rushmore could fit into Crazy Horse's head alone...this was what I was talking about! BIGGER! I watched a 30min movie about how this whole project started and was purely fascinated by it. To think this was started over 40 years ago and ony the head is done! I don't even think they have a time line for when it should be done...maybe not even in my lifetime! Can you imagine?!

Crazy Horse model against the actual...still alot to be done!

Close up of Crazy Horse (2011)

Ok so my to-do list was done, I was exhaused, and the last thing I wanted to do was get back in my car. But the hardest part of the day was yet to come...it was time to go to my first Couch Surfing destination. I wasn't nervous like I thought I would be and after talking to Michelle on the phone I felt even better. Just a warm, friendly voice that I needed after a long day. I found her house no problem and when I walked in it was like meeting an old friend. We talked about everything from our backgrounds, my trip, the area, and couch surfing. Turns out this is a hopping area and she hosts a lot! She had some awesome stories to tell me. She also didn't know that she was my first stop and we talked about being new in CS and how things generally worked (VERY helpful for me!).

I got the grand tour of my home which was in the basement. I have a bed and my own bathroom! I feel spoiled being here. We talked for about an hour and a half covering a wide variety of topics and I met her niece who lives with her. It is just a comfortable setting and I feel right at home. I'm kind of sad I am only here for one night!

Michelle had to run to the post office so I tagged along for the ride. I also figured I wouldn't want to leave some stranger in my house so why would she. I got to see a bit more of Rapid City, and get a mountain dew so I was a happy camper :) We talked more about CS and it truly is an awesome group of people who are just trying to see the world and meet new people. I think that this is truly going to benefit me and my life in the long run. I have been on the road for about 3 weeks and I already feel like a totally different person.

I view the world differently.
I view myself differently.
I view the people around me differently.

I am in such a good place right now. I am free and willing to do things that I year ago I could have never imagined. I don't really know how to exlain it honestly. I am just happy.

So now, I am going to work on some pictures, continue to spend time with Michelle, take a shower in my private bathroom and get a great night's sleep because tomorrow I continue on to Cody, Wyoming where I meet my second CS family. I hope they are just as wonderful as Michele!

Theodore Roosevelt

Today's goal was to head out to Madora and see the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. John didn't get up until after 1pm so we got a late start...I'm just glad he came with me! He was my first official co-pilot of the trip! We started west and stopped quickly at the Painted Canyons rest area to see the scenic view. Then we were off to the national park where I got to use my Annual Pass for the first time of the trip :)

We did the scenic drive which was 36 miles long. So we rolled the windows down and drove nice and slow for most of the trip stopping every so often to take pictures. We also had to stop multiple times for the Prairie Dogs who would randomly run across the road! They were so cute and they were EVERYWHERE! They also made these super cute noises too...John got a good laugh at my reaction to them. We didn't see too many animals today but we were able to see a Prong Horn sitting on the hillside. No Bisson or wild horses though :(

This is truly the perfect time of year to be in this part of the country!
The colors are incredible!

My favorite picture of the day! Look at those COLORS!!!

Uncharted Territory

11am:
Last night went much better then I had originally forcasted. My headache went away with 3 IB-profen and dinner and we were able to play some games and spend some quality family time together. It's funny that we are almost complete strangers but because our parents are related we try to find common ground. If you had walked in on our conversations last night you would have thought we had known each other well and were just catching up. I guess that's a good thing considering how awkward this visit (and my next) could have been.

We played 'Ticket to Ride', 'Catan' and 'Carcassonne'. It's always fun to play boardgames that you don't know as long as you have someone who is willing to teach you and answer all of your stupid questions. We even had dessert with our games! Brownie cookies with ice cream and chocolate syrup (Jamie says that Joe and I are family because we both like our dessert the same way). I went to bed earlier then the rest of them, I was beat and ready to hit the pillow!

When I got up this morning Joe was already at work and Jaime was up on the computer so we spent some time comparing how we grew up and our college experiences. Joe was telling me last night that North Dakota is a grid system and every town is 100 miles away from the next. New Jersey is not that way at all! North Dakota is 70,000 square miles and New Jersey is 8,000 square miles but we (NJ) have about 16 times more people living in the state. It's interesting to hear how life is out here...so different. I found myself wondering if I could live in North Dakota. I don't think so but it was fun to think about.

Joe comes home for lunch at 11am so I will get to see him one more time before I head to Julie's later this afternoon. I will be going to yet another time zone (Mountain Time) so the 3hr drive will look like a 2hr drive...won't feel like that though :( So we will have lunch shortly and then I will bust out the camera :) oh, and Jaime and I will watch GLEE. I plan on leaving around 2pm so I can make it to Dickinson, ND by 4pm Mountain Time. Then the next part of this adventure will continue.

9pm:
When Joseph went back to work Jaime and I ventured out to the Jamestown Reservoir. It was very high so the access road out to the island was completely under water. But it was such a pretty area in the fall! Then we went over to the Buffalo Museum and saw the world's largest Buffalo. His name was Dakota Thunder and was built in 1959! We also walked around the little town there where the buildings seemed to be my size...so small!

Dakota Thunder and myself :)

The drive to Dickinson really wasn't that bad. At some points it almost felt like you were on a treadmill, you knew you were moving but the scenery around you never changed. To the left there was a field and to the right there was a field. In front of you there was open highway and even in your rear view mirror there was that same open highway. But I have to admit that when you have nothing on all four sides of you, the windows down, radio blasting, shades on, you just feel free. The drive to most may have been boring and long but to me it was my path to pure freedom. North Dakota also isn't as flat as everyone has told me! It had more hills then Minnesota did :)

Can't miss that cow!

