Day One: Chicago

Fran and I packed up her car this morning and took off a little after 9am

We stopped at two banks for me so i could transfer some money. We filled up our tank at $3.75/gallon.

Then we headed to Oak Park, Chicago, where Fran's friend from high school, Travis lives. He generously offered to let us stay at his place the two nights we'll be in town.

We stopped at a Jewel-Osco just over the Illinois border to buy an I-Pass so we won't have to be stopping, digging for change every toll we'll be going through. After we called in to activate it, we were again on our way to Oak Park.

We made it to this beautiful suburb of Chicago around noon. Travis wouldn't be home from work until 1, and so granola bars in hand, Fran and I took a little tour of Oak Park. Frank Lloyd Wright lived in Oak Park and designed many of the homes in the area. Well... let's back up. We decided to walk around Oak Park to the Frank Lloyd Wright museum... but when I asked Fran to clarify who Frank Lloyd Wright was... she told me "isn't he the guy who flew the first airplane?"

Then we learned he wasn't. I knew this trip was going to be a learning experience! :D

This is Travis's Apartment building. I'll have to snap a few more pictures tomorrow... it's really cool and looks like a motel. The kitchen is sea foam green. Can't go wrong with that.

After Travis got home and we caught up for a bit, we all went for a walk to explore all that is Oak Park. Lots of cute shops. Stopped at the huge post office to get some postcard stamps. Travis showed us where the "L" was for when Fran and I left to go downtown later, after he went back to work.

Fran and I took the green line to downtown.

Travis told us to take the green line to State and then transfer to the Red line and take it to Chicago Ave.
Well, we got off on State and it seemed like Chicago Ave was close enough to walk to without taking the red line... and we were obviously downtown so we just got off and started walking.
That was our first mistake... just because you know where you want to go doesn't mean it's just going to show up when you're somewhat in the vicinity.
We learned that we definitely need to have a specific city map to carry with us when we're in a larger city, or to have written down specific directions to get from one place to the next.

So we walked.

and walked.

and walked.

and walked some more.

We finally ended up on Chicago and Michigan Ave. By then we were hungry and sort of crabby, not really talking and just wanting to GET somewhere.

We finally found a place to eat, called Big Bowl. A Chinese/Thai food place.
They could have served cat food and I think we still would have gone there, just to have a place to sit down and eat at.

Our waiter was terrible, but the food was good.
I successfully used chopsticks for the first time.

We asked the waiter how to get to the Sears tower (not even called the Sears tower anymore, which I didn't know...) and he told us, but of course we couldn't find the 151 bus he said would take us there.

We were in better spirits after a good meal and so we just walked some more.  We actually ended up at Navy Pier- I swear, the only place that had signs giving directions on how to get there.

We went on this bad boy:

But skipped this ride from hell that made me sick just watching it.

We decided to head home, and genius me thought it was the BLUE line we needed to get back here. Granted, the blue line DID take us to Oak Park, but it was a good 25 minute walk back to Travis's as opposed to a 5 minute walk. And we missed our Oak Park stop because Fran was updating her facebook status and not listening to the stops :P

It was a definite adventure today and we had a good time.
We learned some things though.

1. take the one of the three million hand sanitizer bottles we have and put them in our purses instead of leaving them in the car.
2. be a little more map/direction savy.
3. walking ALL day in sandals will lead to very achy feet.
4. Eat a little more regularly so you don't completely drain yourself.

So tomorrow we head to the city again, this time with Travis. We're hitting up the Sears Tower, shopping on the Magnificent Mile and maybe making it to Millenium Park.

We're making peanut butter sandwiches and bringing fruit for lunch to save on costs.
Also probably going to wear more comfortable clothes.


All in all day one was a success.
I'm exhausted and jealous of the sleeping Francesca next to me.
I think I'll go join her.

Ready...Set...

Tomorrow at this time Fran and I will be enjoying Chicago!

I had a sleepover with the ten year old twins I nanny for last night. It's been awhile since I've gone five weeks without seeing them, so it was a fun last time together for awhile.

I was so excited thinking about my trip that I could barely sleep last night. All of a sudden I needed to figure out what there was to do in Pittsburgh (planned 2nd stop). I mapped it out and realized we're actually going out of our way a bit to stop there and I really have no burning desire to see it. Where I really want to go is Philedelphia, and being the type of girl who never advanced very far in the geography bee in elementary school, I didn't realize that we'll practically be going right through Philly on our way from NYC to D.C.

So I still have to talk it over with Fran (who is coming in a few hours!!) but we may just take a different route that doesn't include Pittsburgh, but does include this place: Amish Acres. I definitely want to stop there for a tour and a horse and buggy ride.

