Into The Windy City

After saying our goodbyes to the Michigan Argues, we drove for at least an hour and a half (haha) before stopping in Ann Arbor to drop by the Black Elk Co-op, a big house inhabited by just over 20 environmentally/politcally minded vegetarians who share chores, meals, the cost of living, and ideas. We ended up spending a few days wandering around Ann Arbor and hanging out at the coop. Special thanks to Kevin who made sure that we made it to the best live music around during our stay.

From Ann Arbor we headed west toward Lake Michigan. We did a bit of hiking in the woods of a local park and discovered a vine hanging from the branches of a great old tree. It dangled about 75 feet down, all the way to the forest floor. We spent the next half an hour swinging on it before heading back to the bus to make bean burritos and then venturing off in search of a place to watch the first World Series game.

The following day we visited Warren Dunes State Park where we climbed some dunes (who knew Michigan had sand dunes??) and took a brief stroll along the coast of Lake Michigan before heading to Chicago. Chicago is the first big city we've stayed over night in with the bus. Finding a suitable place to park it, where we would not get towed away while sleeping was a bit of a challenge. With a bit of advice from a local "meter maid" we managed to find a place to pull in just a few miles from downtown and quite near to a metro line.

We've done a bunch of wandering around the city over the last few days to see sites like the Sears Tower, Millenium Park and all of its sculptures and gardens, and the Navy Pier. Halloween celebrations have been in full swing and we've noticed some crazy costumes, and been able to hear some scary stories from an assortment of story tellers. We also decided to celebrate our 3rd Anniversary by enjoying some of the deep dish pizza Chicago is famous for.