I made it to Julie's with no problems. I followed Jaime's instructions through Bismarck which were to stay right ON the interstate and to watch out for the giant cow (I think the cow found me though because it was so big I could see her miles away!). If you can imagine turning the corner and seeing a giant cow standing on the side of a hill then you are imagining what I actually saw...so strange. I made in to Julie's right around 4pm MT, or 6pm ET so I made great time. I was on one road the whole way and I got way to distracted looking at things out the window (that currently has half the states bugs on it). My distractions and lousy driving would not fly on the east coast but out here I had the whole road to myself almost! One of my really cool distractions was a windmill propeller. You know the ones for energy purposes...there are lots of them out here but I had no idea how big they were up close! It probably was 4x my car length! So cool!

Another road-side distraction on the Enchanted Highway

Joe came home right after I got there so we spent the next almost 2hrs just catching up. It's funny because I also haven't seen Julie since 1988 but I feel a lot closer to her then her brothers. At 6pm we went to meet John and Kristy for dinner at Pizza Ranch. I have never been to a pizza place that has a drive-thru, delivery, and an all you can eat buffet all in one! It took John a bit to warm up to me and I don't think he was super excited that Julie and Joe offered him up as a tour guide tomorrow since he only works weekends. But dinner was great and all 5 of us had a good time. John and Kristy are coming over for dinner tomorrow night too so I will get to see them again :)

Then it was off to Julie's volleyball game, Joe dropped us off so he could go make dinner for tomorrow and I got to meet her team. She told me they were going to lose so not to get too excited but I was just happy doing something different. They won too! Julie said I was a good luck charm but they won all 3 games! Watching Julie play volleyball made me miss it a lot! I forgot that once upon a time I was really big into volleyball. Maybe my next residence I will look for an intramural team myself :)

Flat and Boring

I was warned about the drive to ND and how flat and boring it would be but I was not warned about Minnesota. MN was a super boring drive! Flat, brown, boring! I left my uncle's around 8:45am for the 7hr drive to Jamestown, ND. I was not looking forward to this drive but it's just a short drive compared to some others in my future.

I made really good time and was in MN by 10:30am and ND by 2:30pm. I had lots of time to sing to myself and listen to certain songs over and over and over again which usually someone tells me to stop doing. I also had time to figure out all the new licence plates driving around me because I am officially in uncharted territory. It was odd though that the speed limit was 75mph but at 70mph I was flying past everyone! I got sidetracked looking out the window and got down to 65mph and still didn't have anyone passing me (and yes, there were people on the road!).

I finally made it to Joseph and Jamie's around 4:10pm where I finally got to meet Jamie. Joseph was still at work so that gave us some time to acquaint ourselves. Joseph came home and it was very easy conversation for a long time before dinner. I guess that's what happens when you don't see someone since 1988 and I was 2yrs old at the time.  Dinner was great and it hit the spot considering I had a MAJOR headache and it was probably due to the fact that lunch was 2 apples.

I hope this headache goes away because I don't want it to ruin my one night in Jamestown. We are going to play some games now and I really hope my head doesn't explode. It's been a long day and I am ready to go to bed!

Through a Lense

Dahlia on the porch

Fall Evening Bonfire :)

"Of all forms of expression, photography is the only one which seizes the instant in its flight."
-Henri Cartier-Bresson


"I believe that time is the most mysterious aspect of being alive and that photography is the art form best suited to capturing a sense of the passage of time." -Rick Doble


"A photograph is usually looked at - seldom looked into."
- Ansel Adams


"A good snapshot stops a moment from running away"
- Eudora Welte

Uncle Dave's newest carving. A work in progress.

My winning "plaque" for being the War Grand Champ!

Uncle Dave's Artwork

Football!

It's Laundry day! First time since being on the trip actually, so it's much needed! That was the first order of business this morning followed by a big Sunday breakfast getting geared up for our football day. Uncle Dave and I also took a quad ride to feed the deer again. But this time we came back and ended up on the road and found some bear hunters. They walk on the road and let the dogs flush them out so they can shoot them...interesting approach but I don't agree with bear hunting. You know you are in the country when people can just walk up and down the streets with guns hung over their shoulders and dogs running all around looking for bears.

But we left them, parked the quad and I headed in to work on some book keeping for this trip (a lot more work then I thought it would be), and Dave went out to work on his latest carving which will someday be a wolf. Aunt Vicki and I watched the pre-game interviews and when the Vikings came on Uncle Dave and the dogs came in to watch the game with us. GO VIKINGS! (they lost 23 to 26) But it was a nail biting game all the way into overtime!

Movies, wood carving, pasta, war, apple cake and ice cream is how today ended. Just a chill day.

Chillaxin' with Levi

Lets Meander...

When I come to visit my aunt and uncle in Springbrook I never come looking to be entertained. I just come to spend some quality time with them and enjoy my “wild” surroundings. But they always feel the need to keep me busy. Today was no exception! We started with Christmas shopping. Yup, I said it…Christmas shopping. I officially have Ali half way done and my mom 100% done (I think). This trip will be fun just to pick things up as I go. We met Aunt Vicki in Spooner after she went to the gym (jumping class as Uncle Dave calls it) and we continued to the Fall Splendor Art Meander. I thought it was going to be like a craft fair but it turns out that it was all over town and each place we had to drive through…so where did the meander come in here? 


First things first, we went to Alley Cat’s and got some hot chocolate and walked to the bookstore in town. Next We were off to a pottery barn called Brick Yard Pottery that used to be an old school house. It was so pretty inside with all of the homemade goods and Aunt Vicki and I did a scavenger hunt that took us two places; the front hallway and the bathroom. Believe it or not half of the questions answers were actually found IN the bathroom on a mural that covered all four walls! My uncle was totally confused when he finally found us both hanging out in the bathroom. But we got 100% on the hunt and got a prize! I actually won my mom’s Christmas gift. Go me!


