Hellooo all,

As you know I did a roadtrip to Madison, WI to move for gradschool. Here’s a day-by-day accounting of that fun trip :)

Day 1 – Start: Cambridge, End: Cleveland

The longest day of this entire thing was the first one. We left Cambridge at like 6am and had a few goals in mind:

1. We were going to visit Bufalo to get some Bufalo wings and also to see the Niagara Falls (on the US side);
2. We were going to arrive at Cleveland to spend the rest of the night with Kylee, who drove herself from Columbus to Cleveland to see us :3 (and for Fabergé eggs, of course)

We got to Buffalo and met up with one of Charlotte’s friends from her lab (they were from there and were spending some time home). We went to get buffalo wings and then headed to the Niagara Falls!

We also went around a park there and saw some cool sculptures

Later on we got to Cleveland and met up with Kylee at the hotel. We went to get some Mexican food and chatted for a long while before we went to sleep 😊

Day 2 – Start: Cleveland, End: Chicago

At day 2 we woke up and grabbed breakfast at the hotel. Kylee spent the rest of the day doing fun stuff in Cleveland but we had a schedule so we started driving right after breakfast. Final destination was going to be Chicago where we would spend the night at Andres’ place (he’s doing an internship there this Summer)

We stopped for lunch on the way :) (and for Coffee several times because I like coffee I am definitely not addicted do not even worry about it)

On the way to Chicago, google maps said “faster route available, want to switch?” and we were like sure. It took us in these roads off the beaten path, passing through so much corn farms it was kinda pretty. Also, we spent two minutes driving through Michigan and also passed through Indiana. So, I guess, two extra states to cross off my list? Not sure if it counts but it is more legit than airport connections I’d argue.

In Chicago, we stopped at a garage near Andres’ place. Andres was at work and couldn’t meet us up right away, which we thought could be a small problem because the price for overnight in the garage was like 60 dollars and he had like discount QR codes and we were not sure of whether we needed to do something about it at entry or just exit. Anyway, we went to a café nearby to meet up with Hillary and Bridget!

Andres also passed by to drop to us his keys to the apt, since he was going out with some people after work:

![[images/Pas20250811114435.png]]

After the café, Charlotte and I went to get some to-go dinner and found a nice spot by the river to eat and chat

We went back to Andres’ place and when Andres was back, they both spent a good chunk talking about math that went waaaay beyond my head (neeeeerds!! xD) and after that we attempted to record a three harmony version of Rain Clouds by The Arcadian Wild (Andres ofc spent a total of 4 mins learning the harmonies and got it). I was not good into leading them in when I was supposed to start singing so it is unclear if our try was good. Maybe one day I send the video here.

Day 3 – Start: Chicago, End: Madison

The next day we woke up and Andres was already out for work. We went to the garage and when we went to pay we used one of the QR codes Andres gave us and it went from 60 to 18 dollars lmaaaao thank you Andres hahahah

We hit the road and arrived in Madison at around 12pm. Got to the arduous task of carrying my stuff to my apt (which is the second floor ;-; ty for all the help in all the 1379282 things, Charlotte).

After that we went to get some Thai food for lunch. Then it was time to go to the airport where we were going to return the rental car and Charlotte was going to take off to the next part of her trip!

After that I took the long way home, took the bus and went to downtown Madison and walked back home. I live in a very pretty area surrounded by nature. Yes it is a bit far from campus but I learned there are buses that pass by where I live and take me directly to the Physics Building so that’s nicee. Here some photos of that first walk home

Days N > 3 – Start: Madison, End: ?

Well I am yet to finish unboxing stuff, but the priority now is to study for the Quals, which here means exams I have literally in like 2 weeks. Wish me luck!

That’s all! Let me know if you happen to be at Madison 😊