Days 67-82

Hello friends and family!
Much has happened since our last post from Duluth. First, we traveled down to Minneapolis and spent one last day there before we moved on to Milwaukee, which is a pretty but windy city. In Milwaukee we walked around downtown, went to a local park and did a small nature hike, and toured Sprecher brewery. The beer samples at the brewery were a little too much for us unpracticed drinkers, however, and we got a little too toasted and had to sit in the parking lot for a while before driving on.

After Milwaukee we zipped over to Chicago and spent the day walking around Chinatown, Little Italy, and Navy Pier before going out swing dancing that night. One thing we noticed about Chicago is that everyone is really nice, and that was definitely true for the swing dancing scene. One awesome guy we met, named Gordon, even invited us to stay at his house for as long as we were in Chicago. We accepted and spent the next few days exploring the downtown area. The last evening we were there we all went to a swing dance at the Green Mill, a famous jazz club in Chicago, where they had a big band and a tiny (and packed) dance floor. The decor was awesome, and the place has a lot of history as a jazz club and some infamy as one of Al Capone's hangouts, so it felt really neat to be dancing there.

After Chicago we aimed our way towards Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where my half sister lives. On the way we passed through Detroit and Cleveland. Detroit was a sad little city living in the shell of a much larger one. The population decline has been so dramatic that you can drive on streets (within sight of downtown) where almost every building is abandoned. However, despite being almost empty, standing around is illegal almost everywhere. We found this puzzling.

Also on the way to Pittsburgh, Evan and I changed our traveling plans. Traveling without money of my own has been too hard on me, and we decided that I would go home to Arcata and get a job and live with friends while he would continue on with the trip by himself. It was a really hard decision to make, but we both felt like it was the right thing. When we arrived in Pittsburgh we stayed two days with my sister's family (we met my nephew who is a wild but lovable child) and then I hopped a flight to San Francisco and a bus to Arcata, where I am now. Evan traveled on to New York. I hope everything is wonderful for all of you, and send your thoughts with Evan as he makes his way through the east coast.
Love, Rainbow

P.S. This will be my last post, but look forward to more from Pickles.