The next stop was The Potters Shed which was another fun place to parooz around and see all the handmade items. The last stop was the winery where everyone had wine but me. I stayed outside with Gin and enjoyed the small spans of time with sunlight. When they came out the look on their face was priceless because the wine was anything but good. Good thing I don’t like wine.  Each place was spread out from the others so we did 3 stops out of the whole “meander” which was about 10. But once again, we were going to places I hadn’t been before.


The next order of business was to take the three dogs for a walk. After their tiff last night everyone is on edge and the dogs needed some bonding time. So we drove out to Stone Lake and took a VERY long walk. The walk was gorgeous because of the fall colors and the fall temperatures. Once we got back to the house we had mushrooms stuffed with crabmeat (I hope you read that MOM!) and they were amazing! Just as we were deciding what to do tonight and the power shut off. Well, there went all the plans for the night.

Luckily, the power came on about an hour later after we had already broken open a bottle of wine and started a fire. Dinner was on the grill and we were set. Gin fell asleep on my lap while we were chillaxin’ and it was just a peaceful WI night. S’mores and Survivor is how this day will end after chicken skewers and a whole assortment of other foods!



Gin Gin

First day of Fall!

My Gin

I am too tired to actually write anything tonight. I am a list person anyway...

 

Today was a busy day:

• Feed the deer and took a quad ride
• I drove the quad around the property myself
• Ate apples right from the trees on our quad ride
• Went to a hunting store and I learned things I never wanted to know
• Went on a hunt for a postcard
• Lunch with Aunt Vicki in Spooner at Poor Boys (so good!)
• Worked on my photo book and expenses book
• Mom sent me a blue tooth and we figured out how it worked
• Made a bonfire outside
• Fettuccine Alfredo with shrimp (green pasta) for dinner
• Took the three pups for a walk in Stone Lake

 

 

Idiot Machine

It never seems to set in or feel possible. Every time I get to a new destination I feel like I have been holding my breath forever and when I put my car in park I can breathe and say "I made it!"! I wonder if this feeling will ever go away? I am only about 1/5 into my trip and I feel like it's half over. I don't know if that scares me or if its exciting...it depends on the day I guess. I really wish that I had more time in each place. I had such a good time with my Uncle Mark and Aunt Bobbie I just wish I had one more day! Maybe then I could have had time to drive that 1986 Portia! I also would have loved to spend more time with my Grandma, Aunt Carol, Aunt Carla, and Uncle Karl in Trempealeau. It's so nice to have time with my family after not seeing them for such a long time. Unfortunately, I am trying to keep to a very strict schedule and I am really not allowed much room to make changes.

Like for example, my mom calling me tonight and asking me to "swing" by Raleigh, NC to see my Uncle Peter who is in the hospital or my cousin Nicole in Maryland (who I haven't talked to in 2yrs). Those are big additions that I can look into at a later date because my route home isn't so tight. I will do everything I can to get to Raleigh, NC but I will not be going to Maryland. There is no question when it comes to Maryland. When my cousin is ready to talk she will let me know but until then it is not my place or my desire to initiate anything. My heart goes out to my Uncle Peter and I pray that he makes a full recovery from his hospital stay so that I can see him in November. I will do anything I can to make that stop even if it does put me 4 days out of route.

But these are all things to think about later.

When I woke up today it was a bit on the chilly side in WI (ok, it was cold but I wasn't going to admit that to my WI and ND family who thought it was spring temps outside!). Grandma and I had breakfast together and went through old family pictures. Some of the pictures I had never even seen before so it was a nice trip down memory lane. I knew I was leaving for my next destination later in the day so when my uncle came in and said they were going to run errands I was quick to say that I was coming too since this was all the time I had with them. All four of us got into the Tahoe and went to the post office, to drop off a key for Grandma, lunch at a great place called Features sports bar and grill, and to a doctors apt. My aunt had given me the CD for streets and trips so I could chart my trip so I downloaded that in the car and started charting what I had already accomplished...13 dots on the map so far!

My uncle also got my Grandma a new remote for the "idiot machine" also commonly known as a TV and he spent the afternoon trying to program it which was amusing to watch. But my time to get back on the road came too quickly and I really wasn't ready to say goodbye. But I wanted to get on the road and to my next destination before it got dark and before my Grandma too her afternoon nap.


I left at 3pm and headed North to my Uncle Dave and Aunt Vicki's near Shell Lake, WI. It was such a pretty drive! I think that this is one of the most beautiful states! Fall colors, corn fields for miles, hills, and a stormy dark sky as a background. The drive was so easy because I had so much to look at. I made it by 5:30pm and my uncle and 3 dogs (Gin, Koshi, and Levi) were waiting. Aunt Vicki got home shortly after and I don't think I stopped talking until around 10pm. I showed them my maps and my National Parks book, we made dinner, and then just chatted away the night. My aunt made Walleye for dinner which was amazing! I love fresh fish!

I knew it was getting late because as I was talking I could see their eyes close and then open again and I was starting to lose my voice anyway. So off to bed for them and off to write this blog for me :)

Real Life Video Game

So off again...to the second WI stop on my trip, Trempealeau. It was only a 3.5hr drive but it became a very interesting ride. First, there are lots of trucks on the road going VERY slow so you can pass them. This takes skill because you are trying to speed ahead of them without getting hit by the on-coming traffic. That wasn't a huge deal, it was like a game of ping pong. But when I got behind a truck with an open top full of corn the game was set. The corn was flying off the back of the truck onto my car and the cars coming in the other lane. I avoided most of them but got pegged by others. The game didn't last too long because I got tired of it and I once again engaged in my earlier game of ping pong.

