the past three weeks

Okay, so first of all Brad and I are both alive and well. Sorry about the drop off of the blog there at Yellowstone. A combination of events took place. The first of which was we were having so much fun enjoying our trip and Yellowstone that we did not catch the blog up while we were there. Next I wrote the text for all the Yellowstone blog posts while Brad was driving in Microsoft Word. Well something crazy happened and they all disappeared. Brad tried to recover the lost text but nothing turned up. Instead of typing for hours and hours again I got upset and discouraged. Our trip has not been any less fun or less exciting however. We have had a blast - you will just have to talk with us about the details instead of reading them. This blog has been super fun for me but you will not believe how time consuming it is. I will try to post some of the lost days but I can not promise anything =). We had a blast for the rest of Yellowstone and everyday was an adventure. We went on Safari type car rides. We saw some awesome wildlife including a bald eagle and a grizzly bear. We went on the scariest hike of my life in which at least 12-15 trees fell as we were walking six of which fell on the trail! I am planning on making a scrap book that hopefully everyone will get to see and all the pictures will be in there. We were close enough to a huge bison that we could have touched it. We were too scared of being rammed so we refrained. From Yellowstone we went to the corn field states. Not too much excitement here. From here we made our way to Chicago where we stayed with my friend Brandy's mom. Sue and John were really welcoming and nice. She did our laundry which was unnecessary but super awesome and we loved it. We hung out in Chicago which both Brad and I are now big fans of. We went to the Field Museum and we could have spent days in here and not seen it all. This is for sure one of the coolest museums ever. We saw mummies, a complete T-Rex named Sue and the inside of a tornado among many other things. After this we rode the subway up to Wrigley Field where we had awesome first base seats to a Cub's game. We had pizza as we were both decked out in Cub Tee shirts. The game was awesome as well. The Cubs made a serious come back in the 8th inning which included a grand slam! We kept a score card that we traded back and forth so we both could play. we drank six dollar beers and rooted for the Cubs. We sang in traditional Harry Carry style take me out to the ballgame!We missed Obama's speech because we were at the game but we read about it the next day. From here we went through Michigan wearing our App gear, of course. We went to Bells brewery. If I lived in Kalamazoo not only would I love this pub but I would love to say that I live in a place called Kalamazoo. We watched the Appalachian vs. LSU game while in Michigan celebrating the one year anniversary of their massive win. I am sad to report the ASU team did not pull off the upset of the year again but at least they did score once even if they missed a few passes. Since then they have redeemed themselves playing Jacksonville and winning by a large margin. From here we officially made our trip international by driving through Canada. I think I worried my Dad a little because I called him and told him that I was in another country. He got quite and asked what I meant. I quickly told him I was in Canada and he laughed at the joke but hidden in his laugh was relief. We drove by some farmland and Brad told me that is where hockey pucks grow. We looked for maple syrup and did not see any growing on trees. Canada is a strange land where different colored money is not just for monopoly but it actually is used to purchase things. We were going to ask about the culture but we were both a little nervous because neither of us speaks Canadian. Just Kidding. It was fun to drive through Canada at 100 km per hour. After our international travels we went to Niagara Falls. We took the trolley to the water falls and walked back. As we were waiting for the trolley to take us back we watched as a child ran out in front of it and was hit. Luckily the trolley was only going 5 miles an hour because the child's parents were nowhere around and the kid ran out directly in front of the trolley and was knocked over. It was really sad because the young boy was frightened but thank God he was not injured at all. Brad and I were standing right there so we had to fill out police reports. This was more excitement than we expected at Niagara Falls. The waterfalls were pretty amazing and it was crazy to watch the river as it rushed to fall off a cliff. There were boat rides that we would like to do if we ever go back. These did not go over the falls instead they rode around at the base. These rides are called Maid of the Mist. I was ready to see my sister so we left a day early and drove from the border of Canada to Long Island. It was our longest day of driving and by the time we reached their house we were so glad to be there. Because we arrived a day early we were able to enjoy labor day with them meaning we got to spent a work free day with my sister and my brother in law. It was a day well spent at the beach. There were these crazy black flies that wanted to eat us alive however. Andy surfed one of the best waves of his life, that is a direct quote. It was a barrel wave and he said it was awesome. The water was too choppy at the beach we were at. The lifeguards were only allowing people in up to their knees. Surfers were every man for himself. I guess they are considered safer because they have a board?!? The rest of our week has been awesome here. So awesome in fact, we are going to stay one more day. We have survived Hurricane Hanna so we are feeling pretty good about things. We spent some time at the boat club where Brad and I won a very close game of Cranium. Maybe it pays to have spent every waking moment with someone. We were on the exact same wavelength while playing the game it was kind of funny. We played Tennis and let me say that Brad and I are not awesome at this game. It was really fun however to play doubles. It was one of the best times of our trip in my opinion. I doubt Jessica and Andy had as much fun as we did because they are probably used to playing with people that can play. Brad and Jessica were one a team and Brad still hit her with the ball- Yikes! This was awesome and the best part is right before contact Jessica knew it was coming. She freaked out made a crazy attempt to get away which only made it funnier. Brad is not a good partner =) I did not hit Andy with the ball. We went on a bike ride to the beach which was lovely. A few days later Jessica and Andy decided they needed sunglasses to match their bikes and so it was. Jessica now is the proud owner of the official Mets Oakley's because they are the same color as her bike. She is nervous that people are going to think that she is an out of control Mets fan. I think she looks super cool! We cooked some fun dinners and lounged as well. We went to a hurricane party where Hurricane Hanna didn't even show up. There was some rain and some wind but nothing to get all crazy about. The good news is the boat is okay. And that is about it. This is the brief version to get everyone who cares up to date. Again I hate that I slacked off and I will try to make it up to you all =) We are going to make a scrap book and photo album so that should be fun to look at later. We love you all and are still happy and have not killed each other yet! Since we have made it almost three months without killing each other I think we are going to make it. I almost left him on the side of the road once and he wanted to run away from me once thinking hitch hiking would be more fun but then we came to our senses. We do not want the trip to end and we truly are having the time of our lives.