Sweet Home Chicago

I made it back to the Windy City safe and sound. I rolled into town a little after nine on Wednesday night. I put in a lot of miles in the last few days on the road. Yellowstone was probably the best of all the national parks I visited. It had everything: geysers, boiling mud and sulfur water, waterfalls, mountains, and tons of wildlife. I almost shit when I pulled up next to a bison the size of my car walking along the side of the road. It was about 10 feet from my car. I didn’t know it would react or not but apparently they are very used to the cars and people because they don’t even seem to notice. I had one start walking across a field toward me while I was making my dinner in a secluded picnic area. I got a little nervous for a minute but luckily he turned around. I stayed in a nice little cabin in Mammoth Hot Springs at the north end of the park. It was pretty damn cold in the morning so I’m glad I didn’t camp. That night as I was heading for Mt. Rushmore and the Badlands in SD I literally came within inches of another major set back. I had been seeing deer on the side of the highway all night and as I was coming down this mountain there was a great view so I checked it out for just a second and when I looked back at the road there was a fawn about 10 feet in front of me. I slammed on the brakes and steered left just missing the poor little bastard’s ass by less than a foot. Thank god and Chevy for ABS. I’m sure that fawn was thinking, “That little bastard needs to watch where he’s driving.” That location was even more remote than Bastrop, TX. But I made it out of WY safely. Mt. Rushmore was cool and quick. It only takes about two hours to see everything there. I almost decided to skip the Badlands NP but decided to at least drive through. It was impressive but after all I had already seen on the trip it was pretty tame. That night on the phone my brother asked if I was going to stop at the Field of Dreams movie set (baseball field) in Iowa. I had never even thought of that but I’m glad he brought it up. I headed straight there the next morning. It was pretty sweet. They let you bring your own equipment and play right on the field. I shagged a ground ball for some Japanese dudes and “had a catch” with a little five year old. I’d like to go back with some friends sometime and take some BP or play a little game. The Field was my last stop on the epic cross country journey.

32 days and over 7000 miles on the road. It was a fun and amazing trip but it feels nice to be back home. I went out with former SEC colleagues on Thursday night and Lee and I were out until after one last night. I’m getting settled into Dragan’s place nicely. I have a great view out my bedroom window of the Sears Tower and west side. I even saw fireworks at The Cell out the dining room window after Dye hit his 9th inning homer tonight. This will be the first night in my own bed in over a year. Hard to believe. Things are still booming here in the south loop. Dragan doesn’t get back from Serbia until a couple days after Labor Day so I have the run of the place. Dragan said he is happy to have company so anyone is welcome to visit. I hope everyone enjoyed the posts along the way and I appreciate your comments.