Chicago – at least I think I was there.

After Milwaukee it was time to head to Chicago to see a friend. She didn’t have a lot of time, so we were only able to grab a quick bite to eat together. We caught up, had a good ol’ time, and I was looking forward to touring the city to shoot photos the next day.

 

Didn’t happen. I got into the city and absolutely hated driving around in it. Looking for a place to park was even more stressful. And so I headed south out of the city as quickly as the stop lights would let me. This is about the only picture I got of the city:

 

Safely away from the metropolitan area, and it was time to figure out where the heck I was going. I had to avoid all the toll roads, so stuck to small county highways. I saw a small state park on my map of Illinois and headed towards it. I forget the name. Walnut something or other. Which was fitting, since there were walnuts strewn everywhere:

 

I cracked this one and ate it fresh out of the shell. It was surprisingly sweet. I liked it, even though I usually dislike walnuts immensely. Why I decided to eat it, knowing I don’t like them I will never understand. The dog and I walked around the silly trails the state park had, and saw some pretty things, like a butterfly on a flower (goodbye masculinity):

 

We stayed in the campground, which was great. I got a chance to work out, plus take a free shower on the grounds. I got a chance to slow down and write a bit:

 

And take photos that don’t make any sense:

 

I cooked a luxurious meal of spam and black beans. No joke, it was amazingly good, and a rare treat compared to my usual ramen/turkey sandwich fallbacks. I woke up in the morning and took the dog for a walk around the lake. We saw a heron hanging out in the morning mist on the water:

 

 

We paid the bill for the site (a scant $10!), and headed out. We were almost upon Springfield!

And on a totally different trail.

I received the most awesome comment ever on a photo over at my flickr page. The photo:

 

The comment:

“lived at the "Bakery" in 1979. My girlfriend and I lived in the apartment on the right. We were going to school at NAU and we didn't have enough money to pay for the deposit to turn on the electricity. Luckily it was heated by gas. We used a large Coleman cooler to store some milk, eggs and other small items. We studied by Kerosene lanterns and candles. The bedroom was on the north side and in all the time we lived there I never really saw that room! Other than by candle light! Those were the days! I would relive those in a heartbeat. Thanks for the photo.”

Milwaukee

I rolled into Milwaukee around 9:00 with a mission in mind. Find Lake Michigan. The easiest goal you can imagine, since half the city borders the lake. I like to set my goals low so that I’m never disappointed.

 

So, lake found, I took a picture of boats and some of the condos going up like wildfire on lakefront:

 

Then headed out in search of something pretty to take photos of. I ended up in the ‘Third Ward,’ which provided plenty of churches to shoot:

 

I checked out the Public Market, and was surprised that it was almost entirely food establishments. One was a coffee roaster who had just burned a batch. The whole place smelled like dead beans:

 

And I found the Fonz:

 

I got in touch with my uncle and met him at his house in northern Milwaukee. My cousin Scott met me at the door, who I haven’t seen in a LONG time. I think about 16 years. We played catch up, and then my Uncle Greg took me to see my grandparents old house, and their graves. It was good to see the family again:

 

Then we went back to the house, met up with my other cousin Chris, and we all went out to dinner. Some great pizza at a place called Balestrari’s (or something like that), and then Chris took me downtown to the bars. I got a great tour of the city with some of the history behind it from my cousin, had a few whiskeys, and we had some great conversation about where we were in life. And then I had a few more whiskeys. And then things headed downhill fast.

 

I learned to play dice for drinks, and apparently did alright. I don’t remember this. I played a game of pool, but the only part of that I remember of it was that I fell off the table while lining up a shot. From there, I woke up on the floor in the living room with a can of lemon-lime soda at hand, a knot on my head, and also a bucket with unmetionable contents. At least the dog was there to snuggle with me.

 

Breakfast was a contest in concentrating on anything but my upset stomach. And the rest of the morning was spent on the couch with a computer at hand, doing laundry, and getting ready to go. My uncle gave me a CD of pictures Chris took of me once we arrived at home. They are understandably horrendous, and mostly include the aforementioned bucket.

 

Soon it was time to hit the road, so we hugged and said goodbye. It was great to see these three again, and maybe next time I will survive to a second night.

