I’m using the word statistics here very loosely but I figured I share.

• Number of states I drove through: 24 (including DC)
• Number of states I spent the night in: 14 (including DC)
• Number of times I was pulled over: 1
• Number of friends I saw: 8
• Number of museums visited: 7
• Number of times I used my pepper spray: 0
• Number of parks visited: 10
• Number of hostels I stayed in: 4
• Number of cupcakes consumed: 6
• Number of beers drank: too many too count.
• SPF Number: 70 (1 tanned arm)
• Number of miles driven: 6776.4 miles
• Number of exits missed: 5 (that’s a low guess).

So the owner of the Air Bnb let us use his Mass Moca membership card, which got us in for free!! It’s the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, which I had never been to and Ryan was willing to check it out. So Wednesday we had a lazy morning and then went to the museum.

I love art and I’m eccentric but even sometimes some art is just weird. Thankfully that wasn’t the case with everything here, but there were pieces I struggled with.

So this man’s work was so colorful and fun but once you get up close, I felt, it gets a little odd. But this man is all in on his artistic vision and storyline of “mounds” and these characters he’s created. There was a video playing inside that large black, white and pink “mound” and it sucked in my honest opinion. But art is subjective. And it evoked emotion in me so to me there is value in it.

But there was some other cool stuff! I don’t have everyone’s name so here’s the website if you’re interested. https://massmoca.org/exhibitions/

We checked out Bright Idea Brewery in the same mills. They didn’t have lunch but we had a flight of beers before going back to the museum to have lunch and see more.

The buildings itself are from the old Sprague Electric company, which makes it such a cool museum! Even the old boiler room has been preserved and you can check it out. They also have an airstream on the roof, collecting solar power and left with some guys stuff in it. It’s kinda cool.

I love learning new things and about new art. These were part of a retrospective of Sol LeWitt, done by a local art college, in his memory.

We also saw art work by James Turrell, who has an installation called Into the Light. It’s a crazy light show that shows solid colors and strobe lighting. It’s in a huge white room, where even the floor is painted white so you have to wear surgical booties on your shoes. I’m doing a horrible job describing it but it was intense!! I got dizzy at one point.

So tomorrow we head back… it’s been an amazing trip and have appreciated all the support I’ve received. I think it’s so important to challenge ourselves to step outside our comfort zone and live life.

Xoxo aim

So on Tuesday Ryan and I decided to check out the rapids before we headed to the Berkshires.

So we went on a trail that follows Niagara River. We were trying to get to the gorge but found some other amazing views.

We found an unguarded stairs that took us right down to the rapids practically. There was also this random cave like hole in the rocks that looks like it had been blown out, which was pretty cool.

We walked for a while here without running into other people. We never found the gorge we were looking for but it was still cool.

From there we headed east towards the Berkshires and I totally took advantage of having someone to split the drive with!! I even got to nap in the car, which held up well! Sharing the 5 hour drive with Ryan after 3 weeks of doing it solo was most likely the highlight that day.

We stayed in this cute air bnb in New Lebanon, NY, right on the MA border. We found a local pub to watch the Bruins game, which had great food and local beers. The woman at the table behind us had an obnoxious voice and yelled out “I think I’m intoxicated” at one point… it was pretty funny.

Almost home! It’s been such a trip and I’m not sure I’m ready for reality to set in.

Xoxo aim

Sunday afternoon I left the Rock and Roll hall of fame and headed to Niagara Falls! I drove along Lake Erie through Pennsylvania to NY. Thankfully this was a shorter drive than the rest of the week had been.

I dropped my stuff off at this cute little hotel The Giacomo and headed to the Buffalo airport to pick up my friend Ryan who was joining me for the last leg of my trip.

It was late so we grabbed a bite to eat at a delicious Gastropub and called it a night.

Monday we went to see the American side of the Niagara Falls. Now, I know everyone says the Canadian side is better, but damn, it’s amazing and impressive on the American side.