Corn Truck...Game on!

There were some storms off in the distance so the scenery was really awesome! Golden corn with a dark blue or black backdrop. I was able to get some good pictures which always makes me happy! I made it to my Grandma's with no major problems and my Uncle Karl and Aunt Carla were there as well which was nice because I haven't seen them in 7yrs! Now my brother told me one thing before I left for this trip; beware of Obe. Obe is my aunt's cat who apparently likes to attack people. When I arrived he was no where to be seen but Karl and Carla had already gotten their wounds for the day. So when he did come out I made sure to keep my distance. He didn't seem to mind me though because he never made any attempts to attack me. I did sleep with my door closed though just incase! I also was sure to send my brother a picture of  him saying "Obe misses you!" haha...he didn't like that!

Karl and Carla went grocery shopping shortly after I arrived and that gave Grandma and I a few hours to catch up until Aunt Carol got home from school. We went through all of my maps and they gave me some good ideas of things to see and do along the way if I have time. Aunt Carla also looked at my map and said that my trip looked like an eagle. And that my trip should be called "Taking Flight" or "Flight Across the US". I thought that it was pretty awesome that my route does resemble an eagle!

Can you see the Eagle?

All 5 of us ate a crock pot creation from Aunt Carla (pretty good!) and watched some season premiers on TV. Just a nice chill afternoon/evening with the family. Then it was time to play some games and continue with the family evening...chocolate ice cream included :) We started with the game 10 days in the US and FLUXX. Both games I had never heard of and I liked them (once I understood them). The 10 days in the US was pretty cool because it was all about planning a 10 day trip across the US so it was like I was re-planning my current trip.

Pure Michigan

On the road! On our way to Michigan! But first we had to stop at the DuPont cheese factory and get some snacks for our journey. We had cheese curds, hot sticks, and string cheese. It was road trip food WI style :)

HERE I COME MICHIGAN! Going to the U.P.!!! Going to the land of the Upers (oop-ers)!!

Sand Hill Lighthouse

Michigan was beautiful! 3hrs away from Manawa, but beautiful! The fall colors were in full bloom and the scenery was amazing. Right as we crossed the border we got a map because I had to see just how big the U.P. was compared to the Michigan that I know. Turns out it is about a third of the whole state and never knew it even existed! Not only was I going to a new state but I was going to an area of the state I had no idea was there! I was excited about my lack of knowledge of this territory.

Once we got over the border and passed the twin cities (Marinette and Menominee) on the lake we stopped at a place for lunch called the Lighthouse Pub. It was delicious and set right off the waters of Lake Michigan. Such a pretty area this time of year! We continued further north to our final destination in Escanaba where we reached the Sand Hill Lighthouse. Yes, a lighthouse in Michigan (I thought it was odd too). We even hung out on the Michigan Lake Beach for a bit. Chris decided he was going to try and teach me how to skip rocks. I thought I already knew how to do this but I was awful at it. We ended up laughing too much so most of my attemps were failed ones. But I did get one really good one that made 4 skips! Chris' best was 6 skips so I wasn't too far off. 

On a Michigan "Beach"

The ride home seemed a lot longer then the ride up. I decided I would torture Chris with country music most of the ride home and that made me happy. I also waited the entire trip for him to fall asleep so I could take a picture but it's like he slept with his eyes closed because every time I turned around and his eyes were closed they would pop open! ugh.

I shot my first deer!

 Just kidding :)

Chris and I started today with an adventure into the city. He called it a city but really it was a very very tiny town called Steven's Point. It did have a Walmart, Kohls, and a Petco so it was pretty hoppin' for a WI town. It took us just about 30min to get there! We toured through Walmart and Petco just to waste time an it was a nice way to just catch up. On the way home we stopped at a park called Little Falls where there was a lighthouse and 2 bridges. One bridge was an old rickety one with a 3 person max and the other was a lot more substantial. The lighthouse was cute but very out of place and they had white tail deer penned up in the back of the park. I don't know why they had deer in a pen because we saw lots of them just walking around the front yard this morning.

The drive was so pretty though. I have always loved this state but seeing it right as the leaves start to change for fall is stunning. We were gone for more then 3hrs and it was just nice to drive and see the scenery. So different from what I have encountered on my trip so far between Boston, Albany, and Chicago. It's nice to get out of the city life for a bit.

Elyse and Robin were coming over for dinner so Uncle Mark and I went out back to start up the grill and get some food going. We still had time before they got there so Uncle Mark said we could go for a ride! Finally! My first Motorcycle ride! I was super excited! Turned out to be amazing...it was like I had been doing it for years. It was the perfect way to tour WI! The fall temperatures, colors, and the open road...breath taking.

Open Road

When we got back Aunt Bobbie, Elyse, and Robin were there and waiting. It was SO good to see Elyse and to finally meet her husband, Robin. Dinner was delicious and full of laughter. We talked and joked for hours. It was just a picture perfect moment in time with the family. There really aren't words to describe tonight. It was blissful.

After dinner we did some pictures (who knows the next time I will see these guys!) and said our goodbyes. Chris and Mark then wanted to fly their planes. Mark wants a new plane so they were practicing on the computer upstairs and Aunt Bobbie and I watched them crash the planes...a lot!

Elyse, Chris, Toby and myself :)

Tomorrow Chris, Aunt Bobbie, and I are heading to Michigan!! This trip has certainly had some major unplanned adventures and I LOVE IT!

Havin' a Gouda Time

THOR was how my day started.

