Roasted in Seattle

Typical that someone would get killed by a bear for the 1st time since 1983 on probably the only night we'll ever camp in Yellowstone in our lives. Katy later told us that she neglected to tell us the part from her Frommer's book about how in late summer,only hard trailers are allowed in our campsite, not tents. Yikes. We laughed that if attacked by bears, Katy would again be unfazed, shouting through the roars of the bear for someone to help her push the rods through the tent rather than pulling them out, and not leaving before rolling up her 2 20 year old flannel lined sleeping bags.


We got out of Yellowstone early, as we had our last long drive to Seattle. We literally looked like 3 homeless women as we stumbled into McDonalds in our 8 layers of clothing(it was 43 degrees!), desperately needing coffee to prevent more head bobbing.(Katy said she was worried my neck was going to break off in the passenger seat at one point.)

Half way through the ride, we spotted a car with Florida plates. As it passed, the young woman in the passenger seat jubilantly waved to us in our fellow Florida plated car. Equally excited, Allie decided it would be a good idea to start a game of questions with the couple, quickly scribbling on a piece of paper in crayon, "Where in Florida?" and "Where are you headed?" Katy was horrified, unwilling to hold up the sign from the back seat, and ducking below her window as Allie plastered the paper to her own window, ferociously pointing it out to the driver. She got so verklempt with emotion when the young woman held up 2 signs answering our questions,that in her flustered state, she held up the same sign of "Where are you headed?" rather than the sign displaying the answers to her own questions. Embarrassing. It was seriously like being in face paced chase, with my eyes becoming so filled with tears from laughing so hard that I often lost sight of the road. We're pretty sure the couple thought we were either drunk or three giddy 10 year olds stuck in the bodies of 24 year olds.


After 12 hours in the car and our first encounter with traffic, we arrived in Seattle. We got a quick bite to eat at a fast paced Thai restaurant(Thanks, Dana!) right near the University of Portland, and were ready to experience the nightlife of Seattle. Little did we know what it had in store for us. Not having much time to do research on where specifically to go, we were advised to go out in Belltown and decided on an intriguing bar with live music. With somewhat of an older crowd, we were unwilling to start a tab and thought we'd just pay for a beer and peace. Right as we took our seats at a table entirely too close to the stage(Katy made us move from our original table selection because it was too drafty), a new band came on. Upon the start of their first song, a few old couples(or swingers?) got up and started dancing and twirling wildly a few feet within our table. That was the exact confidence booster that the awkward, scarfed fellow sitting behind us needed to come up to our table and ask, with all too many eyebrow raises, if any of us would dance with him. Feeling put on the spot, and obviously not drunk enough, we bashfully refused with no words, but only several awkward shoulder bobs and glances at eachother. With the whole bar looking on with pity at the dejected fellow, the lead singer, with the head to body ratio similar to that of a bobble head, quickly got on us. Upon finishing his song, he began what we like to call our roast of the night. Splayed at the start and end of each song, he kept shooting sly comments at the "3 shy girls" saying how he respected the guy for having the balls to come up to us and basically making us look like cold schmucks to the rest of the bargoers. He came within inches of Allie, playing his guitar so violently and close to her head that I was sure she could feel his ginger tufts of hair brushing her face. I won't even go into how awkward our reaction to that was, but basically it consisted of our red faces glancing back and forth at eachother every fraction of a second. Getting irritated at his playful jabs, Katy finally shouted out "WE'RE JUST NOT GOOD DANCERS!" to which the band found even more unacceptable. We knew it was bad when the gawky, long ponytailed, unwilling to open his eyes bassist in black jeans started getting in on it. I desperately wanted to get out of there, but we knew if we got up, the whole bar might start throwing tomatoes or crumpled pieces of paper at our faces. The lead singer followed Katy to the bathroom in one last attempt to get her to dance. He soon after came up to me and Allie, again invading our personal face space, letting us know that Katy had pulled him in the bathroom and that he was only kidding with us for the whole night and appreciated our attendance. As soon as KK came back, we quickly devised a plan about the precise time to get up and leave. As we did, mid song, the singer was able to incorporate "ladies, where are you going?" into his lyrics. With one awkward lookback and a kiss blown by Katy, we jetted out of there to another bar. And there ended hopefully our once in a lifetime roast.

