Carmel, IN through Chicago, IL

Nick: Chi-town baby. One of my favorite American cities. Brian had never been, so naturally we had to hit a couple of the more iconic locations upon arrival. Mag mile, couple museums, hot dog places. House of Blues… And so on.

Brian: Between Indianapolis and Seattle I literally only know one person, and they live in Western Montana. It can be deduced that we will be utilizing CouchSurfing to it’s full potential for a while, or else sleeping in the car. Considering that it’s early November in the coldest part of the US, I think CouchSurfing is preferable (axe murder risk aside). Nick, as I recall you were feeling quite generous that day. On our way into Chicago Nick paid the toll for the car behind us as well as ours.

Nick: Have you ever had someone do this for you? It rocks.

Brian: Also, he bought a chicken sandwich and French fries for a homeless man downtown.

Nick: Maybe it was not-having-read-Bible-in-weeks guilt.

Brian: Maybe the secret to successful CouchSurfing is generating a trunk-load of good karma right before we meet someone.

Nick: Karma? Brian, sometimes your instatiable need to undermine solid American values with your left-coast thinking is nothing short of distrurbing. Watch it.

Brian: Well, It seems to work, because we drove across town and met up with Sarah, our host for the next two days, and she was great. She gave us a local tour and showed us some of her favorite eateries, drinkeries, and any other –eries you can think of.

Nick: Lake Erie count?

Brian: It was probably a 3-mile walk, but well needed.

Nick: There’s an increasing trend of plumpness due to the alcohol/Arby’s based diet that we’re trying to fend off whenever possible. While still drinking and eating roast beef n’ cheddar sandwiches. We are men of principle, after all. The evening ended back at Sarah’s with a viewing of “The Aristocats,” which I’ve seen once before and wasn’t particularly found of then. I find that the glorification of the gross decadence exhibited by the French nobility during a time when peasants roamed starving in the streets is hardly the ideal setting for a whimsical adventure led by musically included felines. Great tyrant-father Mao is undoubtedly rolling in his eternal crystal coffin.

Brian: Should you hold all Disney movies to the same standard? When Aladdin becomes wealthy and gets the girl at the end of the first movie, it’s easy to forget about the doe-eyed starving street children he breaks bread with in the movie’s intro.

Nick: He might have gone back from them. You don’t know that he didn’t.

Brian: “Pocahontas” is a celebration of events preceding systematic genocide.

Nick: How was John Smith supposed to know his small case of small pox would be a big deal.

Brian: Actually, Shrek is the only movie I can think of in which the princess becomes the pauper for her man. Pardon the digression. We finished off The Glenlivet over the course of the film (which I did not make it through, of course) and went to bed right after. Couple big days in Chicago planned so we need to get some good rest. Nick and Brian out like a light bulb.