Seattle was a blast. It felt so good to be back on the west coast. We felt at ease and everything seemed familiar again. We had a great time catching up with Paul, Marya and Maren (my cousin and her family) and Ashley's old childhood friends from Sun Valley, Idaho. We didn't see too many tourist attractions because we had both been there before. We also met up with my old boss, Matt and our old Chico/London friend Michelle. It was a real relief being in a place again where we knew so many people. After a few days of seeing [View Full Entry]

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After waking up in Cody we noticed we had another flat tire! We had now officially blown all four tires. It was Labor Day and the only thing open in town was the Walmart Supercenter. They replaced it and then we were off to Yellowstone National Park. The drive was gorgeous and the views were breathtaking. Driving through the park was like a North American animal safari. We saw hundreds of buffalo, many elk and a coyote. Every ten minuets all the cars would be pulled over, taking pictures of these living natural wonders. We also saw tons of colorful, bubbling [View Full Entry]

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After Chicago, we booked it through Wisconsin, Minnesota and South Dakota. We stopped at the world famous Corn Palace in Mitchell and Wall Drug in Wall, SD. We also got a flat tire in the middle of nowhere in South Dakota. That was our third on the trip. Next we stopped at Badlands National Park and saw amazing rock formations. We also got lucky and saw a family of mountain goats on the side of the road. The next day we drove through the Black Hills and saw Mount Rushmore. We also had lunch in Deadwood, SD. This was an old [View Full Entry]

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Chicago was fantastic! Landon only had 2 days before he continued elsewhere with his travels so we pulled in and instantly hit the town. We took the train downtown and got great tickets to the Joanna Newsome concert at the Chicago Opera house. The concert was great and then we made our way back to John and Elizabeth's Apartment. John and Elizabeth were in Boston for Elizabeth's graduation so we stayed a few nights at their apartment with their roommate, Reagan. The next day we took the train to Addison and caught a Cubs day game at Wriggley Field. It was [View Full Entry]

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We left Montreal and drove two hours west to Ottawa, Canada's capital. It was nice to see road signs in English again and we parked and walked around the Parliament building. The architecture was amazing and looked like London. It was quite cold in Ottawa and we only stayed a few hours before heading to Toronto. Toronto had an impressive skyline and is Canada's financial capital. We walked around all day visiting record shops, discount stores and other sites unique to Toronto. We also saw beautiful Lake Ontario. This was the first great lake we had ever seen. We ended up [View Full Entry]

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We arrived to Montreal and instantly picked our friend Landon up from the airport. Within a week he had decided to meet us in Montreal and drive with us through Canada to Chicago. We meet our friend Janis and stayed with her for a few days, visiting old Montreal, downtown and Mount Royal Park. This was probably our favorite stop in Montreal because the park was the only mountain in the region. It provided amazing views of the surrounding area and gave us a great sense of place. We also sampled Montreal's famous poutine and bagels. They were both delicious and [View Full Entry]

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Quebec City was truly amazing. It is the only walled city in North America and was celebrating it's 400th anniversary this summer. Ninety-five percent of it's inhabitants speak French as their first language and it seemed as though half spoke English too. Getting around was challenging because all the signs were in French. We stayed in a great Youth Hostel and walked everywhere. Inside the walled city there were street performances and great restaurants. Everything was made of stone and lit up at night. People were eating outside at night and we felt like we were in Europe. The next day [View Full Entry]

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After leaving New York we ventured farther northeast and camped a night in rural Connecticut. That night there was a massive storm and our tent got drenched inside. The next morning we arrived in Providence, Rhode Island, where we cleaned up at a local YMCA and explored the historic downtown and Brown University. We then continued through New Bedford, Massachusetts to Cap Cod. We drove over the Cap Cod Canal and up the coastal route to Boston. The houses here were very English and we stopped at a local beach to get away from the car for awhile. On our way [View Full Entry]

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From Philly we drove to Ramsey, New Jersey to meet up with our friend from San Francisco, Matt Shiel. He showed us around the area and took us hiking in New York (only about 10 miles from his parents house). Matt also turned out to be a great resource for our trip to New York City because he grew up in the area. We got on the train (with Matt's help) and wandered into NYC with out a clue where we were going to stay for the night. As it turns out, it is hard to find an inexpensive youth hostel [View Full Entry]

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After visiting Washington DC and taking a short break in Baltimore, we entered Philadelphia. We booked a room at a neat, old French mansion located in Fairmont Park called Chamounix Mansion. The building was originally built in 1799 and was furnished with pieces from the period. We explored the historic downtown and loved the narrow, cobblestone streets and old brick houses. This was one of the most comfortable cities we've visited. The city hall building was breathtaking, easily the most elegant in our nation. Of course we also tried philly-cheese-steaks and saw the liberty bell. We also ate [View Full Entry]

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