How the West was Won (and lost)

Win: Katy using her Frommer's guide to Western National Parks to lead us on a "winding road passage that will drop us off of a grand mountain view" in Grand Teton Park.

Lose: Getting stuck behind 3 suburbans who decided to stop along every curve, turn and straightaway up the 20 minute hill, to take pictures of evergreen trees and wildflowers that are everywhere in the park. (Being a typical NYer, we passed them on a one lane highway AND photo bombed them while doing so. yessss.)






Win: Finding a 2 mile hike around Colter Bay Lake among beautiful wildlife, gorgeous wildflowers, peaceful lake and mountain views, rock skipping contests, etc.

Lose: Not seeing a bear on the hike.***(More about this at the end) Even when Katy devised an elaborate plan that involved a twin attack and Jess running a speedy 7 minute mile to get help...with a bear hot on her tail.




Win: Being able to say we've been to Yellowstone.

Lose: On what we thought should have been an hour trip from Grand Teton, upon our arrival 4 hours later, we not only realized that the closest campsites were 29, 69 and 99 miles away, we also found out that they were all full.




Win: We found a campsite 3 miles away from one of the many entrances of Yellowstone.

Lose: Four words- pit toilets, no showers.





Win: We met Old Faithful and saw the amazing contrasting colors of the green blue spurting geysers and the orange sulphur ridden soil around it.

Lose: Figuring out which was more gross: the smell of the sulphur oozing from the earth, the warm spa treatment from the steam and water protruding from the geysers, the prospect of getting Legionnaire's disease from the geyser water or the 9 year old Mexican boy sipping whole milk from a carton in 80 degree heat.



Win: Finding pay showers.

Lose: Realizing we'd need 39 quarters for one 6 minute shower each.












Win: Waking up alive.

Lose: Being two hours away from this:

http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/one-dead-two-killed-in-bear-attack-at-montana-campground/19572412

An Ode to Camping Grand Teton

We woke up in Utah at Erin's
finally caught up on sleep,
played arcade basketball
and had (free!)cereal to eat.

Surrounded by mountains,
and fresh morning air,
we drove over to Walmart
in order to prepare.

Two nights of camping
was what we had planned,
we picked up food, another sleeping bag,
and beans in a can.

Walmart is our go-to store,
because it helps us be thrifty.
We bought food for the next 6 meals,
only costing us each $2.50 (a meal!).

Thriftiness aside,
we began our shorter drive,
only four more hours,
and in Wyoming we'd arrive.

I drove us through canyons and farms,
only swerving once to get a look,
at some kind of hawk.
[I wish I had my bird guide book!]

Arriving in Grand Teton,
we were full of excite,
especially when the campgrounds,
were still available for us to spend the night.


Once at camp
we slammed on the brakes,
to take pictures of buffalo
when we realized they weren't fake.



I was prepared to make a fire,
so dinner we could grill,
my only strategies known from years
of Big Bob showing me his fire making skill.



Dinner was sausage,
cooked on a stick.
We felt ridiculous
but it was easy and quick.

It started to drizzle,
so ponchos were pulled out.
I refused to wear one,
or my ruggedness I'd doubt.

Their rain gear was ridiculed,
by a woman in the bathroom.
They didn't care because
they were ready for any rain that loomed.

I was almost in tears
when rain stopped s'more making.
They agreed to each make one,
because my tears I wasn't faking.

Crisis adverted
we went in our tent to play cards.
Where Jess lost at all games,
her feelings ending up hard.

Finally we allowed ourselves
to get some sleep,
with animal sounds outside our tent,
making our hearts leap.

This one's for you, Hangus.

Alright, sorry for the delay. Currently, we're in Montana, 3 miles outside of Yellowstone at a pay by coin laundromat/shower place.

