Bound for Chicago

About to hit the road bound for Chicago because one of my favorite guys in the world (Adam Levy, the guitarist I mentioned when I was in New Orleans, played with Tracy Chapman, Norah Jones, etc.) is in a new band with Charley Drayton (the drummer I met in NOLA who played drums for Simon & Garfunkel at the Jazz Fest) and they are opening for the Dixie Chicks and the Eagles Saturday night in Chicago. Adam and I became pretty tight friends one summer way back before law school at the National Guitar Workshop and then we fell out of touch my first year of law school because it sort of became my entire life to the exclusion of all other things, including way too many friends. I got back in touch with him just about the time I hit the road and we promised to get together and catch up at some point this summer. Sure enough, I got a tweet from him a few days back saying he was going to be in Chicago, so that's where I'm headed.

Speaking of life and people coming full circle, I spent last night hanging out with a fellow lesbonic blogger (her blog is called the Gypsy Chronicles) who emailed me just after I left NOLA asking if I wanted to meet up for a drink in NOLA. Apparently, she came across my blog one day while she was procrastinating at work and had been following it ever since. She explained that she was taking off on her own roadtrip around the country in the opposite direction and we have kept in touch ever since, hoping to meet up somewhere along the way. So, when she emailed to say that she was headed toward Madison I decided to stay another night so we could rendezvous here. I'm very glad I did because not only is she an incredibly interesting person (and an emmy award-winning sound editor who has worked on an endless list of big hit movies and TV shows), she is also a whiskey drinker and a fabulous wingman--best random company I've had this whole trip. We checked out the "Queer Shorts" (an evening of back-to-back short plays that happens annually here in Madison) because some girls I met the night before said that was the thing to do and then did a whirlwind tour of pretty much every gay bar in Madison until I found the real life version of the leggy Wisconsin blond I was picturing in my head.

I have to say that I really outdid myself trying to "keep it real" in Wisconsin, from the beer and cheese soup to the deep fried cheese curds, brandy old fashioneds, brandy slushes and Yahara whiskey (smooooth...and by smooooth, I mean ROUGH). Getting a little nauseous just remembering it all...but the classic WI leggy blond from lastnight is the only stop on my little flavors of Wisconsin tour that I don't regret. All the hotness of the hottest east and west coast girls, but so much warmer and sweeter...perfect Wisconsin girl, perfect Wisconsin night.

Fromagination, the most famous cheese shop in Madison and the best cheese shop I've ever found outside of France, Italy and NYC. I wandered in here after downing a plate of deep fried cheese curds and couldn't help but think how much less nauseous I would be if I had just eaten a pound of cheese...lesson learned.

The Capital is absolutely stunning, particularly when it is all lit up at night (tweeted a pic of it at night because I didn't have my real camera on me). Factoids: biggest rotunda of any state capital in the US (all granite, making it the only granite dome in the US and the biggest granite dome in the world) and that woman on top is pointing toward DC (good to have that point of reference to orient you as you stumble from bar to bar, particularly if you are supposed to end up in DC)

Quick Update from Madison, WI

A quick update from Madison, WI on the ground I've covered since I left Deadwood, SD, though I'm short on good pics and good stories because I've spent the last couple days in the middle of nowhere in the pouring rain. Haven't had a day without rain in two weeks, but the last two days were particularly bad.

You'll be delighted to know that I did manage to find Mt. Rushmore without any help from Mrs. Garmin (the 200 signs from I-90 to Keystone helped), but when I got there, the torrential rain and dense fog made it impossible to get a picture. No way could I do this trip and not get a picture of Mt. Rushmore--totally out of the question. So, I spent the night at a dingy little motel in Keystone, got my pics in the morning (from under my umbrella after waiting for an hour for the fog to lift) and then hit the road, headed for Madison.

I promised a woman I met in Glacier that I would (a) get a donut at Wall Drug and (b) drive through Badlands National Park on this leg of my trip, so I did, even though it meant not making it to Madison last night. I have to say that the badlands were alright, but the donut blew my mind...best donut I have ever had in my life--crusty outside, but so moist inside it melted in my mouth and it had this grainy, sugary maple frosting--beyond delicious, totally worth the detour. After the badlands, I jumped back on 90 and drove as fast as I could across South Dakota and half of Wisconsin through the torrential rain that never let up the whole way (sidenote: I fell in love with my car all over again yesterday--even with minimal tread left on my tires, I had better traction when I would hit those big puddles at 85-90 than any of the trucks and SUVs trying to keep up with me). I finally ended up in a motel off 90 somewhere outside La Crosse, WI around 11 last night.

I killed today finishing off the drive to Madison, getting my blown fuse and k40 fixed and answering amazing emails (some that honestly put tears in my eyes) from lawyers who just discovered my blog because abovethelaw.com (which I used to read religiously when I was a big firm lawyer, but haven't checked out once since I walked out of my office for the last time) did a piece about it. It feels so strange to be the subject of an ATL piece, instead of being the lawyer chained to my desk at 8 or 9pm, eating dinner from the cafeteria, reading ATL for a few minutes of entertainment and escapism because I have hours to go before I can walk out the door.

