Mil-Rock... Fuck Green Bay.

"You guys HAVE to go to Milwaukee!"

"Dude, there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING in Milwaukee! Why would you go there?"

"If there is something fun in Milwaukee... I definitely haven't found it yet."

Everyone was wrong. Mil-rock is outstanding. We left Chicago, late in the day, with no plan at all for what to do, where to sleep, or even where to go for the day. Ilana had suggested Milwaukee, and it was the first place we saw on the highway, so that is where we went. Our first stop was The Harley-Davidson Museum. 16$. We just looked through the window, and left. Then we searched and searched for the Pabst Blue Ribbon Factory, only to find out from two young police officers that it did not exist anymore. Shit. Dragging our feet we went to the Miller Valley where the great beers of America are brewed like, Miller Lite, Olde English, Miller Chill, Sparks, and Milwaukee's Best! Needless to say, we were well hydrated travelers. Example: I asked the bar tender in the beer garden what the last tap was. She replied with "Oh that's water." AJ responded "Oh you have TWO Miller Lite taps!" Our tour guide felt like she would rather be purchasing a noose. She wasn't a fan of Miller Time. or getting paid by the Miller Hour. From there it was suggested that we check out Pizza Shuttle. $13.45 for a large special pizza and three tall beers, local brew. We're there. The pizza was delicious as well. And the hostess set the bar for Milwaukee by giving us a LIST of places to see and things to do. Complete with actual directions. Awesome. We tried to go to the Lake Shore Brewery but it was closed (Luckily). We then went to a brew pub that we had seen earlier in the day The Water Street Brewery. When we got it we figured it would be a little pricey, but were excited to try a new beer. We sat at the bar and asked the bar tender what her favorite beer was. Oktoberfest. Sold. We told her about the trip and as par for Milwaukee she was really nice. Eventually, we started talking with her and the other bartender Johanna. Both girls were really awesome and helped us think of things to do here, and told us "Forget Green Bay". Lisa graciously crossed it off the list, and with that saved us five hours of driving and probably a tank of gas. Thanks Lisa. We were only meant to go into the brewery for a drink, but long story short we ended up closing the bar with them. Johanna's friend Andrew showed up, and go figure he went abroad in Australia as well! And EVEN went to Danbury, CT! hahaha. We're taking him our drinking next time we're all back in town. I can not stress how awesome the people here really are. Aaron met a guy and got us a place to stay. He taught us how to break into his house, and said he would only come back if he didn't find another place to stay. Andrew and Johanna stressed us going to this bar called Safe House. I can't tell you about Safe House. It's a secret. But you have to go through a secret entrance to get in. And to leave you have to put a quarter into a telephone in a booth, and the back slides open and leads you down a flight of stairs, through some hallways, and outside. The password to get in is definitely not "I'm looking for a Safe House." There we were once again greeted with a friendliness that I hope becomes a part of my life. The whole bar took on to us and helped us plan our next day in town. Even offered to take us to lunch, which we will be going to shortly. We got drunk. Found our way back to John's place (the guy who offered us his place). Broke in. And slept on the apartment. In the morning John woke up, while we were thanking him he told us a story about how the night before he told his friends that he was letting three guys stay at his place and he wasn't there. "Dude, you're sooo fucked, they're going to rob you blind!" John - "No, they're not. I was once in their place and I know how it is backpacking around." Friend - "They're stealing your shit RIGHT NOW" John - "And besides what the fuck are they going to steal. I have a fucking picture of an Indian over a T.V. from 1992. And two palm trees."

Last night, really set the bar for the trip. Staying in Mil-rock one more day. Couldn't get enough.

Signed,

Adam

The Second Tuesday (From the Arch to Chi-Town pt 1)

