Day 5: The Black Hills, South Dakota

Off to our camp site in the Black Hills...

View from the campsite, Horsethief Lake Campgrounds... Skip and a jump from Mount Rushmore...

Gabe: "Oooh, Presidential Soft Drinks!.... Flavors! Meg, want one?"

Me: "Richard Nixon Rootbeer... I'd feel dirty actually buying it, though..."

Gabe, as he scampers away with 'Gerald Ford Grape': "Heehee, you'll thank me later, when Gerald Ford quenches your thirst...."

Here is me, with the bust of the dude who designed Mount Rushmore, Gutzon Borglum.

Day 4: The Badlands, South Dakota

Drove through the Badlands.... not so bad, really...

Actually, quite beautiful... The Badlands terrain is mostly the result of erosion and deposition. The formations are gently warped due to mountain forming activities that shaped the Black Hills to the west...

Rain, off in the distance...

Day 4: South Dakota, land of many billboards

On Thursday morning, we said bye to Ray and Dick and the terriers... and headed to South Dakota!

Bye, Chiquita. Thanks for the shirt, Ray and Dick.

Stormy weather.

Not stormy weather.

Me: "OMG, STOP THE CAR! STOP THE CAR!!!!"

We saw billboards leading up to this.... "FEED THE PRAIRIE DOGS!" then "WHEEEE! PRAIRIE DOGS!" and best of all "NO HOWL, NO GROWL! TAME PRAIRIE DOGS!"

They were exactly the way prairie dogs should never, ever be. This one popped out of his hole and then just sat on his rump and stared at us. He was very dusty.

Sigh. The Corn Palace. We had to. And, for the record, the Corn Palace is emphatically NOT palatial. It isn't even really made of corn, for that matter. I hate it.

There was this, though.... so, you know.... one point, Corn Palace. Just one.

Day 3: Minneapolis

Farewell, Chicago. Hello, the rest of Illinois... and Wisconsin... and Minnesota...

Wisconsin

Me, apparently practicing my L.A. paparazzi pose, at some rest stop along the way...

ARE WE THERE YET???????.......

Aaaaaand, we finally make it. At Ray and Dick's place, Minneapolis, MN

Ray and Dick are Cairn terrier enthusiasts. These little guys were born about 6 or 7 weeks ago...

Ahhhhhnom, nom, nom, nom, nom.... Mmmm... cargo shorts....

Ray and Dick's mini-van. Told you they're enthusiasts.

This thing is by Claes Oldenburg. It's at a sculpture garden Ray and Dick took us to on our mini-tour of Minneapolis. Ray noted that it had been taken apart and re-painted earlier in the year.

Ray: "What do you think, Dick - the cherry's darker now, isn't it?"

We all stare at it for a few moments and contemplate.

Ray again: "I seem to remember a more... maraschino look..."

More staring and contemplation.

We also canoed through Lake Calhoun, Lake of the Isles, Cedar Lake, and Brownie Lake, and in the evening, we went to a Greek Restaurant called "It's Greek To Me" and then walked next door to see a one-woman play called "The Syringa Tree," which was awesome...

We came back, put the puppies to bed, mapped out our route for tomorrow, and now I am typing this.

Day 2: Chicago

Millennium Park and "The Bean"

Went to Millennium Park first. The Park itself is beautiful, and "The Bean" (officially called "Cloud Gate") is awesome. It's a three-story, 110-ton reflective steel sculpture. People (like that funny-looking kid in the second picture) like to stare at themselves and take pictures of themselves staring at themselves in its surface... Surprisingly FUN! (Not just "fun.", but "FUN!")

"Take a picture of me, Meg! .... Meg? You there? Comon, take the picture."

"Ok, Gabriel..."

Staring straight up, directly under "The Bean"

We ran across Daedalus performing at the Jay Pritzker Pavillion, designed by Frank Gehry. Really great concert space.

Architecture Tour from the Chicago River

We took an early evening boat tour/crash-course in some of Chicago's notable architecture.

The building formerly known as the Sears Tower. For some reason that I didn't catch, they officially renamed it the Willis Tower in July ("Whut you talkin 'bout...") (Sorry. Bad joke.)

108 stories, 1,450 feet tall.

It makes me think of Jacobim Mugatu for some reason...

One thing I found interesting was the plentiful use of greenish / aqua-tinted glass along the riverfront. According to our guide, the choice was deliberate, intended to reflect and complement the Chicago River as much as possible.

(Chicago looooves its river, let me tell you. Verrrry proud. A marvel of modern civil engineering, the river was completely reversed in 1900 - made to flow toward the Mississippi rather than toward Lake Michigan, where it previously emptied. They (the Chicagoans) also dye it green on St. Patrick's Day. Wheeee...)

