South Dakota told me to tell you that it says Hi.

So we are now back on I-90, where the speed limit is now 75 (!) miles an hour. No need to speed, obviously. We just left Sioux City, SD, and the total trip mileage count is now at 1500, with the state count already at 9 (NY, NJ, PA, OH, IN, IL, WI, MN, SD).

We woke up this morning at our Super 8 motel and had the continental breakfast, which was the most glorious collection of jelly and honey packets I've ever seen. Jim was loving it, as you can see below

(This is genuine breakfast happiness)

While we were eating, we met Robert "Bob" E. Hayes, CSP, P.E., Mining and Safety Engineer (this is taken directly from the business card he gave me), who was traveling with his daughter on their third annual genealogy trip, during which they visit cemeteries and town halls, combing gravestones and occupancy records in search of distant relatives.

(The Mining Engineer and I enjoy the instant oatmeal)

When we left the Super 8, we immediately filled up the tank and saw a genuine South Dakotan tractor, which was moving at a very relaxed pace.

("You will drive behind me while I go 2 mph, and you will like it")

We drove across Minnesota, noticing a couple of key mainstays: Wind Energy Generators, and Corn

(Dozens of miles of corn as far as the eye can see)

(These massive wind generators have red lights that blink at night, causing an eerie effect as you drive down the highway, flanked on both sides by elevated blinking lights, thinking you are about to get beamed up into an alien spaceship)

As we crossed into South Dakota, we took out the "ROADFOOD" book that my buddy Jeff Salomon (who will be joining me through Texas) and his girlfriend Hayley Barton gave me as a gift before I embarked on the trip. They mentioned a great little place called Bob's in Sioux Falls, which apparently merited the following quotes:

"Best burger between Seattle and Chicago" and "The best reason to be in South Dakota"

We pulled up to Bob's , which was a very small building off a minor highway (It is worth mentioning that the place has a contest called the "Megabob", for which you eat a pound of burger, a pound of fries, a cookie and a large Coke as fast as you can, and if you do it faster than the fastest guy before you, your name goes up on a wall. I would have tried, but we had had our continental breakfast at 8:30am, and we got to Bobs at 10:30am, so I wasn't exactly ravenous). After exiting the car, we were immediately greeted by a man who called himself "Ben-Bob", as his name was Ben, but he claimed to be "The new Bob", as the original Bob had apparently just retired. After he offered to sign our book, we went in and spent the better part of an hour scarfing down an order of ribs, a couple of pieces of "Broasted" chicken, a surprisingly good cheese steak, and a couple of sides of beans and potato wedges. Here are the pics of Jim and Ben-Bob, a couple of Bob's signs, and the food itself:

(Bobs is definitely worth a look if you're ever in Sioux City)

(10 Ten Reasons to go to Bobs - #1: Our Chicken is "Clucking" Good)

(Jim with his South Dakotan twin, Ben-Bob)

(Philly Cheesesteak with provolone, red and green peppers, and onions. Hemo would be proud.)

(Boneless ribs, Broasted Chicken, Potato Wedges and Beans)

While in Bob's, we met Jesse, who was Ben-Bob's son (although he claimed to have been working at Bob's for 15 years longer than his Dad), who saw the cookbook and decided to give me the following recipe

---

Jesse's South Dakotan 5 Hour Cordon Bleu Stew

Ingredients:

1 Smoked Ham Bone (Meat On)

Marinated Chicken Breasts

Bay Leaves

Chicken Stock

White American Cheese

Celery

Carrots

Potatoes

NO ADDED SALT

Directions:

1. Add the stock and the bay leaves to a large pot, and then add the ham bone, place over heat and simmer for an extended period of time

2. Remove the ham and carve the meat onto a place, set it aside, and discard the bone

3. Add carrots and celery to the simmering stew base, then add potatoes (Cut the potatoes into different sizes before adding them. If you do this, some of the potatoes will break down, while others will retain some shape), and continue to simmer

4. Add the chicken breasts (you can pre-marinate these if you want) to the stew and continue to simmer

5. 15 minutes before you're done with the stew (make sure chicken is well cooked and falls apart easily), add the ham meat back in, along with the cheese

6. Remove and serve. The whole process should take about 5 hours, according to Jesse

---

Needless to say, we left Bob's happy. On our way out of Sioux City, we saw a coffee shop with quite the amusing name. Perhaps they do have Jews in South Dakota:

(Shalom right back at ya, Sioux Falls.)