Okay, so Denver was my favorite city so far, but I left bitter about 1 thing. There's a bar that has different names assigned to each day of the calendar. For example, Monday the 1st is for Ryan and Samantha. If it is your names day, you drink for free. So while Allison and Katherine made the calendar, Jessica did not. No big deal...unless other(nonexistent)names such as Hangus, Beanne, and Kinnick make the list. Let's just put a few consonants in front of a real name and call it a day so people with normal names can't drink limitless amounts. I'm surprised Zabigail didn't make the cut.


We're still uncertain of whether we crushed Denver or it crushed us, but after a night out consisting of 0 sleep and our 1st lost of the trip( RIP KK's ATM card), we were less than excited to start our trek to Utah. We've driven through numerous states where the scenery consists of hour long spans of cornfields and cows and the speed limit is 75, so driving on I70 up and through the Rocky Mountains was just what we needed to revive us from our driving blues(and keep us awake). It's a good thing we chose our most hungover and restless day though, to drive 1 of the top 10 most dangerous highways to drive through in the winter. It was tense enough in good weather. It consisted of winding turns over high drop offs and gradients so steep that there are runaway truck ramps aka if big trucks can't stop down a decline, there's a quick pull off with an inclined ramp made of sand so they can come to a halting stop. Bizarre.



After a few hours and driving changes every hour due to frequent head bobs, we arrived at Arches National Park. Upon asking Katy a perfect 1 sentence to describe Arches, she replied, "Giant rock formations with different erosional features." What a scientist. I would have said a vast sea of giant, phallic shaped rocks. We made the executive decision to drive through some of the 18 mile span and avoid long hikes, as we felt particularly unstable upon standing, and kept losing feeling in our extremities. We were willing to take a slight hike to see the Delicate Arches, the arch on the Utah license plate. I was ready to give up after getting stuck behind a gaggle of Asian tourists using jewel encrusted umbrellas as a shade, but alas, we needed our picture. After climbing too many steep, dusty, rock stairs in 102 degree weather and in only flip flops, we seriously contemplated burrito'ing it down the path.



We were pretty much delerious for the rest of our drive to EV's. Not wanting to lose time (or $) stopping for food, Allie suggested eating a sheep from one of the fields, I suggested a horse, and Katy suggested eating me. Katy was unable to finish her dinner due to a tense drive through a hilly one-laned highway canyon. Just after Allie said our drive was too much for the day, we saw a long, blue shooting star, and knew it was worth it. We finally made it to EV's around 1 am, and it's a good thing because I had just braked so hard because I saw an imaginary train. No more sleepless nights.

Denver. The sunshine state? Gorgeous!

We woke up in Denver feeling rejuvenated after sleeping on something a little softer than a concrete slab with a sleeping bag over it. Thank goodness for Maeve (even though she's in NY) and her roommates extending an invitation for us to stay in their sweet house in the semi-burbs of Denver.

First things first- go for a run in the neighborhood before we went to eat a huge breakfast. Some observations about Denver- it is unbelievably "clean and green," as Jess said. The air just smelled fresh. Although we joked about it, the altitude felt different on the run, too. Even though the extent of our exercise has been hiking and running to and from rest stop bathrooms so we don't lose time on the TomTom, we haven't been keeping a strict exercise regiment. Needless to say, the run was painful. It felt like I was breathing in cold air and my throat was sore afterwards. We couldn't figure out if we just weren't used to the cooler temperature or because of the altitude. But the altitude change did become somewhat of a running joke. ("Oh, you're winded after that 3 step climb? Must be the altitude change.")

For breakfast, we decided to take the 40 minute trip to Boulder to check out a spot we saw on Man vs. Food...and we are glad we did. The Buff is located right across the street from University of Colorado, right in the center of this cool college town. Thanks to Adam Richman's recommendation, we all ordered the Saddlebags, which are pancakes with sausage, bacon or ham cooked right into the pancake, with eggs, anyway you want, on top. It's the perfect breakfast-all your favorite breakfast foods cooked into one plate! It was a great start to our morning- and a really cool scene packed with college kids and hippies.