 

Of course, we weren’t all in the house when picture time rolled around, so here are Uncle Greg, myself, and Scott:

 

And here is Chris, not ready for picture time:

But I did make it to Madison

After a longish day of driving down county roads, I finally decided to hit the interstate. And then I promptly stopped seeing any part of Wisconsin. Suddenly my vision was filled with semis and white lines screaming by at the speed of light. As darkness neared my eyes went bleary, so I pulled into Madison for the night. I called my sister, who had lived in Madison for a bit. She told me a cafe to go to, and sent me on my way.

 

I got lost IMMEDIATLY. It was late, and I was no longer up for the game of finding the cafe. I pulled down a residential street and promptly passed out for the night. I awoke early, thanks to the dog, and headed downtown to try again to find this cafe. I drove up one road and down another. When I still didn’t find it, I resorted to walking down the multitude of one-way roads. This gave me a great view of the captiol building:

 

But was seriously starting to freeze my digits. Madison was cold on this morning! I felt bad for all the people setting up a huge farmer’s market on the square. Finally, I googled the place, and walked directly to the address. I’d passed it many times, so why didn’t I see it? It was closed, bought out by the restaurant next door for expansion purposes.

 

Dejected by over an hour of wasted time, I found the nearest coffee shop, had a delicious muffin and coffee, then headed east for Milwaukee.

Applefest, Bayfield WI

A rainy-day apple festival in northern Wisconsin. My room mate had mentioned it before I left, and her parents had mentioned it again while I was visiting them. It was on the way to my next destination, so how could I not go?

 

I drive into Bayfield, and spend 30 minutes looking for parking. This tiny town is not designed for the mass influx of people who came for this festival. The population sits somewhere around 600, and they expect over 50,000 to come through over the festival weekend! Craziness. As I park a bajillion blocks away from the festival the rain was drizzling down, and it continued to do so for the two hours I hung around.

 

I did try the Apple Bratwurst, which was DELICIOUS with a little apple mustard and kraut on top:

 

 

I watched the Bayfield high school band as they marched through town:

 

I watched a folk band which played a few great local songs, and few silly cover songs:

 

But what’s that at the bottom of the band shot? An old woman, cleverly disguised as fruit:

 

After watching the band for a while the dog was shivering from being cold and wet, so we walked a bajillion blocks back to the car and drove away. Our goal was Milwaukee to see my uncle, but we wouldn’t quite make it there today.

And then I was in Duluth Minnesota

I drove north along the ‘Great River Road,’ and it was gorgeous to finally see the colors starting to change on the trees. I then took the ‘Edge of Wilderness’ road north until I was at Minnesota Highway 1. I stopped along the way for the night in Grand Rapids, I spent another night down some logging road where the mosquitoes tried to carry away the truck. And then, I was in Duluth Minnesota.

 

Duluth is on Lake Superior, which is pretty:

 

 

This is Duluth, or rather part of Duluth:

 

I was there  to see some great folks. Parents of one of my room mates who I had met in Prescott when they came to visit. It was so fun to see them and stay with them for a few days. They cooked me amazing meals and made me feel right at home with them. During the day, when they were at work, I went into town to shoot photos.

 

I found a zen garden:

 

I also found a fallout shelter, just in case the world comes to a nuclear end:

 

There was a very cool building, which used to be (and might still be for all I know) a school:

 

I drove across a lift bridge, which was neat:

 

And I also found a lighthouse, which I always enjoy shooting photos of:

Sadly, I failed to get a picture of my hosts. :(

 

It was a really enjoyable and laid back stopover for me, and allowed me to recharge my personal batteries. I left town in rainy weather heading for Wisconsin. To Bayfield, for an apple festival!

And now for the changing colors

So the colors are changing. And it is beautiful:

 

It makes me happy:

St. Paul, MN

I feel a bit discombobulated, so this post may very well reflect a bit of that.

 

Minnesota hit like a whirlwind. I stopped the first night in a town called Mankato, which smelled like chicken and had more mosquitoes than I have ever seen. They all decided to take a bite out of me. The next day I drove up to St. Paul to see my friend Beth. I had some time to kill before she got off of work, so I went to one of the local parks to play with the dog. I shot a random photo of their cathedral out of my truck window:

 

And then I quickly came down with a sinus infection. Thankfully, it all worked out. Beth had a concert to go to after work, so I just went to her house and passed out on the couch. The next day I accomplished getting a meal ready in the slow-cooker before spending the rest of the day napping and recuperating while she worked.  By the time the evening rolled around I was feeling mildly better, and a half-bottle of whiskey with some apple cider vinegar and good conversation thrown in resolved the remaining dregs of my issue.

