Roadtrip
As you would probably realize, our adventurer in America wouldnt be embarking on much of a adventure if he were to be stuck in N Dakota. Hence the trip 2359 miles(3796km) away to Anderson, Indiana.
DAY 1- Starkweather, N.Dakota -> Duluth, Minnesota(379 miles/610 km)
They left by 8:30 and were accompanied by overcast weather along the way, the rain holding out barely an hour before coming down in a heavy drizzle. After going through the city of Grand Forks and coming into Minnesota, they had a brief Subway lunch at Crookston before heading out again.
The first real indication that they were leaving the prairie land and going into the pines of Minnesota:
Pine trees. Which is a welcome relief. Anything but flat land.
Their first stop was in Bemidji, the first city on the Mississippi. Here they encountered the legend of Paul Bunyan,
an older version of ridiculously exaggerated legends, before America had Chuck Norris:
"Paul is said to have dug and built Niagara Falls for a shower bath and he dug Lake Superior as a watering trough for babe, his blue ox. Paul could cut down acres of timber single handed, in a few minutes, by tying his axe to the end of a long rope and swing it in circles,"- among his modest achievements.
These allegedly, are his nail clippings.
Maybe 100 years down the road it will be a Chuck Norris statue instead and another exchange student will blog about Chuck's over sized nail clippings while slipping another prediction of another larger than life character with immortalised nail clippings too, while of course weighing the odds of another exchange student making the same astute observations a 100 years after him. Just remember, you heard it here first.
After some souvenir shopping,they hit the road again, covering 379 miles since leaving Starkweather to their first pit stop-The harbour city of Duluth, Minnesota.
Checked into The Suites Hotel
the room
Dinner at the bar
DAY 2-Duluth, Minnesota -> St Ignace, Michigan(427 miles/687 km)
the view from the hotel in the morning
They woke up the next day to a cold morning and after the complimentary breakfast and checking out, they toured the city of Duluth.
Down town
By the lakeside
yes that right, not an ocean but a lake, after all, it is called one of the "great" lakes.
sidewalk by the lake(deserves special mention for being a great picture)
After a cold windy morning in Duluth, they were on the road once more, heading to Wisconsin. Going down highway 2 that slithered along the border of Wisconsin-Michigan took them into Wisconsin, onto Michigan, into Wisconsin again, and finally back onto Michigan. They stopped at Ashley, Wisconsin for lunch and headed out on the 7 hour drive to Mackinac City. Notwithstanding a brief stop at the Wisconsin visitor stop and Walmart, it was a nonstop journey towards the east crossing timezones entering into eastern time(which is an hour ahead) .
Not being able to make it to Mackinac City by 10 pm, they settled into Quality Inn
The room
It was right before the Mackinac bridge
that takes them into the city, making St Ignace their final stop of day 2.
DAY 3 St Ignace, Michigan->Shipshewana, Indiana(356 miles/573km)
The next morning, after the usual complimentary breakfast and checking out, they were greeted outside by foggy weather
on the Mackinac bridge
how it would look like on a clear day
and with a professional photographer
They were out of the fog soon, but worse weather followed them on their way south. It seems the rain that was following them from N Dakota finally caught up with them again on the way to Indiana. They stopped for lunch in a slightly more upscale restaurant-Ruby Tuesday, along with other business men and business like men. Good thing David's footing the bill.
They soon were back on the road for the rest of the long journey to the midpoint of their roadtrip, a town famous for its Amish community called Shipshewana. After crossing the border into Indiana:
the camera just happened to only get the "Indian" part, really.
the first sign of Amish society
the rain disappeared and all that was left was pseudo-Malaysian weather-HOT AND HUMID
Albert found it difficult to adjust to the humidity and heat after having all that nice warm, dry weather up north in Starkweather, just wait till he gets back to Malaysia.
Eventually, they arrived at
by the evening
and booked a cabin for a night
After a little one on one footie with Gigih, from which Albert had sweat more than he ever had the past 6 months(thanks to the humidity), a cold shower and they were off for a truly Amish meal at The Blue Gate Restaurant.
It truly is horrible how they milk the Amish for their commercial value.
Nevertheless the food was great, and trying to guess who was REALLY Amish and who was just wearing the uniform was great entertainment.
