Midwest Madness

Hello from Wisconsin! I am currently in Wauwatosa, which is right next to Milwaukee. All I can say is...it's HOT. Well I guess that's not all I can say. But man, it sure is hot here. And also, did I mention that Wisconsin is hot?! I hear that Colorado has been getting lots of wind and even a little snow! Crazy!! It's the humidity here that's getting to me. The heat would be bearable if it weren't so humid, so whenever I step outside it just feels sticky!

Anyways, despite the intense heat I've been enjoying my time here in Wisconsin! The drive from St. Louis was slightly brutal, it took most of the day and driving through Illinois was boring with nothing but farms to look at. Finally I got to Chicago though and the driving got more interesting. I had to stop every few miles to pay 30 cent tolls and 80 cent tolls, and then add in some road construction, bumpy roads, unforgiving drivers, and a guy in a bright yellow Hummer with all kinds of bumper stickers I didn't agree with. But finally I made it to Erin's apartment in Wauwatosa which seem to be a pretty cool little town and it's just minutes from Milwaukee. Last night we drove and walked around downtown Milwaukee a little bit, coming across the bronze statue of Fonzie from Happy Days (did you know Happy Days took place in Milwaukee?? I forgot that) and then we had dinner at a restaurant that was right over the river that runs right through town. Today I plan to explore the city a little more while Erin is at work. I think I'll go see Lake Michigan today. I've seen it from the Michigan side once, and it was just...so....massive! It looked like an ocean because I just couldn't see the end of it anywhere. Lakes are something we just don't do well in Colorado. Mountains we can do, and snow we can do, and lax marijuana laws we can do...but not large bodies of water. haha. So I'm glad to be in places now that have water!

An interesting observation I've made while in Illinois and Wisconsin is that these people really like their vanity plates on their cars! I've never seen so many vanity plates in one place before. I was thinking it either means people are more creative here or more bored, and need to have interesting license plates to keep them entertained. Hmm. Just a random thought for the day.

I've got about one more week of traveling before I arrive in Maine, and this week is going to be quite a busy week of many states. Tomorrow I'm heading to Chicago for the day, then to Ohio, then Thursday I go to Pittsburgh, then New York on Friday and after Friday I'm not sure yet what my plan is exactly but it will involve New Hampshire, possibly Vermont, and definitely Maine. So by this time next week I'll probably be in Maine!

In other news, tragically, LOST ended on Sunday. Although I think maybe it's for the best because now I can move on with my life and be less of a slave to the addiction of LOST :-) but I was certainly sad to see it end. The ending, I thought, was quite good and I may have even cried a little bit, haha. My favorite thing was that the show ended exactly how it began 6 years ago, with a close-up of Jack's eye. The show started with his eye opening, and it ended with his eye closing. I love neat little full-circle things like that, it's so satisfying. So....I loved the ending. And now I bid farewell to LOST. Sigh.

That's all for now. Here are a few photos of my time in Milwaukee thus far: (by the way, if you didn't know, you can click on the images to make them larger)

Erin with the sushi we made!

Downtown Milwaukee

Erin and The Fonz