Instead of going through PA, we'll mostly be traveling through very southern New York until we get to Boston. We'll stop somewhere en route when we get tired, and the motel price will probably be much cheaper than we'd find in Pittsburgh.


Anyways, I'm home now at my parents. I don't *think* I've forgotten anything at my apartment in Madison!  Poor Fran is going to be stuck driving through some bad storms on her way from Green Bay to my parents house... She's staying put until the tornado warning has passed.


Tomorrow (and i think Tuesday) we're staying with Fran's friend from high school. We both want to go to the Sears Tower and I know I really want to see the new addition of the skydeck. (new since i was there last, at least)
Fran wants to go to a club at night. I wouldn't mind going to the Shedd Aquarium either.

Looking at the prices for these things freaks me out a little... We'll just have to be sensible and be smart about what we want to do and how much we're willing to spend. I don't want to go COMPLETELY broke, but I also don't want to come back from the trip and have not done very much because it would have put me out a few extra dollars.

I'm going to try to figure out how to put up pictures and videos on here as soon as I can. I don't want to have to be putzing with trying to figure it out when I'm actually on the trip.

Tomorrow morning we're leaving around 9 because I'm hoping we'll miss most of the Chicago morning traffic. We also have to wait to leave because I need to stop by the bank and it obviously needs to be open for me to do that. We're planning on stopping somewhere in Illinois to pick up an I-Pass which will come in handy for many of the tolls we'll be going through.

I CAN'T BELIEVE WE LEAVE TOMORROW!!!

4 days!

The big trip is almost here, only 4 days away!
I have finally begun packing.
I got a lot of really great things as birthday/graduation presents that will be of great assistance to us on our trip.


I got a new camera, a large cooler filled with practical items like hand sanitizer, garbage bags, batteries, some awesome CD mixes, and a Kindle that will help pass the time in the car when i'm a passenger!
I also picked up some motion sickness pills the other day... I tend to get car sick if i'm a passenger for too long but I know I wont' be driving the whole way so i'm REALLY crossing my fingers that these will help.


Today I sat down and planned out a tentative schedule. I've had a list of cities and a time line for months but haven't put the two together until now.
Here's what it's looking like.

Francesca and Brittany’s Road Trip Tentative Schedule

(does not take into account time changes)

May 23^rd  9am-11am drive Milwaukee to Chicago

May 23^rd 11am-May 25^th 10am Chicago

May 25^th 10am-6pm drive Chicago to Pittsburgh

May 25^th 6pm- May 26^th 2pm Pittsburgh

May 26h 2pm-12am drive to Boston

May 27^th-May 29^th Boston

May 29^h 5pm- 9pm drive to Garfield, NJ (New York City)

May 29^th 9pm-June 2^nd  9am Garfield/NYC

June 2^nd 9am- 2pm drive to Washington D.C.

June 2^nd 2pm- June 4^th  12pm Washington D.C.

June 4^th 12pm- 4pm Drive to Roanoke

June 4^th 4pm- June 5^th 11am Roanoke

June 5^th 11am-6:30pm drive to Atlanta

June 5^th 6:30pm- June 8^th 8am Atlanta

June 8^th 8am-3:30pm drive to New Orleans

June 8^th 3:30- June 10^th 12pm New Orleans

June 10^th 12pm- June 11^th 12pm drive to Phoenix

June 11^th 12pm- June 14^th 12pm Phoenix

June 14^th 12pm- 5pm drive to Las Vegas

June 14^th 5pm-June 16^th 12pm Las Vegas

June 16^th 12pm- 9:30pm drive to San Francisco

June 16^th 9:30pm-June 18^th 12pm San Francisco

June 18^th 12pm-11pm drive to Portland

June 18^th 11pm-June 20^th 12pm Portland

June 20^th 12pm-3pm drive to Seattle

June 20^th 3pm-June 22^nd 12pm Seattle

June 22^nd 12pm-10pm drive to Bozeman

June 22^nd 10pm-June 24^th 12pm Bozeman

June 24^th 12pm-June 26^th drive to Milwaukee

Like i said in the title, it's tentative. I don't want the trip to be structured and planned out to a "T". But i think it's a good start and it really made it hit home just how ambitious we are being with trying to hit up all these cities.

I did take San Diego out of the itinerary to save a day or twos time.

What I really wish is that we could click our heels and get from New Orleans to Phoenix in a second instead of a 24 hour drive!!! I also took Houston out of the listed "stops" ... We'll probably crash at motel SOMEWHERE in Texas but I have no real desire to stop and sightsee there. Hopefully Fran doesn't either!

Fran's stepmom is taking her grocery shopping on Sunday to stock up on all sorts of things so we aren't constantly eating out. I think we'll probably be sick of peanut butter sandwiches by the end of the trip!

