Back in February my friend Mur talked about how she was going to have to drive her car back home to Boston at the end of the year and I casually said "can I come with you?" That's when the adventure began.
Evanston, IL- stayed with Clayton Wheeler and got to his house at midnight. So generous to let us stay there and his parents were very nice. woke up the next morning and went to Starbucks to use the wifi and so I could change my clothes. Then filled up with gas where I bought a toothbrush and preceded to brush my teeth in the bathroom
Chicago, IL- skyline is beautiful! Both Mur and I had only been there once. We rode the $6 Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier, Walked around Millenium Park, all over Michigan Ave, the art museum and then took the train to Wriggley Field. Caught a Cubs game for $20. They have some great fans who LOVE their beer.
On Wednesday June 5 at 12:30pm Mur, Sam David and I piled in Mur's car. We set out to drop Sam off in Kansas City, KS. We went through this trip knowing we had 6 days to get to Mur's house but that was the only plan besides dropping Sam off in KC, KS. We had no places set up to stay, no precise times to be anywhere and no one we had to answer to. Based on each city we were in here's what happened--
Kansas City, KS- stayed at Sam's house and met her friends, her mom had a cookie cake with our names on it.
Kansas City, MO- Wendy David treated us to breakfast. quaint city to walk around, the river is pretty
*What I learned in Kansas and KC,KS-- Tech 9 is from KC, KS, driving through Kansas is prettier than I ever thought (it's actually green with hills), I saw one the most beautiful sunsets in my rear view mirror, Hallmark started in KC, Kate Spade is from KC
St. Louis, MO- met up with my friend Jessica Foley from HOBY WLC '09, you NEVER want to be in East St. Louis (we accidentally ended up there), the Cardinals stadium is cool, St. Louis Bread Co. is really the EXACT same thing as Panera Bread
Evanston, IL- stayed with Clayton Wheeler and got to his house at midnight. So generous to let us stay there and his parents were very nice. woke up the next morning and went to Starbucks to use the wifi and so I could change my clothes. Then filled up with gas where I bought a toothbrush and preceded to brush my teeth in the bathroom
Chicago, IL- skyline is beautiful! Both Mur and I had only been there once. We rode the $6 Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier, Walked around Millenium Park, all over Michigan Ave, the art museum and then took the train to Wriggley Field. Caught a Cubs game for $20. They have some great fans who LOVE their beer.
Wilmette, IL- Stayed with Alex Chipparoni and his family. They live right on Lake Michigan so we got a gorgeous sunset over the lake. Lake Michigan reminds of an ocean because it's so expansive. drove past Northwestern's football stadium so I could see where cousin Adam played football. delicious breakfast made by Mrs. Chipparoni.
Ann Arbor, MI- stopped for lunch at a dive restaurant bought some expensive, but delicious chocolate, shopped in the cute shops, and starbucks for some wifi. Ann Arbor is really pretty, the football stadium is massive! The campus is pretty with old, white brick
Detroit, MI-Motor City,USA. tons of graffiti everywhere, old rundown buildings
London, ON, CAN- stayed with Matt Ferguson from HOBY WLC '09 (haven't seen each other in 4 years). We turned off our phones when we crossed the border so we told Matt we would knock on his door between 7:30-8 that night and sure enough we did at 7:45. His roommates were really nice. We accompanied them to "The Beer Store" (it's literally called that because all the sell is beer in a refrigerated building). Met more of Matt's friends including 2 cousins who were some of the funniest people I've ever met. Went out to an outdoor bar that night. The bouncers laughed at our ID's saying they looked like really cheap fake IDs. people behind us just laughed. We caught the last of the Blackhawks game before finding a table to sit at for a few hours. Everyone was so nice and friendly. It was a different atmosphere then in the states. our favorite part was that people talked to us and were genuinely interested in us instead of just playing on their phones. We headed to McDonalds and then off to bed at 4am!
*this was my favorite night of the trip
Toronto, CAN-left Matt's house at 8am and drove to Toronto. It's a lot like Chicago as far as being a big city on the water. The city is growing extremely quickly. Most of their buildings were built with glass so it made all the architecture gorgeous. We saw the CN Tour, Blue Jays stadium, and walked around the city and lakefront
Montreal, QC,CAN- stayed with Mur's family friends from when they lived there for 2 years when they lived there 15 years ago. We had a great dinner and then Mur and I walked around Montreal. We probably walked 6 miles that night. Stopped and had some Fro-Yo. Some much French in Montreal, well Quebec in general. It's like a completely different country. Not much english anywhere. In the morning we went to a look, went to McGill University and through old town Montreal. pretty city.
*we learned that in Canada the speed limit is 100kmph means at least 120kmph or you will be passed by trucks. "Eh" is a common thing people really do say. people are all friendly and call each other "brother", universities are a lot cheaper there
Stowe, VT- small, small ski town. We met up with Mur's brother Rob and his girlfriend Erin. We climbed and submitted Vermont's tallest peak where you could see lake Champlain. It was so windy on top but really pretty. I kept making the comment that it's a ski hill not a mountain, but this is one of the Northeast's best places to ski.we had dinner at a Mexican restaurant and then played tag on a playground for half an hour (extreme tag while jumping over railings). Ate maple ice cream and black raspberry ice cream. drove to Burlington to see some of their friends and walk around UVM. It's a nice college town right on lake Champlain. the first Ben&Jerry's was here. church street is a lot like Pearl Street in Boulder because the same guy designed it. in the morning we toured the Ben&Jerry's factory and tasted Milk and Cookies ice cream, delicious!
Medfield, MA- hung out and relaxed. met Mur's friends, saw the state championship HS guys lax game at Harvard Stadium, watched the first game of the Stanley Cup Finals at a local bar in Boston, had ice cream at Bubbling Brook, hiked to an overlook of the city, embraced all the rain!
Providence, RI-flew out of here to come home. Literally got to the airport at 5:20 and my flight was at 5:40. Made it non the less
The end of an incredible experience. We spent about $500 on gas and tolls along the way, drove over 2,400 miles in 6 days, hung out with incredible people and made new friends. Every step of the way we had to explain that we go to school in Denver but Mur lives in Boston and I'm from Utah but I just wanted to drive with her. People were confused at first but then jealous of our journey. We called ourselves nomades throughout the adventure. we heard almost every song on the radio, satellite radio, cds and our phones. "I want Crazy", "Wagon Wheel","Landslide", "Get Lucky" were our top played songs. I encourage everyone to set out on an adventure like this. It was fun to do it as a 20 year old with one friend. We never knew where we were going to stay but managed to find people every step of the way. Thank you to everyone who hosted us! America (and Canada) are incredibly beautiful and diverse places that should be explored. Learn something new everyday and meet someone different.
