Chicago: Pronounced Ch-eee-k-a-g-oo

Day 20

Current Location: Chicago, Illinois

It is hard to believe that we have been on the road for twenty days. We are both pretty worn out, but still kicking. We drove all day yesterday and made it through South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and finally into Illionois where we slept. Driving through the Midwest has been pretty amazing and beautiful, however I would never want to live in SD or Minnesota, no offense, but there is nothing there. If I was a cowboy then Minnesotta would most certainly be the place for me as we saw plenty of them. We ate dinner at PF Changs thanks to a gift card given by my mom, and slept in the Wishing Wells Motel, a motel straight out of any horror movie you have ever seen. We slept on our own blankets and pillows because the bed had hair all over it...and it was not ours. It was the foulest place I have ever slept, but they had cable so Kaite and I were able to watch the hills, yay.

Today we made it throught the crazy Chicago traffic and entered Shy Town. We have both only been here once, and it certainly is a beautiful city. We just got done visiting the Chicago Institute of Art which was amazing. I saw it three years ago but it was a completely different experience this time. That is what I love about art, it always can say something different to you no matter how many times you look at it. We made our way through the maze of painting and sculptures, and just as we were about to leave we decided to go through the Contemporary European Art section and the last painting we saw was the Old Musician by Picasso, one of our favorites. It is the one with the old blind man holding a classical guitar and it is painted with only blue tones. It was amazing. Of course we also so loads of other pieces, loads of Monet which was awesome. Anyways, the rest of the day we plan on walking up Michigan Avenue and then we are sleeping at Katie uncle's house in Indiana. Tomorrow we are off to Columbus and I know katie is chomping at the bit to get home and see her family. We are almost at the end of the trip... : ( There are still some exciting things in store, so keep checking the blog and I cannot wait to see everyone back home in less than a week

peace

South Dakota- Holy Toledo

Day 19

Current Location: Sioux Falls, South Dakota

We spent the day exploring the wonders of South Dakota, which are few and far between. We got up to a world covered in mist and light rain, but it was all made better by the amazing one dollar all you can eat pancakes at our campground, flipped by Jack himself who has flipped over one million pancakes at that campground...impressive, eh. After stuffing ourselves with pancakes we headed to mount rushmore, which was cool but hard to see do to the mist and light rain; however, we got in free because we did not have cash and the lady was nice, so we saved ten dollars. Did you know that the presidents bodies were actually meant to be carved into the rock, but the rock was faulty underneath their faces, so they could not go through with the plans. In case you don't know your history, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln all adorn the mountain and it actually is quite impressive. The mist ended up dissipating and we were able to clearly see the faces of four of the most influential presidents carved into the side of a mountain. Katie and I joked that pretty soon we will see Obama's face up there next to Lincoln...haha, highly unlikely. The stone is white...it wouldn't make much sense.

After leaving Mount Rushmore we headed towards the deadlands, which was pretty amazing. We drove through miles and mile of green pastures and then all of a sudden were amidst giant towering mountains made of stone and sand. It is called the dead lands for a reason, it looks dead. I climbed a couple of mountains, we took some photos, made some lunch and headed out. We again somehow managed to get past the fee of 15 dollars by coming into the park through some dirt backroad that we stumbled upon. We left the deadlands around 2 and spent the rest of the day driving through good ol South Dakota. We are camping again tonight at another KOA in the dome sweet dome which sadly is breaking apart. Tomorrow we head for Chicago which should be pretty sweet.

Sadly our trip is starting to come to a close. We still have a little less than a week, but on Wednesday we will be arriving in columbus Ohio to stay with Katie's family for a few days. Katie and I are both stoked to get to her house and actually sleep in nice comfy beds, plus Katie is going to take me to Cedar Point, which has some of the biggest roller coasters in the country. It will also be nice to stop eating Ramen noodles. We both have mixed feeling about the trip ending, but it certainly has been an amazing journey in which we have made a bunch of new friends and rekindled old relationships. The best part about the trip so far as just been the unexpected surprises along the way and the random stops that we have made, hopefully we have a few more good surprises in store.

peace



peace

Extra Photos - Becaus I promised

Here we have Katie sitting on a lonely chair on the beach in Santa Barbara, Me at Cannery Row, the sardine packing town that Steinbeck named one of his books after, the crookedest street in San Francisco, and me climbing at the gym with Skippy and friends.