After stuffing themselves silly, it was time for a tour of the pretty little town of Shipshewana on the horse-driven buggy
It being the late evening made it perfect for touring the town, as it was much cooler that it is the rest of the day. Not to mention having a semi Amish tour guide who was quite informative, especially the part where he made it clear that there are different degrees of being Amish. So you see, as easy as it is to stereotype them, the Amish community is far to diverse for such crude oversimplifications. The beginning of the many revelations Albert was about to receive on the Amish.
All this on a buggy ride
The average Amish neighbourhood doesnt differ much from the rest of the population, except for the fact that they have a horse fenced in their backyard
They pretty much fit seamlessly into modern society while maintaining their own ways, fitting seamlessly of course overlooks the occasional horseshit. Nevertheless it seems that the Amish has no probably navigating to and from the modern world(or the English as they call it) to their community
Being the tourist trap that it is, naturally Shipshewana would be a very well manicured & pedicured town
And so they scratched the surface of who the Amish really are by the evening
and retired to their cabin
Without Internet access or television, the 3 of them played Bluff or better known as hors-uh-bullshit.
DAY 4 Shipshewana, Indiana -> Anderson, Indiana (153 miles/246km)
They woke up the next morning to their humble cabin, realising there will be no complimentary breakfast, weather reports on tv or a nice hot shower, they packed much quickly and left the cabin for breakfast in Shipshewana.
Breakfast in "Only by Grace"
This is an interesting picture juxtaposing Gigih(representing Islam) and the name of the store(Only by Grace) which is the chief point at which Christianity(represented by the Amish dude on the computer) and Islam differ. Its all in the interpretation baby.
You are probably wondering what is an Amish doing with a computer, but you see, thats the thing, the Modern Amish have come to a compromise between the rest of the world and itself, apparently they are allowed to use certain technology(some of them have cellphones) as long as it doesnt interfere with their philosophies. Its all in the interpretation baby.
After that they headed for a tour of Amish life at the Amish Acres.
A wagon tour to be specific
One way the Amish preserve their food is by drying it-the Dryer
the Amish dining room
Amish kitchen
Soap Making
Of course, this is all ancient Amish. Now they just buy the stuff they need.
They also learnt how an Amish farm would operate without modern equipment, which is interesting because just because they resist the evolution of technology, doenst mean the microevolution of their own technology doesnt exist. For example, the world today does not improve on the bicycle, simply because of all the other methods of transportation that are superior to it. But for the Amish, the bicycle is as good as it gets(asuming that horse driven buggies are a step backward), so they do what they can to improve on it, resulting in
a bicycle modified for comfort, stability, and commuting longer distances.
They do have fridges and lighting, its just that it is gas powered. So you see, it isnt really a static society, they change just like the rest of society, just that they do it at their own pace and according to their own rules. Another interesting thing Albert learnt was that at the age of 16-18 Amish teenagers(you probably wouldnt associate the Amish and teenagers) get to do whatever they want, go out to the world and decide whether they want to remain Amish. Most of them do.
After lunch, they headed to Menno-Hof,
a non profit centre that allows visitors to explore Anabaptist(the denomnation of the Amish) history and lifestyle through multimedia presentations and experiential displays. It was sort of like a interactive, multimedia museum.
Starting in a 16th century courtyard where Anabaptism began.
Then exploring a dungeon where early Anabaptists were prosecuted for their faith
Boarding a 17th-century ship on a journey to America and freedom
And learning about Mennonites(a splinter group in the denomination) and Amish today
And so with a new found appreciation for the Amish, the 3 of them finally got around to driving to Sarah's place in Anderson, Indiana.
A comparatively short drive later,
they reached Sarah's place, THE DESTINATION.
They unloaded, had dinner, exchanged pleasentries
and retired to bed.
DAY 5
This time, they had their complimentary breakfast, courtesy of Sarah. And surprise surprise, it was raining. Nevertheless they made it to the Museum
Where Albert managed a audacious heist, stealing a couple of pictures from the museum
of American Indian and Western(this is the closest thing to authentic American culture anyway) Art.
The western
And the Native American
Everything from simple, mundane stuff like clothes washing
to the weird abstract art
this was specially endearing, it is a 2 storey high totem pole carved to depict the twin tragedies of having a monster invade the land and having a mother-in-law.
After a quick lunch at the cafe in the Museum
they headed out to Connor Prairie, which was suppose to have an outdoor history museum, where the 19th century America is suppose to come to life, with actual people all. But they couldnt do that on account of the rain so instead they toured the inside, saw a couple of musical presentations, and left. After a brief stop at Barnes & Noble(bookstore) they were back at Sarah's place for dinner, where they spent their last night in Indiana.