I'm laying on an air mattress in the basement of Aaron Katzs girlfriend's basement uploading something like a hundred and eighty photos to a photobucket account I made while Aaron, Adam, and Alyssa (the wonderful provider of our place to sleep (wait, maybe that's her parents(Of course, that isn't all that important, but I ask you, who doesn't like a ton of parenthesis?(See?)))) are still sleeping, or at least trying to. I'm sure the clack of keyboard typing and Alyssa's cat jumping around and opening doors doesn't help.
We'll be leaving Chicago soon. I'm not so sure that's where we are at the moment, Alyssa lives in a suburb, but I do know that I'm still going to call this Chicago, and in whatever strange corner of my brain this place and the memories I accrued here will inhabit, this will still be linked with Chicago.
But then, I don't feel we've had any kind of substantial update since Nashville. I'll try to catch you guys up, but it's a bit of a daunting task. Our days are packed, our nights are packed, my dreams have been packed, and the coming weeks don't seem like they'll be any slower at all.
We slept in the car in St. Louis. It was roughly three hundred thousand degrees and more humid than the ocean. At least. The preceding night we were offered a place to stay by a homeless man that gave us a Columbia shirt, an embroidered lighter holder, and a meat thermometer. He turned in a circle and said "Yo, you could camp at my sisters! Let me go get here." We waited for him to walk down the street and then drove away. I wonder where our sense of adventure went.
We walked around St. Louis, saw the arch, went on the Anheuser-Busch tour, and then went to Soulard market place. We met a homeless man named Reggie who was holding a DVD player in a brown-paper bag. He told me that white people used to laugh at black people for the type of gauges I have in my ears. Then he asked us if he speaks like a nigger. Then he free styled and beat boxed. Then we gave him three dollars and told him to have a good day.
We gave away six dollars in total to the homeless in St. Louis, a city surrounded and filled with mansions.
We left St. Louis for Indianapolis later that day. We made it to within forty miles and stayed at a camp site. The night was going fine, we made rice and beans on the propane stove, went and bought fire wood, then spent the rest of the night trying to make a fire. The wood was soaked through with water, and every bed of coals we made sizzled and popped with moister pockets. It never really picked up.
While we were sitting watching and working on the fire, we heard rustling by our other picnic table. Aaron shined a light on it. A raccoon grabbed our bread and ran into the woods. That fucker. The raccoon would spend the rest of the night making noises as though dying and rummaging around our tent for food. Adam slept with his hands on a Hatchet and his pocket knife.
We went into Indianapolis for the day following that night. We went to a place called Bazbeaux's Pizza for brunch, then to the IMA. I saw Ma Jolie again, I had forgotten how much it ruins me. There are very few pieces of visual art that can tug at my heart strings, but Ma Jolie seems to do it more or less every time I see it. Ugg.
We ran into a man waiting at a bridge near the Lily house to propose to his girlfriend. He was wearing a nice suit and the day was just hot. I hope she said yes. I hope they are happy.
After that we drove to Chicago. We met Alyssa at Goose Island for a couple of beers before Aaron headed to her place and Adam and I went to Sam Young's apartment. I thought the night was soon to be over, instead we stayed up and watched Beavis and Butthead until I fell asleep on the couch.
We woke up early the next day, Ilana (Sam's girlfriend(see, how much do you like these)) showed us around Chicago. We hit up Navy Pier, down around the Mag Mile, and then went to a place called R.J. Grunts with a guy named Neil that we met the previous night. They had homemade potato chips and massive sandwiches.
Ilana and Neil were both good people, I'm glad we met them.
After that we headed to a pub named the Abbey for Ricky's show. We were forced to wait outside by a fat bouncer who seemed more than a little upset with life. But we hung out and had free drinks and listened to DJ Sluggo. After that we went to a pretty crazy party packed with people and a terrible DJ. The cops showed up in full force, a paddy-wagon and a couple of cruisers. We were cattled out onto the street and made our way, more miracle than motion, back to Sam's apartment.
We had been in Chicago for a little over twenty-four hours by that point, I was pretty sure that it was to be as ridiculous a time as I could want.
But for now, we're going to go get breakfast at Superdog, finish our laundry, and then head out for Milwaukee today. Yes, it'sn ot really on the list, but we've heard so much about it that it would seem like a crime not to visit.
This trip is more than I could have expected.

Signed,
Andrew

Late night in Chi Town..

tonight was crazy not as crazy as last night, but tonight i met up with DJ Moptop and spun with him in The Butterfly on the the North Side of Chi Town. Tonight was crazy, free drinks all night long. Chi Town is nuts. Right now i am writing from a computer from the top of the Dwight Towers looking at the most beautiful Chicago skyline. Its prettu special and all the guys i am chillin with are top of the line. Dave Richardson, Young Live, DJ Moptop, Earn Money, and Don P, are partying at the after partying and its a good ass time. just burnt my hand too hell. but no worries because a young beautiful girl is here and trying to get my name, but i am just having fun. I have too much going on back at home and a girl that i have a PRETTY BIG cruah on, ao she doesnt have to worry bout a thing. Chicago has been pretty nice tho. Nice enough that AJ is passed out and i am chillin in this pent house apartment. Life in chi is crazy. When i Have more time i will tell more stories. Stay in tune, because new stories will start tomorrow becayse we are leaving the Chi and we will have more and more time to write about everything is happening. Right now all i can say is that we are meeting amazing people and are doin everything we can to make it on top. Keep everyone is your prayers, and everthing will be alright. Have fun. Good Night. Chi Town.


signed,

Adam

In Chi Town Quick Update!

So much has happened but we haven't been able to get to a place with Internet and my friend Sam doesn't have Internet in his apt in Chicago so there has been a serious lack of twitted updates as well as blog posts and for that we are sorry. For now I am typing on my itouch using free wifi. I won't be able to type everything here but no worries more tweets and updates are on the way! In short, st. Louis was amazing and we slept in a wal mart parking lot! Not as bad as you would think. We woke up and checked out union station and then made our way over to the gateway arch! Soooo much bigger than expected and we even got discounts with our America the beautiful pass! St. Louis surprised the hell out of me and if I had to move there I wouldn't mind it because it was just that nice! We also met Ferrari there but I'll save that story for when I have a keyboard. Next was Indianapolis the night before we got there involved the three of us holding weapons and screaming into the woods than hiding in the car from... Another story for the keyboard haha. For now it's chi town and going out clubing with my good friend and number one dj in Chicago DJ Moptop! Tonight should get interesting. Also we had to break into our friends apartment but scaling a wall and pushing thru his window we will have to thank an or having a place to rest our feet Goethe afternoon! Didn't want to leave you guys hanging! Much much more to come! The road is long but will it be long enough? I keep thinking about you...

