On the Road

So I have about 4 minutes to write something in here real quickly. I didn't think I'd get a chance to see a computer until I got home, but we have free internet connection in our hotel room, so now I can tell you a little bit about what's been going on the past couple of days.

Sunday morning we started our trek across the US. Matt and I picked Bob up at the airport in Hartford, CT, early Sunday morning and drove through CT, NY, PA, WV, OH and then landed in Fort Wright, KY, where Bob's son, Brian, lives with his wife and their three kids, Jacob (7), Luke (5), and Max (3). By the end of the day, we'd driven over 800 miles! (Yikes!) We stayed there Sunday night and putzed around Bob's old stomping ground all Monday, visiting his brother and several of Bob's nieces and nephews. One of them owns a little country store on the way to Bob's farm, so we stopped there for lunch on Monday. The best part of the day was all the picture-taking we did, though. We stopped at several awesome locations and got all ADULT.-like with the camera. I promise this will all make sense when I post the pictures, but I'll have to wait to do that until I get home. Anyway, Kentucky really is beautiful with its rolling hills and bountiful greenery this time of year. Seeing Bob's family was also extremely fun, particularly all the time we got to spend with his grandkids, who are really and truly amazing.

Tuesday we left around 11 and shot up northwest to Chicago to spend the evening/night. I am actually writing from just outside of Chicago in our hotel room in Highland Park, a nice suburb filled with many affluent people and their ridiculously nice houses. Last night one of our friends from BU, Alex, met up with us for dinner. We ate an excellent Italian meal in downtown Highland Park and drove around the surrounding area afterward to take in some of the most incredible homes I've ever seen in my life. The houses in some of these northern suburbs of Chicago are truly amazing. Since Chicago is more or less the architecture mecca of the country, you can imagine how interesting and unique these homes are - not to mention how fucking huge they are, too. Michael Jordan lives around here, as do the people who occupy the home that that beloved movie of mine, Home Alone, takes place in. This morning we are stopping there on our way out to take a few pictures. I will probably enlarge them upon returning home and consider them amongst my most precious treasures. Because I'm awesome like that.

Anyway, after we drove around the area for a while, we stopped at a cafe in Evanston (near Northwestern) that could only have been founded by a Smith alum. The cafe is called Kafein, and the restrooms are what make it. There's a women's restroom, with the following sign: Women! Then, there are two men's restrooms: Men! and Men? Obviously, every male that walks into Kafein who needs to use the bathroom will head for the men's restroom with the Men! sign. Much to his dismay, though, he will find that the door is actually a trick door. He will then be forced to bow his head in shame and give in to the tomfoolery of it all by using the restroom for Men? Funny, funny.

Okay. So I am being told that I need to wrap up before we hit the road again. We're making it to Kansas City today, Dever tomorrow, Salt Lake on Friday, and home (hopefully) on Saturday. If we're too tired to drive all the way home on Saturday, though, there's always Sin City to grant us reprieve.

More elaboration later and lots of pictures, too. I just wanted to let you all know that I'm doing all right - fantastically well, in fact. Bob, Matt, and I are having a ball so much so that I think I might start living out of my car in true Jewel fashion.

Psych!

PS. Hit up one of my older posts entitled "Post-Script" to read Allison's extremely entertaining comment regarding my receipt-eating habit.