Amy & Michael in North America: Mid-West & Chicago

Since Yellowstone to Chicago is a 20hr drive, we decided to take a few detours along the way. First stop: Mt Rushmore.

Mt Rushmore was pretty cool. We wouldn't have taken a massive detour to see it, but since it was on the way, we dropped in. I had no prior knowledge about this monument, except it was in the United States (somewhere), it consisted of 4 Presidents faces and the movie Richie Rich had there own 'Mount Richmore'. Turns out, the faces are George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt. Washington's nose is 21ft long, the height of all faces at 60 ft high and each Presidents eyes are about 11ft wide. There is a bit to do at the monument. There are a number or ranger talks everyday and they can include the construction of the monument, to why the Presidents were chosen to go on the monument and whether they would be elected if they ran for office today.

Badlands National Park was next on the agenda. It's called the wall, as it spans for hundreds of miles through South Dakota. We spent the morning driving through the scenic rim of the Park, which is about 35 miles long. We saw eagles, big horn sheep and some really old fossils. I don't really understand how the formation of Badlands, but the rocks consists of many layers, which allows them to tell the story of there history. If you want to read more about the rocks, head to the NPS site.

Sheep!

Finally, Chicago. I had no idea what to expect from this city. Other than the ridiculously hot and humid weather, I loved it. There was coffee (home of Intelligentsia), culture and it seemed like there was something always happening. We went to an event called Bacon, Beer and Sport and had unlimited Bacon and Beer samples for 3 hours. We went to a free dance performance in Millennium Park, which was incredible. We went on two walking tours, one about the loop and the downtown area, and the other about the architecture in the city. They were both great, and very informative. The city is on Lake Michigan, and fun fact, many years ago they reversed the flow of river to minimise the 'sewer' smell that swept over the city. Now, the town smells like chocolate...due to a nearby factory. We rented bikes and rode along Lake Michigan which was beautiful. We didn't try the deep dish pizza, which is famous in Chicago, but we did try Chicago style hot dogs, which were pretty delicious. Here are a few photos of Chicago.