Midwestin' It

Hello Everyone!

I am writing this from Chicago, Illinois, as is now indicated on the map. (you have to zoom out to see the full map, were working through some kinks in the program.) Chris is going to write a more detailed post about Chi-town, but im here now to bring you up to date on our post-Pittsburgh road trippin.

After checking out an incredible view overlooking Pittsburgh, we headed to Athens, Ohio, home of the Bobcats and my cousin Logan. We got off the interstate for the first time on the way there and drove through some sweet old main streets in small-town Ohio. For a big city boy, this stuff was really cool. Athens is a cool little college town, and Logan showed us this great little lake near the town that we hiked around a little.

We headed to Cincinnati the next day to see cousins from my mom's side that I hadnt seen in years. They showed me all around Cincinnati, and we sampled some real Cincinnati Chili.

Now we're staying with my grandparents in Chicago, where BB and Papa are showing me great hospitality.

When I was planning out the trip, I was so busy getting excited about the places that I havent seen, the different sites, the national parks, that I looked past the first segment of the trip, the family segment. Ive had an amazing time seeing cousins and relatives that I haven't seen in years. After being in school for so long and not really doing a good job keeping in touch with everybody, I forgot how much fun I have with my large extended family. Now that Im back in the country, I realize how important family is to me. When we were in Cincinnati, we pulled out these old videos of the family when I was between six and ten years old. It was just such a surreal experience to watch myself and my family way back in the day. It was hilarious watching how ridiculously energetic we all were back then, and how similar we are to our fifteen years ago selves.

I apologize if this entry was a little boring, Its hard to describe the fun of hanging out with family for a week.

Also, for all you visual readers out there (I see you Shaunee!), were working on getting pictures up. Weve run into some camera issues, but once they get fixed, its picture city! and youre invited.

Keep it real!

Nick