Call me Ray.

After my wonderful rest in Rockwell, Illinois where I stayed an extra day and allowed myself to sleep in, eat well (food other than peanut butter and honey sandwiches) and watch a whole lot of TV, I hit the road once again. I had no idea where I was going except that I would be getting there via highway 20 westward. That has been my mentality for the past two days and it has turned out pretty well. It feels great to not have a plan and just see where this wonderful, tiny bi-way of vast farmland takes me. Traveling westward is absolutely beautiful during the evening when the sun is setting as it allows for everything, including trees, abandoned barns, houses, and even animals just pop with the orange sky behind. Since the last post, I have traveled through western Illinois, Iowa and am now in O’Neil, "the Irish Capitol of Nebraska." Not sure what that means, but wish me luck in catching a Leprechaun or two.

Highlights:

President Ulysses S. Grant Home, Galena, Illinois. Grant first rented a house nearby the church to the left of the trunk in the second picture. During this time and also when he moved into his permanent home gifted to him by the city (third picture), he attended the church to the right of the trunk.
When the civil war broke out, he lived in the rented house, but in the permanent home when he was elected president. The fourth picture is of the dining room in his permanent home with a picture of his wife, Julia, on the wall.
The neat thing about the house is that all original furniture is still in tact. This doesn't generally hold true for historic houses on display today.

The Field of Dreams Movie Site, Dyersville, Iowa. Everyone has seen, or at least heard of, the movie "The Field of Dreams." Well, here is the field from the movie! Sitting on the same benches along the field used in the movie was insanely surreal.

The lot was very quiet and peaceful, but visitors are allowed to play baseball on the field if they bring equipment. I used a fake bat and from the looks of the picture, obviously need some help with my stance.

The second photo was not taken by me, but is an aerial shot from when the movie was produced.

Big Woods Lake, Waterloo, Iowa. I would have never expected to find such beautiful lakes and rivers in Iowa, but here is proof they exist!

Cedar River, Waterloo, Iowa.

Photographs along Highway 2 through Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska. I would need to be recording video to capture every piece of beauty along this road, but here is an attempt to capture at least a few shots. Also, found more wind turbines in Nebraska. I love them!

Bumps in the road.

When it rains, it pours. Last night in Chicago, it was pouring, literally. That and many other factors provided for an extremely stressful night. Since my last post, I traveled to Tulsa in Oklahoma and St. Louis in Missouri, where I locked my keys in my car, but thanks to my wonderful hostel host, was able to get them out). From Missouri, I had a late start because of how much St. Louis has to offer, but once I hit the road, I was headed for Chicago, Illinois.
I reached the downtown area at about 10pm to find awful weather, which makes it impossible to see the divider lines of the 3-lane downtown streets where there is constantly someone honking, trains roaring above the streets on multiple overpasses (so strange to have them above downtown streets), pedestrians EVERYWHERE, randomly parked cars throughout the streets and aggressive taxis attempting, or so it seemed, to run every other car off the road. My main goal was simply to find my hostel and get a good nights rest so that I could explore the next morning. Finally, I found my hostel and a nearby parking garage, but they informed me that for overnight, it would be $35 cash, which I did not have. The next garages I somehow found charged the same. The entire time I felt extremely unsafe, so I made a quick decision to get out of the city ASAP. The problem was that I couldn’t find a place to pull over to re-route.
After about an hour had past, most of which I believe was spent in sketchy neighborhoods, I found a gas station where I could stop to plan my next move. I decided to get on highway 20, an old bi-way, headed west. It was dark and besides a couple of truck divers I passed, desserted. This was perfect and exactly what I wanted. At that moment, I wanted to be as far from civilization as possible. Two and a half hours of driving brought me to Rockford, Illinois, where I have decided to stay an extra night for some rest before I begin my journey westward.
After having traveled through and San Francisco, I though that I could handle any of our great big cities. I was; however, so completely and utterly wrong. At least under the circumstances of last night, Chicago was unbearable for me. I do hope to one day be able to travel through in a daylight so that I can redeem my opinion of the city.Even with the chaotic night, I am still extremely thankful to have decided to travel north instead of further east because the horrible tornados they are having in that direction. After it pours, the sun comes out, right? I have a good feeling about the rest of my trip!

Highlights:

Gilcrease Museum: The Museum of the Americas, Tulsa, Oklahoma. Perfect place to spend Easter. The place has an amazing assortment of art and artifacts of the American West. My favorite piece "Soul mates" by Jason Stone is pictured in the first image. The third picture is of their children's center, which has a huge light table, which I though was neat.


The indoor exhibits are great, but the most amazing part of the museum, which is located on a huge piece of property, are the five themed gardens: Pre-Columbian, Pioneer, Colonial, Victorian and Rock. I finally found color after the dark environments of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas! Very peaceful.

