ALASTAIR + LALEINIA

  Since Lain and Emre left Michigan early, I needed a driving companion so mum flew out for the drive! After shoving much stuff as possible in the car, Tetris style, we took off! Before long we arrived et stop #1, Chicago. Ever since missing it in 2013, I've wanted to see the Bean, and so that was our destination. It was really cool, this giant mirror in the middle of millennium park. It was fun to walk around it and see our earlier reflections with the city buildings behind us. After a stop at Giordano's pizza, we got back in the car and headed towards Nauvoo. After hitting some undefined creature on the way, we pulled over and slept at a rest stop, mum in the hammock (still can't believe she did it) and me on the floor. The next day, we spent a bit of time in Nauvoo, walking around the town and chatting. Then it was on to Mt. Rushmore. We slept at a rest stop in South Dakota, this time mum in the car and me in the hammock. It was colder than before and a littl...

Fresh from Laleinia’s graduation, we set off for adventure. Midnight said goodbye and nothing was going to stop us. As Lain took the first sleeping shift, we soldiered on into the night. The moon was so bright that we saw bats, deer, badgers, and even the Teton mountain range, even though it was supposed to be pitch black. About 50 miles after passing beautiful Jackson Hole, Wyoming, we were blessed with a safari-style encounter with a pack of elk. The only downside was that they were in the road, and we were driving 60 miles per hour. Thankfully, and despite the efforts of a suicidal elk, Alastair found a gap between the pack and we managed to get through, unscathed. The rest of the maiden leg of the road trip was drama-free, and we pulled into Mount Rushmore with high hopes of finding free parking, which we did. The faces on Mount Rushmore are each about 6 stories tall, and were made by strategic explosions in the face of the rock. But being so far away, the faces did look rath...