Moose Jaw, Sask - Jamestown, ND - Sioux Falls, SD - Hampshire, Il --- DETROIT!

That sounds sick...I thought about it for a minute then discarded the idea altogether

The awesome America

Illinois sky...

A fully loaded rig..

Salty...4000k without a wash in crappy conditions

About the highest thing in Minnesota

An Art Centre?

Dakota oil!!!

Even steven

God I hate ethanol fuel...and so does my Dodge

Worlds Largest Buffalo in Jamestown, ND

Yikes...20kmh for 100miles

glass

 So here I am in Detroit~~~~ these pictures are random from Moose Jaw to Hampshire, Il. The vans odometer has been rolling steady since I left, no issues, no worries (aside from this bullshit). Right now the van is up on jacks, the part swap has started and it feel good to be back at the Kidd's house having laughs and smiling till my cheeks hurt.

 I'm not sure how far I will be able to go on the van but so far so good and the weather is supposed to be awesome for the next few days so provided I can stay motivated and not get frustrated I expect good progress.

 These pictures below are from Hampshire to Detroit. I was passing through Chicago and wanted to have some lunch there so I asked an old high school friend about what his favourite joints were as well as looked up a couple on Diner Drive ins and Dives. If I had a few days and an endless budget I'd have stayed and sampled a few selections but as it is/was I was on a mission to get to the D so I could get going on the whip.


 I really dig water towers, when you see one you know it's a small town. Sometimes cool, sometimes not but I dig the towers anyway. I have no idea why they don't do something artistic with them, they'd be such a great piece if you let someone loose on the space

Illinois skiing...I didn't even smirk...that shit wasn't funny ;)

baseball tower

I drove around for a long time looking for a car wash tall enough to take ride...found one...and a Chick n Dip (it was out of business as of Oct31)

It's smiling! ;)

I hate that I didn't get my camera cleaned when I had the chance...this is as much of Chicago as you'll see on this page

The drive to a random the restaurant was a neat experience. Chicago's a big big city with almost 3million people in it. It's typically american with it's crazy freeways and mad traffic but to be honest everything moved very smoothly. There were some erratic drivers, some delays in a traffic jam on the way out (but if was 3:45 so I can't complain that it was only a little traffic delay and not hours on end of crawling freeways)

  I put 5 addresses into my hat and chose one...1303 S. Michigan Ave. I didn't know the name, the place or how to get there. So into the gps went the address and away I went...on arrival I found that Panozzo's was for some reason all locked up. Monday, 2:30...wtf...and because I was wanting to give the beast a rest and get some grub in my belly...I moved over one address to 1301 S michigan and ate at A'Cappella Bistro.

 It was quite, the owner seemed a little tired and I wondered how he'd do with a packed joint but he was nice and attentive (only 3 tables in there). 

 I settled on the double stuffed pizza with garlic, broccoli, sausage, mushroom and cappicoli. It took awhile to come but double stuffed always take awhile if it's done right. The pizza was pretty good. It was nothing that I couldn't make at home, the flavours were good but I found the sauce to lack some zang and the stuffed crust to be less stuffed than I would have liked. 

 All in all it was a decent lunch. I would have loved to of hung out and visited some blues clubs and spent a few days here but like I said..I had places to go.

I put the smack down on it...and paid the price by being forced off the road for a nap less than 1hr outside of Chicago

Why I hate big cities...

Looking back at Illionois

In the hoosier state for a few miles...then into Michigan

Day after arrival...on jacks, moving front components over, tomorrow will be started, alternator, headlights and grill. Trying to get as much done as I can to avoid shop fee's

 Oh yeah and thanks to Shunpiker I was featured in my first newsletter... :)  She writes - Searching for Something: Brian, a very likeable young Canadian on a personal RV mission: Savannah or bust! The dream almost "busted" recenlty when the propane tank on his RV blew up. He caught the whole thing on video (posted on his blog). Brian just informed me he has found a replacement RV and his trip is back on track. Following his blog is like an exciting made-for-tv drama series - I can't wait to see what happens next.

============================================================= and that makes me smile!