Lizzi and I watched Troy in the am until I got on the road. I left around 12:30pm to start driving. Originally, I was going to meet David for lunch but when I actually looked on a map it was a bit out of my way so I cancelled lunch and just started driving north. I also realized that I didn't have my uncle or aunt's phone number so I shot them an email hoping they would get it. And about 2hrs into my drive my mom got me their number but when I called they didn't pick up. So I was just going to show up and pray that they were home and that I wouldn't get lost on the way there. About an hour out from them I tried one more time to get a hold of them and my cousin Chris picked up!

My aunt Bobbie had warned me that there were 2 Swamp roads and that the GPS would take me to the wrong one but I really thought my GPS would be fine. Sure enough, I got to visit the wrong Swamp road and from there I was only 6mi away from their house. And of course I would get lost in 6mi! I thought about calling to get directions but all I could think was,  "what landmark was I at? a farm..." So I decided that would make me look pretty stupid. Eventually, i found my way though after following my aunt's directions; "Follow N (few S turns) for about 6 miles to stop sign. That’s K, turn right. In 1 mile cross 161 onto Swamp… house is 2 miles, on right…" Welcome to the land where numbers are replaced by letters...weird.

The Front yard

Dinner was in the over (smelling amazing!) and it was like I was just here last week. It had been 15yrs since I saw my cousin Chris and 7 since I saw my aunt and uncle. But you wouldn't have known. We started catching up on all of the family gossip from both ends of the country. It's like we are from 2 different countries. You have the East coast and then you have the WI/ND clan. I also showed them all of my maps. I like to show off my maps because I worked hard on them but I also like when people give me ideas on other things to do. My Uncle Mark told me about a restaurant just south of Monterey Bay so that will be something I can look into just as an example. But on my maps my Aunt Bobbie noticed all of the green states and asked about them. Those are the states that I haven't been to yet and she decided that we were going to Michigan. I laughed because Michigan is very far east of where we are and we would have to take a boat! But she pointed on the map that Michigan was also north of us. I had never noticed that Michigan had two separate land masses. The northern portion is called the U.P. or Upper Peninsula. It's quite a drive but my aunt took off Tuesday so she decided that was going to be our road trip! And I am SOOOOO EXCITED!!!!

We talked for so long that dinner actually over cooked a bit but it was still good after a long day. Baked chicken, green beans and rice. My uncle pulled out a big bag of cheese too and when I asked him why it was out he said, "we are in WI, we put cheese on everything." So I followed suit and put it on everything...so good :) Dinner was upstairs in the loft with a movie. Dinner and a movie is common in this household and I like it! You will never guess what movie we watched...

Fall is coming

THOR was how my day ended.

j AZZY j ELLIES

hERE IT IS. tHE DAY i HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR. i AM finally GOING TO THE sHEDD aQUARIUM! lIZZY AND i GOT AN EARLY START AND WERE ON THE TRIAN INTO DOWNTOWN cHICAGO BY 10AM. tHE TRAIN WAS PRETTY COOL BECAUSE IT WAS TWO STORIES. tHE RIDE WAS LONGER THEN i THOUGHT IT WOULD BE AT 1.5HRS! wHEN WE GOT THE THE CITY WE WALKED 6 BLOCKS AND THEN HOPPED ON #146 BUS. tHE LINE JUST TO GET INTO THE AQUARIUM WAS SUPER LONG AND IT TOOK US ALMOST A HALF HOUR JUST TO MAKE IT TO THE FRONT DOOR. iNSIDE THE SETUP WAS DIFFERENT WITH A CENTER COUNTER AND EXHIBITS AROUND THE PERIMETER. iT REMINDED ME A LOT OF THE nIGHT AT mEUSEUM.

wE DID SOME OF THE EXHIBITS AND THEN HEADED TO THE DOLPHIN SHOW. tHAT HAD TO BE ONE THE THE worst SHOWS i HAVE ever SEEN! tHE DOLPHINS (pACIFIC wHITE sIDED) JUMPED A TOTAL OF 6 TIMES AND TWO rED sHOULDERED HAWKS FLEW ACROSS THE POOL TWICE. tHERE WAS A NARRATOR THE WHOLE SHOW THAT TAUGHT THE AUDIENCE HOW TO TRAIN A DOLPHIN. tHAT WAS IT. nOTHING SPECIAL. aCTUALLY, i WAS BORED AND ON FACEBOOK MOST OF THE SHOW. i WALKED OUT FEELING PRETTY LET DOWN. tHIS IS THE shEDD aQUARIUM FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! wow ME!

lIZZY AND i DECIDED TO SKIP THE 4d MOVIE AND FIND FOOD. tHEN WE FINISHED ALL OF THE EXHIBITS. tHE jELLY EXHIBIT WAS fantastic!!!!!! iT HAD SPECIES i HAVE NEVER EVEN HEARD OF! lIKE THE fLOWER hAT jELLY. i WAS REALLY IMPRESSED WITH THE EXHIBIT. i WAS REALLY IMPRESSED WITH THE WHOLE PLACE BUT THAT SHOW HAS TO GO!

