After a little over 10 days in the midwest, I can safely say that I'm very happy to be out of the heat and back in my own bed. It was a good trip, although if I ever have to try to find vegetarian food at an I-80 exit again, I might scream. Gross, gross, gross. It really made me miss Eugene, where vegetarians are just pansy vegans.
Here's the trip in 50 words or less.
The road was long, but Harry Potter on tape helped a bit. We went to my Aunt's beautiful house, got to see a slew of relatives and did lots of swinging and Pokemon-ing with my cousin Ashley's cute kids. We also watched RAGBRI a cross-Iowa bicycle ride from the Missouri river to the Mississippi--it was hot, but we had secret weapons (umbrellas and cold drinks). Michael met his first pig, learned about corn, kept asking "how can it be this flat?" and helped me catch lightening bugs.We visiting a bridge and a butterfly-filled garden and sweated in the mid-west heat--it really is amazing how different 95 in humidity feels, compared with 95 in dry, dry Utah. We then drove to my Grandmother's small town, Albia, Iowa and visited the town square and the water tower (in walking this quarter mile, we managed to see the whole town). Then we went to my Nana's house in Rockford, IL. We looked at her amazing elephants, played Scrabble, and I met my new cousin for the first time. We drove into Chicago for a day and visited the Contemporary Museum of Art, took an architectural boat tour, and went to the Art Institute--what can I say, my family loves me. My Nana talked to us about my mom's childhood (which was amazing blackmailing material) and about hers and my grandpa's life quite a bit. We looked through old pictures and Michael even let my Nana (who's legally blind) get about one inch from his face to take a look at him--she confirmed my suspicions: he's quite attractive. After all the visiting and sweating, we headed for home. Since my Grandma can't drive anymore (although she doesn't share this opinion) my sister was going to drive her car home and take it to school with her. There were two problems with this plan: 1) it's a '95 Mercury Sable and 2) it's a '95 Mercury Sable. Let's just say the transmission gave out in Burns (aka nowhere), Wyoming, and we ended up selling it (to a family that reminded me very much of the Riddle family in the 6th Harry Potter) for scrap. Oh man. What a trip.
Alright, that was more than 50 words, but a lot of things happened. Here's the photo version of that last paragraph:
Our favorite rest stop. What's yours?
Michael was very impressed with the Cracker Barrel and insisted that our time there be recorded. (Those are sarcastic thumbs.)
You may think this picture is blurry, but it's actually the humidity fogging up the lens.
Michael and some show pigs.
This was a neat bridge for cyclists built over an old railroad line near my Aunt's house. Proof that everywhere has more city art projects than Salt Lake.
I wonder if it made any of the bikers mad that I was taking pictures of my spectating family instead of them.
Doesn't he look dainty?
Susan, James, Chris: bicycle warriors!
Lightening bugs!
My Aunt has a friend, and a new idea for a bracelet.
Considering a seven-year-old took this, it's pretty good.
Chicago! The new Marilyn. It wasn't my favorite, but it sort of demands a photo op.
Because I know you wanted to know.
We're on a boat!
What a pretty city.
The Sears Tower and something from the 70s, obviously.
The Art Institute. One of my favorites. I wish I lived closer so I could sit in front of the Giacometti's for hours, instead of rushing through.
Ha!
See, we're in love.
My Banana Nana and Laura, chatting about...everything.
One of my favorite things about my Nana is how much she loves elephants--she's collected about 400, although most of them have been given away or sold now. She's given me a few over the years. When I was in 8th grade she gave me the very first elephant she ever got when she was 14. I have it in my apartment in Logan. If I had to pick a favorite thing, I would chose my little brown and orange circus elephant. She even gave Michael a few elephants, she called him over and told him to pick anything he wants for his desk. She hopes he'll write about it someday. This trip I took home the bookends on the left. I really love them.
This is the man who we sold the car to--he smoked his cigarette the whole time we were there, including when he filled up some cans of gas. Dicey? I think so. Really though, isn't this the Marvolo Riddle of Wyoming? I wish I had a picture of his son and his pet snake (just kidding, he didn't have a snake).
R.I.P Sable. I would like to say that we had a good run, but we didn't even make it to Cheyenne.
I would now like to apologize for this incredibly long blog post and thank my mom for reading all of it. Thanks, Midwest--it was swell.
1 comment:
The Sears Tower was built in the 70's, obviously.
Roasted.
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