41 hours of driving, 2800 miles, $450 of gas, 5 days, 4 hotels, and 1 Mike Ditka

Hello fellow Regan followers....

This is Patrick, not Katy, and this is a rare chance for me to explain what is going on.  Sorry, for the delay, but we just received our household goods from the Army movers, so I now have the requirements to download photos from my trip cross country.  My Dad and I left a few days after our weekend in Baltimore with the Regans, and headed to Chicago.  We drove 14 hours in one shot to Chicago.  On the way we stopped at Notre Dame.  Nothing to report, protestors and Obama were not yet in attendance.  As my Dad said, it looked like a copy of BC, just in a crappy location.  Here's touchdown Jesus:

So, we made it to Chicago and 14 hours of the East coast didn't seem too bad.  Indiana was a little slow however.  Not a lot going on there.  (I would soon realize it would get much bleaker).

Chicago was a great time.  We stayed at an unbelievable hotel for a steal of a price.  (Thanks Priceline and William Shatner!)  We went to dinner at Mike Ditka's restaurant, which was right next to our hotel and the Hancock Tower.  Dinner was great and the waiter was a true blue Chicagoan, he was great.  We took a tour the next day on a trolley, although it was raining, the tour was a good time and it was interesting to see Chicago for my first time.  Here are the highlights:

The River...not dyed green (one family dyes it for St. Patty's btw)

Sears Tower (just bought by some other company, no longer the Sears Tower)

Below is a view of the city from the Hancock Observatory, not the Sears:

So, after spending the day touring the city we headed to the Cubs game.  We thought we had White Sox tickets, but were happy to see that tickets my Dad's work contact had left for us were in fact for the Cubs game.  The weather cleared up before the game and had a great time.  Although we did try the "Old Time" beer and it was terrible.  Apparently it is a staple of any Cubs game, so says Matteo.

Yeah, we wore Red Sox hats. On my Dad's camera we have a great photo of the two of us holding up a sign a homeless guy was holding outside the stadium, which read, "Please give money, its for beer."   Can't beat honesty!  Before the night was over we went back to Ditka's restaurant to have a beer and watch the end of the Bulls-Celtics game.  Celtics lost and as we were the only boston fans in the place, we quickly left.  As we headed for the door, Mike Ditka himself comes rambling down the stairs, Dad quickly says, "Hey, here's the boss himself", Ditka shakes his hand, Dad says, "Your steaks are terrific." Ditka responds, "We think so." And then flies out the door.  

The next morning we woke up early and headed for South Dakota.  First, we stopped in Madison, Wisconsin so we could have breakfast with one of my fraternity brothers.  He is getting his PhD in Economics at UW.  He's wicked smat!  Below is a picture of State Street.

So, now the real Odyssey began.  We drove through Wisconsin (farms, cows and windmills), then southern Minnesota (farms, cows and windmills).  Above is a picture of a farm and windmills, no cows though.  

Oh, I should also mention we were listening to a book on tape about the Lewis and Clark Expedition.  So, we were trying to connect to their trip whenever we could.  Below is a picture of the Mississippi, where their trip began.  

The sign on the right says, "Wisconsin Fun".  Apparently cheeseheads aren't as big on honesty as bums from Chicago. (note the farm in the background)

I came to the quick realization that 80% of the country lives very, very simple lives and many of things I grew up around don't exist to many others in our country.  It was very eye opening.  Below is a picture of one of many examples of small town America.

No matter how small a town was though, they all had a Subway.  Not McDonald's or Burger Kind, but Subway.  Well, we finally made it to Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  There was a mall, a few hotels and casinos everywhere.  But when they advertise "Casino", they really mean they have a slot machine in the back in between the restrooms and if you shake it real hard it might work.  Really though, they were all over the the middle of the country.  Every store had a casino sign.  Sioux Falls was uneventful, and the next day we drove through South Dakota.  It was brutal.  6 hours and all we saw were farms, cows and windmills. 

It was all worth it though because on the western side of the state we went to Rushmore, the Corn Palace (giant building covered in corn, yeah I don't know why either), Deadwood and Wall Drug.  Pictures below.

From South Dakota we made our way over to Wyoming and then to Montana.  We stopped shortly after crossing into Montana.  The scenery was beautiful and we were closing in on Washington.  

We spent the  night in a small town in Montana.  All I kept thinking was "what would I be like if I grew up here?"  Never figured out the answer, but I am very thankful that I didn't grow up there.

The next day we drive over the Cascades (pictured above), quickly through Idaho and into Washington!

Before we made it to Fort Lewis though we stopped at the Columbia River.  (Lewis and Clark again).  

Dad tried to jump in, I talked him down.

And then we reached Fort Lewis, above right with Rainier in background and helicopters below on tarmac.  

This was a great trip and I am glad I could do it with my Dad.  As he told me on the last day this was the most amount of time we have spent together one on one since I was little, maybe even ever.  (I think he meant that in a good way)  I really think everyone should get the chance to drive through the country and see how the majority lives.  We are definitely the minority and have had many different experiences that so many people in our country never get the opportunity to do.  

Katy is posting another post soon with updates on the house.  Take care!