Wow--Mind. Blown.

Not even sure where to start with all of this: So we took off yesterday, I drove for however many hours through all of PA, Kayla took over and got us through Ohio, then I took back over and got us to our campsite off the shore of Lake Michigan in Indiana. We checked into our site, put our tent together, then headed back out to explore Chicago which was an hour from camp. We spent a few hours roaming and checking out Millennium Park, the Navy Pier, the Chicago Theatre and a few other places. Had a good time minus me getting us a little (slight exaggeration, haha) lost trying to get out of the city. Then drove back to camp to pass out for a few hours.

We woke up this morning and decided to take the morning a little slower than planned but still had fun. Went out to the beach at the lake-they were doing a lot of construction so we couldn't actually get out there but we were able to get to the sand and snag a few pictures without getting in anyone's way. Then we headed out on a seven hour trek to Minneapolis so we could see the Mall of America. We stopped for a quick lunch at Subway along the way, and besides a quick stop we had to take when Kayla got a warning for speeding, we made it safely to the Mall.

This is where my hyper-ness kicked in to a whole new level. I've always wanted to ride a coaster in the Mall of America so I was already stoked to be able to do that. So we walked in and wandered a bit before going to the rides. On our way back to the coaster we hear people talking over this loudspeaker so we stop to check out what's going on. (This will probably lose a lot of you, but I'm a big nerd and was sooo excited). There is a woman addressing a crowd and after I look at the screen behind her, I realize the woman speaking is an author who I like a lot (I'm well known for being such a loser that I follow the character's profiles on Facebook--yes, such nerdy things exist, and yes, I partake) and she's doing a book signing. So I'm thrilled at the dumb luck we have already. Then, we walk to the rides to decide which one we will ride, as we're walking, a woman approaches us and asks if we're planning on riding yet, long story short she gave us her leftover tickets which were enough to get us both on our ride without buying anything! Now we're stoked, so we put off deciding on a ride and go back to the book signing, Kayla, being a good friend says she wants me to go and get something signed, even though it means we'll be waiting in a line for more than an hour. (This is where things take on an even worse level or nerdy-ness). So to get in this line I have to purchase the author's new book. I did, not even sure of which one it was in the series, but just excited for all the dumb luck we've been having. As we stand in the line I discover the book is of one of my favorite characters, awesome, right? THEN, there's a woman (I would assume her manager but I'm not positive) who talks to the crowd and does a raffle to entertain us while we wait to get our stuff signed. They're on a book tour, so she asks who came the farthest to get there? Me and my big mouth, I yell from the back that we had just driven 21 hours...I win! I get a free shirt! I was so thrilled, within less than an hour we've had the craziest most amazing dumb luck. Well, probably not dumb luck at all, God must really want us (especially me) to be really excited for something, and I certainly am, He's just so amazing!!

So after all of that, I get my book signed, get a picture with the author. Kayla (who is now wanting to kill me I'm sure for saying 'thanks for waiting in this line with me' for the thousandth time) and I head back to the rides, pick one and ride it for free. Then I get a few more tickets to ride the upside-down coaster because I was stoked to ride that one too. (Which was another awesome thing because a lot of rides had closed by then, but these two had stayed open and we were able to get to them). We make a last pit stop to grab a few gifts, then head out into the thunderstorm.

Now, we're sitting in a Starbucks lot, using their internet, updating these quick before taking a long drive all night. Which is fine by me because I'll be running on an adrenaline high for a while. Again, I realize I'm a nerd but I'm excited so oh well, lol. So by morning we should be in South Dakota to explore Badlands State Park. For now, I'm off so Kayla can blog on her page and then we can head back out on the road.

Be in touch again soon!