Saturday, July 23, 2011

The Most Insane Awesome Trip Ever

I have not had much time to write about this trip on this blog because it has been the most insane trip and the most awesome trip EVER. Our first day of driving was through Minnesota and the standard mid western states. We saw cute little farm towns and stunning fields with antiquated barns nestled in the small patches of trees.

Wisconsin was stunning. There was this section with rocky cliffs that were eroded into the most crazy of shapes. They were in mini stacked shapes next to one another almost looking like monuments to the rock gods. Not like Metallica rock gods but something from the stirrings of our creation.

Yesterday was the most insane. We were stuck on the road from 9am to 2am this morning. Everything started out pretty standard. When we hit Fargo ND it was so flat. The first part of North Dakota was nothing to write home about but then we started to get into the most stunning areas. The first amazing thing I got to see were the buffalos. They have over 200 acres to rome on and are often hard to see. We were amazingly lucky that they walked by the museum so close to the fence. I was able to get some incredible pictures. I will add pictures later. I am having a hard time viewing them on this laptop. There was a white buffalo there and about 12 others in a herd. They were so incredible. There was also a small pioneer town there and the worlds largest buffalo sculpture. I could not resist getting some pictures flexing underneath his big legs.

North Dakota is just amazing the further west you get into it. It is super flat with mounds made of sandy soil that are low with sharp points at the top. They look like giant ant hills. I need to research these mounds to see if they are man made or some random awesome act of nature. You can see for ever and the power line poles are repeated shapes that go on for a eternity as if they are standing between two mirrors. The colors are so soft and beautiful. The air smells incredible.

We hit the city of Bismarck and were going to call it a night but we learned all of the hotels and inns were full here. There was a crappy fair going on so we decided to hit Dickinson. Every single hotel, inn, motel and apartment in Dickinson has been booked. The past 3 years they have hit a oil boom. I saw trucks from Halliburton and other oil companies all over the parking lots at every diner and rest area. We were making failed efforts at finding a place when the weather started to get nuts. I went into the gas station and asked what was going on and they told me to get my dogs and Roger and to get inside towards the restrooms now!! Three tornadoes were touching down around Dickinson. Despite the comfort of being surrounded by beef jerky and bottled water I was totally freaked out as I held my Cairn Terrier (same dog as Toto in the Wizard of Oz). Everyone was totally friendly and awesome. The storm passed around us with some blinding lightning, strong winds and hail. We ended up driving through the Roosevelt National Park able to see the coloring of the grasslands in the amazingly bright flashes of lighting that streaked for miles across the sky. This would have been harrowing enough but another adventure was tossed our way. Sparks started showing up from the MINI tow behind us. True story, we had a flat on the trailer. We called U-Haul and they sent out a son and dad team who literally said two words to us and changed our tire as quick as a pit crew from NASCAR.

We continued on to one more town to find the car with the kayaks who warned us about the tire had beaten us to the last hotel spot in the whole town. With our eyes bleeding and our dogs losing all faith in us we pulled into a small Montana town called Terry. The Diamond Motel there is the cleanest place I have ever spent the night at in my life. It is decorated like my grandma's house and everything is a million years old but super well taken care of. It has a cute little gas stove, soft beds with grandma blankets on them and a cute little cartoon matt that someone must have drawn up for the owner. The poor lady answered our call at 2 am. She was so nice. Not a huge fat of dogs staying here but saw the desperate look in Roger's eyes. Best sleep so far.

We have about 18 more hours left in our trip. I felt like despite the challenges a strong message to keep going. I saw a turtle who was on the last leg of crossing a 4 lane highway.  If the turtle can do it I can. It has been a life changing experience and just about as incredible as you can get. We live in such a diverse and amazing country. Everyone should get a chance to see it. I can't help but feel if we all did then we would no longer be hung up on making everyone see things our way. We would understand there is so much diversity and so many different backgrounds that we all have unique perspectives but are all working towards a dream. We are all still pioneering and working towards our dreams. 

Sunday, July 17, 2011

All I Need For The Long Drive

The Parrot

We live right in Chicago on the north side. There is a parrot nesting in the cable box of our building. We spotted two more in the trees around the block. I guess there are feral parrots in Chicago lol.