It was cold and there were still ice chunks in the water, which we later learned comes from an ice damn they create in Lake Erie, that they recently broke up/sent downstream. Huge chunks of ice.

We walked around and wanted to go on the Maid of the Mist boat but since their was still ice the boat wasn’t in the water yet. Water is so powerful and seeing it barrel over the rapids and falls is amazing. About 675,000 gallons of water go over the falls per second!

We took a hop on/off trolley tour instead and learned fun facts, most of which I don’t remember now. But Ryan and I were in awe of how easy it was to gain access to the Niagara River and falls. By that I mean there is minimal fencing and rails. And apparently people, as recently as last week, end their life here.

So while we were walking around we saw a black squirrel. I had never seen one before so here he is for all of you to see as well.

We wandered around for several hours before going to find a place to eat. We thought we found a place, called The Craft, but the owner said they were closed, still getting ready for the season, but invited us in for a beer.

This dude was a funny, honest, slightly racist local who gave us the low down on where to eat and what to do. I tried some local beers, per usual, and had a delicious blueberry wheat one. This guy was a riot and kind enough to give us cheap beer so we hung out for an hour or so before finding a place with food.

We got a late lunch and relaxed for a bit at the hotel. This hotel was amazing. They knocked on the door to ask if we wanted warm cookies and milk!!! I mean how amazing is that! And how cool would it be to have the job of providing smiles to people with cookies.

Eventually we found a place to eat dinner, that wasn’t in Canada, and chatted with the bar tender who told us we had to see the falls at night. Another man came into the bar and started chatting with us and the bar tender. We mentioned the lack of gates/fences and he said it happens a lot. Then he enthusiastically told the bar tender that Big Joe went down the rapids. I was very confused by this man’s affect, so I made the quick and incorrect assumption that Big Joe was one of the daredevils/ adrenaline junkies and asked if Joe was alive… horrible thing to say even if he was a dare devil. Foot in mouth. The man just said he’s dead and they haven’t found a body. I felt like a HUGE asshole and apologized several times, which probably didn’t help. I certainly wasn’t sober and I felt like an ass none the less. We moved beyond this topic thankfully and the man later bought us both beers, although I probably should have bought him one.

Then we scooted out to go see the falls at night and damn they weren’t lying.

Absolutely breath taking with the different colored LED lights on them. Definitely see them at night.

Go see this if you haven’t already. And there were hardly any tourists at the end of April.

Xoxo aim

I made it to a hostel in Cleveland that I picked out that morning. I was hangry by that point since earlier I refused to pay $8 for a convenience store sandwich. I just ate more goldfish. So once I got settled at the hostel I locked up my purse and went to shower. Upon getting out of the shower I went to grab my purse to go out only to remember I put it in a locker… and inside my purse was the key to the locker… fml.

Well luckily this is not my first rodeo. I went to the front desk and asked to borrow the bolt cutters, figuring I certainly wasn’t the first to do this. Although I was informed it had been over a year since it last happened. Either way, they had a great pair of bolt cutters! Super easy and done in one push. Meanwhile I had a roommate who was trying to sleep this whole time… oops.

Checked out this bar and was surprised they had the Bruins game on. Until I remembered I was in Ohio and the people of Ohio would probably care how their Columbus Blue Jackets are doing.

I ate some delicious tacos while the bar filled up. The bar tender bought me a beer and then I headed back to the hostel. My roommate decided to make a bunch of noise in the middle of the night, so I’m pretty sure it evened out.

I wasn’t jazzed about it feeling like 33 degrees in Cleveland Sunday morning. But I found a cheap delicious diner and afterwards went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!!

I had a blast!! I cannot say enough good things. It’s right on Lake Erie and awesome. They had Ani DiFranco’s guitar, Tom Perry’s jackets, Janis Joplin’s necklaces, Sheryl Crow’s lyrics. It was amazing!! SO much fun history and beautiful memorabilia!