Now we are heading to the Badlands National Park, and will be having dinner in Rapid City, SD, before heading through the Northeast corner of Wyoming into Montana and crashing for the night before heading to Bozeman tomorrow. We hear that the world's largest annual motorcycle rally is currently underway in Sturgis, South Dakota, which is on our way, but I get the feeling that Jim is less than enthused about the prospect of rubbing shoulders with Hell's Angels.

See you in Montana...

My First Post From The Shotgun Seat - Crossing the Mississippi

Hey all. This post is being written in Western Wisconsin from my Macbook as my father drives along Interstate 90 at a pace that can only be described as "Midwest Brisk."

I realized that to this point, all 3 of the mid-trip blog posts have been composed (read: improvised) on the spot either in one of a couple of Starbuckses, or in Joe's brother's room. While I can only upload pictures while I'm in a WiFi hotspot (which, due to I-90's complete lack of WiFi, explains why this post is going to remain a pic-less TextEdit document until we find some magic internet sauce), I figured I could always saw away at some text while sitting shotgun (which I will be doing more often than I had originally thought, thanks to the Mazda's automatic transmission).  In doing so, I can simply cut and paste my "shotgun posts" each time I discover another WiFi connection. 

Now don't get me wrong, I will still include plenty of pictures with my posts, and the number of pictures per post will probably only increase with time (while the time spent per post decreases as I continue to figure out this whole blogging thing), and as I write this, I am realizing that as I collect pictures each day on the digital camera, I can pre-write captions, etc..the plot thickens.

So since my last post, here's what's been going on:

We left the 'bucks, and picked up our dinner at a place called Potbelly's. They have three sizes of sandwich: Regular, "Skinny" (for which they scoop out all the bread from their heros, save for the crust, and then give you less meat), and "Bigs". I'm sure you can guess what I opted for.  Here's a picture of my delicious Turkey sandwich. Food definitely tastes better at 70 mph (which, did I mention, is the actual speed limit in Indiana). 

(Potbelly's - Don't get caught dead with a "Skinny" sandwich...it's social suicide.)

(High Speed Eats are Good Eats.)

We walked up and down State Street, the main drag of the Wisconsin campus, checking out bars and shops. (For better or for worse, it's your pretty stereotypical assortment of Chipotles, Urban Outfitters, Cosi's, etc.) After a short while, we found this statue of an aggressive Badger. My father made the laughable cardinal mistake of pointing at it and saying "Hey Will, check out that ferocious-looking Wolverine." Big 10 fans, hold your applause,  as well as your hate mail.

(The Wisconsin "Wolverine", right Dad?)

Following the advice of my friend Sam Pepper, a Wisconsin alum and future SportsCenter anchor, we checked out "State Street Brats" for the namesake sausage and a taste of "Spotted Cow", a solid wheat beer (although, in my humble opinion, the Lakefront wheat beer was the best I've had on the trip). 

(State Street Brats, Spotted Cow Beer, and The University of Wisconsin: A winning combination.)

We passed a bar that had $1.50 top-shelf drinks all night, but wisely decided to make the sober choice and get back on the road. As of now, we are planning on driving across Wisconsin tonight (I am eventually going to take over driving duties once Jim gets sick of sitting behind the wheel), and see if we can actually start traversing Minnesota. Tomorrow, we'll wake up and drive the rest of the way across Minnesota and South Dakota to visit the Badlands National Park, before stopping off for the night somewhere near Rapid City. After that, it's off to Bozeman, Montana to stay with Anne Thorsten, my buddy Jerome's mother, who has assured us that there's a fun Bozemanian (sp?) Wednesday night awaiting us (Anne, not Jerome, assured us of this, to be clear). We hear she likes red wine, so we picked up a bottle of Rioja in Milwaukee and will present it to her upon arrival (that might turn out to be our first real night of roadtrip drinking, as the next couple of days will probably be spent playing catchup - and, as I mentioned in my previous post, we will be fully caught up in time for Seattle.)

Here's a nice picture of the Wisconsonian sunset...

(Whether or not this entire state smelled like cow shit - which, I might add, isn't necessarily a bad thing - the place looked beautiful at dusk.)

Late-night update:

We made it to Minnesota, and crossed the Mississippi River (which defines the MN-WI state line). Here is a picture of most of a "Mississippi River" sign (as usual, taken at high speed with very little advanced notice), as well as a shot of the river itself:

(Last-minute photography. Awesome.)

(While you may often hear the phrase, "This is the best [blank] East of the Mississippi...," there are no longer any caveats.)

We are crashing at a Super 8 in Blue Earth, Minnesota. When we got there, all they had left were suites, which go for the price of about 3 cocktails at a New York City hotel bar, so we took it. Yeah, that's right, it's got a fireplace...

(I feel welcome. I really do.)