Signed,
Adam

nashville...

we found a place to stay with jenn and sara and they are super nice.. its nice to sleep on a couch. the tent is nice, but a home is nicer. nashville was great to me. Plus im hanging out with craig stewart. he's pretty much the greatest person on the earth... pretty much. stay tuned and dont forget to follow our twitters and facebook. at twttier.com/adamamerica or twitter.com/andrewamerica

facebook at Facebook.com and then search Across America!

this is everything that i wanted it to be, this is living.

signed,
adam

Nashville with the Piranhas Night 1-2

Last night, we talked to a pretty girl in a Starbucks and she told us that her brother, if he were to be there, would talk our ears off about a place called Red River Gorge. So, we got severely lost on the way to the camp grounds there, asking several people along the way but Aaron and Adam couldn't understand the locals in Kentucky. We finally showed up around seven, found our way to a friendly man that told us we'd need to buy a permit to camp that night (which was thirty minutes back the way we came) and who helped us decide what we'd do. After all that, we set up camp, started a small fire that burned until the night got plenty dark as we played Monopoly on Adam's iTouch.
We talked in the tent until we fell asleep, and though I was sleeping in a way-too-hot sleeping bag in a muggy tent with no matt, I slept better than I had in months. Maybe it had something to do with the lack of sleep the previous nights, but I tend to think that it was simply that I was finally ready to fall asleep. I woke up a couple times in the night, but that's noting nothing new.
In the morning, we packed up camp and took a small hike through the woods. There was a group of Nova Scotians climbing a rock wall in the middle of the woods. This is nothing to remember, not really.
We left Red River Gorge and Adam ran through a tunnel carved out of a mountain overpass. There were two men standing around a white car outside of the tunnel with the hood up. I asked them i they needed help, but they told me they didn't. I didn't think there was much of anything I could do if they did need help, but it just didn't seem right not to pass them without saying anything.
After the gorge we drove to Wild Turkey Distillery. We met some incredibly nice women there, working in the gift shop. Peggy had worked at the distillery for forty-five years, only after they moved operations did she take up a job working as a tour guide. She took us around and told us a bit about herself and her life. The real story is, though, that after the tour we met Jimmy Russell, the master brewer for Wild Turkey. He signed a shot glass I bought for my sister-in-law that I had him sign, and then we spent the rest of the time there talking to a woman named Sherwine who, despite her age, was an absolute southern belle.
I've fallen in love these past three places, but I haven't gotten to the last one yet.
She told us about Nashville, told us about some crazy stories, and we listened with our ears wide open. We drank peach tea and ate bourbon mixed with cookies 'n cream. We left for Nashville right from there. We stopped along the way at Abe Lincoln's childhood home, poked our head in, and left. We didn't stop at dinosaur land though, mainly because we appear to be idiots.
We made it to Nashville and met Adam's friend Craig and his friends. We, Aaron, Adam, Craig, Jen, Sara, and I shot the shit in their apartment's parking lot for thirty minutes before they headed off to frisbee practice. We then went to downtown Nashville, walked near a pond, and listened to some live music at Centennial Park. After that, we drove downtown, and walked around for a while. We found pitas to eat, then headed around till we found a place called Piranhas Bar and Grill. The waitress took care of us, she was a miracle from L.A. that talked to us the whole time we were there. After ten, the beers stopped being one buck a draft and she kept giving us beers for two dollars a pop. We watched Conan O'Brien on the tonight show and watched people get severely hurt doing stupid things.After that we headed to a place called Paradise Park where they had two for one six dollar pitchers of PBR. We fell in love for the second time in Nashville. We headed back to the Piranha Bar after finishing our beer and I bought the singer of the band at the show a shot of J.D. We said buy to the beauty at Piranhas and came back to Craig friend's place.
So now, we are watching Independence Day at Jen and Sara's, and I am updating this blog, and I am tired, but we have more to come. I can't wait for the shower I'll take tomorrow.
Until the next time, take care everyone.

Signed,
Andrew

Kentucky Sunburnt

First day on the road, and we made it to Lexington, Kentucky in under twelve hours. Before, finding a place to sleep we stopped at a Bible Themed Mini Golf course. Equal parts majestically and hysterical. There we met the jolly owner of the course, sort of a sun burnt Santa Claus. He told us a story about when he was younger him and his friends would drive straight through to Algunquin N.P. in Canada with a roof rack. Whoever wanted to sleep climbed into the roof rack which was filled with matress pads and blankets and napped for the ride. "Sometimes we would let them out when we would stop." The guy was great and as par for the south extremely nice. Later we met up with a nice girl working at a Starbucks who told us of a place to stay. The Red River Gorge, with no plans, or goals in mind, that is where we will sleep tonight. Now to find some food. Sorry about the shortness of the blogs, not much time on the road. Keep up with the twitter accounts, and soon their will be pictures on everything.







Signed,

Adam