Steak and baseball: Typical 'Merica

I’ve never had a $47 porterhouse steak before but after dominating Gibson's medium-well version, I realized I had been missing out. According to Ryan, “It tastes like they dipped it in butter several times.” I couldn’t have agreed more.

In between massive bites, brief stretches, and some belt loosening, we enjoyed some entertainment by our boy across the street.

I don’t know what he was selling, but all unattractive women he chatted up were buying.  Unfortunately, that was the only clientele he was having any luck with.

After a much needed walk several blocks back to the hotel for a quick change and bourbon party in our room, we were off to Wrigley field to see one of the last historic parks in the country. The fact that it’s legal to set up small grandstands on top of the buildings neighboring Wrigley is phenomenal. I almost wish we had gotten seats up there instead.

But the views from our continuously meliorating seats throughout the game weren’t bad either. We eventually got down to seats worth over $100 right behind the Cub’s dugout, something I could never pull off in Fenway.

I was lucky enough to snap a picture of one of my current favorite Cub too, Kosuke Fukudome.

I had to take one also for my bros Sean and Georgie, co-owners of the brand new bike rental shop, BikeCurious, located in Venice Beach, CA.

To our pleasant surprise, upon arriving back at out hotel room, Beth had a card and a present waiting for us.

The card was very thoughtful and kind. And the bottle of Johnny Walker Black Label she gave us was a glorious sight. We decided to have just a taste to cap the night off. Well, actually, Beth and I had more than a taste. Ryan did his usual thing.

Tomorrow it’s up early to head out past The Field of Dreams to the Badlands in South Dakota.

Three's Company

Chicago, Illinios. What a cool city. So many high rises. So many new buildings. So much city planning. I can't compliment it enough except for that it's in the middle of Nowhere, USA. After a medium to high class dinner last night at the Publican, we came back to the hotel and Beth had an epiphany; she was going to pre-order room service to wake us up with breakfast at 8 am courtesy of her work! Waking up this morning in a Sheraton luxury bed to breakfast at our door was a little surreal. After messing with the bellhop a little (minute 1:21), a 4 to 5 star breakfast, and Beth's quick meeting, the 3 of us decided to go for a jaunt along the water which turned into a run-tour of the city. Here's a little proof:

That one's for Mrs. Olmsted.

We stumbled into the park downtown that had this extraterrestrial looking bean among other things. Note Ryan's deep knee bend:

It took me quite a while to get past how cool this thing was. It really brought out the asian tourist in me... a commonplace occurrence on this road trip so far.

After the bean, we stumbled into an interesting area that was littered with brand new high rise condominiums and apartments with a beautiful new park centrally located. I wish Boston had the possibility of building areas like this in town. Beth said she thought this park was less than 2 years old. With all this great planning I guess they forgot to plan for the economic anti-boom we're going though as most of these condos and apts seem to be empty and ready for tenants.

On tap for tonight: fancy dinner at Gibson's Steakhouse and a Cub's game at Wrigley field.

The long haul

I feel comfortable saying that I have logged serious miles driving in the time I have been legally allowed to (since I was 16 and a half). From Boston to the Cape, Jay Peak, Sugarloaf, Mount Washington, etc. and back. And out west last summer on the "Road Trip '09: Brohawks & Beards" road trip, I logged serious miles driving through the remote areas of Phoenix and Nevada. Even out west when there was nothing around, I was still intrigued by the landscape. The same can't be said for the land between Niagara and Chicago. It's flat, plain, boring, and super lame.

I did, however, manage to get a cool pic or two form the car as we sped across US90 towards our destination.

And thanks to Ryan's lack of being able to spot out speed traps while doing 80 mph, I was able to snap this shot waiting for the cop to come up to the car and ask us if our a/c was working.

Apparently the cop hasn't seen too many sedans packed to the brim with 2 shirtless bros in his day. Luckily for Olmsted, the officer was kind enough to show him the Ohio way and let him off with a warning as a way to ensure safety on Ohio's byways. So for the next 15 miles Ryan cautiously did the speed limit until we saw this:

And then it was back to normal.

I guess this is a good of time as any to address how miserable Cleveland, OH is. I apologize in advance if I offend you, but it's just a miserable place with nothing except maybe Lake Erie and this video to make up for it.

So other than fields, animals, and state troopers, we swung in through Notre Dame to see what all the fuss was about. The area seemed lame until we got to the other end of campus near the football stadium where it looked like it could be a sweet spot to hang out in town. And we saw some middle aged man sprint towards a car full of football players to shamelessly ask for an autograph holding toy helmets and sharpies... kind of depressing. He actually resembled Private Cowboy just a little bit.

Coming into Chi town was impressive not just because of the lightning storm...

I didn't realize it was much bigger than Boston and almost had an NYC feel to it without all the horrible drivers, overcrowded streets, and lowlifes. If Chicago were on the east coast, I would definitely consider living there. But as it is, who wants to be landlocked in the middle of the country with out mountains? Not this guy. Assuming Ryan gets up on time tomorrow, we leave bright and early for The Badlands. Just a casual 15 hour drive, nbd.