We Are Still Alive-Wednesday recap

Day 18

Current Location: Rapid City, South Dakota (right near Mount Rushmore)

Hello everyone, sorry for such a long gap in between posts, but Katie and I have been driving through desert, mountains, snow, and vast grass plains...so we have not had a whole lot of internet since we left San Francisco. We are still alive and quite healthy, thank God. The last time I posted we were about to head out and explore San Fran, and explore we certainly did. We bought a bus ticket and then illegally transfered buses all day long, no one seemed to mine and we got to ride all over San Fran on their conveniant city buses. Since it had been a bit I am going to break this down by days.
Wednesday- 5/20 Katie and Charles' 6 month anniversary

And what a great anniversary it was. After the amazing breakfast at the inn and sincere good byes exchanged between us and the British inn keepers, we took a bus down to Haight Ashbury aka hippie haven. It was pretty amazing and while the hippies seem to have certainly sold out and capitalized with loads of hippie shops on every corner, we saw some pretty cool people and loads of street musicians. We walked down Haight street, did some window shopping, got some food and then walked through Golden Gate park, which coincidentally does not lead you to the Golden Gate bridge, which we found out after walking through multiple drum circles led by hippies of all ages, sizes, colors, and smells. After walking around downtown a bit more, we took a bus to the golden gate bridge and walked on the beach that looks at the bridge, and to be quite honest, it was not that impressive, however we also had an awesome view of Alcatraz which we sadly did not get to go to because of our limited time in San Fran, but hey it gives us a reason to go back. We went from the bridge to the Swan Oyster Depot, recommended to us by Glenn German, which was amazing. There are twelve stool sitting around this fresh seafood bar and burly men come and serve you fresh seafood right off the boats. We had oysters again, some of the best clam chowder, and an amazing salad with fresh crab and shrimp piled high, they even gave us free sponges. We returned to the car after our meal and drove down the Crooked Street which is actually very crooked, and then we headed out to Berkely (just outside the city where Skippy and his german fiance Isabel live). San Francisco has been by far our most favorite city yet, and visiting Skippy and meeting his friends made it even better.

Coincidentally it was Skippy's 29th birthday on Wednesday and we arrived at his house just as he was finishing opening presents with Isa. We walked to a climbing gym that was just around the corner from the house and climbed for almost 3 hours. Climbing is Isa and Skippy's life pretty much and it was amazing to see them climb, they are both amazing climbers and ripped. I climbed better than I thought I would, but am very sore even three days later. I could barely grip the steering wheel on Thursday. Katie did not climb which made me sad, but she seemed to enjoy herself playing on the mats and watching everyone. We all went to a pizza pub afterwards and met Skippys friends and had pizza and beer and plenty of laughs, and then worn out after a long day, Katie and I hit the hay...well actually a comfy comfy futon.

Thursday

Katie and I woke up late, had some coffee and cornbread, and went into the city to by some toys from Kid Robot. It is too confusing and hard to explain right now, but these toys are collectors items that sell for big bucks on ebay and a new series was coming out, so we had to buy some. Afterwards we headed over to Skippy's friend Damien's climbing gym. The gym was pretty awesome with an amazing bouldering wall, slack line, weights, and an organic cafe. We all looked at Katie and I's new toys, played around on the slack line (basically a bouncy tight rope), and then Katie and I hit the road with sick feelings in our stomachs because we did not want to leave. We spent the rest of the day driving through Nevada aka Satan's domain. No offense to any of you Nevadians out there, but Nevada sucks and is made up of nothing other than desert and casinos. We ate at Outback thanks to the giftcard from mom and made it to a motel 6 in Wells, Nevada around midnight. Honestly I would rather sleep in my tent then step foot inside another motel 6 room...but we did have fun watching some tv and having a private shower. Thursday started our big 3 day driving spree.

Friday

We woke up friday and had oatmeal in the hotel parking lot, and then we hit the road. By the way, i bought little stove before we left and it has been amazing and has cooked us some amazing meals. We drove all day friday and thankfully got out of Nevada. After Nevade we drove through Idaho which was beautiful and then we entered Wyoming. We drove through Jackson hole which seemed like a pretty cool little spot, and then finally made it to Yellowstone National Forest. One thing that has amazed me this trip is how diverse the landscape of America is. We have driven through the bayou, deserts, barren mountains, beaches, rocky cliffed coasts, forest, and snow covered mountains, thats right there was snow all over the place in Idaho and Wyoming. We camped in Yellowstone and watched the sun fall behind the mountains drinking wine by a fast flowing river.