Next we decided to take some serious regroup/research time at Borders. A couple of hours later, we were ready to FINALLY make it into the city for dinner and the nightlife. We were proud of ourselves for being able to navigate yet another city via public transportation- we took the light train into the city. Four dollars and 20 minutes later, we were in the city, where Lindsey,Maeve's roommate told us we could hop on the "free mall ride" bus to get closer to our destination. Jess insisted we take the bus, because it is free of course, and our thriftiness is overtaking our lives, and a short time later we were at our dinner spot. We ate a delish dinner at an Italian restaurant that Maeve recommended to us because of the atmosphere and wine. Katy schooled us in the art of eating an artichoke and Jess perfected the art of salad tossing...

We ended our night at Market street, a strip in Denver riddled with bars and nightlife. We decided to start, and end our night, at Maloney's- because of their giant, cheap beers. A couple giant beers later we decided to play, and make up our own drinking game. Although it has no name yet, I think it'll really take off. Oh well, here are the rules. Do what you will with them...

Drink anytime...

1. Someone with a leather jacket walks in the bar.
2. A bartender makes a shot for someone.
3. A bartender uses up a bottle of liquor.
4. The song changes.
5. You make awkward eye contact with someone across the bar.
6. A drunk girl screams.
7. Someone walks in with a ridiculous outfit.
8. Ernie or Floop (our mascots) are mentioned.

Ask any of the three of us now and we'll tell you, that we loved Denver and can't wait to go back...but it certainly kicked our butts.

Abe Lincoln is staring at me

Okay we're a little behind where we're supposed to be in blogging. We're currently in Utah at Erin's sweet place surrounded by mountains. We'll be heading to Yellowstone/Grand Teton for camping experience number two and three in a bit. Now to recap events from last Friday...

It was really easy to get up the next morning at five to watch the sunrise because we were so cold (and it was so windy it sounded like prairie dogs were bouncing off our tent). We drove over to the badlands overlook on a recommendation from a twenty something working at the visitor center who was clearly too excited to be answering the question. He also recommended bringing a sweatshirt to wear so we could sit outside. Little did he know after sleeping experience we would have more layers on than on onion.

The sunrise was beautiful and can only be described by the pictures. The pictures still don't do the scenery justice. Here we also found out it was the buffalo making the noises Jess described (what I originally thought was a wounded man) because we heard and saw a herd of them below us. We went back to the tent, knowing we wouldn't be able to go back to sleep and packed up camp. With a few squabbles about how to fold up the tent and four tries (see, my fear was justified!), we were ready for a hike. After doing some "easy" and "moderate" hikes we were ready for a "strenuous" course involving a some kind of ladder and recommending sturdy boots.

The ladder just happened to be on a 45 degree incline, and going up it was nerve wracking, but easy. We knew later it might poise a problem. Allie took the lead up the ladder, through the rough terrain, over small ledges and brought us to the viewpoint at the end of the trail. We were so high up it was spectacular! After taking multiple tourist like pictures (and some trying to be artsy but coming out ridiculous) Allie lead us back to the ladder. Jess was probably most nervous to head back down and seriously considered rolling down the rough, rock filled hill ledge instead. It's good we were able to talk her out of doing that (sometimes she likes to jump from high places) and I took the lead down the ladder. Not because I was the bravest but because I knew if I headed down first I wouldn't have to deal with the ladder shaking parts with the steepest incline). As soon as we got back to the ground, (where Allie and Jess both slipped on loose rocks and almost ate it there) I took the lead again because Allie was afraid of a rattlesnake leaping out from the bushes and biting her. Jess wasn't so sure what the big deal was until I told her they were poisonous.

Next we took the scenic route out that would also lead us to the famous Wal-Drug. On route, with Allie driving, we almost got into an accident when Allie swerved to the side of the road and came to a dead stop screaming "PRAIRIE DOGS!" Jess who already was beginning to doze off in the back must have thought we were coming to our demise via driving off a cliff.

Wal-Drug was a giant weird market. We stopped for the 5 cent coffee, where Allie decided she needed 40 oz to drink, because hey, it was 5 cents (as you can see, still being thrifty)! We also got three of the most delicious donuts I've ever eaten.

