Day 17: ChiTown

Current Location: Chicago, IL

So today was an awesome day in Chicago Illinois. Got up at the early hour of 11am went to trusty ole Starbucks, venti Pikes with soymilk! Then Steph was off to class and I had run of the condo. I checked some Facebook, went to the gym, showered and then picked Steph and LA up for an early dinner. We went to Flat Iron in Evanston, very similar to Mongolian BBQ style. The food was really good and spicy!!! Steph and I, after a long and strenuous day, needed to relax so we headed back to the condo and then headed out for some drink and dessert in downtown. After a rich and moist chocolate cake, a couple mojitos and a long island it was time to head home. BUT not before stopping for a quick dance and another drink with some South African business men in Chicago for a convention. After escaping the clutches a a mid life crisis we headed back to the apt. All in a good days work. Goodnight to all. Peace.

Day 16: Marshalltown, IA to Chicago, IL

Current Location: Chicago, IL

So today was a fabulous day of driving. I got up and had a final farewell breakfast at Cecil's! (Ps. the French Toast is BOMB!). Then i got in The Shadow and drove from Iowa through Wisconsin and down to Illinois (yes I know that is not a direct route, but I am an auto tourist, I go where I please). I past through two of the cutest and actually really beautiful towns, Green Hazel, WI and Galena, IL. They were awesome and very gorgeous, if you are considering moving to a place with mostly corn, I would suggest here. There are a couple pictures in todays album, but seriously they were really nice, super small, but nice. Other then that I really just drove all day. I got into the Chicago area about 5 and ended up at the condo at 630, yes traffic was the culprit, but I saw a lot of Chicago suburbs by taking the backroads to get downtown. Once at the condo I parked the shadow and headed off to see Ms. Bacher, we had a great dinner at CPK then relaxed the rest of the night. Starbucks in the morning!!!!
PEACE!!!

ps. Starbucks in or around Marshalltown = clutch

Day 14/15: Marshalltown, IA

Current Location: Marshalltown, IA

So this is going to be a blog for both the 14^th and 15^th days of my journey due to some internet connectivity issues I have been suffering, lol, yes suffering. Yesterday was spent doing some good old fashioned relaxing in the middle of Iowa. Slept and then got up and had breakfast at CECIL’s CAFÉ, super delicious. Then just sort of hung around with the extended family and then went out to Legend’s restaurant where there are about 15 big screen TVs on the walls, one smaller LCD for each of the booths, and then big screens in the bathrooms, so that you cannot miss one instant of football (or whatever sports) action, pretty sweet! Everyone went to bed pretty early so I just hung around and read until I fell asleep too.

This morning I got up and went over to Cecil’s again for some French toast, again delicious! Then took my car to the Goodyear center to get my brakes fixed (yeah sorta important). Got a tour of old Marshalltown and saw where my grandparents grew up and met .>

Peace

Day 13: Rapid City, SD to Marshalltown, IA

Current Location: Marshalltown, IA

Today Emily and I went to our last Starbucks run in South Dakota before I drove her to the HUGE (actually super small) Rapid City Regional Airport. After leaving her I drove across the country to Marshalltown IA the place of my ancestors. I drove across South Dakota and then into Nebraska and then into Iowa. Really pretty scenery across the states but really corn fields were about it. Haha. Anyway that was really it and I did not get internet last night so yeah... anyway hanging out in Marshalltown today.

Peace

Day 12: Rapid City, SD

Last night was something else. There were so many things that happened that were insane. From my last post at the Starbucks in Great Falls, Emily and I drove the entire night down to Billings, MT and then across to Marmarth, ND where there is a giant T-rex metal statue that we saw online and then made it happen and saw in person! Then we drove the rest of the morning in order to get to Belle Louche and went breakfast at a small cafe called Bob's Cafe. The cafe was great and the whole place which is 60 years old looks like something straight out of a 1950's film. We got a huge breakfast for $5.50 and then we talked to the waitress Diana and Charlotte the 85 year old chef. Everything was great and we were on our way to the Mount of Rushmore haha. Emily and I were extremely tired from the night of driving before and we decided to stop at a rest stop in the Black Hills Forest for a nap for a couple hours before driving down to Mount Rushmore. The place was really cool and so many people were there looking at the four heads. We then checked into a really classy Motel6 haha and got some dinner. Basically this entire day was a laugh-fest of ridiculous deliriousness. It was crazy. I really had a great time and tomorrow I am gonna be really sad because Emily is going to going back to California tomorrow.

Day 11: Kalispell/Glacier/Great Falls etc.... MT

Current Locaiton: Starbucks in Great Falls, MT

Today was great, slept in a little bit and then got up and going into Glacier National Park (Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park) haha yes that is the PC name. Anyway the park is super crazy amazing beautiful and any other adjective that describes how awesome something looks. It splits the continental divide and is amazingly scenic (check the blog day 11 video or Facebook for photos). Then Emily and I drove through a couple small towns and booked it over to Great Falls for an awesome dinner and we are now at Starbucks. To be honest it looks as though we are too cheap to pay for a hotel and a long night of driving to Rapid City lies ahead haha we are THAT anxious to see the giant heads of Mt. Rushmore lol. But have no fear we are always super safe.

That is it. O I had a Buffalo burger for dinner YUM!

Peace

Day 10: Seattle, WA to Kalispell, MT

Current Location: Kalispell, MT

Today I officially broke two records. #1 we hit 2000 miles for a trip and #2 I drove for more than 12 straight hours in the car. This morning after getting up and leaving our incredibly hospitable host in Snohomash, WA we took Hayley to the airport, which took two hours. Seattle if you are listening your freeways are poorly designed, your roads need to be widened, your drivers training tests need to be harder, and your weather nicer :). lol But after successfully delivering Hay to the iron bird Emily and I desperately needed Starbucks to begin our journey westward.

After some time and some flat and interesting scenery we stopped in George, WA, yes George Washington. Continued on the stopped again in Spokane where we drove around the city, looked at Gonzaga, got gas, and ate at an ole 50's style diner with great hamburgers and shakes. Off again we drove crossing into Idaho and then quickly into Montana. Three states in one day. We eventually made it to a cheap hotel in Kalispell at around 9pm lol. Really good day, lots of fun which just happens around Emily and I and we are ready to tour beautiful Glacier National Park tomorrow.

Peace