Saturday (today)

We got up early this morning, which was easy because the temp dropped to 28 degrees last night which means we did not sleep much on account of the cold, and we headed to see old faithful, which again was pretty cool, but only because we could check it off the list of things seen. We were both a little disappointed. We headed out of Yellowstone and through Wyoming which is a beautiful state. While in the park we saw loads of Buffolla, Elk, two grizzly bears, and lots of deer. The bears were pretty amazing, especially the cub which we got pretty close to. It was amazing to see the animals in the wild and in their natural habitat. Anyways we drove all day again today, had lunch on top of a mountain somwhere in Wyoming, and then finally made it to South Dakota, tired and ready for another good night sleep in the tent (sarcasm anyone). Tomorrow we are going to go see Mount Rushmore and then spend the rest of the day exploring the dead lands. I do not really know what to expect, but I will let you know how it goes. Everyone has said the dead lands are amazing, so we are pretty excited to camp in them tomorrow night. Anyways I am off to bed, we have to wake up at 9 for all you can eat pancakes for only a buck at the KOA campground. Good night America...Keep on smiling.

Day 15

Current Location: San Francisco, California

We are at our final stop in California and it brings tears to both of our eyes. We had a lovely time staying with Tucker in Santa Barbara. Our visit was full of organic food, music, long walks on the beach, surfing, and lots and lots of hippies. Our constant joke was that Santa Barbara would be the equivalent of hell for Nick Garibay, sorry for those of you who do not know our wonderful friend Nick, but lets just say he is not too fond of hippies, haha; however, Katie and I had a grande time. We had a pretty chill day on Monday. We had a delicious breakfast at the Cajun Cafe, which is quite ironic because we ate Cajun in California, and when we were in Louisiana we ate at a place called the California Grille in New Orleans. After breakfast we went by Jiffy Lube and got the rabbit all fixed up with fresh oil and love, then Katie raided a lemon farm and stole some lemons off of their trees, and then we went for a long walk along the cliffs by the sea. Santa Barbara is amazing because the whole town sits up on these huge cliffs overlooking the ocean. We walked for a couple of hours and ended up in the middle of the University of California Santa Barbara, which is an amazing campus. Somehow we made it back to Tuckers and we went over to his friend Spencer's house where we made fresh local salad, potatoes rice and drank lots of delicious California wine. By the way, I am not hating on the hippies. We met some amazing people who truly want to make the world a better place; however, pretentiousness and narcissism can often creep into to places such as Santa Barbara and while Katie and I felt some of these vibes, everyone we met was pretty chill.

I got to play music with a violinist, and we played through some songs which was loads of fun, and then we all went to this thing called bean night, which is an open mic night at one of Tuckers friends house. There was poetry, spoken word, comedy, and lots of music. I was suppose to play but we ran out of time, so we ended up just playing more music at Spencer's house. Imagine walking into a dark room only lit by two or three green lightbulbs. The entire room is crowded with people standing and sitting on all surfaces. As you make your way through the crowd a 6 foot 2 black guy named Lindsey and a hippie kid with long hair are singing a song about love. Wafts of smoke float across the room as everyone moves and sings to the music...trippy, eh. That was bean night.

Tuesday morning we got up bright and early and headed up the 1 to San Francisco. John Steinbeck is one of my favorite authors, and it was amazing to drive through Salinas Valley where a couple of his novels take place. We stopped at Monterey Bay with its famous cannery row, where sardines were canned and shipped all over the country back in the early 20th century; however, all of the fish left which means the canneries shut down, and now the place is one big tourist trap. However, Steinbeck has two novels that specifically center around Cannery Row and Monterey, so it was awesome to peak into the inspiration behind his writing. We went to the Monterey Aquarium which honestly was not that amazing. Katie and I felt cheated out of 50 dollars. We did see some otters, and penguins, and sharks, and loads of jellies, but the amount of people almost made it unbearable.

We arrived in San Francisco yesterday afternoon during my mom's favorite time of the day, around 5 30 when the sun makes everything seem way more beautiful than it actually is. We were taken back by the size of the of the city, but it is so beautiful. San Francisco is by far our favorite place so far. We are staying at this amazing inn with only six bedrooms. We are on the second floor overlooking the street in the Golden Gate Room. We have a big bed with a canopy, walk in shower, a beautiful garden in the back with all kinds of flowers, and we were just served fresh fruit, tea, orange juice, home made banana nut bread, eggs with ham, asparagus, tomatoes and cheese, and toast outside in the sun in the garden...I just might be in heaven, not to mention the fact that it is Katie and I's 6 month anniversary today...hooray! And what an amazing six months it has been. Last night we went to this delicious restaurant called Zuni. We walked there and it ended up being two miles away from the inn, so we got to see alot of the city. We had oysters on the half shell, wine, fresh bass and rabbit's leg...mmmm. We thankfully got a taxi home because it is surprisingly chilly up here.

