Chi-Town to Hometown:(

Well, I guess all good things must come to an end. This time it’s taken us awhile to write our blog because we’ve gotten home and are adjusting back into our real lives.  Either way, here’s how our trip ended….

Getting anywhere that we wanted to go on the way home took FOR-EV-ER. Nothing was close to one another, so we had to stop at halfway points (in the most random, sketchy places like Battle Mountain, NV…just saying).

Getting from South Dakota to Chicago took 18 hours, so we drove 12 of them to Wisconsin and stayed there for the night. Let’s just say those 12 hours were BRUTAL!!!!! Besides lots of mountains and pretty land (which got really old after the first 2 hours…) we did see some different wild life. We saw some buffalo, steer and whatever the small deer looking creatures with horns were. I swear it was like we never saw animals before, because as soon as we finally did come across some we would all scream “LOOK!!!!!!” and tap frantically at the window. This would occur at least once every hour, so it prevented me from falling asleep at the wheel.

We arrived in Chicago to our new friend Jessica’s place. Jess, who we had never met before, is a friend of our friend Rachel and was so kind to let us crash for two nights. She was also the best tour guide with all the inside scoop for us to get the most out of two days.

First things first, DEEP DISH PIZZA!!!!!!!!!! Before we left, Jess suggested to us that we order some sort of appetizer because all the pizzas take at least 30-40 minutes to make. She was right.

There are three well-known places in Chicago to get good deep dish pizza. This place, Giordanos, is one of them. Let’s just say, we had our fill of cheese for about a month. The crust; however, was what made it. It was so flakey and cooked to perfection.  We had gotten there right in time, because when we were leaving there was a line around the corner to get in.

We put on our Mary Tyler Moore caps (we were convinced the show was taped here) and headed off to “The Bean” in Millennium Park.

Due to our lack of understanding of “The Bean” and its significance, I did some research. It seems as though there is no significance really. Awesome. It does; however, lead to great photo opps!

It seems as though a British sculptor named this the “Cloud Gate” and made this 66 ft long/33 ft wide structure (largest of its kind) with this reflective stainless steel to capture the city’s skyline, which it does. 

Its prime location has made it so famous and we have since renamed it “The Bean” or “That big shiny thing in Millennium Park.” I’m sure that makes the artist very proud.

We explored the city some more by strolling up Michigan Ave.

Chicago reminded us a lot of New York City, but with a little more pizzazz:) There was some great landscaping and architecture that adds character to the city of Chicago.

We did a great amount of window shopping since we have reached the end of our 3 week long adventure and were definitely not able to splurge in Versace, Chanel, or Burberry. Renee begged me to go into Forever 21, and although this is one of the cheaper stores, I told her no. This did not go over well, but my motherly instinct kicked in and I promised her we would do something way more fun to make up for it.

This fun activity was an elevator ride up to the 95^th Floor of the John Hancock building. 

This was cheaper then visiting the Willis (aka Sears) Tower and was only 15 stories lower. So we went up to the Signature Room, which has a fabulous lounge and restaurant area to enjoy a cocktail or two while taking in the amazing view of the city.

We got off the elevator and headed right to the best view in the house, the ladies restroom.  

We snapped a few photos, took in the view and were onto our next activity.

It was our new friend Jess’s 30^th birthday celebration!! She had reserved a room in a bar called SoPo, so we freshened up and headed out for the night!

Tiffany and Stephanie were having fun, but noticed that there was some fun things going on downstairs, so they ventured off for a little while....this little venture was well worth it since they got to meet another new friend…

This is Colin (doing his best Captain pose), he owns SoPo and likes to break glasses because he can.

This is Nick, he liked to give us shots of Jameson.

Colin also convinced us that this picture…

will get us free beer (due to free advertising)! It worked for the night at least:)

Although we were having a great time with our new bar friends, Renee’s friend wanted to show us more of what Chicago had to offer.

We ended up at Epic, a trendy bar/club with great music and atmosphere.

Needless to say, we slept in as much as we could the next day but had to get moving eventually to catch the Cubs game!!

Apparently, brunch is a big thing in this city so we hit up Nookies for some deliciousness before the game.

Here is where we realized how much of a gay city Chicago is. My gaydar is usually on point, but the scruffy, buff, Abercrombie model looking men threw me for a loop when they started making out. This left us discouraged and we realized then that we’re going to be single forever.

Moving on….