Huckleberry Finn Hostel, St Louis, Missouri. After Tulsa, I was, of course, running late for check in to the St Louis hostel, but the kind host let me in late. Once I finally arrive, I locked my keys in the door and the hostel host allowed me to use his AAA to get them out. WHEW!

Park Avenue Cafe, St Louis, Missouri. The key incident had not affect on my stay in St. Louis, which was nothing less than awesome. A nice bartista in this cafe suggested some ways to spend my limited time in the city. I love all of the brick buildings in the city!

The Gateway Arch or the "Gateway to the West," St. Louis, MO. The tallest monument of the United States. I definitely felt small standing below the building, but after riding an elevator to the top, I felt gigantic.

From the top of the Gateway Arch. Inside the tiny door in the first picture is the elevator car that I rode to the top of the arch. The cars to the top are extremely small, but luckily the ride is only 4 minutes long. Going up, since I was by myself, I had a park ranger ride up with me. He gave me some tips for Chicago. If only he had told me it was complete insanity...

Museum of Westward Expansion (part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial), St Louis, IL. Located near the beginning point of the Lewis and Clark expedition. The lifelike individuals that I photographed are so extremely realistic in person as they both move and talk. They were the better part of the museum, but unfortunately most of the information throughout was oversimplified and focused primarily on glorifying westward expansion instead of presenting the difficulties that most faced (especially Native Americans).

Arch-Riverfront Park. Here, a beautiful view of both St. Louis and the Arch are in plain sight.

Eads Bridge, St. Louis, IL. When it was completed in 1984, to test its structure, an elephant was the first to cross. Interesting, ay?

St. Louis art I spotted to the side of one of the streets.

Everything's bigger in Texas!

Yes, the statement is certainly true. Texas itself is gigantic, Taxans all drive enormous vehicles, the cities are large, but most importantly, the hearts of its residents are big. Every single person I have encountered has been so extremely nice to me. From Roswell I traveled to Lubbock and then to Dallas Texas, both of which proved to be rich in history and art and plain and simple, fun!

Because Texas is so big and has so many things to offer, I stayed for three days and nights. Also, two of these were spent in Dallas because of my ever so friendly hostel host, Marty, and his wonderful female hostel apartment (the Dallas/Bachman hostel) that I was able to have all to myself.

Highlights:

No hostels in Lubbock, Texas, so I stayed in a motel. The place was a dump, but at least they served Texas shaped waffles for breakfast!

The Buddy Holly Center, Lubbock, TX. Good ol' Buddy Holly is from Lubbock Texas. The inside gallery (where photos are not allowed), which includes photos, letters, tickets, guitars, etc. is presented in the shape of a guitar. Very neat to see! Also, I learned that Don McLean's song "American Pie," is about Buddy Holly and his death. I had no idea!

Mexican restaurant in Lubbock. Honestly, I haven’t an idea the name of this place because the letters to its sign are wearing off, but it was delicious and very authentic. The Mexican food all throughout Texas is superb!

Silent Wings Museum, Lubbock, TX. Located near the Lubbock Municipal Airport as it was chosen as the location for the training of WWII glider pilots. The place had an eerie feel for a number of reasons, but a couple being that the depictions of glider pilots are extremely realistic and also, because of the number of people that died flying these planes. The Blue plane at the bottom is just a practice glider.


Dallas, Texas. The DART (Dallas's MAX). I was very proud of myself for figuring the system out and making my way all throughout downtown.

I loved, loved, loved Dallas and its beautiful buildings. The city reminds me so much of Portland, which was a huge surprise. It is a large city, but people are still relaxed and friendly. I don't like; however, how segregated it is.

The Sixth Floor Museum, Dallas, TX. Located in the old Texas School Book Depository where Lee Harvey Oswald (well, I believe), killed John F. Kennedy. I took the first picture inside the museum before I found out that photography is prohibited, but the others are from outside the building where the shooting actually took place.

Underneath the signs in the first picture, on Elm Street, is where Kennedy's limousine was located when bullets first struck him. The bullets came from the window that is at the bottom of the last picture.



Dealy Plaza, located at the intersection of the shooting. Created as part of the Works Project Administration (WPA) in 1938-1940.

The Reunion Tower, Dallas, TX. An observation tower, but I did not get a chance to ride up :(

Downtown art district, Dallas Museum of Art.



Nasher Museum of Sculpture


Cancer Survivors Parks, Dallas, TX. The first picture is of a 5,000 pound granite ball symbolic of cancer, since it is a huge mass always moving. What is neat is that if you touch is, it stops and begins rotating in a different direction.

Thanksgiving Square, Dallas, TX. Dedicated to promoting the spirit of Thanksgiving.

More of those horizontal street lights that were common throughout New Mexico.

A country and western bar/club that Marty (my hostel host) invited me to. Here I learned the two-step and west coast swing and saw a live country-western band. Definitely an experience unlike any before, but totally awesome!