wHEN WE FINISHED WITH THE AQUARIUM WE HAD BEEN THERE ALMOST 4HRS. sO WE STARTED BACK TOWARDS THE TRAIN STATION. bUT WE READ IT WRONG EARLIER AND HAD 2HRS BEFORE THE NEXT TRAIN (WEEKEND SCHEDULE WAS VERY DIFFERENT). bUT WE CAN'T COMPLAIN BECAUSE WE GOT A 2-DAY PASS FOR $6! sO WE DECIDED TO WALK BACK TO THE STATION INSTEAD OF TAKING THE BUS TO WASTE SOME TIME. wE ALSO WENT BACK TO mILLENNIUM pARK AND SAW THE bEAN AGAIN. tHERE WERE A lot MORE PEOPLE THERE TODAY THEN YESTERDAY SO i GOT SOME FUN PICTURES :)

tHE TRAIN RIDE SEEMED TO BE A LOT LONGER COMING BACK AND i ALMOST FEEL ASLEEP. bUT WHEN WE GOT BACK i GOT TO MEET lIZZY'S MOM AND OLDER SISTER. wE CHATTED FOR A BIT AND THEN WE WENT TO DINNER AT bILL'S WHICH WAS A PUB WITH REALLY GOOD PIZZA! iT REMINDED ME OF lOGAN'S BECAUSE YOU COULD EAT PEANUTS AND THROW THE SHELLS RIGHT ONTO THE FLOOR...ALWAYS SOMETHING DIFFERENT. wE GOT A DOUBLE DECKER PIZZA WITH GREEN PEPPERS AND AGAIN, IT WAS good!!! tHE PIZZA WAS REALLY DIFFERENT. i THOUGHT IT WAS JUST GOING TO BE A DEEP DISH PIZZA BUT IT LITERALLY WAS A DOUBLE DECER PIZZA WITH TWO PIZZAS STACKED ON TOP OF EACH OTHER. vERY GOOD BUT VERY DIFFERENT.

qUESTION: wHAT IS tHE bEAN? a LIMA BEAN, COFFEE BEAN, OR COCO BEAN? nO ONE COULD TELL ME!

The Windy City

Off to the city! I got on my first bus before 8:30am after walking only 3 blocks from my Hyde Park apartment. Luckily James gave me his cta card for the day so I didnt need any cash to ride the bus. I took the #6 bus to The Bean in Millennium Park. I was pretty proud of myself for finding my first stop of the day...gave me a little confidence that I was going to make it through the rest of my day. Then I got on the #151 bus and made my way to the Lincoln Park Zoo. The zoo was beautiful! It was free so I wasn't expecting too much but it was one of the nicest zoos I have ever been to! It took me a good 2.5hrs to walk through the whole thing and I saw Polar Bears, Tufted Puffins, Pygmy Hippos, Dwarf Crocodiles, etc.

After the zoo I decided I wanted to walk to the John Hancock building. I really had no idea that it was 2.5mi away. So by the time I got there I was pretty tired. But I made my way up to the 95th floor and had lunch at the lounge. What a gorgeous view! Lunch was good but not great so I headed out towards Navy Pier. Navy Pier was another 1.5mi away so I walked that too and rode the Ferris wheel. The Ferris wheel was 150ft tall and had an audio playing to talk about the history of the city. I really liked doing that and I thought it was worth the $6.00. When I got off that I realized that the list I had come into the city was complete. But I still had to get pizza. Giordanos pizza was my next stop. I got a little lost getting there so another 2mi went by and when I got there there was a 40min wait for a table. So I figured I would be smart and order it to go. 40min later I walked out with my pizza thinking that I should have just waited for a table.

I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking and ended up going the completely wrong way. I ended up at the base of the old Water Tower where i finally decided to sit down and eat because I wasn't getting any where fast. The pizza was worth the wait...so good! Very different then what I am used to, but it was wonderful. I then hopped on the #146 bus and got off to get back on the #6 bus to get me back to Hyde Park. The bus ride seemed to go by pretty fast and I got back in no time. But I still hadn't heard back from James so I was locked out. I walked to the Law School to find him but just as I got into that area he called saying he was leaving. I was able to meet up with him and walk the 1.5mi back to the apartment with him.

I walked a lot today. I probably walked the Magnificent Mile at least three times during the day on top of all the rest of the walking around the city going from place to place. No wonder why my feet are killing me. Now I am going to chill for a little while before I get back on the road to go see Lizzi. She is just an hour north of the city so luckily it's not a super long drive this time.

Catch Up!

I woke up to all of your typical city sounds this morning. It started with a lawn mower, garbage trucks, and some honking. I can't recall ever waking up in a city so while these sounds were familiar, waking up to them wasn't. James was already gone when I woke up which was amazing because I didn't even hear him this morning. Guess I really was beat from yesterday and I slept right through all the morning commotion.

First things first I moved my car closer to the apartment. Now I can see it from the window which just makes me feel better. I also got the Internet password so I could turn on my computer for the first time in a week and finally start uploading pics to facebook and Shutterfly. I figure if I do this in small chunks it won't be so overwhelming at the end of my trip.

I really like the apartment my cousin lives in; it's homey and not a typical college dwelling (in my opinion). But when I went to make lunch I realized it was missing one very important thing...a microwave! What college kid doesn't have a microwave?! So I had to get creative (later I asked James about the microwave and his response was "I have only lived there 4 days and I haven't had to reheat anything yet"...my response was "get on it!")!

I watched a movie in the afternoon and got a text from James to meet up for dinner. He said it would be best to meet there and I thought, sure no problem. Whoa boy. I should have remembered that I suck at directions, I am in an unknown city, and my iphone was charging. So I set off with a semi-charged phone and took the "long" way there. The walk that should have taken me about 10min took me close to 25min. I got the scenic tour of Hyde Park as I told James and Eileen when I got there (which I do just want to point out that I did make it there without James coming to find me). I also got to meet some interesting characters on my way over. When you are talking to someone on the phone it is very rude to be interrupted. So if you were talking on the phone I wouldn't try to flare up a conversation with you. Well, not only did this guy try to start up a conversation while I was clearly on the phone he also decided to walk with me. If I am ignoring you I expect you to take a hint and take a hike. I was just about to tell him how rude he was being when he set off back to where he came from. It took him long enough to give up! Some of the people in this city are really just off their rocker.