Scalping is legal in Chicago, so as soon as we were a block away from Wrigley Field we were bombarded by scalpers. We got $20 tickets in the 500 aisle, but of course we sat in the 200 aisle because that’s how we roll. This was all well until halfway through the game we awkwardly overhead someone talking about someone (us) sitting in their seats, so we moved. Other then that the game was uneventful since the Cubs suck. One shirt I wanted to buy read “Jesus said to the Cubs…’Don’t do anything until I get back’” hahahaha

After the game we visited our old stopping grounds, SoPo, for some bloody marys and made some new friends who kept us entertained for a few hours.

We were hungry and Colin took over as tour guide. We rode the L Train

back to Chicago loop where we met Brady! and grabbed some dinner at the Purple Pig. Everything was amazing, from the many bottles of wine to the different types of cheeses and meats

to the wait staff:)

We had to bid adieu to Chicago :( and leave for Cleveland in the A.M.

We made it through the rain and cruddy weather and checked into our hotel. We grabbed some dinner in the theatre district & called it a night.

The next day we visited the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame!!! and we would like to say that it is one of the coolest museums everrr!!!!

Unfortunately, you are not able to take pictures inside so we can only tell you about the amazing things it had to show us. First we went to a 3-D Virtual U2 concert!!! It was so awesome! It was an hour and a half long, so we felt like we were really at their concert.

There was an entire exhibit dedicated to New Jersey’s own Bruce Springsteen! (Did they know we were coming? :) ) There was everything from his academy award to notepads that he wrote lyrics in.

Downstairs there were archives of authentic costumes worn by Michael Jackson, David Bowe, ZZ Top, The Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart (for my mom:)) and SO much more!

The Beatles room was amazing! There was everything from John Lennon’s report card to the story behind “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” (Lennon wrote the song after his son came home with a drawing from third grade, when Lennon asked his son what the drawing was about his son said “It’s Lucy in the sky, with diamonds” Lucy, being a girl he liked at the time. Lennon ran with it.) We also learned that  “Hey Jude” was written by Paul McCartney for Lennon’s son and was originally named “Hey Jules.”

We could have stayed there forever, but it was off to Pittsburgh we go!

As we got closer to the Pittsburgh area, we started to realize how close to home we actually were. The speed limit signs no longer read “80 MPH”….we were back to “65 MPH” and traffic sucked!

We got to Renee’s friend, Loren’s, house and quickly went out for some Primanti Brothers sandwiches, famous in Pittsburgh! All sandwiches are served with French fries and cole slaw...ON them!! So big and messy and delicious!!!

Then we did the next touristy thing to do in Pittsburgh and that’s ride the….

This is a means of public transportation that is used by anyone who lives up in Mount Washington. Students who live in the area take this to and from school, which we thought was pretty neat.

Thus ends our 23 day, 15 city tour of the United States.

We honestly could not have asked for a better experience. All the hard work that went into planning paid off and we will never forget the time we spent together traveling the country! We learned so much and grew so much, each in our own individual ways.

Thank you to everyone who read our blog, we really enjoyed writing it and sharing our exciting journey with you.

A special thank you to my sister, Niecey and Jacqueline for being avid readers and commenters!

Thank you to Maureen and Dennis for their thoughtful donations that were used wisely.

Last but certainly not least, thank you thank you thank you to Nicole & Walter, Shelly & Walter, Cindy & The Culver Castle, Colin, Rachel & Izzy, Jess and Loren for letting three girls with three very large suitcases invade your homes. We couldn’t have had half the fun we did if it wasn’t for you guys & gals!

We hope you enjoyed reading our blog, we encourage everyone to travel and experience life as much as you can. Life’s TOO short!!

“Life is not measured by the numbers of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.”

Look for us, we plan on blogging again in the future. We also plan on being on tv, starting our own businesses, and/or starting a girl group. Just sayinngg:))))

Happy Trails,

xxoo

the X Country Girls <3

SL,UT, etc...

Yet again, we apologize for our lack of blogging. We truly do appreciate all our friends/family/strangers/celebrities (let us think this) who have been following us on this amazing journey.

Since San Francisco & Napa we have traveled 2380 miles and are now at our 3^rd to last destination.

From Napa, we visited our new friend, Rachel:), in Salt Lake City, UT. We found Rachel on couchsurfing.com, a non-profit organization that allows people to offer travelers a place to crash while they are traveling the world. Not to mention, in the end you can make a great deal of friends.

We highly recommend signing up and taking advantage of this website. Rachel was so welcoming and helpful with what to do around the SL,UT area:)

To get from Napa to SLC we drove through the Bonneville Salt Flats. This area stretches over 3000 feet and was formed through the evaporation of Lake Bonneville.  People leave their mark on the salt flats by taking rocks and making formations from their names to symbols to messages to giant penises, swear!