Our next stop was Mount Rushmore - which is a rip off for parking (the yearly national park pass we bought doesn't cover this fee) but was worth it. This was the most crowded park visited so far. The detail on these statues was amazing. We all felt like Abe's dark, stone eyes were peering into our souls.

Finally we headed out of South Dakota to Denver. The route we took through Wyoming was amazingly boring and full of cattle. We passed the town of Lost Springs, Population: 1. After hours of driving through places like this, we arrived in Denver. Because of a mix up on how we were getting key's to Maeve's old apartment, we were forced to go to dinner in our grimy state after no showers after camping and hiking. Luckily, she directed us to a Mexican place (Maeve knows us so well) where we drank coronas, dos equis and margs to help take the edge of the drive off.

First Time Camping 101

We've really mastered the art of thriftiness. We stole Melba toast and crackers from the steakhouse because we were sure Red Roof Inn's continental breakfast would consist of jelly and bread(it was similar excitement of a child on Xmas morning when we walked into bagels, pastries, AND english muffins). We were sure to pack our cooler with free hotel ice, and steal the cups from our room. Allie reminds us daily of tips from Rachel Rays $40 a day on how to save. We risk the gas light going on because we are convinced we can find cheaper gas at the next rest stop. We got giddy over our bargain shopping and purchase of a 25 cent pack of Crayola crayons. It was only after seriously contemplating stealing toilet paper that we had to laugh at ourselves for turning into such cheap nomads.


After a friend called asking what we were doing and I replied, "We're in a WalMart in South Dakota buying a camp lantern," I knew it was time to be on our way as we were quickly becoming one with the hicks of Sioux Falls. We left excited and intrigued for what our 1st night of camping at the Badlands had to offer us. We made a quick stop at the Corn Palace, a building decorated solely with ears of corn. It was here that I mistook a live human, sitting next to an Indian statue, for being a statue herself at the doll museum. Loudly, embarrassingly, and within feet of the girl, I proclaimed to the girls, "SHE REALLY IS A STATUE!" I was staring at her so closely, I thought we we were having a staring contest for a brief moment, and when she finally turned her head, I quickly shuffled away from her with my jaw hanging low. Typical we would later see her at 2 rest stops and the same campsite as us. For the greater portion of the drive to Badlands, I colored (with my 25 cent box of Crayola crayons) in KK's disney princess coloring book, while Allie woke up from a nap realizing she had been holding Floop's hand the whole time.

We arrived at the Badlands National Park amazed and in awe at the beautiful scenery in front of us. It was literally like driving into a picture. After being true tourists and snapping copious amounts of photos(which don't do it justice) while still in the car, it was time to find our camp site and set up shop. Allie and I knew which spot to choose when Kakey the nature woman blurted out, "IS THAT A PAINTED BUNTING?" in utter excitement over her bird spotting. We scoped out our perfect piece of land on the outskirts and set up our tent there. I still can't get over how easy it is to put up a tent. With Katy efficiently directing, and only a slight bicker over where to face the opening, the tent was up in all its glory in approximately 15 minutes. I quickly realized this type of camping was the perfect introduction to camping for first timers. We were surrounded by other people, tents, bathrooms, and a beautiful backdrop. We hiked a few of the easier trails and were ready to pack it in for the night. We ate canned beans by the campfire, and by ate beans I mean we ordered 3 entrees from the lodging dining. To our defense, no fires were allowed and our past thriftiness allowed us the splurge. For dessert, we had lollipops. Katy and I had schemed to trick Allie by making her blind taste test a dill pickle lollipop. After a few hints, and guesses of beans, and then Jaeger, we knew Allie was too nervous about what it could be to use her taste buds to guide her.