Dinner was at a place called Cafe Corea and it was soooo good! I can't say that I have had Korean food before and I am not skilled at using chop sticks but this is an adventure so I took the challenge. The food was AMAZING and I did just fine with the chop sticks if I do say so myself :) It's nice to go to dinner and sit there for hours and talk. I have had two days to get to know Eileen and I really enjoyed her company. I also really enjoyed talking to the two of them about school. It is so refreshing to have a conversation with people who are exceptionally smarter then you are and be able to understand it and ask questions. I have never just sat down with two law students and picked their brain about classes, cases, professors, and careers like I did the last two days. Eileen said that I must have been bored but I was fascinated! I was the one asking all the questions so I was anything but bored.

As we were leaving a woman was outside the door asking for help for dinner. I guess she wanted money but I just handed her the rest of my dinner. She looked at me confused and then asked what is was. I had to laugh to myself because she didn't just take it and run but also because I just gave away Jame's lunch for tomorrow. Whoops! We walked back towards the apartment (the non-scenic route) and said goodnight to Eileen. She gave me a big hug and wished me well on my trip and told me to continue to post my pictures. Again, I really did like her.

Tonight is my last night staying with James. Tomorrow I am spending my day in the city and then coming back only to put my stuff in the car before driving north to see Lizzi. We will be back in the city via train on Saturday to go to the aquarium! I have to admit it will be hard to walk around the city and not go to the aquarium. I am just so excited!

The worst is over

"It's the journey, not the destination."

Today was a long day. It was my first long drive in the trip and it was supposed to be 14hrs long! Turns out I did it in 13hrs (take that mapquest!) and I made it to Chicago around 6:20pm. I got up at 4:30am and was on the road by 5am since I knew that by tonight I would be overly exhausted. Turns out that I didn't get much sleep last night and driving this morning proved to be very difficult between 6 and 7 am. But that's nothing a Mountain Dew couldn't fix.

The ride really wasn't bad at all, flat and boring, but I was able to listen to the mix CDs my sister made me and play the licence plate game with myself. It is fun driving by yourself sometimes though because I just sang to myself most of the ride. I sang to Jennifer Lopez, Celine Dion, Halestorm, Matchbox 20, Backstreet Boys (oh, yes I did!), and a whole bunch of others without a care in the world. I am pretty sure that this was the longest drive in my whole trip too so that's a good thing! I hate to drive so sometimes I really have to look at my decision to do this trip by myself as a little crazy but I did make it through today! :)

Left NY @ 5am (so long! almost half the trip in NY!)
in PA @ 9am
in OH @ 10am (I really didn't think this state was going to let me out)
in IN @ 2:15pm
in IL @ 4:30pm (rained the rest of the trip)

Once I made it to IL and got to my exit I ended up on the wrong side of town and quickly learned my way around a pretty shady area of town. All I kept thinking was "I HOPE James doesn't live here". I did have a fear of the area and staying there but luckily as I followed the directions I made my way to a better part of town. I did a good job at psyching myself out so when I actually got to James' I was a little on edge. I quickly regained my ability to parallel park and found his apartment. James is currently a Law student at the University of Chicago so I am staying in a graduate student apartment around campus. The area is actually very pretty. When we walked down to my car he took one look at my back seat (full of stuff) and said that it had to go. So we moved most of my stuff into the already full truck and prayed it would close. I can understand the concern after driving through other areas of this city. Let's just hope my car leaves in the same condition it arrived.

 I was very amused by the trucks with 3 trailers...road was so flat they could pull all that weight. Never saw this before. It's the little things when you are on the road for so long :)

Once I cleared my backseat and brought things up to the apt we met the gf for dinner at a cute little Italian place. Good food and good company. I don't get to see James much so it's nice to just have time to sit and catch up on life. We did this for pretty much the rest of the night talking about family, future jobs for both of us, and travel. Tomorrow I have decided to spend the day on this side of town and just relax. I even brought my book up to start reading it (Thanks Nicole!). I think after today sleeping in is a GREAT idea and then I can be ready to go explore Chicago on Friday.

"To travel is better then to arrive."

Ruched, Grotesque, Cinched or Floral?

Albany is a beautiful city. I really like it's old charm architecture and homey appeal. Nicole doesn't like it so far but she will get used to it I'm sure. New places are always hard to adjust to but again, it's beautiful here. She is also only very close to downtown Albany which has the museum and some other parks. We started the day by going dress shopping. I had to try on some brides maid dresses for her wedding next summer. There were 3 that she liked the best and after trying them all on I only liked 2 of them. My favorite one was a sweetheart neckline with a cinched waist. The second one had a ruched bodice and it also fit really well. The third one was pretty awful in pink with a funny floral strap, but nothing will top the last one she had me try on just for the hell of it. When I walked out of the dressing room I told her if I had to wear this dress I wasn't coming to the wedding! It was grotesque in a pale blue and I don't believe it would actually look good on anyone.

Next we were off to Walmart...but not just any Walmart but the BIGGEST one ever! It had two floors! It also had elevators and escalators. It even had an escalator for your cart to ride down with you! It was pretty amazing. Put the one I am used to in Orlando to shame. We really didn't need anything there so it was a quick trip just to check it out. Then we were off to downtown. We just decided to drive around and see where it took us. When I was driving in the other night I saw a castle in the middle of the city skyline so my goal was to find that castle.

The castle was too big to miss! It turned out to be Albany University's Admin. Building but it was still pretty cool. We found a place to park and we walked through the Empire State Plaza which was really pretty. It had the Egg which is a performing arts center (looked more like a UFO then an egg though), the museum, and a few business buildings. It was very pretty though and it was nice to walk around and tour the area a bit.

