American Midwest

In the last month I've been all over the Midwest for work (or at least what I think people consider the Midwest, if not..well these are places in the middle of America). And all I can say is what beautiful country it is! It really felt like Americana to me...the stuff Normal Rockwell paintings are made of. So many times I wanted to snap pictures of people..high school football practice, little girls on a swingset, kids riding their bikes in the street, families sitting on their porches...but I didn't want to freak anyone out, so I settled on other images of life in the Midwest.

Fargo, North Dakota. This lil beauty was right in front of our hotel..and yes people, it is fake :).

Main Street USA aka Fargo, ND.

Roller Coaster in the Mall of America, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Mall of America. Incredible. Tons and tons of stores. It has its own zip code it's so big and how about the fact that they don't have sales tax on clothing in Minnesota?! Bless them!! (Maybe that's why they built the Mall there...)

Baraboo, WI. Birthplace of the Ringley Brothers Circus. The school we visited was on the same street, it was in a building that circus workers use to stay in.

Baraboo, WI.

Still Baraboo...saying that name never gets old! Isn't it just gorgeous?

Wisconsin. Talk about Main Street USA. (And ya everything in the town has the Ringley name on it)

Wisconsin. There were wildflowers everywhere. I literally had to pull over and take pictures. So pretty!

I have a little crush on Wisconsin. I never thought it would be this beautiful. Surprise surprise.

More of Wisconsin, I'm telling you it was enchanting.

Taking Wisconsin in. I was a bit overwhelmed with its beauty ;)

WI.

The entrance of the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Powerful quote.

Michigan.

Lincoln's home. Springfield, Illinois.

Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library.

Illinois sunsets (ya this is my shot, I posted an earlier shot that I found on the internet, but this is my attempt at photography).

So despite that my brother calls them the "flyover states", I was charmed by Middle America. Definitely a great snapshot of American culture and just gorgeous land; it's easy to see why people live there...I think they must all move in the summer and then when winter hits..they're stuck. :)