DAY THIRTY-NINE Chicago Day 4

So this is what 8am looks like. Nice.

We arrived at my sister's school, but didn't have time to play four square.

Sara aka Mrs. Carrol to the young ones.

Crack that whip!

Matt and I gave an hour and a half slide show presentation on visual communication with our road trip as the centerpiece. With bells on! Luckily, we came on the schools wacky clothing day so no one second guessed Boman's linens.

Boman strutted his towering height and helped bedazzle the classroom during break. I had flashbacks to a certain hot dog stand in Boulder, CO.

My apartment hunt continues and Matt takes the camera for an adventure.

The final debate on Mr. Ryan Brennan's modified tv.

A physical debate between Todd and his dog.

We went downtown for the first time and I showed Matt that there's more to Chicago than graffiti removal. Like turquoise lions.

DAY THIRTY-EIGHT Chicago Day 3

An entire day devoted to the apartment hunt. Boman exhibited zen-like patience and in return, I pull over every time we spot graffiti removal. Calls were made, messages were left and returned, and a long list of nasty apartments were crossed out.

We bury a long day of frustration with the best burger joint in town - Kuma's Corner.

Kuma's has a notoriously long wait, but we managed to squeeze in at the bar.

Their amazing list of heavy metal burgers are crazy creative and crazy delicious.

Ron chose to try the Slayer burger, which had anger as an ingredient.

I had the Pantera.

A Kuma-food-coma ensued. But we had to get plenty of rest for our big day of teaching Sara's English class.

DAY THIRTY-SEVEN - Chicago Day 2

The second goal in Chicago was for me to find an apartment. A tedious task to tackle with only three days to go.

More Boman graffiti removal.

Todd and Boman decide to go to a yoga class down the street while I do more apartment hunting on the wi-fi express.

Matt met lots of bendy people just like him.

Yoga-off.

Todd was exhausted from all the yoga, but still managed to crawl to the Hideout to meet more SCAD buddies for liquid refreshments.

And delicious tamales from a local tamale dealer.

DAY THIRTY-SIX Chicago

Our first mission in the Windy City was to find some place cheap to replace the rear car window.

Perfect!

While we wait, we decide to explore the urban metropolis.

Matt kicks the graffiti removal series into high gear.

The unconscious art of graffiti removal.

Sketchy bridge.

We found long stretches of quality graffiti, not removed.

There weren't any places to suck up free wi-fi, so we return to the wait room.

My sister invited us over for dinner. She's a shcool teacher.

Her husband, Ron, is a master chef / tobacconist / badass.

And this meal was superb!

Porch swinging, plotting and scheming.

Chicago is Obama's stomping ground and his key chains are more popular than Mr. McCains.

We ventured over to Mr. Todd Beyers who gave us floor space for the next several nights as well as a top notch concert with his lady friend.

The concert flooded out onto the roof.

Which was right next to the blue line train.

Trains do not pass unless Todd lets go.

DAY THIRTY-FIVE Iowa Bang

So I know we totally dropped the ball on this blog, but don't worry. We're both in one piece, although Boman might still have gangrene on his feet. Gross. Let's continue....

Mr. Erickson takes us for a ride out to their country meth lab. I mean country house. It's very peaceful...for a meth lab. Country house.

But peace is not what we were after. Heavy and not-so-heavy artillery.

I had never fired a gun until this point, so we had lots of catching up to do.

I learned the first rule - safety first and foremost.

The second rule is almost more important than the first. Look as cool as possible. Boman's pelvic shotgun thrust is a good illustration.

We learned a lot about Jesse's childhood at this point.

Nothing's more American than shoot innocent animals - especially cute baby seals.

Road kill series - I swear we didn't shoot this guy.

Jesse told us about a live bear that was cruely chained up to a pole, so we go to investigate.

No bear here.

But there could have been a bear here.

Old wall paper.

We didn't shoot this bird either.

Jesse's dad did, however, shoot this turkey with a shotgun once upon a time. He gave us the dried feet as our Iowa souvenir. Score!

Goodbye Jesse, goodbye Brittney, goodbye Ericksons. Thanks for the hospitality.

We started truckin towards Chicago, but not before stopping at the World's Largest Truckstop off I-80.

Truck study.

The Super Truck Showroom was breath-taking. All trucks dream of making it into this American resting place.

The gift shop was more like a mall.

Filled with amazing things.

Pins for war heroes. And Matt.

I was over my budget at this point. Otherwise, I would have totally bought the entire Married With Children DVD collection.