chicago & michigan

greetings from a very snowy michigan! since i arrived in chicago a week ago, it has barely stopped snowing, which makes for beautiful scenery, dangerous roads and wet socks. it's been really freezing, today is a chilly -12 degrees. i was under the impression that if it was below zero it was too cold to snow, but that theory has definitely been proven wrong! as i sit here, i can see a squirrel (oh, nope, apparently it's a chipmunk!) jumping around in the snowy branches of a tree outside. very cute!

since the last time i wrote, lynne and i did a day trip to yosemite national park from san francisco. we left at 6am and it took 4 hours to get there. i thought it didn't snow in california but again i was wrong, and we arrived to stunning scenery where everything was dusted with snow. we were shown some of the beautiful views, then given free time in the afternoon. i got to see the ansel adams photo gallery, which was pretty cool, then we took a walk along one of the trails to see yosemite falls. the trails were so icy that it was pretty hard to stay on our feet, it was very amusing!

lynne left the next day so i had a couple of days on my own in san francisco which was actually pretty weird as on this trip i've been with friends the whole time. the weather was awful one of the days so i went to the movies and spent a couple of hours reading in borders! the next day the weather was a lot better - i went on a cruise that went under the golden gate bridge and past alcatraz. i'd been to the island before and thought it was creepy, so was happy this time just to sail past it. i looked around on pier 39 and spent a whole day's budget on a beautiful coffee table book from a photographer i like - not the smartest idea when there is no room in my bag and it already weighs a ton.

i have had the greatest time this past week! from san francisco i flew to chicago where i met up with my friend amie who lives in michigan. her husband doug drove us to our hotel, the drake, which is one of the swankiest hotels in the city - the handrails on the staircases were even lined with velvet! it made a lovely change from hostels, especially having the comfiest bed i've ever slept in! the first night i was there, amie took me to bubba gumps, which is a restaurant that's based around the movie forrest gump. i've never actually seen the whole movie, so have to get educated on that, but it was cool. if you want your waiter, you switch the sign on your table from run forrest run to stop forrest stop, and they'll come over to help in about 2 seconds. i ate mashed potato and broccoli which was practically a crime with the nice stuff on the menu, but my stomach had reached it's limit for junk food tolerance and i had to get some veggies in me. amie bought me a souvenir glass with a flashing light at the bottom which does really weird things to your eyes when you drink from it, haha. after that we went ice skating after dinner in an outdoor rink by millennium park - i'd never skated outside before and it was heaps of fun. we even saw a guy get down on one knee on the ice and propose to his girlfriend! everyone was cheering, it was sweet. we got pretty cold on the way home, we walked a long way and our legs and noses were kinda numb for a while.

the next couple of days we spent sightseeing in the city, shopping, eating, talking, more eating and more talking! my american education continued by way of the cheesecake factory, a restaurant with about 30 different desserts on the menu! the portion sizes were so huge that after sharing a main meal, amie and i still had to split dessert cos we were so full! we tried a lemon raspberry cheesecake which was delicious! (doug also kindly donated his key lime pie cheesecake slice to us later which was great!) the second night we went to see the blue man group - i'd never heard of them but they were absolutely hilarious!! they are three guys who are painted blue, play the drums and don't talk, and their show is amazing because despite no talking, they just have everyone cracking up the entire show. one skit involved the guys eating twinkies, and when amie found out i'd never had one she was horrified at my deprived childhood. that was rectified the following day and i am pleased to report that twinkies are yum! so are sloppy joes (seasoned mince in hamburger rolls).

one thing in chicago that amazed me was american doll place - a huge two storey store selling $100 dolls which are really popular with kids at the moment. you can buy every imaginable accessory for the dolls, sets of doll's clothes plus matching outfits for your kids. you can also get your doll's hair done for a bargain price of $20, or get your photo taken with your doll for $25. there is a cafe where your doll can sit in a chair that attaches to your table, and a hospital where your doll can be sent away to be fixed if it is broken. it was unbelievable!! it was pretty empty the day we went, but apparently before christmas it was manic in there. watching people walking out with bags of things kinda highlighted the excesses in this world...

other amazing things in the usa - drive thru banks!!! you put your stuff in a container which gets sucked through a pipe to the teller, who does your banking stuff and sends the money/receipts back down the pipe to you! now that's the way to do banking! they also have drive through atms - i really was amazed! also, apparently there are drive thru coffee shops...maybe you never have to get out of your car, which would be nice in this kind of weather! hearing lifehouse on the radio is another amazing thing, although so is the fact that i've heard missy higgins, savage garden, the veronicas and pete murray on the radio numerous times. oh and of course peanut butter m&m's make the amazing list.

after chicago, we caught the train out to amie's place where i got to meet the rest of her family and hang out with them for a few days. we had such a great time, and i was really sad to leave. yesterday i had my last night with amie and doug so we celebrated in style by driving down to ann arbor to see the first ever concert by fiction family, jon foreman's new band. it was at a really small, laidback venue, and we got a great spot, sitting at a table near the front. the music was great, and the guys were quite nervous, being their first show so were talking a lot and being really funny. after the show we even got to have our picture taken with jon foreman thanks to doug's celeb spotting skills!

now i'm staying in ann arbor with my cousin and her family for a few days, then it'll be onward to new york where i'll meet up with tracey and mel. after nyc we're going to spend a few days in colorado with tracey's family then i'll fly back to vancouver in time to catch my flight home. anyway as usual this has turned out to be an essay so i'll go...bye for now!

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Part of trip: Canada & US

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