DAY 6-Anderson, Indiana->Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin(402 miles/647km)
The next morning, they packed their things, said their good byes, and headed out to the Wisconsin Dells. A typical tourist trap with tons of amusement parks, and water parks but originally famous for its hauntingly beautiful and teetering sandstone bluffs along the Wisconsin River.
On the way, they stopped at the capitol of Wisconsin, Madison, just to see its capitol building and the beautiful surrounding park.
Caught a squirrel biting away on a nut of some sort in the park,
Then, it started to rain.
It got so heavy on the way to the Dells limiting visibility badly, that they had to pull over at a nearby McD for an early dinner. It seems as though bad weather is just out to get them. Not just bad, disaster bad, what with the turnado hitting Indiana just after they left, and now all this rain. Then further bad luck ensued as the LCD screen of his camera somehow got busted, so from this point on he just blindly points and shoot, so the pictures didnt exactly turn out great from this point on.
Finally reaching town, it looks like night but really it would be bright as day if not for the rain.
checked into a motel
and since there was nothing to do outdoors, they went to the cinema
they watched Indiana Jones. Its just unbelievable, granddaddy Harrison Ford is still doing action movies.
They rain had subsided by the time they were back at the motel, and they went to bed hoping for better weather tomorrow.
Day 7-Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin->Minneapolis, Minnesota(216miles/348km)
Thankfully the next morning they had good weather, and so they decided to take the boat tour on to see the REAL reason Wisconsin Dells is famous.
After breakfast at Denny's
they got started
a witty tour guide
and picturesque scenery
Looks like the rocks are kissing, with the mouth like formations on both sides
Not bad for blind shots.
This is the famous "Stand Rock"
Where this famous picture was taken
When Bennett took this photo of his son Ashley leaping through the air to the top of a rocky tower called Stand Rock, he made photographic history. Using a rubber band-powered shutter he dubbed "the Snapper," Bennett had become a pioneer in stop-action photography. The year was 1886, and the fledgling art and science of photography had become forever changed
They toured the city a little
and had their last meal in the Dells overlooking the River
And they were on their way to Minneapolis,
which will be the closest thing as Albert will get to New York
On the way, they stopped by at St Paul, the capitol of Minnesota to see what this capitol building looks like.
and they came to the conclusion that it all looks similar.
then they were on their way to the city
and checked into the high class Marriott Hotel
good thing David's paying.
Who needs LCD screens when the powers of estimation prove enough to capture a picture like that, not bad eh?
The lobby
the room
Just to illustrate a point, bottled water in this swanky, upscale hotel is $6. Thats Rm18 for water. Not just any water, its FIJI water, flown directly from Fiji, "harvested" from pollutant free clouds far, far away from the filth that the general population get their water from.
But it does have a good view of the city
After a little snack for dinner they toured the big city
a black dude came up to them and asked "do you guys have the time?" Only later did they realize that that was pimp code for "are you guys interested in prostitutes?" That was a real eye opener. Other than that, the city is a great place to be, just not at night. Unless of course you dont mind solicitation.
Back at the hotel, they found out that the pricier the hotel, the more they charge you for everything. Albert turned on the tv, and in no time at all he found himself being charged $13 to watch 10 000 BC. It was a good movie, but still, good thing David's paying.
Day 8-Minneapolis, Minnesota->Starkweather, ND(426miles/689km)
Finally, it was the last day of their trip. In 12 hours time they will be back home after a week long trip. But before that, they were to stop at the Mall of America, which was supposed to be on of the biggest malls around.
They had no complimentary breakfast here, so they headed straight to the mall for a McD Breakfast. By the way, the portions in Malaysian McDs are alot more generous.
the powers of estimation dont always work out well.
there was a theme park with a huge Lego store right in the centre
Believe it or not, this is the actual clothes worn by Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump when he was waiting for the bus.
After some window shopping with minimal actual shopping, they were on their way home.
Another great shot taken on the way
A busted LCD screen isnt that big of problem really.
A little detour to Carol's place(David's sister) for a little visit(here visit can mean both going somewhere to meet someone or talking to someone) before heading home, passing Fargo, Devils Lake and finally
home sweet home(the tone of finality was not intended).
