Aerobed

My new best friend

You'd Think I'd Be Ready for This

The next 7 months begin like this . . .
Here are some facts about me that are likely to recur often

I am on the floor.
I am on an air mattress.
I don't know what I'm doing tomorrow.
I am in Iowa.

The past few days were supposed to be mental preparation for this next stage of my life. They were certainly fun, a real blast, but I don't know if anything can prepare you for what I think is ahead.

I won't waste text with guessing what is ahead though. Cause I'll probably be wrong. So, just stay tuned to see what crazy things actually happen.

One last rest stop before Cedar Rapids.

Iowa welcome center. I think I'll register so the state knows I am here.

Last time im wakin in a hotel. Packing bags to leave chicago. Curtis heads to iowa, i head to newark:-)

Day 3 - The End of the Road

Ryan departs tomorrow. And since it will take us a long time to get to O'Hare, we're going to get going early. So, out touring time has ended. Now, you're probably asking why it will take so long if we have a GPS . . . well, Nuvi is upset with us because we took her on our walk today. But she still thought we were in a car. When we walked over pedestrian bridges, she thought we had driven straight into the river. She called the police, who found us in good health, and Nuvi was very embarrassed. Sorry.

My traveling partner has been a great help. And I've enjoyed seeing him blossom into a full-fledged blogger. When we began, he thought blogger was Frogger's Ms. Pac Man. Now, he's beaming up photos from his phone before he even opens his eyes in the morning. (About that, Ryan, please be wary that many of our readers are children. Sometimes, it's best to see what your snapping photos of.)

While Ryan flies East, I drive West. My driving journey ends sometime Thursday night, in Des Moines. But my occupational journey is just starting. Stay tuned to this website (check you local listings) for more info on all that jazz (<------Chicago....get it?)

-- Curtis

DAY 3 - CHICAGO

DAY 3 oh glee I need a cup of hot tea.

Chicago - the home the blues - or at least I think it is - theres a Blue Jazz club right down the street from the hotel and outside our window is a nice wall of art saying Chicago Blues. WE did a ton of walking today - killing my feet. The walk around Cleveland on flip flips ripped up the top of my feet near the top - making me switch flip flops to the Old Navy ones.

But mid day walking around Chicago, I couldn't take it anymore - I needed to do something. A sanitation man saw me in distress and showed me the way to Payless. Later we decided he was God showing me the light, helping me out. I bought slippers, thinking they would make the day heavenly, yet the devil played with my feet, the slippers ripping the back and sides of my feet after miles of walking around the city, going to the skydeck in the tallest structure in America, the Sears Tower. Gorgeous views of Chicago were seen and then we headed to the Navy Pier, a large well known fun pier in Chicago - but I couldn't walk anymore, I was literally bleeding, I needed to take off my shoes and walk barefoot for a while, finally realizing I needed to buy socks, no matter the price, no matter the style. So here I am walking around in thick long socks bought from Wall greens in SLIPPERS around the city and down the Navy Pier.

We decide dinner should be of something native to Chicago, and went with the deep dish pizza, which was deep, delicious and filled my deep stomach. Time for a ball game. We took the subway to Wrigley Field, meeting some locals on the way - the stadium was packed - the Cubs stunk. Oh well. People cut us getting subway tickets - I am officially not a fan of Chicagoians - the 24 hour modern large McDonald's sold me a cold cool Shrek mint sludge shake. Now I type to you my thousands of fans. I am flying home tomorrow. Sussex I know you missed me. Ill be home soon. Ill be home baby, here I come.

At cubs game. Lots of fly balls. Cubs losing.

Chicago's famous deep dish pizza being enjoyed by Curtis almost too much.

Calls

Ryan making power calls during our power walk before the power lunch.

Millenium park, chicago. Cool, right?

Stand close enough to the fountain and you get a mid-day shower.

Indiana / Ohio Border

Here's a video from yesterday. It's a lesson on border crossing. Don't tell the INS.


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Up Ahead

Good morning,
We've made some plans for Chicago today . . .

1) Leave the Hotel Room
2) Sears Tower Skydeck
3) (Insert world famous Chicago landmark here)
4) Swim across Lake Michigan *
5) Wrigley Field


Any other suggestions?

* some plans subject to change

Chicago

good morning chicago!

My Day Two

Ryan actually got most it right. (not counting spelling).

I'd be remiss if I didn't thank our mutual girlfriend, Nuvi GPS. After yesterday's restaurant debacle, she came through big today. She navigated Cleveland and Chicago like they were downtown Colesville, NJ. She knew all the best roads to avoid scary truckers. (And the times when we wanted to see scary truckers [just for kicks], she was happy to oblige.

Chicago seems very cool. It's got life. Spunk. It's not what a mid-west city is supposed to look like. Cincinnati and Cleveland have grown into their own bodies....and that's great. But Chicago is just a powerhouse.

Driving has not been that bad really. I wonder what it would have been like to do this in a motorhome. Sometimes, just to find out, I put the car in cruise and climb to the back of the Subaru. Ryan gets upset though, when he's not opening some of the fine snacks we culled together at Wal-Mart. Ding Dongs, Ring Dings, Ring Dongs, Dong Rings, and Pringles.