After a few brews, copious amounts of bug repellent, and a game of Rummy 500(Allie won, damn it)lit by our new lantern, it was time for bed. Being a baby, I demanded being in the middle so if the psycho killer I feared of broke through the sides, he/she would get Allie or KK first. I knew the night would be interesting when a minute after laying down, Allie quickly shot up saying a frog was on her, until Katy, unfazed, told her it was merely a grasshopper and wanted to keep it as a pet. With KK reading us our bedtime chapter of "Trail to Destiny," we were content with our sleeping situation...until we heard the all too close sounds of what I thought sounded like the deep moo of a cow (can you tell how in tune with nature I am?), but was actually a buffalo. After a calming pep talk from the again unfazed KK, our worries were eased enough to fall asleep...for a little. We woke up having shivered awake every few hours as we used our 2 sleeping bags as the floor of the tent and thought keeping the vents of the tent open would be a good idea. Foolish 1st time camping mistake to think we'd be fine in shorts and a tee. I'm pretty sure I sprained my ankle in my sleep, Allie broke her back and was awoken by the howl of coyotes, and Katy thinks prairie dogs may have been bouncing off our tent throughout the night. I think Floop and Ernie were the only ones content with their night of sleep in the tent. Overall, I'm really just thankful my new knowledge of knowing the difference between an inquisitive bear vs. an attacking one was not needed..yet. Pictures to come lataaa.

Allie gets Iced in Wisconsin

After our brief "bump" in the road (by bump, I mean nail in the tire) and two new tires, we were on the road to South Dakota. First stop, a gas station in Wisconsin where Jess marveled at the fact that they sold beer, wine AND liquor. Unbeknownst to me, she had been scheming a plan. Thanks to our recent trip to see our dear cousin James and his gaggle of gentlemen friends, we learned what "icing" was. Basically, you hide a bottle of Smironoff Ice (as Katy described it, drinking "sweet soda") and wait for someone to find it. Upon them finding it, they have been "iced" and must chug the bottle. Unfortunately, I was the victim. Jess asked me, innocently enough to get her phone out of her purse before she started driving. Instead of her phone, I found a 32 ounce bottle of Smironoff Ice. Good thing I wasn't driving next! (I only chugged about half of it.)




After copious amounts of map and road-sign-reading, we realized that after IL and WI, we would be driving through Minnesota. The cool part was that the whole scenery changed immediately after crossing from WI to Minnesota. The "land of a thousand lakes" is pretty accurate, but the rolling hills really dominated. The coolest part of the ride was when we drove through a giant field of wind turbines. We're talking about 100 on both sides of the road. Apparently they don't do their job when there's no wind because only a couple of them were actually spinning. The most UNCOOL part of the ride was riding behind a truck carrying hundreds and hundreds of chickens on a one lane highway. Jess is severely depressed now that she found out that the chickens are actually not going to a beautiful farm in Minnesota to live out their lives.

Amidst reading another rousing chapter of "Trail of Destiny" where Katy proved her fabulous read aloud skills by proclaiming, in a rather fervent tone, "BARLEY" instead of "BARELY" when the main character asked another if they were awake yet, we arrived in South Dakota. Lots of cows, lots of open space.




After we checked into our ever-so-classy Red Roof Inn in Sioux Falls, we decided to venture to Tea, SD, about 15 minutes away for a recommendation from the road food king, DT. Katy was nervous there would be a dress code at the "Tea Steak House" and we had a good laugh when we got there because of it. Kitschy cowboy pictures, all wood furnishing and a 6'4'' waitress whose hands were bigger than Andre the Giants who we lovingly referred to as Doris. What we got was a feast. Kate- Sirloin, Jess- T-bone steak, and me- the special on a Wednesday night, Prime Rib. All came with salad, recommended hash browns instead of baked potato, and dinner rolls. The steak was unbelievable. We couldn't get over how different- but delicious each cut of meat was. Considering we didn't eat all day, the portions and the price were right. Thanks DT!


So we've been sitting in our hotel watching Top Chef waiting for the flood watch and crazy lightning show to die down before we head outside to get our luggage. Time to get ready for bed- we need to be the first ones at the free continental breakfast tomorrow morning :)

Cleveland, the windy city. Oh, wait... that's Chicago

So we're currently sitting in Elgin, Illinios, a rural area full of horse crossing signs. Unfortunately, this isn't because we wanted to go horseback riding but because of a leaky tire. Luckily, the Toyota Service Center I brought it into (probably the only one in a 50 mile radius) already has a lot of appointments so we're looking at 1-2 hours hanging out here. Thank God for WiFi.

