3,484 Mile Summer

Hello! This blog will be a little bit less Midwest based because I really want to talk about my trips over the summer! Granted, most of the trips were in the Midwest, but my trip to New York was in the Northeast. These trips mean a lot to me because, for the first time in my life, I was able to road trip without family. I also got to travel across the country with my girlfriend, which makes these trips all the more special and memorable.

Tulsa, OK

In May, Mick and I road tripped across the Southern Midwest through Illinois, Missouri, and Oklahoma to reach our final destination: Tulsa, OK. We did not drive on the original Route 66 (we would need to store gallons of gas AND it would take much longer to reach Tulsa), but we drove parallel to it and saw many Route 66 themed billboards, restaurants, and shops, which I thought was really fun. We also stopped at Bucc-ee's - a necessity, obviously. We saw Ethel Cain twice in Tulsa, went to a diner, and many stores. We went to the Outsiders House Museum as well, which was the Curtis Brothers house in the original movie! We were able to do so much in only two days.

Shandaken, NY

At the end of July, we drove 14 hours straight through Ohio, Pennsylvania, and into the Catskill Mountains of New York. The Catskill Mountains are a part of the northern Appalachian Mountain range which was one of the most exciting parts of this trip. I have been wanting to stay in the Appalachias for a while at that point, and I want to go again soon. It was also my first time in New York, and I really loved it. I also had been really obsessed with PA, so it was a dream to drive through the whole state. We stayed in a mini cabin there, hiked, visited Woodstock, waded in the creek, and saw Boyish and Searows! We also made venison burgers and ate at a really cute diner. On the way back from NY, we stayed the night in Pittsburgh with one of my family members, which was also very nice. I want to visit Pittsburgh again; I love PA.

Baraboo, WI

Over Labor Day weekend, Lloyd, Mari, Luc, Mick, and I went camping in Devil's Lake State Park with Lloyd's family. It was a blast despite only getting 2 hours of sleep each night because it was so uncomfy in that tent... We went on a hike to see some cool rock formations and then paddle boarded and swam in the lake. We went to a nice lodge which had the best cheese curds ever and ended the last night with scary stories around the campfire. One of my favorite parts of the trip was the late-night walks we went where it was pitch black outside.

That's all that I have for this blog! I also went to Milwaukee, but that was during last semester... so I did not include that, but I had so much fun on these trips, and I will forever hold them close to my heart.

All photos taken by Eli Mirek.