Indiana-Santa Cruz.

Well I opted out of being the lone traveler for the family man instead. The weather conditions around the mid west and east coast were getting nasty and in the sub zero range anyway. So we left Mishawaka Indiana on Tuesday at 3:30 pm aiming to get back to Santa Cruz for Thanksgiving. The little map on my phone told me it was 2,369 miles and a 38 hour drive, so basically if we drove straight through we should make it back in time for dinner on Thanksgiving. We took the 80 the majority of the way which put us driving across about a state and a half of ice and snow. The car started running on 3 cylinders because back in Indiana I changed the spark plugs and did a dumb ass job of it. Pulling off the highway in the 2 degree weather of Wyoming at 5am while nearly having a heart attack from drinking (3) 5 Hour Energy drinks to trouble shoot the cars mechanical issues is not fun. 2 different garages, $75 bucks and 3 hours later were back on the road and in good shape. In Salt Lake City we jumped on the 15 to Vegas instead of taking the 80 to Reno to avoid driving through more sub zero temperatures-Salt Lake City had a low of -5. The 15 to the 55, a 3 hour nap before jumping on the 5 and 43 hours later were in Santa Cruz just in time for Thanksgiving.

Here's a few more gems of Nate's grandma Elmarose-

                                          some family portraits taken over thanksgiving...
                                    

                                                                         Cochise

                                                                           Fiona

                                              
                                                                         Kaya

                                                                           Lily

                                                                           Shane

                                                                            Rain

                                                  Newly inducted family member-Julian

Mile 5886

   IOWA

We drove through Iowa at night so these are some of the only shots I have. This is the world's largest truck stop- so says the sign below. Priceless.

    

                                           Interesting name for a gas station....

All these shots were taken in Wyoming. The temperature in Wyoming ranged from 2 degrees to 8 degrees. Wyoming was the first state to grant woman their voting rights. At one point Cowboys out numbered Woman 6-1. Instead of having gun fights to determine who got the choch they made a smart political move-who could blame them. Now that's thinking with your head.

Mile 3377

Me and my buddy Nate hit the road yesterday to Chicago which is about a 2 hour drive from where he has been living in Indiana. I will say that visually in my opinion Chicago takes New York City and bends it over it's knee and spanks it. This is the most badass city I've seen in the states. SF is visually amazing as well but Chicago just looks tuff- nothing but Iron,steel and brick all over. Every alley looks straight out of a noir film. I only wish I could have got a glimpse of it in the snow as well-probably will start snowing right when I leave Indiana. Here's a handful of pics I snapped last night...

This is Nate's grandma Elmarose. She's 92 and a fireball.

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Well I arrived in Mishawaka Indiana where I'm hanging with Nate and the rest of his great family. His grandma is in her 90's and has been a collector her whole life so there's tons of cool knickknacks all over the place.  Here's a few examples...

Hanging with the dolls 2010.

                                          
                                           I miss regular telephones.

  

Got Jesus?

Speaking of Jesus....

Jesus. Alive and well in Illinois.

Here's some more photos of Kansas...

I have a bit of a train fetish and chase these things down when ever I can.

Missouri...

                                                        Abandoned school house

Well going to shack up in Indiana for the next few days and plan which route to take back. Either going to head from here to Vermont then hit the entire east coast then cut down through the south and finally home or go from Chicago through Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona and last but not least back to Cali. We shall see...