Chelsey in Chicago

Left at 6:30AM from Marina and with a few stops along the way, made it to Hoover Dam FOUR minutes after the last tour began. Disappointing at first but walking along the top and seeing both sides of it were pretty awesome, and free. And there's a Bill Nye I've shown my students where he goes down to the Hoover Dam turbines so in a sense, I've seen it. This is a very  loosely planned trip so while we thought we'd be car camping tonight in a Walmart parking lot, we looked into other options and ended up with a room down the Vegas strip for cheap. I know I don't typically shower every day or sometimes even within two days but, after sweating so much it was really nice to clean up before sleeping in a BED which hasn't been a regular occurrence in the last week since we packed up our stuff and shipped it. Tomorrow's destination is the Grand Canyon and we're keeping our fingers crossed for a last minute camping spot... on Labor Day weekend. We'...

Before leaving to study abroad in Argentina, I started a blog to keep my family posted on my doings. While I may not be leaving the country, this move to Chicago feels like another study abroad. There are some similarities to be had after all. I'm moving to a big city, I am going to study Hispanic literature, and my mom desperately does not want me to leave. This time however, I will be driving to my destination, no long flights ahead of me fortunately. We've got eight-ish days to arrive in Chicago and have much to see along the way. Our itinerary includes sights such as: Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon, Four Corners, Arches, Denver, and Rocky Mt. National Park. After Colorado we'll be heading straight to Chicago; not much to see in Nebraska or Iowa. I look forward to taking you on the journey with me! But first, a farewell to the place I've called home for the last four years with a quote from the man who saw it so poetically: “Cannery Row in Monterey in California ...