I made up my mind to skip out on traveling farther north into the cold and wind of Minnesota. On the ______ I drove east from Omaha toward Chicago. About a quarter mile from Des Moines, Iowa, I see the sign: Minneapolis, Next Exit. Yup, ok, I'm going to go see Joanne and Brad. I pulled on and up to Minnetrista, MN. I drove straight out to a party that they were attending in a neighboring town. There was a big bon fire and fireworks and great food in the barn. Hot Toddies and beer and some good ol' standing around a midwest bon fire. It was a good time. Jerry was our host and he had lots of big pallets to throw onto the fire. These are the photos that turned out the best from the evening. Sorry, Jerry that the photo I took of you didn't turn out very well.
I really like this photo of a woman I met that night, I am bummed I don't remember her name. I'll find out from Joanne.

This photo is of Joanne, Brad and myslef. I am really happy at how this photo turned out. The painting is one that Brad is currently working on. I am happy that I came up to visit them at thier cabin in the woods near lake Minnetonka. Joanne and I went into the city to see some of what Minneapolis is all about.

Next Stop: Chicago.
I went to school with a genuine awesome guy: Charly Caldwell. We started in the same year, graduated in the same year. The last time I talked to him was at our graduation this spring. I said, "I'm going on a road trip this fall." He said, "I'm moving to Chicago, you should get in touch with me when you come through!" I tried and I tried. I tried all of the directories and emials that I had. Finally, i got in touch with him via, Ben Allee, Leah Nanpei, T.J.. The ironic thing about this is that on the same night that I got into Chicago, Eric Grifith arrives on a TrailWays bus after getting hasseled by the cops. Well, no, that isn't the ironic part. Eric and Charlie "lived together" a couple of years ago in Eugene OR. They were roomates but Charlie was really staying over at his girlfriend's most of the time. So, when I connect with Eric at the bus station, we go and get some pasta and beer. He then gets in contact with a girl that he met on CS (couchsurfing.com) named Leah Arehnson. She comes and picks us up and we head over to Charlie's warehouse flat and then onto a local biker bar where we played pool. It was a great night and it all just fell into place. Its hard sometimes to fathom just how when we open up to the opportunities, they work out so well. I can't believe how nice that warehouse is. 8,000 sqft of awesomeness. Hear that, Charlie? Awesome.

I spent 3 nights there and these are the few pictures that I took while I was there. It was a great experience getting to know just how god aweful the CTA (chicago transit authority) really is. On friday before Eric headed down to Fort Wayne with Leah, we went to the Navy Pier and rode the swings, ferris wheel, and played minigolf. This was great. Overcast but great; we had a blast. Here is a video clip of the swing thing.
On saturday, I went up the John Hancock tower and caught these great views. What a lovely day! It really was beautiful. After this, I went down to the Robie house by Frank Lloyd Wright. It was a beautiful house and I was really glad that I went, but it meant that my drive down to Fort Wayne happend completely in the dark. I got to a rockin' halloween party late and without costume. It was still fun but I didn't get to spend very much time with Eric, my fault. Then, the next day, I took leah on a motorcycle ride that probably made Erics hitchhiking success questionable. Sorry, Eric. I hope I can make it up to you.

Afternoon of Oct, 29th, I drove to Ann Arbor and conntected with Kay Fuller and Sally Ouey, friends of my my mom and partner, Gail Mills and Connie Townsend. I am writing this entry from Border's bookstore in Ann Arbor. I think that I will stay here for another couple days and regroup with the things that I need to take care of, namely LD website and my own photography store.

I'v got a new pitch on how I am going to fund this year of travel. If you are interested in pre-ordering a coffee table book of my best photos from a year of travel, I will guaruntee a high-quality book one year from today, Oct. 31. Price: $92.79 (Thats including shipping and handling. I don't really know why I picked those numbers.) I should say that I will guarantee a well put together book of a passiont photographer's experiements and learning creative process. I already bought my plane tickets click here to see my flight path.

Below. Chicago

this is the cover of our new album.