Travelogue: A Midwestern road trip!

Birding, a friendship reunion, a small town protest, and more

Greetings! This week, we returned from a much-needed vacation. I have a dear friend in Minnesota who I had previously only seen in-person once before — NINE YEARS AGO — so we made a trip to finally have our reunion.

Coincidentally, right before we left, I had made a goal to start taking pictures with my actual camera every day rather than my phone, so now you get a lot of photos to look at!

Wisconsin

Freddy and I are not the type of road trippers that can drive for hours on end without stopping, so we broke up our trip and spent a few days by a lake in Wisconsin. It was exactly the nature recharge we needed.

On one of the nights, I stepped outside and GASPED at the sight of stars! I hadn’t seen a full sky of stars in far too long and it was just so good for my soul.

Snow Days

Despite this being a sort of spring break for us, the weather was not spring-y at all, unless you consider out of the blue snow to be spring-y. We didn’t mind it too much since it made everything all the more beautiful.

A fun perk of the snow was spotting animal footprints!

We think these were from a rabbit.

Birding

I’ve been very slowly getting into birding since last year, and after this trip, I feel like I can officially say I’m a novice birder. It was cold and rainy for a good chunk of our time there, so indoor birding was a thing. Monet assisted.

I’m also working on a goal to draw in a sketchbook more often, so I drew each bird we spotted. (I don’t know why I drew the American Robin so huge, but robins matter too, right?!)

Pictured: Downy Woodpecker, American Robin, Canada Goose, Hooded Merganser, Blue Jay, Common Grackle, Bufflehead

Minnesota

Friendship Reunion!!!

After a few lovely days in Wisconsin, we made our way to Minnesota and had the most glorious time reuniting with my friend Emily (of @emdoodlesandstuff fame, for any TikTokkers out there).

I made Emily a headscarf and she changed her outfit to match and isn’t she just the best? (She is, in fact.)

Emily showed me around town, including her favorite bookstore which is so charming and full of little beauties.

SO MANY TAROT DECKS

And then we had fun making our husbands be friends. Success!

Sightseeing

Freddy and I loved exploring Minneapolis — we had never been before, but we’re big fans now.

Have you heard of a Jucy Lucy? It’s a burger with melted cheese fully encased inside the patty. We were told we had to try one while in Minneapolis and the experience did not disappoint.

Sorry, I didn’t get a photo of the burger, so you’re just going to have to imagine cheese oozing out of a burger patty and getting absolutely everywhere (there’s an art to eating a Jucy Lucy, we found).

Hands Off Protest

Emily and I rounded off our time together by joining a Hands Off protest, one of hundreds globally that took place on Saturday, April 5th. We opted to join one in a smaller city and one protester compared it to a homecoming parade! We all lined a busy road and cars honked their support as they drove past. There was so much joy despite the unfortunate circumstances that brought us together.

Emily and I wore matching t-shirts that Emily designed for a fundraiser (and they’re still available)! The t-shirt over my coat is a phenomenal look, I know.

Not pictured: at the start of the protest, a bald eagle flew overhead as people shouted, “BALD EAGLE! BALD EAGLE!” And we all looked up in awe. A good omen if I’ve ever seen one.

We’re back home in Chicago now and having a rough return to reality, but our Midwestern road trip treated us so well and we can’t wait to explore more of this part of the country in the months and years to come.

Sending love,