Views...

Again I failed to upload the pictures... But take my word the views are amazing. 

It has been a while since I have updated this. I forgot most of the best things I am sure. I did fail to mention a lady named Susie in Minneapolis. She was a 50 year old woman who was about to commit adultery. She befriended us. 

I did manage to get a speeding ticket in Utah. Those Mormons don't play around. I almost stayed at Bates Motel, but I spent the extra money for a place that I knew I would wake up in. This Best Western also had a veggie burger so that was good. 

Really the views have been amazing. I probably won't post the photos until I get into Portland. It's looking like that will now be Sunday or late Saturday. Cell Phone service has been spotty at best. The radio is also filed under this category. I will admit that I love the song Halo. It's really great. Nothing wrong with that CD actually. I am not so fond of Gives You Hell. 

Less dead deer this time. 

It's pretty strange not staying in a place for more than a few hours. It will be nice to have some consistent home for at least 2 months. I am heading to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon today and then to Vegas for the night. I am running behind already. From there its onto San Fran and then Portland. 

Back to the drive. The road seriously shouldn't be there. When I am driving it's nuts. It's like we intruded on the land. I have never been so close to cliffs and rocks. There was a boulder on the highway. 

I spent the other night in Boulder, CO. Watched the Pens games with some Steeler fans. Overall, Boulder is a great little city. I ate some vegan bangers and mash. It was good. Got lost on some winding road, stayed at a shady inn and heard a lot of Christian radio. 

All of the cities I have visited have been really great. Minus everything in Utah, well not true. I will elaborate later. But back to these cities. They would be great places to live if it wasn't such a harsh winter. Milwaukee, Minneapolis, and Boulder were pretty cool, young, veg and bike friendly. 

Mount Rushmore was pretty amazing. It was smaller than I thought it would be. I am glad I got to see it. I couldn't even carve that into butter let a lot a mountain. 

Utah has had some great characters. The owner of the Best Western was talking to me. She was amazed at my laptop and that I could take class online. Yes, it's a small town. She was a lovely lady and very funny. 

I again am not doing this justice, but I am rushed for time. I hope to win millions tonight, but I will probably lose a hundred. 

Other than the speeding ticket this trip has been amazing, even flying solo. 

there were dirt roads...

Woah,

Driving in SD in the middle of the night is freezing scarrry. I did however see the most beautiful sunset in my life. IF you know me and I say I saw the most beautiful sunset then YOU realize how beautiful this sunset was. I was chasing down the sunset. Here are some bullets of what I seen from Minneapolis to Wall, SD. 

- zero police on my side of the road

- one person walking on the highway

- five dead dear

- Missouri River

- a giant iron cow head

- a giant jolly green giant sign - literally was gigantic 

I will upload some photos maybe tonight depending on how this drive goes.

Mall of America bullets

- 25 rides, I didn't know that

- our good friends from Missouri 

- a hobbit

- a giant mall 

The rest of Minneapolis was pretty nice. We met a really nice guy who gave us directions to Pizza Luce. If you are ever in Minneapolis check it out. Great vegan pizza. Lots of bikers in Minneapolis there is also St. Paul. Lots of Day and Night remixes. 

Going back in time to Milwaukee..... get your BREWS DUDES

This place literally was torn down and rebuilt. I think I already wrote about it so I'm down talking it about it again. I know, okay. 

I am really behind schedule. I think I am cutting out the trip to LA. Planning an across the country trip is not easy. It is actually hard. I am about to go to Wall Drug and the MT. RUSH. Hoping to catch the Penguin game in Boulder, CO tonight. 

Stiffy the rooster had an injury we fixed him up. 

Oh so there is a house party....

The vegetarian food tour has been in full swing. We started today in Lansing, MI. Gain an hour and had lunch in Chicago, IL. We ate at this vegetarian place called the Lake Shore Cafe. Highly recommended. I had a vegetarian gyro, Miranda had some special dish. We got cupcakes and cookies they were vegan. We drove around Chicago for a bit and then made our way to Milwaukee, WI. 

I think they tour the whole city down and rebuilt modern housing. Every where we turned there were lofts and condos and all that type of junk. Seriously I would guess over 10 new housing complexes. We were told to eat at Palominos. It was this bar off the beaten path. Lots of vegan and veg stuff. We had wings and tots to start. I had a BBQ sandwich and Miranda had blackened tofu. All was very tasty. We watch the pens game and then decided to drive off a bit to get a cheaper hotel. That didn't work out I think we actually paid 5 dollars more. 

We tried to do a dead dear count, but we didn't keep track enough for it to be statistically significant. On the road there was a gas station that had "Not an Exit" on the bathroom doors. Why did they have to do that? I guessed that multiple people had to go into the bathroom and actually think they could exit the place. I imagine that conversation going like this...

Why the HELL do you mean there's not exit from this bathroom? I gotta poop and run. 

Another great event was when we were looking for hotels we called a few places to get some prices. We called this place called Serinity Inn but later found out it was a drug rehabilitation center. Let's just say we are at a Days Inn. 

The food was great, the times were fun, we sang some songs, and saw a crazy car wreck in Chicago. 

15 dead dear later....

The first leg of this trip has been bloody. I have never seen so many recently killed animals. I think I literally just missed one accident. It was kind of gross. My time in Pittsburgh was truly great. I really miss that place. It felt so comfortable to be home. There really are no other words to put it other than great. I had a great meal in Dayton, OH. Thai 9, I recommend going if you find yourself in the area. As I update this blog I hope to work out all of the kinks in the blog idea by the end of the week for sure. It's getting late and I got another day, well many days, of travel ahead. 

Goodnight Canada. 

HOME

After a long time away I am back in Pittsburgh...

The first leg of this summer is in the wonderful city of Pittsburgh. It started with a family night at PNC Park and will continue tomorrow with a day downtown followed up by a night at Mellon Arena. 

I officially feel like it's summer cause my eyes are itchy and my nose is running. The rest of the blog project should be coming together by the end of the week. I am just working out some tech kinks. 

The past few days in Brooklyn were quite nice; thanks Shively's. 

I realized that without pictures this blog is going to be BORING like that movie Perfume so I will be bringing a camera on my trip. This is very much not me so it will take some getting used to. Most of the photos will probably feature my rooster. 

That's about it. 

Trail Blazzzer

Shorts today was a bad choice.... BUT NOT SOON WELCOME TO MY SUMMER BLOG...

Today is the first day of my summer blog. I will be blogging from Portland, OR and Portland State University. Before I end up in Portland I am taking a cross-country road trip. I will be using the restroom in the following states starting tomorrow. 

Illinois - by flight

Washington, DC. - by flight, not a state I get it I know.

New York - by flight

Pennsylvania - by flight

Ohio - by road

Michigan - by road

Indiana - by road

Illinois - by road 

Wisconsin - by road

Minnesota - by road

South Dakota - by road

Wyoming - by road

Colorado - by road

Utah - by foot

New Mexico - by foot

Arizona - by road 

Nevada - by road

California - by road

Oregon - by road

I promise future post will be more interesting than the past few seconds...

In other news I just saw the trailer for Where the Wild Things Are. It looks amazing it comes out Oct. 16. Fun fact: Karen O did the music for the movie. 

Since I have yet to embark on this journey this entry is coming to a close. 

SPOILER ALERT: My final entry for this summer blog may or may not be titled Trail Blazzzed.