We headed out of Rolling Meadows (a suburb outside Chicago where Laura lives) and into Chicago around noon. We were looking forward to being tourists, which started right away when we were trying to figure out which entrance to pass our tickets through to the 'L' (the train into the city). The worker asked us, "Where are you all headed?" and Allie answered "Chicago" which he responded, "Yea, where it's a big place". I later tried to reason with her that responding like that was like saying you were going to "New York City" but not specifying where. I had to bite my tongue anyway when a few moments later I was a tourist when I panicked when we were getting on the train and just ran into the closest car (that was filled to capacity even though there were like, 25 free seats in the car they were trying to get into) almost leaving Allie and Jess out on the side because they didn't know where I went.

Once we got down to Millennium Park, everything ran smoothly. Our first mission: Deep dish pizza. We found a Giordano's right near the park to eat. We were starving, and looking forward to food - but for those of you who don't know - deep dish pizza takes 40 minutes to cook! (Chicago Pizza : 0 , NY Pizza :1). We ordered a medium ( we were afraid the small that served 2-3 wouldn't be big enough. When it finally came we were in food heaven. First off, the pie was probably filled with about 5 lbs of cheese (Chicago:1, NY:1) and had a nice thick crust (Chicago:2,NY:1) . Unfortunately the thick crust tasted a bit like pie crust (Chicago:2, NY:2) and the massiveness of the pizza didn't sit well in Allie's stomach for the rest of the day (Chicago:2,NY:3,Allie:-5). So while these New Yorkers enjoyed the pizza thoroughly (and I could have eaten it for every meal) New York pizza still trumps all.

For the rest of the day we were as thrifty (or cheap) exploring the city as possible. Instead of taking the bus tour to drop us off at locations we saved our 25 bucks each and walked around the park (checking out the bean). Then we walked to Navy Pier which is probably 400 times cooler than the St. Petersburg pier and almost has ourselves killed taking a cab over to the John Hancock building (but hey, he got us there fast!) 15 dollars to see the city in the observatory? No thanks, we can see the skyline from below fine. Finally we hopped back on the L to meet Laura at the Cubs game. The train was as full as the subways over to Yankee stadium, but lacked the inappropriate groping felt on crowded NY subways.

Wrigley field was something else - pure baseball without trashy dancers in little skirts, t-shirt shooters, or giant electronic billboards with the players pictures on them. If you go to games for the entertainment side of things and not to actually watch the game, this may not be the place for you. I loved the old fashioned scoreboard - with people hanging out of little windows to put up numbers for all the games (too bad the Rays couldn't pull through with the win). The game was a little slow at first and the Cubs were getting smacked. Finally many home runs later, the Cubs pulled through with a 14-7 win. What makes the field even cooler is the nightlife around it. There are no giant parking lots surrounding it like so many ballparks of today. Instead there were streets of bars, where we celebrated the win with a few beers (15 miller lights?) and some newly made up dance moves.



Okay - I'll add pictures later, but I have to go cut short to pay for the two new tires I have to get (apparently the Car service I got before I left was useless). Good thing we saved so much money yesterday by not buying into all of the tourists traps!!!

Baddy Sauce

Although I had one set, an alarm for our early morning wake up at the Serafin household was unnecessary, as Julia's wails over bidding farewell to Katy @ 3:57am were the perfect reminder of the cross country journey we were about to embark on. We arose at 4am and departed from Carmel, NY at 5:06am. Within that hour, Katy tried to sneak as many pairs of flip flips in her car as possible, much to Big Bob's dismay. With every new item brought out to be packed, the most efficient packer could be heard grumbling "Who needs another roadtrip bag?" and couldn't understand why we wouldn't deflate "Floop", our inflatable octopus mascot, who survived Gasparilla with us. Let me preface our other mascot-after a full day of daydrinking at a beach bar in FL, I woke from a drunken stupor demanding to know if anyone found Ernie Lights. Who Ernie is, we will never know-but there the legend was made.

