The Bored Lands

South Dakota didn't have much to offer for visual stimulation... just a peaceful drive, with snow as far as the eye can see....











































That was until we started noticing numerous billboards alluding to some mysterious fortress built entirely of corn. With nothing else to look at, it was just too tempting... so when it came time for the exit, our curiosity got the best of us and we spontaneously pulled off!

Behold! Corn Palace!





























Ooooooo! Ahhhhhhhh!















Then the excitement subsided and it was back to the road....

Minnesota, dontchya know.

The last leg on our Midwest tour brought us to Minneapolis, where we stopped to visit our friend, Noelle. Our experiences here included eating a delicious a Korean meal, watching Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and our eyeballs freezing in -15 degree weather. Needless to say, we spent our entire visit indoors.

There was much cuddling.















This is pretty much the extent of what we saw in Minnesota.















Somewhere in the Middleofnowhere, Minnesota - 4,000 miles.

The Wind Chill City

When we finally managed to get back on the road from Ohio, our next stop was Chicago! We were pretty excited to finally visit Chi-town, but ya know, it's Chicago so it was cold and windy - consequently we didn't get out much.

We did get downtown for a brief stroll and Billy stood under one of his favorites feats of architecture, Sears Tower.



















One of the best things about our trip was being able to stop and see people we otherwise might not have seen again, like our friends Ryan and Felicia. Here's their little brownstone.















They're pretty much the cutest roomies ever. We happened to be in town the night they were having a house warming party, so we just hung around the apartment with them...















Super Breakfast! Leftover cupcakes and multivitamins! hehe












We'll definitely have to be back some time to experience more of Chicago... some time not in the winter! Thanks guys for giving us a warm place to stay! <3

Cleavland Rocks! (not really...haha)

So as I mentioned, being snowed in while in Ohio, meant we spent a lot of time on the couch doing absolutely nothing. It felt good. We did peel ourselves away a couple times though. We met up with our old friend Lenny again for a local show as well as moseying on over to Akron for some classic all American burgers at the Sky Way Drive-In.



















Now, I know, I know, we claim to be pescatarian and normally try not to eat meat, but this was Billy's mom's old teenage hang out and with all her raving we just had to cheat. And let me tell you... we hadn't had a burger in sooooooo long, it was definitely worth it.



















We also ventured outside to go sledding for the first time in Cleavland with Emily and her friend. We love any opportunity to just be like kids again! (And to fly down a huge hill on small pieces of winter toy shrapnel apparently!)















Sometimes fun took a back seat to shivering though. We were right on the bank of Lake Eerie, so the wind chill in addition to the cold and wet snow was quite the sacrifice. Again, worth it though.















Thank goodness for seat warmers!

Snowed in...

Ok, so let's see where we left off.... We were on our way to Kent, Ohio to stay with Billy's aunt. Like all our other stops, we were only planning on staying a couple days, but, as you'll see in the pictures, winter in Ohio had us sticking around a little longer.















I spent most of the time looking out the window watching all the cute little birds coming to the bird feeders Aunt Charlene has in her back yard. It was so nice to see such colorful vivacity in the midst of the cold, dead whiteness.

































There's a bird's nest somewhere under all that snow....















Thanks to the dogs, we did occasionally have to leave the warmth of the couch and trudge out into the tundra. Of course, we all had to get seriously bundled up - nonetheless, our walks usually didn't last very long. In most cases, the snow was deeper than our little Azure is tall; poor thing was always covered in it.



















Eventually, the dogs acquired a taste for freshly fallen snow. I think they thought the world was their giant snow cone!

Cliff hanger...

Ok, so we really dropped the ball on this one, sorry guys...
For those that don't know, we are now in Washington and have officially relocated to Seattle! As soon as we arrived we fell in love, and decided we wanted to stay. We started looking for prospective living arrangements, and before the week was out we had an apartment and I (ESandra) landed a temporary job to get us started. Everything happened so fast we've hardly had time to catch our breath, let alone blog. However, this is not the end of our excellent adventure! We'll still post retrospective entries about how we got here, and then photos of our new home will be soon to follow.
So, forgive us for leaving you hanging, but we promise we still have lots of great pics to show and stories to tell!

We love and miss you all! Thanks for following...

Peace out east coast!

The drive from Massachusetts to Ohio was a our second longest - a full 11 and a half hours. Needless to say, we got a little bored...















The dogs provide plenty of amusement (when they're not sleeping that is) - like poor Bijou's static charged fur!















But bugging Billy is much more fun.



Thanks Pennsylvania for the scenic sunset.















Oh, and P.S. -
for all you Office geeks, Billy insisted I took a picture of this sign:

Walking in a winter wonderland...

Duncan was a great host and made us a giant stack of warm pancakes before he took us on a nice hike through the state forest behind his house.



















It was crazy cold, but we bundled up.



















Surprisingly, the dogs didn't mind the snow at all.



















I just love that sound of the snow crunching under my feet.





















































































It was a tranquil and lasting memory of our stay in Massachusetts.

(Thanks again to Duncan and his dad!)

Field trip

So, I promised Billy when we went to Boston we'd go to the Samuel Adams Brewery, which Duncan was pretty thrilled about as well. We don't drink much, but Billy has always appreciated a good quality beer.



















After a brief tour of the brewery, we entered the tasting pub for free beer samples. I actually can't stand beer, but I figured why not get an extra Sam Adams glass for Billy.

Before:














The guys scrutinizing the samples.





































Four 7 oz samples later... (three with the tour, and one extra for hanging around and being nice to the tour guide)

After:














And here are the guys examining the new "Perfect Pint" glass, which supposedly took scientists over a year to develop. (A year, really? For a glass. I think the exchange for free beer might have had a little something to do with it...)
Regardless, they did something right, 'cause we had a lot of fun with it!





































Can't say I was as excited about the tasting as the guys were, but I did have a good time just being one of the boys.

Although it was freezing outside, and the wind coming off the harbor was bone chillingly cold, and despite spending most of the time trying to get indoors as quickly and as often as we could, Boston was good to us.

(Thank goodness for Boston's warm and toasty subway rides.)

Chowdah

On the top of our list of things to do while in Massachusetts:
Eat real New England clam chowder.

The chowder at Legal Sea Foods in Boston is supposedly the best.



















And it was.