 

Friday we went to the Minnesota history museum, where I learned all sorts of crazy things about this state. I learned about tornados, and baby boomers, wind turbines, and the fact that prince was born here. We ate some awesome italian food at a local market/restaurant, we went for a walk to shoot some graffiti pics:

 

As well as some odd little flowers:

 

We went out to a ‘Tour de Franzia’ party, with yes – boxed wine. We searched for a greek god in a bar called the BullDog, and I passed out in somebody else’s house on a couch that was about half as big as I should be able to sleep in. An entertaining evening to be sure.

 

Pancakes the next morning, and then back to the house. Lots of cooking, as we had three folks coming over for dinner and the girls had a lot of extra food in their fridge. By ‘the girls’ I refer to Beth and her fun room mate Amanda. Amanda and I got along, had coffee, took the dog for a walk, and went to the gym (which was AWESOME!!). This is Amanda and Scrappy at night:

 

Dinner was delicious, with a chicken-parmesan ish entree, served with asparagus, butternut squash, onion, mushroom, bell pepper, roasted rosemary potatoes, and baguette with homemade roasted garlic butter. Not too shabby for a white boy, and everybody seemed to enjoy it.

 

All in all it was a great trip. Got to see my good friend, and meet a few more. This is Ms. Elizabeth:

Thanks chica for putting up with an annoying sick guy for a long time.

 

Once Monday rolled around, I headed North without really having a clue of where I was going.

A random pic

My hand, and some sunlight:

And then I went to South Dakota

I parked in some little town at the edge of Wyoming, hoping to get up early and capture the morning light on Mt. Rushmore. I’d been told that Crazy Horse was also great, so figured I would hit both before continuing on.

 

I woke up before the dawn and drove through the dawn to reach my destination. The sun rose as I neared the black hills:

 

I pulled into Crazy Horse right as they opened the gates. For some reason they didn’t charge me, which was great! But wait… perhaps there was a reason, because they weren’t actually open yet. I had scuttled in with the employees, and the park wouldn’t open for another hour. I took a quick picture from the parking lot (you aren’t allowed to walk to the monument) and drove away:

 

Then it was on to Mt. Rushmore. Again, I got there before they opened, but this is monument is a little easier to peruse on your own. As such I did the tourist thing and took some photos with the pretty morning light just as I had wanted:

 

From here I drove north up into Deadwood, the backdrop for a terribly entertaining HBO show that I caught a few episodes of. A town with a sordid past, everywhere are informational plaques regaling passers-by with information on this rough and tough establishment. There are gambling halls and casinos, bars aplenty, and everywhere there is another shop selling you an authentic Deadwood t-shirt.

I walked around the town for a while, paid my three dollars to park, took some photos, and then quickly got out of what is now just another tourist town with a claim to fame.

 

From there I took a quick jaunt thru Sturgis to get gas, then proceeded down to the Badlands National Park. I’m not really sure how I got there. I know it wasn’t through the usual route that tourists take, because I spent an hour on a dirt road before I saw a sign for the park. It warned ‘FEE AREA AHEAD’, but there was no pay station.

 

I wandered into a campground, nestled within beautiful grass-covered rolling hills, and it was free. I didn’t see what was so bad about these lands. The bison were wandering nearby, and it was the closest thing to a realization of my mental image of how this country was a few hundred years ago. Then I kept driving.

 

More signs that I was in the park, more promises to make me pay a fee, and then suddenly I see what is bad. Well, more different than bad. Rolling hills of a different type:

 

Harsh hills and valleys with odd colors and minerals. Some jagged, some soft. I even saw a mountain goat poke it’s head out for the barest of moments. It was gorgeous. And with this change of scenery came the blacktop asphalt that allows all the RVs to trumble along ahead and behind me. We slowed whenever anybody wanted to stop for a picture:

 

And then suddenly, I was out. Passing the entrance, and not a single person asked me for my money. Talk about a real treat! I continued east, avoiding the interstate as much as possible. And I have to say… after the badlands, South Dakota became kind of boring. Lots of farm land, but not a whole lot else as far as scenery. Every now and then there would be an abandoned car in a soy bean field:

 

And some of the details around me were gorgeous:

 

Overall though, I was just excited to get to Minnesota, where I would get to hang out with a good friend for the weekend.