As far as packing goes, i'm using this list for now http://www.planning-fun-road-trips.com/travel-packing-list.html as well as just common sense. The nice thing about driving across the country is that we can stop whenever we need to pick up something if we forget it.

Just hoping we don't run out of room in the car to hold all this stuff!

A couple of you have been wondering what we're doing for sleeping arrangements. The truth is, I think it's going to be different almost every night. We have family/friends we are going to stay with in a little less than half the cities. In some cities we'll be staying in motels, we may camp a night here or there, and we're also looking into couchsurfing.com. I created an account and I think if we're careful it may be a really cool experience- and cheaper than a motel, too!

Okay, time to get back to packing!

The Route

I can't figure out how to copy and paste the map directly on this blog, but will try to in the very near future. For now, this is the general route we are going to take. If you click the "view large map" button, you'll get to see the whole map.
The rest of the directions are boring and you should completely disregard them :)

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Milwaukee,+WI&daddr=Chicago,+IL+to:Pittsburgh,+PA+to:Boston,+MA+to:New+York,+NY+to:New+Jersey+to:Washington+D.C.,+DC+to:Atlanta,+GA+to:New+Orleans,+LA+to:Houston,+TX+to:San+Diego,+CA+to:Las+Vegas,+NV+to:San+Francisco+to:Seattle,+WA+to:Bozeman,+MT+to:Milwaukee,+WI&hl=en&geocode=Fba4kAIdVqfC-innR4tX1wIFiDGEe0G1IhlfRA%3BFWICfwIdGuDG-inty_TQPCwOiDEAwMAJrabgrw%3BFTETaQIdElw7-ykDhQZIb_E0iDE0G6JaoRX5jQ%3BFZ9WhgIdw7bD-ykbMT0NLWXjiTGg6GIBJL98eA%3BFXFAbQIdK8KW-yk7CD_TpU_CiTFi_nfhBo8LyA%3BFdQ9YwId46iQ-ymfQACelfvAiTGNbT_4B3vSLA%3BFQh-UQIdsoRo-ylb5PZa3sa3iTEqXYjUIkVSwg%3BFQP4AgIdclf4-imNCZNpXQT1iDELYwuZL97-Zg%3BFbI5yQEd5KGh-illghGyVKQghjG00yJe6FsG2w%3BFUQlxgEd6pFQ-ikBhY1ItLhAhjE7BWXz3gINyg%3BFUEy8wEdeVIE-SlLHpKtD1PZgDF53xX9_SE6DQ%3BFdYQJwIdMJoi-SnRffWkgre-gDGjebPV5tXMOg%3BFVJmQAIdKAe0-CkhAGkAbZqFgDH_rXbwZxNQSg%3BFcJp1gIdWVy1-ClVM-iTLBCQVDGa1URpRmUlEA%3BFQQTuQId_YBh-SkTiLpPTERFUzGqYDv3ZND1Yw%3BFba4kAIdVqfC-innR4tX1wIFiDGEe0G1IhlfRA&mra=ls&sll=38.341656,-97.734375&sspn=46.992301,89.208984&ie=UTF8&ll=38.548165,-97.207031&spn=46.872534,89.208984&z=4&layer=c&pw=2

The Beginning

Thirteen months ago I wrote this in my journal:

some nights it's too much

tonight is one of those nights

i want to get in my car and

drive away

through the storm and to bluer skies

just me, the stereo, and an endless stretch of highway

All I want to do is leave it all behind me for awhile
to explore
and learn
and develop as a person
to really know myself
to know the world around me
 

One of my favorite people in history is Henry David Thoreau.
When Thoreau was 28, he escaped life for awhile.
He went into the Massachussetts woods, near a pond and built a home.
he spent his time eating the food he found on the land.
He wrote and he read and he lived in solitude
 

this is one of my favorite quotes from 'Walden" a reflection of his time spent in the woods

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion."

A month or two trip would be ideal.

What is so wrong with that?
People all the time dream about doing it.
Nobody ever does.
We just go on and on and on with whatever we are doing, whatever SOCIETY tells us to do.
 

One day, I hope I get the chance to go on my excursion.
To live my own Walden
Right now, school is too important.
But I promise myself, as soon as I have the chance to go (as in, my future won't be too terribly impacted)
I'm going. 

And now, thirteen months later, I am preparing for a five week cross-country road trip with my best friend. 

We will be journeying first to the east coast, down to the south, up through the west coast and over until we end up back in Wisconsin. 

My hope is that we don't run out of time or money before we get through all of our desired destinations.

We have a great deal of planning left to do, but are so incredibly excited to go on this journey. 

...to learn more about our country, and more importantly: more about ourselves. 

This blog has been created to keep family and friends in touch with where we are on our trip.
We will be posting stories and pictures from our days of traveling, wherever and whenever we can find Wi-Fi.