Karli Evans 7/9/15 Karli Evans 7/9/15

Special Olympics URAA North

Special Olympics Unified Relay Across America, Northern Route / May 22 - July 9, 2015

Karli Evans 6/30/15 Karli Evans 6/30/15

The Midwest

June 10 - 23 | Special Olympics / North Unified Relay Across America

For almost two weeks we navigated through Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota and the Dakotas.

I got the day off in Chicago with my best friend (who happens to be a Chicago native) so we rode the L downtown and explored the city by foot, making time to hit all the Chi-town flavor essentials: deep dish, fried chicken, hot dogs, and authentic hole-in-the-wall Mexican.

I've always felt drawn to the energy of big cities, but on this trip I've enjoyed seeing how America lives in different regions, the majority of which are not urban. What do people's homes look like? Their yards? What kind of car do they drive? The neighborhoods here have character - they aren't comprised of cloned, cookie-cutter homes like the suburbia I grew up surrounded by.

Karli Evans 6/15/15 Karli Evans 6/15/15

Detroit

June 8 - 9 | Special Olympics / North Unified Relay Across America

Cruising through the surrounding streets of Detroit, MI, so much is overgrown, abandoned and dilapidated. You can tell the city really used to be something in it's prime - but now homes, businesses and storefronts are hollow shells of what they used to be. It's beautiful and sad.

Karli Evans 6/13/15 Karli Evans 6/13/15

Wilmington

June 5 | Special Olympics / North Unified Relay Across America

An afternoon drive through Wilmington, a small, river-front city in eastern Delaware.

Karli Evans 6/11/15 Karli Evans 6/11/15

Philadelphia

June 4 - 5 | Special Olympics / North Unified Relay Across America

We spent two days riding through urban and residential Philadelphia. I love the historic feel of downtown with the old, stone architecture. Neighborhoods are lined with painted brick townhouses and colorful doors protected by a patterned metal grates.

Karli Evans 6/8/15 Karli Evans 6/8/15

New York

June 3 | Special Olympics / North Unified Relay Across America

We ate local pizza for lunch in a park in Queens, then worked our way into Manhattan late afternoon. People watching is always prime in the Big Apple.