LIVEALITTLE

Day #10: Alot of sights today. Amazing what inspires people and propels them to accomplish such massive tasks like carving Mount Rushmore, carving Crazy Horse and travelling the harsh South Dakota wastelands. If you could experience a place and time for 24 hours, where and when would you go? ... I'm still deciding... There has been so many amazing people and times...
Pics at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/livealittle/sets/707511/

Day #9: After much desolate driving across South Dakota, we reach the breath-taking Badlands. It was all I expected and more. I am extremely glad it didn't disappoint. We even got to save money today and have our first camping experience.
Pics at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/livealittle/sets/707443/

Day #8: Originally we were going to detour again into Omaha so we could surprise some friends with a steak delivery, but realized we have quite a long drive ahead of us. So, the Nebraska-on-a-whim idea was canned. Hence, towards Badlands we headed. We have yet to camp and use all the equipment and dried foods we schelped with us anyway!
Pics at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/livealittle/sets/666703/

Day #7: At the Snoopy Camp shop I found my travel buddy -- Linus. A bit slow on the decision analysis skills, he's always happy, always patient and very cost effective. He'll probably make more cameo appearances when I am travelling with myself and need a picture subject or just to freak people around me out so I get some peace. :)
In any case, the mall was unimpressive. Maybe it is because I'm not a shopper, but we finished walking the entire mall within 3 hours... 30 minutes of it in the Snoopy store.
Pics at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/livealittle/sets/666752/

Day #6: Originally not even on the initial itinerary, we decided to swing by Wisconsin just to check out a state we probably would never swing by again. So, a non-existent itinerary section has now become a two day visit of Milwaukee and Madison. Safehouse Restaurant was a great find! Just getting into the front door was fun. We had to locate a lever that moved a bookcase out exposing the entrance. I'm such a sucker for kitsh!
...Liang wants me to mention the nuclear power plant we spent our morning locating. This morning is dedicated to the many hours of The Simpsons we have watched.
Pics at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/livealittle/sets/658010/

Day #5: After much research and coupon hunting, we find a reasonable hotel with clean towels AND INTERNET! I surfed and emailed until I passed out. Chicago was alot bigger and more congested than I expected. We had a nerve to even drive into the city. Liang had to back up an entire block when he spied someone leaving a spot. Luckily I brought the quarters saved up for laundry as we had to use 8 to meter our spot for 2 hours. The Pizzaria Uno experience was a close one. The pizza is made to order so we had to order when we arrived since it takes 45 minutes to prepare (be aware when you go!). We were called for seating with only 45 minutes left on the meter. It makes me wonder how packed the place becomes on a nice day. During our meal time, Chicago was being hit by a rain storm. We only had 7 minutes left on the meter by the time we rushed back to the car. See, we need to keep under
the police radar from now on coz our rental only covers us for the NE for unlimited miles...
Pics at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/livealittle/sets/651864/

Day #4: All this news about horrible weather approaching has kept us pretty nervous about our travels. Weather.com noted that usually the seventh hurricane hits in September. It's only the end of July and we're at seven. I hope I don't have to deal with crazy rain when I hit Florida. I got some lengthy lonely drives ahead of me during that stretch. It would be cool if I could bring Jon (the new Whitey owner) back from Cali. Big, rolling, lightning-ous (is that a word?), active clouds followed us for about 30 minutes. It seemed like there was a nuclear war in the clouds. We even considered the possibility of it being the aureolis effect. Shows what we know about natural wonders.
Pics at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/livealittle/sets/651817/

Day#3
We had a long day on the road. The pending-stormy weather made the day drearier. Toronto seemed like a shoppers' and eaters' delight. It was very Hong Kong-ish. Or maybe it was because Jack took us around. I love it when I have a host. I feel like I get the inside scoup no other tourist has privvy to.
Pics at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/livealittle/sets/651798/

Day #2: It's risky, adrenaline pumping days like this I love. The cave felt like our own. With the lights off, the world quickly zooms into an inch beyond your skin. Funny, I think it is the first cave I've been to without stalagtites and stalagmites. Have they been knocked off by rude tourists? Or is it due to the composition of the cave?
Pics at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/livealittle/sets/651786/

Day #1
... feels like I am embarking on a long vacation. I wonder at what point, I will realize I need to get my act together and make a living again. I'm still a ball of mixed emotions. I can't say I feel free from the big machine. Everything feels so open-ended and uncertain. I embrace the newness of everything, but also insecure about encountering the unknown....
Pics at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/livealittle/sets/651779/

My last day of work... thanks to everyone who came, who considered coming, who read my evite, who came to work this day. My life would not have been the same without you!
Pics at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/livealittle/sets/636131/

Who would have thought raffling a fully functional car for $5 would be soooo difficult? Without much effort on my part, Kevin bought 3 tickets, Karen bought 3 tickets, Wally bought 3 tickets (then later upped to 4 tickets to be more competitive). At Washington Square Park, noone from craigslist showed up and everyone thought we were scamming until we arrived at Mike who lazying around with his friends. He knew his friend was looking for a car and put in $5 easily. Another 20 minutes of trying to reason with the sceptical public, even Keiko and Chandru pitied the game and chipped in their $5. At 7:35pm, the drawing was held. A complete stranger was asked to pull the winning ticket... and Keiko, the non-licensed, non-driver won! Without much reason to own a car, Keiko approached Mike and asked him to empty his pockets. Mike had $6, then scrounged around and found another dollar. For $7 and the promise of 2 crepes (Mike works at the crepery by the park), Whitey was sold.
As we waited for Jon, the friend Mike bought the car for, to show up, we had another dilemma... how to remove my license plates without a screwdriver. The front plates were easy. Keiko removed them with a penny. The back plates were Philips screws requiring us to solicit again. After about 15 minutes, we found someone with a Swiss army knife and pried my plates out.
Jon arrived shortly after and disclosed his intentions for the car. He was going to drive cross-country to LA and back. I relayed my sceptism but he was determined. As if by fate, we are going to be on the road at about the same time (he's starting later). So, we exchanged numbers in the event something happened to Whitey and I would try to swing by and pick him up.
How ironic only one stranger was willing to buy my car for $5. And how ironic this one person WAS the perfect person.
For pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/livealittle/sets/613643/