Katy began the 1st leg of our trip with me riding shotty, desperately trying to keep myself busy so as to not fall asleep, and Al snoozing in the back. Although I could detect Katy's nervousness about not having a state map to navigate us with, she adapted real well to TomTom, our GPS. The ever so moody British voice of TomTom, or Gertrude, as we like to call her, took some getting used to, but after a few muting episodes we were able to show her who was boss. We survived our 1st monsoon in Scranton, and although awake, my level of observance was at an all time low, as KK spotted the 1st 14 states for our license plate game. Not wanting to push her luck with developing a blood clot, KK passed the torch to me after about 5 hours.

After a coffee, a redbull, and a useless stop to the bathroom due to my liquid consumption, I was ready. Our goal for the morning was to find the perfect "Kitty." We decided we'd each put equal amount of money in a box/jar and use it for gas, food, tolls, etc so no fights would arise over who would pay for what. So at our 1st gas break at the Flying J(uge), we found our ever so classy Sunflower "Kitty" jar for a mere $3. Booyah. After, we continued what seemed like our 19 hour trek through Pennsylvania, with KK reading us chapters of "Trail to Destiny," character voice changes and all, and introducing the term "Baddy Juice" to us from "The Bad Girls Guide to Getting Personal-we're still unsure of what that is/means. Allie, true to form,organized and labeled our CD selection immediately after taking over shotty. After another 5 hours and a slight miscommunication with Gerdy, who needed a slight bitchslap to get out of safety mode, we landed in Cleveland, Ohio for our 1st stop. We had a romantic lunch alongside Lake Eerie of Big Bob's chicky cut, mozz, and sun dried tomato wedges, and made our way to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum. Really cool place- we saw memorabilia, costumes and outfits, and notepads of original song lyrics(Steven Tyler thinks reminisce is spelled reminiss). On our way out,I was reprimanded after foolishly attempting to take "Kitty" out of my bag to pay for our rock star photo taken for us upon entering the museum.



Allie took us from Cleveland. As our most observant driver, she was able to spot our favorite named road thus far- Fangboner. Katy, our resident Frenchy, thought maybe it was pronounced "Fongbonet." Allie's relationship with TomTom has been the most tumultuous, so to drown out the voice of Gerdy, we provided her with the perfect fist pumping beats from Jock Jams. Awww Yea.

After 16 hours in the car, we finally made it through Chicago to the suburbs of Rolling Meadows at 9:30pm. We are lucky enough to be staying with our college roommate, Laura, who not only got us a full supply of good smelling Johnson & Johnson products but also tickets to the Cubs game tonight!

Bobby is trying to get us psyched. Try it out- bet you can't get more than 10. The only thing I could remember was dysentery...

http://www.sporcle.com/games/oregontrail.php

The calm before the storm...

The road trip that we began planning for in MAY is finally upon us.

After breakfast this morning, Katy made me take down the tent with her, as Big Bob monitored our progress. It was comical to say the least. I can only speak for myself, but I am totally not the camping type- which almost makes it more fun that Katy, Jess and I are all doing this for our first times together! We joked about our fears of camping. Mine, snakes and animals. Jess- killers waiting at the camp grounds to prey on 3 novice campers from NY. And Kate's? None...or, nix that, making sure we fold up the tent correctly.

So today is our prep day- Katy is packing and organizing. Actually Katy is packing and Julia is basically her personal assistant making her throw away things that she doesn't need from her room. My parents always told me that I was a great organizer, but Julia has actually reached "Polish cleaning lady" status because she's so good at it. But I guess that's neither here nor there...

Jess is packing her half carry-on (Katy confined us to one bag to share because she HAD to leave room for her winter wardrobe (EW)) And I, true to form, am having a lazy Sunday attempting to recoop after an awesome night of tailgating, friends, beer and of course DAVE. It really was the best way to say goodbye to New York.

So New York today, hopefully we'll be in Cleveland by this time tomorrow...Bye for now, I gotta go buy some bear repellent (yikes).