Grand Rapids - Chicago - Milwaukee

Yesterday I was hanging out in Grand Rapids, then stayed the night at a friend's parents' house in Indiana, went to Chicago for a few hours and ended up in Milwaukee hanging out. I walked a couple miles in Chicago and then 5 in Milwaukee... not bad for having a 30 pound pack on.
Today I met a couple interesting people...
Joey was on the same train as me from Indiana to Chicago. He's from Puerto Rico and, when I mentioned the Dominican Republic, got excited about how they're just an island away.
Bill went to the Brewers game with me tonight. He was a police officer in DC in the 60s when riots started being all the rage.
Homeless dude spends his summers in Texas. He thought it was amazing that you could get an amtrak pass for 30 days for just $350 and informed me that he was going to start saving up right away.
I have met a lot of interesting people on my journey, and can't even tell you how many times a day I explain what I'm doing. But everyone seems to think that it is one of the coolest things they have heard of in a while.
I think, just maybe, I'm the coolest thing since sliced bread.

AT What?

On Saturday, we (cousin Heidi and I) hiked in New Hampshire on part of the Appalachian trail. It was so rad. It was a gorgeous day and i hiked on about a mile of something that I someday hope to hike all of. Eventually. Until then, that mile will have to do for the other 2174...

My personal Mecca

So we went to Ben and Jerry's... I was pretty much giddy the whole time. Then I tried to eat the Vermonster. It's the 20 scoop ice cream sundae topped by chocolate, cookies, whipped cream, and 4 other toppings of your choice. I went for 4 scoops each of cake batter, half baked, vanilla, phish food, and triple caramel chunk. And my toppings were oreos, chocolate sprinkles, brownies, and caramel sauce. It was a little bit of heaven, until I got halfway through. Then i just felt sick.

new york - new haven - providence - boston

today was a travel day. i started this morning in brooklyn (thanks to Alissa and the radical living community) and then headed to Penn Station yet again. i decided that rather than going straight to boston, i was going to see some of Connecticut and Rhode Island, so I stopped in New Haven and walked around Yale some... nothing too exciting. Then I went to Providence, where I got lost more than once wandering around the city. At one point, I'm not sure what kind of neighborhood I was in, but I was getting yelled at from time to time, and I went at least 30 minutes without hearing someone else talk in English. So I took the bus back to where I could find myself again. Then I headed up to Boston where I also did some wandering before finally meeting up with my cousin, Heidi. Tomorrow we're off to my personal Mecca... the Ben and Jerry's factory.

my first day in new york

i got in last night. i'm staying with stefanie, who lived with my parents my freshman year. she's my host sister for life. you know those people who no matter how long it has been, it's good when you see them again... yeah.
today i went exploring. i went to costco in brooklyn and then down to coney island where i had a nathan's hot dog... mmmm...

and tonight i went to get pizza. double mmmm...
it rained all day, which sucked, but i still wandered around a ton. good times.

my time in Pennsylvania

The day before yesterday marked the end of my first roadtrip portion of my journey. I ended up in Philadelphia. I saw the Liberty Bell and other historical stuff and then I walked all over the place and ran up the stairs from Rocky. It was rad. I stayed with a friend of a friend, which worked out super well. The weather sucked the second day that I was there, so I slept forever and then ended up getting a Philly Cheese Steak and then going grocery shopping. Pretty random, but rad none-the-less.

I left Philly yesterday on the bus up to Allentown (ish) and am hanging out with Andrew and Jenna, a couple people who I spent part of the summer with in the Dominican Republic. I like hanging out with friends.
On a crappy note, my camera broke a little, so I don't have any pictures to updates... I'll do what I can when I can... Over and Out for now.

my roadtrippin' days...

i went to san antonio on thursday night, and got to hang out there for a bit.
friday we drove to little rock
saturday (yesterday) we drove to chattanooga and got to hang out with a couple of dr interns from this summer. it was AMAZING.
today we went from Chattanooga to DC via West Virginia and the Shenadoah National Park. rad.
more later.

my last night in seattle for a while...

there's a hope in the day... nothing exciting much going on... just connecting with friends between my two adventures... but there's a hope in the day. maybe it's because i'm headed somewhere unknown, or maybe it's because i think i'm headed back somewhere known after i get back from somewhere unknown. but even the known is unknown, because who knows who may have changed.
by the time i hopefully get back to alaska (in time to vote november 4) it will have been a year since i moved away from there. is that enough time, or am i pushing things? i believe the answer to that is that enough time has passed, but only God can know that for sure. but there's a hope in the day.

My Next Destination

I am headed out to the East Coast on Thursday. I'm pretty stoked. I'm just killing time until then.
In other news, my Grandpa moved back to Seattle(ish). I haven't lived in the same state as him since I was 5. It's weird. He's dying, so that adds a little complexity to things, but it's a good thing overall.

My week with my fam

I spent the whole week down on the Oregon coast with my mom. Scott, Alissa, and Owen were there for the first part, and my dad was there for most of it, minus a short trip to Mexico.
The weather was pretty bad, but we had a good time doing puzzles and watching the olympics in the condo. For the Maxwell opinion on NBCs coverage, click here.


Me and Owen

Oregon Sunset

my sick cat... part 2

he died. the day before i got home from the dr, my mom took him to the vet and didn't take him home. he was a good cat. if only he had been able to fight off the AIDS a little longer...

my family

i'm hanging out on the oregon coast with my family. my brother and sister-in-law are here and my mom, but right now my dad is on his way to mexico to visit my sickly grandfather who is apparently dying. it's good to just hang out with the family for a bit though. my nephew is soooo fun, and i got to hang out with my niece before i left for oregon on saturday. she's getting big. i like my fam.

my journey home

i am sitting in the airport in santo domingo waiting for the first leg of my flight home. it is sw weird to think that just two months ago i was starting my journey down to the dr.
saying goodbye was hard and good. i know that God is continuing to do amazing things here, but selfishly it's hard to not be a part of that anymore.
now on to the next step.... whatever that may be.

my dominican softball game

we had our last softball experience... it was pretty good, but it was also a little intense. the two villages that we had playing each other dont like each other much, so there was a little added stakes to what should have been a relaxing game. no actual fights broke out, but i think we did come close. this was the first of the last things... things really are coming to an end. sad.

my last normal week here

Tomorrow starts the beginning of the end of my trip. This week is the last normal one that we have of tutoring and english classes. It weirds me out a little that in less than two weeks I will be back in Seattle...
The health is fine as long as long as I avoid super oily food... that does not sit so well...
On a different note, it is freaking hot here. I think it is well over 100 most days, and the electricity is hit or miss, so sometimes there is just no cooling down. That makes me ready to be back in Alaska... you can always put more clothes on... you can only take so many clothes off before it is inappropriate.