Typical American let down

First let me say that Beth's parents were great hosts and provided us with everything we could have dreamed of and more to make us feel at home. But after a less than stellar night's sleep due to my coming down with a cold, and having to wake Ryan up at the time he and I had agreed we would depart (typical), the day was already off to a mediocre start. At least as we left the Heiss' house, the sun was shining and it appeared as though we were going to have another beautiful day. No such luck.

The drive to Niagara was brief and uneventful, with plenty of clouds to go around. We decided that two guys with no shirts on in a car full of crap with Ma. plates would get into Canada easily, but coming back into the U.S. would probably prove a little more difficult. So we parked on the U.S. side and walked across the Rainbow Bridge to watch the majesty from the Canadian side, which everyone told us was the best angle to view The Falls from. So passports in hand we crossed the bridge, I played 20 questions with the border patrol, and we were finally on our way to enjoy the views, so we thought.

Maybe it's just me, maybe it's the hype I've created in my own head, maybe it's the fact that everyone talks about how awesome, in the true sense of the word, Niagara Falls is, but I just don't get it. To be honest I was disappointed and maybe I have no one but myself to blame. But I actually don't. I have the gaudy casinos and tourist trap attractions that litter the area around The Falls to blame for how miserable Niagara Falls, as a destination, appears to be on the surface.

Granted, had it been a gorgeous sunny day, and had we walked up to the powerful rush of the water on the man made steps wearing full body rain suits or taken a boat tour into the mist, I'm sure I would've been more impressed. But all that takes time and costs money. So instead we did it the cheap and easy way.

Thankfully, I did manage to get a few good pictures of The Falls...

...and other miscellaneous sights to keep me in a good mood. For example, this guy's jump suit was one for the ages, roughly the early 90's ages. Note the black dress socks and dress shoes.

Next stop, Chicago!

I didn't know Massachusetts was capable of this

After taking out all of the stuff Ryan showed up at my house with in his car, we put our old Tetris skills to use and managed to fit it all back into Ryan's 1998 Camry. It was nothing short of a miracle. We decided to avoid The Pike and take rt.2 all the way out west through the Mohwak Trail and man was it awesome to leave the state through there.

Never having been that far northwest in Ma., I didn't realize that the berkshires were a formidable mountain range to cross. The scenery we saw leaving the state was what I have grown accustomed to seeing up north in NH, VT, and ME.

After a quick drive down Spruce Drive, we were on our way to The Empire State.

Finally, after about 7 hours of Ryan's "driving", we pulled into Sawmill Rd. just outside of Rochester to meet up with Beth's dad and their 2 dogs, Jazz and Lilly, both of whom are awesome labs. Unfortunately, Lilly and I are equally photogenic.

After an evening of wine drinking and a solid dinner around a small camp fire in 40 degree weather, it's time to pack it in so we can be refreshed to leave at 8am for NIAGRA!

Concord, Ma. to Jackson, Wy. - Mission Possible?

Here's a tentative Google Map of our planned route and possible destination spots along the way to Jackson!

click here to view interactive map

How to: Throw yourself a proper sendoff bash

Courtesy of our friends Brian Hingston and Tamsen Hunter, Olmsted and I were able to throw ourselves a memorable sendoff bash for our departure out west in search of Swift. Silent. (and most importantly) Deep pow. The night started off at Hingston and Tamsen's fancy-new-loft across from Pizzeria Regina in the North End where everyone got their joints limber in preparation for a night of aggressive dance moves. Unfortunately, Ryan hadn't foreseen how his aggressive dance moves were going to split his pants later that night so he showed up in his father's 1960s bright yellow bell bottom slacks cinched with a belt just below his nipples. Needless to say, everyone shredded the dance floor hard.

(anyone with a picture/video, please send my was a.s.a.p.)

So that pretty much sums up the kind of night we all had at the Middlesex Lounge, where there was zero lounging going on from our camp of over 30. Many laughs, moves, and tears were shared! Thanks to all those that came out to celebrate what should end up being a memorable, if not more than memorable, experience out to Jackson. I plan on creeping wireless internet from places along the way so I should be updating this daily (unless we're camping in the Badlands). Although we'll see how much time I'll have as I already told Ryan I'm doing most of the driving if we're actually going to make it. Keep checking in for updates!

Like a true Mexican

Having finished teaching summer school and needing to make a few extra bucks these last several weeks, I hollered at Bemis to see if there was any work for a new migrant worker (me) on his family's farm, Hutchins Farm. With my mexican roots I figured farming would be super easy, and it was. In addition to padding my stacks 1 almost-minimum-wage hour at a time, working on the farm has given me some solid bro time with Taylor and kept me at least partially productive these last few weeks.

That experience ended a couple of weeks ago. Now the countdown is on and less than a week from now, Ryan and I will be setting out west to find whatever it is we're looking for, and that's pretty damn exciting.

RIP 92 L St.

This week marks the end of an era here in Southie. Folger moved out Sunday and I move back to Concord at the end of the week capping what's been an impossible run of procrastination, debauchery, neglect for common sense, and living in general filth... college all over again, really.

For those around Boston, keep an eye out for an invite early September to what should be a fittingly ridiculous send-off party for Olmsted and I courtesy of the North End's finest,  Mr. Brian Hingston.