Anyways, today we plan to explore the city, and then we are meeting up with my old camp councellor from North Carolina and going climbing and then spending the night at his house in Berkely. It is very random, but amazing that I am going to get to see him after 6 or 7 years. Also sorry that there are no pics, but the camera cable is in the car which is a couple of blocks away. I will make it up to you by putting double pictures on next post.

peace

A Few More Pics

Oh Paul Newman, we do Love You. Those are all records. There were rooms and rooms full of records...over half a million records, I got Miles Davis' Bitches Brew...And the creepy guy is a painting we found of Nick Garibay at a bike store

Goodnight Hollywood Boulevard or the Town Nick Garibay Belongs In

Day 12

Current Location: Santa Barbara, California

Katie and I escaped the hustle and bustle of LA and headed for the cozy town of Santa Barbara. We had a great time in LA, but feel like we just barely scratched the surface. We stayed at the Germans pool house and were as cozy as can be. We had an amazing dinner with the Germans on Friday night, and then Glenn took us on a tour of the city, pointing out Zeppelin's stomping ground, the hyatt house, the first place the doors played, the Whiskey A Go Go, and loads of other cool sights. Did you know that every street in Beverly Hill has a different type of tree going up and down the street. One street is all palm trees, another is all eucalyptice, and so on, its pretty amazing. We just chilled at the house Friday night and got up early to explore the city. We started the day at LAMCA, the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art which was amazing. We saw pieces by Warhol, Lichtenstein, Picasso (Katie's favorite), Giacometti (My favorite), Klee, Klimt, Dali, and a whole plethora of others. There was a Franz West exhibit, who I had never heard of, and it was amazing and interactive. We left feeling very educated and artistic. It is amazing how simple pieces of art can touch the soul.

After the museum we headed to the walk of stars on sunset boulevard which was pretty cool but hectic. We saw the famous Chinese theatre and all of the handprints in the cement, but we got out of there pretty quick because the crowds were ginormous due to the world premiere of the Disney movie Up. We did not see anyone famous, but we did see Batman and the Joker. We headed to Venice Beach and walked down the boardwalk, and Katie touched the pacific ocean with her toesies. It was again uber crowded, overcast, and kind of cold so we did not stay too long. We saw the Santa Monica pier in all its glory with the mass of people and carnival rides placed atop its wooden glory. Feeling a bit peckish, we headed to Rodeo drive, the street with all the really expenisive shops. We sat down at a nice Italian restaurant and then ran out before the waiter could bring us our waters because it was so expensive. After bailing on the Italian joint, we found a nice littel burger spot which was delicious. We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping and Katie got some hot new shoes.

Last night we ate at Mimosa, a cozy little french restaurant. Katie got to sip her white wine and I had a delicious French pale ale....needless to say we were very content after a long day of LA traffic. We got up fairly early this morning and headed up the 1 towards Santa Barbara. We saw the classic LA couple on our way up driving a Lexus. Katie proceeded to drive right next to them for miles while we laughed our heads off. The guy had spiked, frosted hair tips, and was wearing all this arm jewelry, and the girl had about four miles of crazy blonde hair, teeth that blinded me from 50 feet away, and a tan that looked like she was just dipped in orange juice. We arrived at my friend Tucker's house, who went to high school with me, at around 2. We made some lunch and then walked around Santa Barbara. His friends were putting on a big hippy fest with loads of bands, dancing girls in flowing dresses and hairy legs, and a whole lot of peace and love. We stayed for two bands and then came back to his house for a nap. It is actually pretty chilly here, in the sixties with overcast skies. Tucker and I went surfing this afternoon which was a blast. It was really misty and there was all of this crazy seaweed growing out of the ground, and we saw a four foot shark on the beach, but the waves were head high and barrelling. Santa Barbara sits right on the coast, and there are these huge cliffs overlooking the sea...very scenic. Anyways we are about to make dinner and then head back to hippie jamfest for the evening which should be fun. Tomorrow we are going to some hot springs in the mountains, and then up to San Fran. We are almost two weeks in, and I love Katie more than when we left, so this trip has proven to be a very good thing for us individually and for our relationship, sorry had to get a bit gushy there for a sec. Anyways keep praying for us and thinking about us, cuz we are thinking about all of you.

peace