(Jim and his fireplace.)

Chicago Morning + Milwaukee + Madison

Hey there. We just passed the 1,000 mile mark, and are on our 8th state, currently holed up in a starbucks in Madison, Wisconsin, home of the University of Wisconsin. We tried to get into the local AEPi house (pictured below) as both Jim and I are brothers. How did we get there from Chicago (where you and I last left off)? Read on to find out...

(Lights weren't on, nobody was home, although the place was massive)

We started off in Chicago at Joe's house, where Joe and I (and his dog Onyx, pictured below) woke up and went on a run around the Chicago 'burbs. When we returned, his mom Sharon has prepared a massive meal for us, which we gobbled down. Then Jim and I hit up a local mechanic for a quick windshield wiper fluid refill, before heading to Lou Malnati's for some delicious Chicago-style deep dish pizza. Pics below:

(Sharon gets carried away. Eggs on toast, banana nut pancakes, apple and chocolate donuts, orange juice, and maple syrup for days.)

(My running partners, Joe and Onyx - pictured right to left)

(Lou's deep dish pie with Sausage and Mushrooms. Delish.)

(Allegedly the best in Chicago. Not that I have anything to compare it to, but I wouldn't be surprised.)

(Random sign at Lou's for the Champagne of Beers. Amusing because of the Harlem Globetrotter perched on the moon.)

We then set off for Milwaukee, where we arrived and went on the tour at the Lakefront brewery, led by the eccentric brother of the founder. Our tour guide was busy swinging mallets and lifting kegs, but agreed to mug with me behind the bar. After picking up a t-shirt, I headed to Kopp's Frozed Custard, and had a Tiramasu frozen custard (don't ask me what the difference is between frozen custard and ice cream), which was the most delicious ice cream-like thing I've ever eaten. Not kidding. It even de-throned the Spumoni ice cream from Spumoni Gardens out in Brooklyn. After the cone and a surprisingly robust three dollar cheeseburger, we hopped in the car and headed to Madison, where we are about to go sandwich hunting, as we plan to hop in the car and continue west, hopefully getting across the state and into South Dakota before pitting for the night. By the way, you can not walk 2 feet in Milwaukee without tripping over a bottle or can of Miller Lite (which is brewed there). We kinda found the miller light mecca in the back of the local beer store...

Here's some good news. Thanks to our surprisingly productive first day, we think we can get back on schedule and make it to Seattle by Thursday night. Awesome. Rest of today's pics are pasted below. Until next time...

(The Mecca of all things Miller)

(My delicious Kopp's cheeseburger - with mustard, ketchup, and fried onions)

(The tiramasu frozen custard. Amazing.)

(Me and our 6'7" tour guide Jim, whom I'm convinced was already three sheets to the wind when I met him for the 2pm tour.)

(The biggest little brewery in town. $6 for a tour, a pint glass, and four 6 oz samples)

(The capitol building in Madison. Jim's digital camera timing is improving, but still not ready for primetime.)

(Our "Jolly" tour guide Jim swinging his Keg-sealing mallet)

(Miller life tallboys. $1.69 in Milwaukee. Nice.)

Long First Day (NYC to Chi Town)

You may be wondering why there is a second post for the first day. Well, we were sitting in Starbucks (where I posted my first Day 1 post - about 7 hours ago), and we said, "We've already seen the HoF, we've seen the arenas, and we've stumbled upon a music festival, so if we go have a good meal, we'll feel pretty good about having 'done' Cleveland justice, right?"

Right.

So we decided that in order to fit in a full agenda tomorrow (consisting of Chicago deep dish at Lou Malnati's, a 2pm Lakefront Brewery tour in Milwaukee, early dinner at Kopp's Frozen Custard in the 'Wauk, and a night out in Madison, Wisconsin), we would just start driving to Chicago tonight and see how far we could go.

Oh by the way, everyone says St. Paul and Minneapolis are just not that awesome at all, so we're skipping the twin cities (especially because the Twins are away this week), and seeing the University of Wisconsin campus instead

So, we checked out a couple of restaurants, and everyone had bumped their prices up due to the street festival, save for one little spot tucked away on a corner street. We went in, and met some very friendly people. There was Gerad, the army veteran who had just returned from his latest tour in Iraq via Portland and told me that when I go to Oregon, I must visit the Red Hook Brewery (consider it done). There was our waitress Danice Diane (a.k.a "DiDi" a.k.a "Double D" a.k.a. the only person in the bar who knew how to work the grill in the kitchen and let me come hang out with her while she grilled up the half pound patty I ordered). And last but not least, there was Jeff, the bartender, who offered us a complimentary Great Lakes IPA (which Jim and I split, due to the impending post-dinner drive), and more importantly, gave me the following recipe for the cookbook:

----

Jeff's "Go To"

Ingredients:

1 1/2 oz Absolut Citron

1 1/2 oz Three Olives Grape Vodka

1 1/2 oz Sour Mix

1 1/2 oz 7 Up

Directions:

1. Combine ingredients over ice in a metal mixing cup and shake vigorously

2. Strain into shot glasses

Serves four 1 1/2 oz shots

-----

Here are some pics from Cleveland (since my earlier post):

(Quicken Loans Arena, home of Lebron and the Cleveland Cavs. We are all witnesses. Literally. "We" being Jim and Will. I'm so clever.)

(Great Lakes IPA. Really good, especially six ounces at a time.)

(Danice with my half-pound swiss burger. Not your average-looking burger. Not your average-looking burger flipper either.)

So yeah, then we hit the road for Chicago, figuring we'd make it about 150 of the 350 mile journey, post up at a motel, and call it a night. Nope. I called my fraternity brother Joe Schwartz, who lives in Arlington Heights (a suburb just North of Chicago), and he was gracious enough to let us stay at his place. (A big shout out to his mother Sharon as well, who I've just found out is a total sweetheart). So, we decided that 860 miles wasn't too much driving for the first day, and off we went, stopping only for gas and beef jerky.

I am now sitting on Joe's brother's bunk bed (he's away at college or something), which is covered in Chicago Bulls-themed sheets and pillowcases. Joe is waking me up at 8am CST tomorrow (it is now 1:47 EST and 12:47 CST) to go for a run around his neighborhood, and get this: THERE IS A LOU MALNATI'S SIX MINUTES FROM HIS HOUSE. Fate, people. Fate.

Here are a few more pics. Hope this holds you over until next time. To all my still-employed blog followers, Happy Monday. 

(The dashingly handsome unexpected Chicagoan host Joe Schwartz)

(This is what the Sears Tower looks like when you try to take a picture of it at midnight while your father is doing 75 mph on the Chicago Skyway)

(The setting Indianan sun peeking out from just over the trees. The first of many sunset pictures, I'm sure.)

On The Road + Cleveland

Greetings from Cleveland! All the little chicks with the Crimson lips were right: Cleveland Rocks. (if you don't get the reference, go watch the Drew Carey show)

After a delayed start, we got on the road at 7:15 am. Here's the car, the drivers, and the trunk (in no particular order because this is the first time i've uploaded pictures and i'm still trying to figure it all out):

So i hope this text appears below the first three pictures. Anyway, we got on the road, and blew through 280 miles in 4 hours. Apparently nobody on Interstate 80 drives under 70 miles an hour. We stopped for gas, and had a couple of delicious pork and mustard sandwiches (Thanks, Mom. Sorry, Moses.) Here's Jim pumping gas, and the aforementioned delicious sandwich (as soon as I figure out how to caption images, I am going to have a field day):

We then made it into Ohio. Jim is new to this whole "digital camera" thing, and is yet to get his timing down, so while you may need a magnifying glass in order to believe me, I assure you the following sign says "Welcome to Ohio"

Ok, I hate to rush the rest of this post, but we are sitting in a starbucks, sucking up free Wifi (Buying a $5 Starbucks card is going to get me free WiFi for a month. Thanks Howard.), but there is a live band playing at a street festival outside the window (see picture below), so here's a picture of that, along with some rock and roll hall of fame stuff, and finally, the cleveland browns' stadium. unfortunately, today's Indians-Tigers game was a 1:05pm affair, so unless we had left at 4am, there is no way we would have caught 9 innings...

Tonight, we are going to hit up one of a few restaurants recommended by my Cleveland guru Matt Jones, a former MS colleague, and a great dude. Tomorrow is Chicago (deep dish pizza for lunch) and Milwaukee (Lakefront Brewery Tour if we get there in time...) Until next time...

Hertz!

We are picking up a car from Hertz at 4pm. Leaving tomorrow. Trip schedule will get bumped 1 day, and I'll make it up by only staying in SF one night.

It'll be an automatic transmission. Bad news: Automatics are not as much fun as a good 5-speed. Good News: Now I won't be the only person doing the driving from Seattle through Atlanta.

Also, the rental car has air conditioning. I love you Gramps, but I never had that much confidence in your A/C.

Plan B?

We are currently researching the unlimited mileage rental car market. Maybe we'll just walk into Hertz, sign a carefully reviewed contract, jump in a Chevy Impala, and leave tomorrow morning. 

I'll keep you posted.