From the recommendation of our friend, Rich, who used to live in SLC we went to Saltaire, a great venue for concerts. Saltaire is located on the edge of the Great Salt Lake, the largest natural lake west of the Mississippi River.

The Great Salt Lake has also evaporated and we were able to walk out almost a ½ mile out. If you are not a good swimmer, this is the place to come because you will not sink due to the high amount of salt content. Actually, the Great Salt Lake is too saline to be the home to any fish or other aquatic species.

That being said, we didn’t quite take a dip in the salty goodness we simply dipped our toes in and headed on our way to Park City. Park City is home to the Sundance Film Festival and is a great place to visit…in the winter. It houses many different restaurants, boutiques, bars, and ski resorts. We ate outside at Easy Street, a French brassiere, and took in the amazing view of the leaves changing.

There wasn’t much going on, but we did stop into a beauty deli to get hand exfoliating treatments and supplies for at-home facials, which we did later that night but will not be posting pictures due to the fact that we looked like creatures from the black lagoon.

That night Rachel and Izzy, her daughter, took us out to Ruth’s Diner. The cool thing about Salt Lake City is that you are either up in a mountain or down in a canyon. This diner was down in a canyon and owned by a lady who cooked with a cigarette hanging out of her mouth. Food was yummy and we got to try the signature Utah Fry Sauce. The secret to this, and don’t tell anyone we told you, is mixing mayonnaise and BBQ sauce…sometimes even ketchup too! Can’t get it ANYWHERE else!! :)

We bid our farewell to our new friends, who we will be visiting again during Sundance:), and headed off to South Dakota!

PS. Fun Fact—Rachel & Izzy live 3 blocks away from the high school where the classic Disney movie was filmed, High School Musical.

PPS. You can go inside and see Sharpie’s pink locker!! O-M-G!!!!

South Dakota is known for two of the greatest monuments in the country, Mt. Rushmore & Crazy Horse…and an added BONUS-a gigantic sculpture of Dino! @ the Flintstone Campground/Amusement Park.

We were fortunate to see all three! :)

We learned that Mount Rushmore was all started with one man’s crazy idea. He hired a sculptor who hired a crew of 400 and 14 years later, wa-lah!

(we're sending this one into Glamour:) )

The production was close to finish but they had run out of money. The sculptor died before the structure was complete and his son took matters into his own hands. This resulted in Lincoln with only one ear and 3 knuckles.

Each face is 60 feet tall. To put this into perspective, the whole Mt. Rushmore monument can fit into the head of the Crazy Horse monument.

Because these two pieces of art are chiseled in granite rock, they will only wear away 1 inch every 10,000 years.

We were also fortunate enough to see Mt. Rushmore lit up at night. 

It was a touching ceremony, which included a movie about why the four presidents were chosen and a dedication to all veterans that were in the audience.

It ended with a fabulous rendition, thanks to our new girl group, of the Star Spangled Banner and a lowering of the flag ritual.

We headed back to our cabin in the woods…

and felt nostalgic, back to our girl scout days, so we played Spit and Egyptian Rat Screw before hitting the sack.

The next morning required venti Starbucks coffees and a trip to see Crazy Horse. This was pretty uneventful. The Crazy Horse monument, as magnificent as it is (or will be), is yet to be complete. This operation started with a Polish sculptor who was approached by an Indian, Chief something something Barefoot something who wanted the American people to be made aware of the achievements of the Red Man as well.

The first five years of the project was done solely by this Polish sculptor. Then him and his wife bore 10 children, 5 of which were boys and immediately recruited to work hard shoving dynamite into the drill holes. This was perfectly safe, since no one was around to say otherwise:)

Today the project is run by the family still and is funded only from visitors and donators. (which is why it’s $27 a car load to get in and is a bit of a rip off, just saying). However, it would be worth going to Crazy Horse at night because they have a laser light show where the mountain is decorated with native art and what the Crazy Horse will look like when its finally completed in ten billion years, possibly.

After looking at the model of Crazy Horse (the famous white structure we all know of) we took off on our 12-hour drive. We then turned into crazy horses ourselves.

We have now come up with new ways to keep us amused. One of which is reading Texts From Last Night (www.textsfromlastnight.com) to entertain the thought that other people’s lives suck more then ours.

We also have learned all the 50 states capitals and yes, we are now smarter then a 5^th grader. This new skill has sparked many of conversations and not to mention puzzled looks at the bars.

Thanks for being the dedicated readers that you are!

We will have an update tomorrow of our last three stops.

xxoo

the X Country Girls:)

PPPS. If you are ever traveling between South Dakota and Wyoming, stop at the Corn Castle. It’s awesome. But really, only if its on the way, don’t make any special arrangements.