Nicole had to go to work at 3 pm so I took her to work and came back to the apartment for a bit until Bill got there. We met Nicole for dinner around 7 pm since is my last night in town and I plan on getting an EARLY morning start tomorrow (alarm is already set for 4:45 am!). Bill and I got cold stone and walked the shopping plaza before heading in to see Nicole at work for a few minutes. Then it was back to the apartment. I'm already pretty tired...let's just hope I actually get some sleep tonight because I have a super long drive ahead of me. Almost half of my drive tomorrow I will still be in NY state on I-90 so once I am out of NY I still have a lot of mileage to cover!

L.B.U

Welcome to Albany! Nicole and Bill are also new to Albany so any exploring we do will be new to them as well. So far it looks like another pretty northern city. I have never been to Albany but my main goal while I am here is just to visit with Nicole and Bill. I found my way here with no problems until I actually was looking for their apartment building. It took me a while and 3 laps around the block but I found it. I got in around 9:30 pm  and I finally got to meet Bill, Nicole's fiance. Nicole didn't get off work until 10:15 pm so I had some time to spend with him before she got home. When Nicole did get home she already had tears in her eyes. When I hugged her she continued to burst into tears... I had no idea she would be so excited to see me! But it has been about 2.5 years since I last saw her.

We were up most of the night just catching up and chatting. It was somewhere close to 3 am that I kicked her out of the living room to go to bed. I was exhausted and we had the next two days to continue our catching up. I slept on the couch and I had Vinny and Hamlet to sleep with me :) The kitties were my new buddies for the night.

Nicole and I enjoyed sleeping in and when we got up we both quickly realized that nothing was going to be done that was productive so we both enrolled in LBU; Lazy Bum University for the day. Nicole and I watched a movie, made lunch, continued our catching up. She also showed me some of the details for her wedding which is coming up next summer. Bill came home and Nicole went to work. I was not in the mood to drop out of school yet so Bill just enrolled with me at LBU. We ended up watching 3 movies and made homemade pizza with banana peppers (ok, ok  by "we" I mean Bill...he did the cooking, I just watched).

It's always good to have a lazy day! I pretty much live for days like this!

Boulder, Rock, or Pebble?

We didn't get in last night until after midnight from our movie adventure so today we did not set alarms and we did not have an exact plan. But when we got up we did decide to drive down to Plymouth, MA. The main goal for me was to see Plymouth Rock. The joke was that we had looked it up online and it looked super tiny. I could not imagine how people would travel from all over to literally see a rock, and a tiny one at that (I'm not a huge history person at all). So we took the 1.5 hr drive out to Plymouth and found this notorious rock. It even had it's own house built around it. Turned out this "rock" was pretty big...more like a boulder. I had to laugh at myself when I saw it.

Plymouth Rock

When I started reading about it's history (now this boulder fascinated me) I found out it had actually been moved 3 times, cut in half, put back together years later, and was NOT the first landfall for the Pilgrims like    a lot of people think! I was glad we came to see it after all and the Harbor was BEAUTIFUL!!! We toured all the little boutiques in town and had a slice of pizza at 'The Upper Crust'. It was no Jersey pizza thats for sure! yuck. We finished the day in Plymouth by getting ice cream and walking along the harbor.

Once we got back to Stacy's I feel asleep for just over an hour. This was a smart decision on my part since I am driving to Albany, NY tonight. My time in MA is quickly coming to and end! It went so fast! Stacy and I are going to IHOP for dinner and then I will be back on the road.  I think my favorite part about this trip will be seeing all the people.  I don't get to see Stacy nearly as much as I would like to and she only has one more year of vet school before she jumps into the job market and goes where the jobs are. It's nice to have time to catch up and just spend some time together.

"Thus out of small beginnings, greater things have been produced...
... as one small candle may light a thousand."
      -William Bradford of Plymouth Plantation

A Whale of a Tail



Boston 

The only goal I had today when I woke up was seeing some whales! I did a whale watching cruise once in Ocean City, MD and we saw nothing! So I figured my chances were increased just by being in New England. The tour left at 10:30 am and there were 170 passengers on this boat. We were guaranteed to see whales (which I really didn't believe). So we set out and it was pretty windy. I was surprised that the water really wasn't as choppy as I imagined with all of the action in the Atlantic this hurricane season.

The sky was blue and the temps were perfect! We weren't even in our spot for 5 minutes before our first whale was spotted...but it was a group of 4!! Right off the bat, a group of 4 Humpback Whales! It was so amazing and I could have gone home happy but once we watched them for a while we kept moving. We found two juvenile whales breaching off in the distance and I was amazed! Just like National Geographic! But better! So we made our way over to them and they continued to breach and fin slap almost like they were putting on a show! It was truly amazing! Total we saw about 10 Humpback Whales today...all I needed was 1!

A bit windy on the boat

The rest of the day we walked the city. We walked through the Boston Commons where we rode on the Swan Boats (in the park since1877) and found the golden ducks from the book 'Make Way for Ducklings'. The Commons were a mini version of Central Park and it was nice to just stroll through and people watch. We also went to the State House (Providence's was better!), walked Beacon Street, walked through the Public Gardens, and walked Quincy Market and Faneuil Hall. I got New England Clam Chowda at Quincy Market and it was amazing! I finally had real, authentic chowda!

On our way towards the car we also walked through an Art Festival that was going on which was a unique way to end the day. It was all local artists displaying and selling their work. Its always nice to see people's artistic side. We also walked along the harbor and enjoyed the water. This city was beautiful and I will have to come back in the future and give Boston the time it deserves. Today was just a preview!

I came into Boston with one goal; go whale watching. But by the time the day had ended I explored an unknown city and did a lot of things that again, weren't on the agenda. Today was truly an Adventure!

Now that's what I came to see!