Very windy here,
Curtis

DAY 2 - Ryan's View

Day 2 of the wild rocking road trip:
Today was a busy day as we road Cleveland like a wild buffalo. Then coincidently ate the buffalo. We dined for lunch on some wings at Wild Buffalo Wings, voted best wings in America by wing critiques across the country. We traveled to Cleveland's Botanical gardens which was closed due to them taking down a flower show and for some reason couldn't keep the gardens open though all they are, are plants, in the ground. We then walked around Case University where we enjoyed silly looking metal buildings, a beautiful campus and stumbled upon a Ansel Adams exhibit which was very interesting. We then tried to get into the art museum and yet again, closed for renovations! This whole city is brand new and getting redone. We ate some wild wings, headed to the Rock and Roll Hall of fame and by accident, found parking near a World War 2 submarine which we decided was worth 6 bucks to tour. I loved manning the big revolving canon on top (that would have been my position if I were in the Navy back then - or Captian) and we walked down throughout the boat, finding a tour guide who told us every American film ever created about submarines are boatloads of crap. Rock and Roll wasn't rocking and rolling for us, so we left Cleveland - left her behind, in the dust. Stumbled into Michigan for the promise of seeing the worlds largest fireworks store (claimed to be the 8th wonder of the world) and a winery (which was closed) and some outlet stores (without good deals) Drove to Chicago (eatings from my restuarent on the way, Ryan's Buffet) and now I sit here telling you this in a Best Western room while a band practices in their apartment below our window. ITs time to explore Chicago and see what this city has to offer.

Shopping Online

I am buying Cubs tickets. Big game tomorrow.

Setting up shop in Chicago

From the hotel in Chicago... Ryan is hard at work. Me? I don't start work for two days.

Gap

We found some outlet stores in Indiana. Nothing says "I'm an Iowa native" like Ralph Lauren

Nice to meet you, Indiana

The Cod. US submarine

Ryan orders a pizza from a WW2 submarine

Methodist Church

Locked out of a church?

No, thank YOU, Cleveland.

Cleveland Gallery of Art . . . Closed

At pretty University Circle in Cleveland

Curtis's Response #1

This is Curtis, responding to Ryan's post below, so try and make your way through that one first.

With all due respect to the Schmeitzels, Smackeys, and Billy Bob Families . . . the actual establishments were Schnitzels, Spankey's, and Billy's Burgers. However, as a write those, I realize that doesn't make it much better. Nuvi, our GPS, did lead us to some non-existent or just bizarro establishments.
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Ryan has been a great driving partner so far. And, better yet, as I'm finding out, he sings in the shower.
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Speaking of showers . . . remember that great advertisement that goes like this . . .

Business Executive: "Curtis, did you purposefully wash your feet yesterday?"
Curtis: "No, but I did stay at a Comfort Inn last night."

See, the Comfort Inn is so cognizant of my need to be clean from head to toe, that they design their drain plug to nonchalantly slip closed every 3-4 minutes. So, every couple of minutes I'd get a nice surprise submergence of my digits. All 10 toes. Usually I have to call down to the front desk for such a thorough cleansing. (my apologies to Marco, the bellhop at the Hilton Buffalo.) But not here.

We're still getting the hang of the best content to add to this Iowa blog and the best way to get it there. But we're getting there. Just wait and see.

Thanks goodness for Wi-Fi,
Curtis

Day 1 - A View from Ryan

So day 1 of the road trip has come and gone. Curtis is taking a shower, hopefully sharing the shampoo and conditioner being we both did not bring either and need to share two very small bottles so I hope I go in there to some shampoo. The drive was long, but Nuvi the gps direction console kept us on track - except when it came to finding food. She constantly found places that were out of business, burnt down, or closed. Curtis and I decided that if this was going to be a real road trip, we would have to eat at local restuarants, as weird as they come to get a taste of the wests culture - no AppleBees - no McDonald's. We were considering restaurants such as Billy Bobs Burger Palace, Johny's Hot Dogs and More, Schmeitzels Eatery, Smackeys Chicken Shack. All real places found by Nuvi. Except Johny's was abandoned, Schmeitzels burned down years ago, and Smackey's was to our dismay, closed. So we ended up eating at the Dutch Pantry - a weird eclectic family restaurant in the middle of PA - our drinks came in jam jars, our food on art pottery, and our waitress had one leg. Ok our waitress didn't have one leg, but the rest is true. After getting some much needed snacks at Wal-Mart, probably running as the town hall for that town too, we hit the road, driving up to Cleveland. The city is pretty small, has 3 or 4 taller buildings, but nothing of any spectacle. The weirdest part was how deserted and quiet it was. Not many cars on the roads, nobody walking the streets, no horns or sirens or noises. Just a empty quiet clean and neat city. I thought it was brand new! There is tons of construction going on, it seems like they built the city days ago and it hasn't opened it. It also smells weird.
Tomorrow we will visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, eat some wings at Wild Buffalo Wings, voted the best wings in the country, and head for Chicago. Talk to you then.

Comfort Inn amenities

Ryan thinks it's weird we have to share these shampoo bottles. I think they're large. Is it weird to share?

Buddy Pics

Curtis keeps his eyes on the road. Ryan keeps his eyes on the camera.

The Hotel in Cleveland: The City of Where is Everybody

Here's the view from our Comfort Inn in Cleveland. It's 12:38 AM and we're getting situated.

One final/first wash and we are ready to go