7AM Eastern:

As we work our way steadily westward, we are greeted by empty roads and overcast skies. So far the only signs of life we’ve encountered have been the few unfortunate souls who have become the first catches of the day for the local variety of police. Fourth of July weekend is starting out strong for the journey, we’ve already made up plenty of time and should arrive in Minneapolis just shy of 4:00PM Central, hopefully without incident.

Side note: Leaving the gas station we saw about 30 or so hot air balloons rising into the sky, in the middle of absolutely no where. What there is to see around here aside from monotone forest and the occasional highway I’m really not sure, but they seem dead set on seeing it in style.

9AM Central:

We gained an hour as we rolled into Indiana, and now all of our clocks are saying different things. We just passed through Chicago, which was eerily devoid of the insane traffic which usually turns the surrounding freeways into death traps. Thankfully due to this the only annoyance during our short stint in the city was the infamous iPass, which cost us a cool $20 just to go about 30 miles. Talk about highway robbery. More updates to come.

11AM Central:

We’ve entered Wisconsin and are enjoying the gently sloping hills, multitudes of corn, and Culvers at every exit. Easily the best part of our journey through cheese country is the smell of the outdoors. It’s like someone opened a can of freshly cut grass and mild breeze right beneath your nose. A refreshing change from the smog ridden highways garnering northern Illinois. I would post a picture but if you’ve ever seen the color green then you aren’t missing much. More updates to come. 

2PM Central:

The hills have increased dramatically both in size and foliage. Great mounds of green rising up out of the earth, as the road carves a somewhat confused path through the shallow valleys in between. Cell coverage is already failing, a forecast of Canada and the days to come. The forest is occasionally interrupted by a variety of micro-biomes, plains and swamp mostly, with a few scattered rivers here and there. Evangelical billboards and signs for farming equipment outlets are the only indications of any sort of civilization. Curious where the dairy farms are, as far as I know you can’t make cheese out of corn, which is all that seems to grow here. More updates to come.
 

6PM Central:

We arrived in Minneapolis on time around 4, and headed straight to the hotel, which smelled faintly of dying vegetables and was about 20 minutes south of the city proper. After attempting to use a washer as a dryer, we decided we needed both food and sleep, but our day wasn’t over yet. An hour or so of recuperation and we’re headed back into the city to get some night shots and presumably some food. A write up + gallery for the city should be up sometime tomorrow, as for today, expect one to two more posts from within Minneapolis itself. The content may be sparse for the first week or so, due to lack of attractions and then lack of service in Canada, but I promise if you stick with us the ball will be rolling before too long. More updates to come.