June 22 - Wisconsin Dells and Lots of Driving

After Chicago we had a long journey ahead of us along I-90.  We stopped in Wisconsin Dells, the self-proclaimed water park capital of the world, because it was on our way.  The scenery was nice, but we were expecting a greater expanse of scenery.

The city was remarkable to us large for how unremarkable it was, reminding us of a slightly worse version of the South Jersey shore.  Our experiences in the 'best' stores are featured below.  That large, creepy, mechanical creature sang the Louis Armstrong version of 'What a Wonderful World,' and the moving dragon was a permanent fixture of the Dells' very own 'Wizard Quest.'

We shot some paintballs, bought some fudge, and capped it the visit off with a visit to the torture museum, which USA today called "unique."

After a few short hours in the Dells, we were ready to begin our 11 hour drive to the Badlands.  

Stay tuned for our blog posts, which should come every few days... Internet is scarce out here (we are crouched behind a comfort in with unprotected wifi).

If you would like to see the remaining pictures from Day 5, please click here.

June 20-21 - Chicago

We hit the road early from Pokagon to get into Chicago by mid-afternoon. America's windy city lived up to its name, especially along the coast of lake Michigan where we explored Buckingham fountain, the Museum District, 12th Street Beach, and Navy Pier. We enjoyed some Italian beef and sausage at Al's Beef and some deep dish pizza at Giordano's.

 We also brought some suitlyness to the bean and the rest of Chicago's amazing Millennium park. 

We saw the view from the top of the Sears tower, which was renamed the Willis tower in Chicago's biggest make since someone dropped a match in 1871. 

On the second day, we met up with Matt's friend Alex in Wicker Park. We later headed back to Millennium Park to meet up our friend Reed, who joined us at the top of John Hancock tower for drinks and kindly put us up for the night in the suburbs.

For the remaining pictures from Days 3 and 4, please click here.

June 19 - Niagra Falls, Cleveland, and Pokagon State Park

With suit pants and one day of travel under our belts, we awoke from our slumber with rain water seeping into our tent.  Determined to press on, we refueled at the Miss Syracuse diner in Syracuse, NY.

A night in a damp tent wasn't enough for us - we spent that afternoon getting drenched in the misty water of Niagara Falls and contemplating ways to cross into Canada unnoticed.  

We had the most imaginative grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner at Melt in Cleveland and spent a few hours walking around the Cleveland waterfront as we let the food digest.

After Cleveland, we drove late into the night until we reached Pokagon State Park, our resting place for the evening.

To see the rest of our images from day 2, click here.

June 18 - NJ, NYC, and Green Lakes State Park

This blog is the story of the glorious and tasteless journey of two friends. In nearly four weeks, we will go from coast to coast and back visiting all sorts of American icons along the Way. The trip began in South Jersey, but quickly took us to the Atlantic at FDR Beach and to New York City to visit our friends Morgan and Matt. We met the naked cowboy in Times Square and took a stroll through Central Park. From there, we headed North towards Niagara falls before stopping to sleep at Green Lakes State Park.

For more pictures of our travels on day 1, click here.