They had some interactive stuff as well, with a special pinball edition. Note: you are not a musical success until you have your own pinball machine! You could play for free with tokens if you scanned your entrance band.

They also had a whole floor dedicated to this year’s nominees. As well tributes to legends who past recently.

Tom Petty’s jacket from the Live Aid benefit.

They also had a video of all of the inductee ceremonies compiled together, which was cool. Along with music video history.

One of Bruce Springsteen’s guitar

Just go! I think it’s amazing!!

Friday morning I said goodbye and left Minneapolis, headed towards Indiana. Porter, Indiana, a place I hadn’t heard about until that morning. But it was a cheap inn on Lake Michigan.

I drove through Wisconsin and Illinois. Lots of tolls in Illinois and my EZPass stopped working for some weird reason. This week has had some long drives, which has tested my patience but I’ve finished another audiobook.

I stayed at this cute somewhat bizarre inn near the Indiana State Sand Dunes Park. I was tired of driving and they had a speakeasy bar next door that mixed reviews about their food online. So I walked next door and was slightly disappointed.

So I found another bar and got a great burger and chatted with some locals. Then back to my quirky hotel that had a bottle opener next to the toilet paper. Although, I’ve been told this is common in the south. However, Indiana isn’t south.

Saturday morning I packed up and headed to the park before Cleveland. It was raining a smidge. I wanted to see Lake Michigan so I paid to head into the state park despite the rain. But it was cold and wet so I didn’t walk around too long. It looks just like the Atlantic. It was this gray, wet day but there were a handful of people there walking the beach.

The rain turned to hale and then snow as I was leaving. Thankfully I was leaving because I’m done with snow. Off to Cleveland!

Go visit friends and family. It’s worth it. Driving through Wilder, MN, I learned that it only had a population of 60 people. You know that’s some good gossip.

I had a lazy morning with Mary and Dick before Mary left for work. So I got a tour of Medicine Lake in Golden Valley, MN.

From there we went to the Walker Sculpture Park. I was proud of myself for knowing two of the sculptors right away! Art History education paying off!!

So this is a massive ice cream spoon and this shallow pond is meant to be spilled chocolate.

This is a 25 foot call rooster entitled “cock” so there’s that. Art is so silly. Like this bench, which is just one in a series of obscure benches. Some were much better than others.

Then we walked around the museum, which consisted of Dick saying “I don’t get it” and walking away, which I loved. Although some pieces were too far out there for me too so I get that. Art is weird too.

We found the Mary Tyler Moore statue and walked by the Mississippi River. It’s muddy even at the start of it. Plus it was quite windy by the locks, but amazing to see!And then we headed off to an AMAZING speakeasy in Minneapolis. Amazing cocktails such as the Armenian stinger. I had never heard of it before but you bet your ass I tried it!! Followed by an Aviation. It was delicious. Plus Dick and I chatted about everything and anything before we decided we needed food.

I tried Scotch eggs for the first time and had some great local beers. Then we attempted to selfie while waiting for an uber…

Take time to see the people who make your heart smile! (Or don’t, you’re an adult, make your own choice).

Xoxo aim

The next morning I wanted to go for a hike before heading to Minnesota. So I did just that. I talked to a ranger at the visitor center and then headed off to the Medicine Root Loop for a 4 mile walk. I left around 8:30 am and didn’t see anyone else til the end, which was amazing!!!

Amazing morning photograph

I realized it was muddier than I thought but just walked around it until it was impossible. Before 9 am I was stuck in the mud laughing hysterically, trying to keep my sneakers on! I’m so glad I’m able to make myself laugh! I kept going only to find more mud that I tried to jump over…But when you have little legs your distance isn’t so great. I jumped and landed on a plank that was covered with mud.. and went down. Not too bad but I was in the mud laughing hysterically again.

