After a rejuvenating stay in Ann Arbor, the Big Green Bus was heading west again. Our first stop out was in Chicago, Illinois where we had the opportunity to lunch at the White Palace Grill, a Chicago landmark, with Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn. Over classically delicious diner food, we discussed our mission as well as learned about Illinois’ interest in alternative fuels and the government driven initiatives undertaken in that vein. Aside from learning about the Midwest’s impressive potential for wind farms and soybean based biodiesel and reflective paint production, we were surprised and pleased to hear about the rooftop garden on Chicago’s City Hall. Apparently the garden unexpectedly attracted a large community of bees to the heart of Chi-Town and now you can buy your very own bottle of City Hall honey. A quick post-meal tour and photo-op with the owners of the Grill and we were off once more. Regretfully we weren’t able to stay long, but I for one plan on returning to do this city proper.

Later that evening we arrived in Geneva, Illinois for a stay with Forrest’s Aunt Missy. Various other members of the Hanson clan including Forrest’s cousin Kristen came over to hang out with us bussers. Dinner that night left us all feeling rather comatose, but an intrepid few decided to take a digestive walk downtown to the Swedish Days festivities. In addition to the awkward teenagers on group dates and jumbo plush toys, the scene had all your classic carnival rides. Being as full as we were, we were weary about tackling these notoriously vomit inducing rides. In the end, though, we threw caution to the winds and went big with books of seriously overpriced tickets. We started with the standard Tilt-a-Whirl and worked our way up. Forrest made an impressive 360 spin while stuck to the wall of the Gravitron, while Sunshine was left an odd greenish color and incapacitated for the next fifteen minutes. Perhaps the largest thrill of them all turned out to be the Zipper, which boasted three simultaneous ways of spinning in a cage and highly questionable safety standards. Forrest said his grandfather had never let him ride the ol' Zipper when he was a little kid. After our spin on the ride, we realized Forrest's Bampa was a very wise man. All in all it was a successful vomit-free night. Rest that evening was short-lived as we were back on the road by 3am for our trek out to Custer, Wisconsin…

- Viv