June Road Trip to Chicago

This summer has been a long and adventurous vacation....the "calm" before the storm if that makes any sense.....it should make some sense given that in the next few weeks I'll be moving into a new place with my girlfriend and our two cats, looking for work, and finally, starting nursing classes at Coconino Community College on August 25. That last one is a big change for me, a major right turn from my previous path of working in education. I'm looking for something new, something that's both challenging and supportive of my lifestyle (aka, 3 or 4 day work weeks, job opportunities just about everywhere). I'll have to see how it all goes, but am pretty excited about the change of pace.

But back to the summer: my girlfriend had an internship in Chicago from mid-June 'til the end of July. I had a trip to Honduras and Guatemala planned from 6/23-7/24 (photos and a report to follow one of these years). So, we decided to combine our paths by taking a long road trip to Chicago where she'd do her internship and I'd hang out with family/friends before flying to Honduras. Our path was as follows:

• Flag to Santa Fe: we stayed with Lara's family, did some hiking and rock climbing around town, got ready for our roadtrip, and just relaxed.

Me roping up at Las Conches, a cool little crag near Jemez Springs, NM.

• Santa Fe to Fort Collins, CO: We stayed with and old friend here for a night and checked out several local breweries. FC is an awesome town that I wouldn't mind making home one of these days. However, we have no photos of this or anything else between Santa Fe and northern Michigan. This is my fault as I accidentally deleted all the files on Lara's camera. It felt like we had been robbed.....anyway, I'll just narrate the rest 'til we get to Michigan.

• Fort Collins to Wall, SD: Wall is the classic tourist trap town, so much so that it's charming. This is the home of the infamous Wall Drug store where patrons can take photos with statues of Buffalo Bill Cody, Wyatt Earp, and a giant jackolope. Nearby lies the Badlands National Park.



• Wall, SD to Canby, MN: this is my mother's home town and the site of my grandparents' graves. It also has an amazing pizza joint that also serves up deep fried dill pickles (they're amazing). We stayed with some old family friends there and left early the next morning.



• Canby, MN to rural northeastern Wisconsin: Our plan here was to camp at Kosher's rafting then raft the Peshtigo the next morning. We did the former but ditched the latter: the weather was cold and overcast when we awoke. Not exactly rafting weather unless you're really committed.



• Rural northeastern Wisconsin to Glen Arbor, MI: We had planned to stop in Munising, MI, a small town near Pictured Rock National Lakeshore in the Upper Peninsula for some hiking and camping. Once again, weather didn't really cooperate. June brought lots of rain to the midwest, and while Michigan didn't get nearly as much as places like northern Iowa and southern Minnesota, it still wasn't ideal camping weather. So, we pushed through the U.P. then across the Straits of Mackinaw to Glen Arbor. Glen Arbor is a small hamlet nestled in between parts of the Sleeping Bear National Lake Shore.

Sleeping Bear Harbor

Kayaking the Crystal River, an annual event for many years now

Hanging out in the Ghost Forest on Sleeping Bear Point

Hiking from Pierce Stocking Drive to the top of the Dune Climb


Flying down the Dune Climb

A shot of North Manitou Island

On the pier of Sleeping Bear Harbor

Little and Big Glen Lakes. Formed by Glaciers, these lakes were originally a harbor of Lake Michigan. The outlet of the ancient harbor is where Glen Arbor currently sits.

• Glen Arbor, MI to Chicago. I spent about a week in the suburbs of Chicago before heading down to Honduras on 6/23. Lara had a place in the South Loop for an internship she was doing. The following shots are all within walking distance of where she lived.
  

Buckingham Fountain as seen from Congress Parkway.

A sliver of the Chicago skyline with Buckingham Fountain in the foreground

The post-modern fountain in Millenium Park. There's an identical fountain about 75 feet across from this one, both of which have projections of various faces throughout the day. It's a great place to hangout and read for getting a little wet during those muggy Chicago days.

So that's the road trip in a nutshell. Next up is the Central America portion of the summer. Stay tuned.