The elite gym that Obama used to work out in. That is all I remember about this building.

Designed by Mies van der Rohe, pioneer of modernism. Exemplifies the highly abstracted, minimalist aesthetic he would become known for.

The Aqua Tower, designed by Jeanne Gang of Studio Gang Architects. It is the largest project ever awarded to an American firm headed by a woman. The undulating ledges along the facade are supposed to look like waves. I believe the tower is still under construction...

One of the many bridges that span the Chicago River (There are 88 in total, I believe). The double-layering is an interesting feature of Chicago's design - something Daniel Burnham was really into when he and Edward Bennett wrote up "The Plan of Chicago."

This appeared around the corner just as Gabe and I were remarking how "American" the city of Chicago feels. I am not really sure where we were going with that, but hey... When a giant, 3D homage to "American Gothic," titled "God Bless America" appears in front of your face, I feel like you can say "This city feels very 'American'..." and just leave it at that.

From the top of Hancock Tower...

First destination: Chicago

So.... Ohio is really, really flat. So is Indiana. And Illinois. >:|

See? Flat.

After much flatness, I made it to my first destination: Chicago! (Made it in decent time, too - 10.5 hours or something like that.) I liked it when Central Time happened all of a sudden...

Oooo, Chicaaaaago...

Yay, Chicago! But, do you know what happens when you wait until the night before you leave for a place to book your hotel room? Yes. BAD RATES. Do you know what happens when you are also going to a place where there happens to be a major music festival going on? No. Wrong. It is worse than that.

It is: HOOTERS.

Yes. Your hotel (the ONLY hotel you can find in the area with an available room under $200/night) - is next-door-neighbors with Hooters. (Not that I didn't try to go get chicken wings there as soon as I arrived. Too bad they were closed already. No fun.)

"Chicago O'Hare Garden Hotel" ....... and ..... "HOOTERS"

I aaalllmost have a view of this from my room - but, alas, it was not meant to be.

S'long D.C.

I may not have Tina to protect me, but Liz did some awesome mendhi for me with symbols of protection for my long journey ahead :)

My thanks

Hi everyone,

Thank you all for your kind words and condolences about Tina's passing. It helped a lot. Let us all "hoist a peanut" - for Pastina and for good friends!

- M

Pastina Roborovski... May she rest in peace.

It is with the saddest of hearts that I announce the passing of Pastina Roborovski. Pastina died in her sleep, with her cheek pouches full, at age 1 year, 6 months. The world will mourn her passing.

A hamster of impeccable timing, Tina knew when to run on her wheel (just as I would turn in for the night, on most occasions), when to jazzercise (one of her favorite activities), and now -- when to pass on to her final reward. It touched me deeply to realize that she must have known the end was drawing near -- we had been planning our Great Migration to the west coast and had been caught up in a flurry of packing and preparation. Wee Tina, I now realize, was only humoring me; it hit me quite poignantly as I opened her suitcases and moving boxes... only to find them empty. She must have discreetly donated her belongings, feeling the closure of the circle of life within her. All that is left are a few choice articles: her photo album (the photos all of herself or, only sometimes, of my thumb), her diary (mostly doodles), and her stash of "kernels and seeds shaped like celebrities."

As is the custom (following her predecessor-hamster, Mr. President), Tina was buried in a cream cheese box, under an ivy-covered tree in Rock Creek Park during a private funeral attended by family. We all must struggle onward, despite our sadness -- for as it once was said, "the wheel stops for no hamster." Pastina wouldn't want it otherwise - Run on, friends, run on.

***

Pastina's Hamsterster page.

The Amazing Adventures of: Znail the Snail!

I was copied on an email thread today, and in one of the messages, James apologized for not posting some photos this morning. He said he had been "up late doing snail video stuff."

Me, in my brain: "What. Okeeeee... Maybe it is a euphemism for something. Or some tech speak. I will let this one go."

But then, a few hours later, I got this:



From James: Was up at my Grandmas in Upstate NY for the weekend. Znail showed up and wanted to go Hollywood. I said "nah nah, lets keep this indy." This is our low budget summer blockbuster action suspense thriller film! enjoy

Thank you, James! Thank you, Znail! You are both movie stars, I love you!
No, wait! - Movie Ztarz, that is! No, iz! (halp.)

***

I saw G-Force

It was awesome. Too bad those 3D glasses don't work for me, though. That - sigh - would have been amazing.

Ha... I sort of see it.... Yes. Tracy Morgan was this (bad ass) guinea pig. And it totally worked.

Guineas with gadgets.

Car chase. Sort of.



Underwater rodent spy maneuvers.

The looove interest. (With peanut.)



Token hamster.



A bug. (Provided critical reconnaissance.)

No shame.

(P.S. You can't see it, but I am wearing a hat with a guinea pig applique on it.)