I was in awe as I walked around these massive clay mountains and sculptures I found them beautiful with a very muted color palate.

I chatted with the ranger again afterwards and leaned in his 12 years there the staffing had been cut by half. He said they used to have a team devoted to trails but lost that a few years ago. Most of the trail was marked very well but the markers were faded and hard to see at times. (Cue minor anxiety).

After placing my nasty socks and sneakers in the trunk of my car I headed out to see family friends in Minnesota! I’m pretty sure I saw an eagle on my drive towards Minnesota. It was a long ass drive though and I didn’t get to Golden Valley, MN until late.

But not too late to have some drinks with Mary & Dick York who were kind enough to let me stay! It was great to see them and catch up, chat about life, transitions and history. Then my tired ass slept soundly.

Xoxo aim

Tuesday morning I left Denver after I wandered around and got breakfast. The biscuits and sausage were not good. But I did hear someone come in and order eight sides of gravy, to go, and nothing else. Here are some pics from Capital Hill.

From Colorado I headed up to South Dakota for a 6.5 hr drive. The posts have been slow this week because of the long drives I had. Somewhere along the road I saw a 6 foot tall rabbit… I’m not sure if that was Colorado, Wyoming or South Dakota though. There have been some weird rest stops. In Colorado there’s a chain called Kum & Go… and they have their own tee shirts…

Onto Wyoming, which was hilly but beautiful in its own way. For a long time there was NO WHERE to stop to pee and there were no trees for me to hide behind. It wasn’t looking good for a while. Finally, I stopped to use a rest stop bathroom and was pleased to see they had 2 women’s bathrooms! On the way out I saw a sign that said “Thank you for your business” and I realized this was a small family run convenience store. So I bought tea and chocolate to support them!This chocolate bar was worth it!

I drove through the town of Lusk, Wyoming, which had a population of 1567 people according to the sign… and I thought Rockport was small.

Onto South Dakota. It took 16 days but I got pulled over for speeding. I may have blown past a sheriff…Thankfully, I only got a warning!!!

I cannot day enough good things about the Badlands!!! I didn’t realize the camp ground I booked was actually IN the National Park but I am SO GLAD it was. I got there late in the day and went to tackle putting up my tent. It’s something I haven’t done in a long time but am happy to say I got it up in under 12 minutes.

Afterwards I went for a walk and was just in awe and humbled at this country. Make a point to go! It was amazing.

Absolutely beautiful at sunset!! The camp ground only opened 3 days earlier so there was only a handful of tents and RVs there.

I had a revelation here about how much I’ve accomplished the last few weeks. I ate my bagged salad outside and watched the stars come out. I fell asleep listening to coyotes while I bundled up in my tent (it dropped to low 40s that night I think). It was a great experience.

Xoxo aim

After a long drive, car issues and getting pulled over for speeding, I got to my camp site, only to find that no one was here to check in with. Luckily the campsite is inside the Badlands National Park and it’s amazing. I drove in and found my tent site with my name on it! I haven’t put up a tent in years. Last year was the first time in a long time and I had a friend help me. Well I got it up in under 15 minutes.

After I did this I went to walk around and stretch my legs. I thought to myself, shit I did this, I did. No one else. (Well, technically yes, other people have done this plenty of times.) When I set out I had people tell me how brave I was and that I had courage and spirit. I thanked them but I didn’t quite believe them. I mean yes getting in the car to drive for hours seems odd but not hard, I looked at it as anyone could do it if they wanted to and had the time. 16 days into my trip, I was almost in tears thinking about how I did this. Drive cross country, by myself, and all the emotions that come along with it. From being lonely to awe struck, happy and angry. I choose to do this as a way to heal and grow and to fulfill a childhood dream.

I just wanted to say thank you to all my loved ones and friends who have supported me and believed in me when I didn’t understand or see value.

Thank you. I love you all.

(And I didn’t get a ticket!!)