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Sunday, May 20, 2012

Road Trip

Riley, Sean, and I got back Saturday afternoon. We had a blast, but we were quite exhausted, especially Sean since he had to do all the driving. You know what the most confusing thing was? Trying to figure out what state we were in. Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois do not mark their borders very clearly. We had fun trying to figure where we were and what time zone we were in.

We flew into Ohio and stayed with Sean's friend (the person we were getting the car from) the first night. I though the friend was a dude the whole time, but he turned out to be a woman. She was very nice, but it was hard to get a good sleep after flying all day and being in a strange place. Riley had never been east of the Mississippi River before, so it was even stranger for her.

We were on the road by 8am the next day and stopped in a small town in Ohio to have lunch at a park.
 The park had a really big pond full of little fish. Riley and I had a blast feeding them our lunch. We discovered that the fish loved Nutter Butters, but were afraid of Oreos. They also really liked cheese.

There was a bunch of geese and goslings, too! Sean said we couldn't take them in the car, though. Actually if was amazing that we all fit to begin with. We each had a suitcase and a backpack. At Sean's friend's house we got loaded down with food for the road, too.

After our lunch break we didn't stop again until we got to our stop in Illinois, about two hours from Chicago. We stayed with another friend of Sean's there. Sean was pretty excited to get us some free places to stay and free food. I was excited that his friend had a dog.

The next morning we left again at 8am and headed to Chicago. We had reservations for a hotel there and would have a chance to see some sights. I have lived in Illinois before and been to Chicago, but it has been a long time. It was so bizarre! I loved it, though. It was like another culture compared to Montana. Most of the people were dressed so nicely and always in a hurry. Messenger bags, iPods and headphones, little dogs, and black or khaki coats seemed to be a typical Chicagoan. We had fun picking out the tourists. I'm sure we stood out like crazy!

 We went to the American Girl Place and some stores in the Water Tower Place after we unloaded our stuff in the hotel room. Huge TV! Anyway, after that we walked a few miles to Lake Michigan.

 Riley was fascinated by the water, although the seagulls scared her a little. I think Chicago was a little overwhelming for her in general. She was born near Denver, but never spent much time in the actual city before she and her dad moved to Wyoming.
 I thought the city was gorgeous, but it did make me homesick for Montana. I wanted my clear, blue sky and cows back.


 At the beach we made a friend. Her name is Lyra and she has lived in Chicago all her life. We spent awhile playing and talking with her.
Lyra and I decided to become pen pals and possibly co-blog together on another blog. I hope we can find the time to do so. I really want you guys to get to know Lyra. She was a lot of fun. It was sad to have to leave the beach.

I'll post the rest of the trip another day. I'm still pretty tired. But it was an amazing experience.

6 comments:

  1. Salut, Emily!
    Wow, it looks like you had an amazing time on your trip! You got to do some neat things and see some neat things...as well as meet some cool people. Lyra sounds very nice, and I hope you guys can co-blog together. I'd love to get to know her!
    Bisous,
    Sabine

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  2. Jealous! Chicago is my favorite city to visit. Thanks for the pictures!

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  3. Sounds like an awesome trip! You got some fantastic pictures. I look forward to hearing about the rest of the trip.

    Glad you had a good time!

    Love,
    Bree

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  4. Hi Emily,

    Road trips are so much fun! I'm a little envious of you and Riley - just because I've been doing nothing but schoolwork lately. I've only been to Chicago once, and that was when I first left Paris. I stopped and hung out in the city for a while before flying to my new school. It was a pretty city, and I'd love to go back!

    Ooh, speaking of Chicago, did you have their famous deep dish pizza?!

    Lake Michigan is so lovely! I love the photos of you and your friends exploring the beach. I'm glad that you were able to get to know Lyra, and I hope to see more of her!

    Thanks for sharing your trip photos with us!

    Sophie

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  5. Sophie,

    We did have pizza, but not deep dish. Sean didn't want to drive far from our hotel or pay an arm and a leg so are choices were limited. But the pizza we did have was very good.

    I hope you get to visit Chicago again. It's a gorgeous city.

    Emily

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  6. Oooohhhh tons of fun, you are lucky, I would love to do a road trip too,

    Hugs,
    Taryn

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