Just bizarre to be looking back from here at how my life used to be, as I read through these emails from lawyers (some chained to their desks and hating their lives and others who have recently been laid off too) telling me how inspired they are by what I am doing. I've been so busy just charging forward everyday since I started this trip that I haven't done much looking back. Today was the first day I realized how far I have come in the last couple months from the life I used to live and the person I used to be. Really eye-opening day...thank you for the emails.

Mount Rushmore from under my umbrella...

Wall Drug from under my umbrella...

Soaked mountain goat in the badlands from inside my car...

Badlands from under my umbrella...

More badlands from under my umbrella...

Glacier to Deadwood, SD

Just woke up in Deadwood, SD having covered a lot of ground the last few days. I spent Thursday driving from Glacier to Missoula, following a gorgeous scenic route that this woman I met the night before (when I pulled over for a drink at the Two Sisters Cafe just outside St. Mary) wrote out for me carefully noting all the reservation roads where the cops aren't allowed to patrol and don't have the authority to issue speeding tickets. Fabulous.

Friday I woke up early and drove to the North entrance of Yellowstone, all the way through the park, out the South entrance and halfway through Grand Teton Nat'l Park. When I finally checked into a lodge and hit the bar around 10, I immediately made friends with this awesome bartender (let's call him D) who tried to prove his love by setting me up with the only lesbian he knew of in the park. As soon as he got cut for the night (after begging a little) he disappeared for about an hour before re-emerging and sliding onto the stool next to me a little sheepishly, explaining that he had just had one of the most awkward moments of his life. Turns out he had gone over to where this supposed lesbo was working that night, dragged her away from the customers she was serving and proceeded to gush to her in front of all her co-workers and some customers that he had found the woman of her dreams, hottest, coolest lesbian ever, he wants to marry me, but I'm only into girls, etc. Whereupon, after a long awkward pause, she says, "um, I'm actually straight." His reply: "oh, yeah, okay, cool, yeah, okay, nevermind (that we all thought you were a lesbian and have for years)."

A couple whiskeys and "duck farts" (fyi crown and baileys) later, the phone at the bar rings and the bartender hands it to D who I hear saying, "yup, she's sitting right next to me." When he puts down the phone, he recounts the following conversation to me:
Non-lesbo: "Is that hot lesbian still at the bar?"
D: "yup, she's sitting right next to me."
Non-lesbo to her lesbonic roommate: "Get dressed! Get! Dressed!"
Apparently, they don't get many single lesbos rolling through this park. Shortly after these two girls appeared at the bar 10mins later, we moved the party back to the parkie dorms (where all the people who work in the park live) at D's insistence because, according to D, it's against the law for non-park employees to be on the premises. He was so excited that we were doing something illegal that I could blog about, I didn't have the heart to break it to him that sneaking into the parkie dorm was by far the most soft-core illegality I have engaged in this entire trip...

When I woke up, a little hungover and very sleep-deprived, yesterday morning, I set off on a scenic drive that a guy at the bar suggested the night before (southeast to Riverton, through Boysen State Park to Thermopolis, then up through Bighorn Nat'l Forest to Buffalo) and then picked up 90 in Buffalo and took it across Wyoming, hoping to end up somewhere near Mt. Rushmore for the night. I ended up in Deadwood (this little town filled with cowboys and bikers just drinking and gambling 24-7) after I got a little lost in the Black Hills around 10pm (because the power outlet in my car died so Mrs. Garmin was offering no guidance whatsoever) and started thinking I should just find somewhere to sleep. My plan was to catch up on sleep and give my liver a night off, but then I ended up grabbing a late dinner at the bar nextdoor, where I met these awesome guys from Bismark, ND and somehow ended up getting incorporated into their bar hopping bachelor party, including a stop at Saloon #10 where Wild Bill Hickok was shot in the back of the head holding his pairs of aces and eights (hence "Dead Man's hand").

I have to stop writing now because I have to go find some caffeine to make my head stop pounding and I have to go find Mt. Rushmore with no help at all from Mrs. Garmin. Wish me luck.

P.S. For those of you who have emailed me asking for bigger pictures, you just click on the pic and it blows up to full size...like magic.

Leaving Glacier

Wide Open (cop-free) Spaces in Montana

Bob and Paul touring Yellowstone in their 1914 Cadillac

Bison and a Geyser Field in Yellowstone

Entering Grand Teton Nat'l Park on a foggy, rainy night

The Tetons in the morning

A nice chunk of the Teton Range

I bet these kids wish they had sprung for some heated seats now...

Somewhere in Wyoming

Driving the Granite Pass through Bighorn National Forest