Chicago

was pretty cool and I wish I had more time to spend there, but unfortunately, the last two weeks of this trip are a bit hurried. Anyway, had a good time with Matt - besides letting me chill with him, he took me out for dinner both nights - the first for Giordano's (Chicago style deep dish) and the second night to a sweet tapas place and then to Fox and Hound for some pool. If he was on couchsurfing he would definitely get a thumb's up, haha. Anyway, on to the pics from Chitown. Tonight I'm heading to Bloomington, IN (Indiana University) and then to Cincinnati. Oh yeah, at the Chicago Institute of Art, I got to see a ton of Monet, Renoir, Pissaro, Picasso, a bit of Dali, and they had a whole exhibition of photography, including Ansel Adams, Sarah Hobbs and Angela Strassheim, and they had an exhibition of Lorenzo Ghiberti's 'The Gates of Paradiese' - all very cool! Anyway, on to the pics!

Oh, sorry for all the black and white, but the city completely lent itself to that style. Oh, and hopefully I'll get a bit more work done on the panoramas so I can post a better one.

Getting ready

to head up Sears Tower - it's a fifteen minute wait, but luckily they have wi-fi everywhere, haha. Anyway, only had the day in Chicago, but managed to check out Millenium Park as well as the Chicago Institute of Art, and now doing Sears Tower. I'm happy with the productivity. Have a few pics I'll post later tonight sometime when I get back. Gotta run, time to go up the tower!

Monday nights

in Madison....haha. 'nuff said. Anyway, my most gracious host, Kelly, took me out for a night in Madison, and we had a pretty sweet time. Well, I mean, the 50-yard dash through the bar, her knowing approximately 50% of the Madison population, her friend Chelsea having a vicious case of the hiccups, and unknown wet spot on the futon aside, it was a pretty sweet time. I kid, I kid. Had a great time with Kelly and now it's on to Chicago, where I'm meetin' up with Spicher. See everyone soon!

Chillin in

the enemy's territory! Haha, just kidding =) Havin a blast with Kelly (who was kind enough to host me) - she's showing me around and we're eating and drinking well. Checked out University of Wisconsin and the capitol, both of which were real cool. Heading to Chicago in the morning, but definitely gonna enjoy the rest of my time here. Oh, for an interesting story, check out Old Abe. Oh, I'm posting from Barriques Coffee Trader - they have wine by the glass and wi-fi. How could it get better, haha!

So I'm in

Madison, WI. It was a tough decision last night at two in the morning about whether to start driving home or try and find a spot to stay in Madison, but everything worked out, and I ended up going out on a boat and seeing Madison and the University of Wisconsin from Lake Mendota. Met some cool people, too! Anyway, looking forward to being home sometime soon, and if I can get the internet to work on my laptop (using someone else's computer right now) I'll post some pics of the area and the university.

Update

so I'm in Minnesota, just about an hour or two outside of Minneapolis, trying to find a place to stay tonight. In the meantime, though, will post the pics of the drive of the 14 (map is below) and of me at Rushmore, which was incredibly cloudy (obviously). Actually, the drive on 14 was crazy - there are sections of granite that are 2.5 billion years old! Anyway, looking forward to Minneapolis and sleeping in my own bed in less than two weeks!

oh, ps, i only have one sweatshirt with me.


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