Unexpected Journey

Hello friends and family! I hope you are all doing well and are excited summer is finally upon us! Bobby and I recently finished our time in Glacier National Park and had a great time backpacking their. Before going into the park we stayed at the famous Brownie's Hostel, which did have fantastic brownies. Inside the park was a blast. We stayed in the wild for two nights and were able to see some wildlife and meet some interesting people. Glacier has definitely been the best part of the trip so far.


As we left Glacier, Bobby had to fly home because of a family emergency and now I am on my own. I had to contemplate for a long time whether to keep going with the trip or pack up and go home. So I choose the best possible option and that was to head to Track Town USA or as others know it, Eugene, OR. I have been here for two days now and have not been disappointed. The University of Oregon is an awesome campus and the town loves their Ducks. The facilities here are ridiculous because the founder of Nike gives them a boat load of money and he has his name plastered all over the school.
So until Sunday I will be chilling in Eugene and will be volunteering at the USA National Track Championships. I will have a full access pass that will allow me to wander all around Hayward Field and see the meet for free (plus I get free food everyday I work). My old friend Steve still lives in Eugene after graduating and he is hooking me up with a please to live for the next week. He has been very gracious and given me a great tour of Eugene already. I hope everyone is doing well and I will be back in Chicago sometime before the 4th of July. Until next time....



-Jordan

Has it been a week already?

Yes, it has - and what a week it's been.

We've been cruising at a mean pace across the nation and soaked up (literally, it's rained every day) all we can. I'm posting now from the funky and beautiful Missoula, Montana; think Northampton, MA on steroids - or maybe something a little more psychedelic.

It's a liberal bastion here and from the semi-crazy sweatpants wearing man telling Jordan and I tales of his rock n' roll days while we sipped PBRs outside a burrito shop, to a pair of free spirited dancers grooving along to live music at Out to Lunch (basically a Taste of Missoula that we were lucky to find), to all the summer-dress wearing, puppy toting ex-hippies and college students, this city has some intense and funky vibes.

Okay, we need to get back on the road, but first here's a quick look at some of what we've seen so far (in reverse order):

It wouldn't be Yellowstone without a Bison Backup.


God may have stopped by Missoula to pick up some happy pills before he created the absolute masterpiece that is the Grand Tetons.


It rained contantly and the bears, elk and moose did not show themselves, but the backcountry of Yellowstone proved a beautiful and calming area on an otherwise rapid race to the Pacific Ocean.


President Horwitz?


The Badlands have no mountains to inspire - they do not need them.

Off and running!

Our epic journey has begun! On Tuesday around 8:30 AM, Bobby and I started out trek out West from my house in Evanston. We made it to Minneapolis by night fall and were able to stay with the Copeland family. They treated us very well and were more than generous with food. We thank them very much and hope they have a great rest of a summer. The next part of our trip took us through Minnesota and South Dakota. Minnesota was not totally what I expected. It was mostly farm land and didn't see as many lakes as I thought I would. South Dakota was quite the same until we passed over the Missouri River and were delighted to see some rolling hills. The rest of our drive to the Badlands was much more scenic than the first few hours after Minneapolis.
After driving all across South Dakota we found ourselves at the Badlands. We got out of the car at the first scenic over look and it is hard to describe how beautiful it was. The Badlands are essential prairie and these clay/dirt formations with all differenent colors. We saw formations with yellows, reds, and greens. After an hour or so of driving through the park we decided to take a detour to Wall, SD. In Wall there is the famous Wall Drug which we saw about 1,000 advertisements for on our way through South Dakota. It was essential a place of souveniors and tons of worthless crap. Although they did have free ice water, but Bobby and I passed on that. We headed to the grocery store and got some provisions for the night.
Entering back into the Badlands we drove to our remote camp site. As we drove along the dirt road we were able to see some bison roaming around. When we got to the actual camp site we were pleasantly greeted by a live bison about 10 feet from my car. We both took some pictures, but hastily got out of their when it looked like he no longer wanted to be our model. The camp site was on the other side of the park and didn't have to many other people there, but it did have three bison roaming around it about 50 feet from our tents. We set up camp and cooked a great dinner of scrambled eggs. Before it got to dark out we decided to take a mini hike up to the nearest hill and watch as the sun went down. Before going to bed we decided to meet some fellow campers who were from Minnesota and Columbia. They had met each other in Japan as high school exchange students and were essentially doing the same route as us over the next month.
We were pretty much undisturbed during the night and luckily were not trampled by any bison roaming through the camp site. Apparently we will be early risers during the trip as we woke up at 5:45 and were ready to go. We had some more scrambled egss and got ready for an off trail hike through the Badlands. The hike can be summed up as very muddy. It had rained recently and the clay/mud stuck to our boots like gum. At times we were walking on about 5 inches of mud on our boots. The hike was very nice and we saw a couple of bison and their babies, and were able to avoid the prairie rattle snakes.
I am writing you all now from Rapid City, SD in a bagel shop we found with free Wi-Fi. We will be headed to Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse in about half an hour and then headed out West again. We both feel Badlands was a great start and the rest of the trip has a lot to live up to. If you can make it out here some time I strongly recommend it. Hope you all are having a great summer and talk to you soon!

-Jordan

An addition to the road trip family

With many unsettled nights in the past we finally have a mode of transportation out West. Yesterday I purchased a 2003 Honda Accord in Gold from Castle Honda in Morton Grove, IL. Since my return to Evanston I have been shopping like crazy to find the perfect car. I wanted something reliable with good gas mileage, and was large enough to keep me comfortable during long drives all over the country. I have yet to name the car, but I'm sure Bobby and I will have plenty of hours to figure that out while driving from place to place out West.
The road trip is begins in less than a week and I am already super excited. Bobby will get here sometime on June 8th and we will begin our trek the next day. This weekend will hopefully fly by as it is my brothers graduation from high school on Sunday and his graduation party on Saturday. I hope everyone is enjoying their summer! Talk to you soon!

-Jordan

Our West Coast Trip!

So in about two weeks from today Bobby Cann and Jordan Horwitz will be embarking on a trip of epic proportions. I approached Bobby in February about a possible trip out West. My reasoning was I have never seen much of the West before. I have been to Boulder, CO and Disneyland, but those places don't truly represent all the Left Coast has to offer. I want to see trees that seem to reach the stars, experience hiking in 100+ degree heat, and be in places with vast open space.
Where will we be heading? Starting in Chicago we will head to Minneapolis, drive over to the Badlands, see MT. Rushmore, hike in Yellowstone and Glacier National Park, see Missoula, MT, eat some potatoes in Idaho, travel to Seattle, check out some track and field in Eugene, OR, be amongest the trees in the Redwood National Forest, hit up the city by the Bay, play some slots in the Biggest Little City in the World, and spend some time in the Mile High City. There will be times for spontaneous adventures and trips to places we never planned for.
I hope you all will continue to follow us along our journey. Hopefully we can provide some great pictures and put some fire underneath you all to travel out West if you have not done so before. There will be more to come! I hope everyone is enjoying the hot weather coming your way and have some great summer plans scheduled. Talk to you all soon!

-Jordan