We left Cinncinnati early (noon) the next day to head up to Chicago, about a 5-hour drive.
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois.

Here we are crossing into Indiana.

I don’t think we really gave Indiana too much of a chance. First of all, we were just driving through. And when we decided to stop for gas, we picked a really bad place to stop. It was a Westfield “Shopping Town.” Just a huge, huge series of strip malls with every horrible truth implied by that statement. Traffic was horribly impossible. All we wanted to do was fill up our tank and it turned into an ordeal. Never go to ShoppingTown! It’s stupid!

But this billboard brightened our trip

They certainly do love slots.

Finally we made it to Chicago, timed perfectly to arrive during the middle of rush hour.

View from the highway coming into the city.

Chicago turned out to be a great city. I had never been there before, but the big tree-lined streets in downtown, the welcoming neighborhoods, and all the stuff going on made it a great place to hang out. At least in the summer.

The first night in we went and got a few beers at the Navy Pier,

and goaded our friend Lasia into scaling the anchor at the end of the pier.

The next day we met Joe’s Aunt and went to a great Turkish Restaurant. I wish I could remember the name of the neighborhood, but I can’t. It was near Wrigley field and there was a Cubs game going on that day.

Joe in front of the restaurant. Their bread was amazing.

We bummed around the city for the weekend, visited a few more places. Sometimes the city seemed to be speaking to us.

On Sunday we had to be on our way, so we packed up our stuff, had some deep dish pizza, and then we were on our way.

Next installment, Minneapolis and South Dakota. We’re going on a boat trip for the next 2 weeks, so the next blog post will come around Sept. 12-15ish.

That’s the I Know Joe Kimpel Summer Mystery Tour, Leg 1. It’s the Mystery Tour because we’re making it up as we go along. Planning is for suckers.

The preliminary leg of the trip started for me in Vermont. I drove down to Connecticut to see my parents before heading into New York City to hang out with Andrew Arnold, Caitlin Plovnick, and Rich Tommaso. After stopping back in Stratford, CT, to see my grandma, it was on to Boston to pick up Joe. As expected, when I got to Joe’s apartment he wasn’t there and he wasn’t answering his phone (because he never answers his phone). But everything got straightened out eventually and it was on to Cape Cod to dip our feet in the Atlantic before heading Westward.

Joe’s cousins. They like to beat the crap out of each other.

Gin, tonic, and goofy looks.

Sunset overlooking the tidal flats.

After the Cape we made it to Brooklyn, where we drank and dined at the Alligator Lounge, where you get a free pizza with every beer. Not a bad deal. We were supposed to make it all the way to Allentown, PA, to stay with our college friend Shaina. But when we first got in the car my phone (which had her phone # in it) was dead. Joe’s phone was also dead, and no one had a car charger. Great minds are stupid alike.

So we stayed in Brooklyn and got up in the morning with Cinncinnati on our minds. We were assured that it was only a 7 hour drive. But the person who assured us was very, very wrong. More like a 12-13 hour drive. We drove through PA, land of rusted metal. Rusted metal what? Rusted metal anything. If it can rust, and is made out of metal, it’s on the side of the highway somewhere in Pennsylvania.

We made a quick stop in West Virginia because we saw a sign for “Taco Joe’s” on the highway. But neither of us could bring ourselves to eat the food offered there. Then it was into Ohio, finally arriving at Cincy just before midnight. Joe’s cousin, Kate, whom we greatly inconvenienced by showing up so late, was nonetheless a great sport about it. She took a nap in the evening so she still had energy to go out for a few beers with us at her neighborhood bar.

The next day, Joe had one important stop to make.

Skyline Chili for breakfast. We both got 3 Coneys. A “Coney” is a very small hot dog topped with a little bit of chili, which is then topped with about half a pound of shredded cheddar cheese. They were delicious, then disgusting, then painful. That morning we drove past the guy with the tightest jeans ever. He was about 6′7″ and weighed about 105 pounds. So, guys, if you’re thinking of competing for tightest jeans in America, don’t even bother.

Next installment: Indiana and Chicago.

(that’s tiny little me in the corner)

I may be a little bit behind, but, as promised, the chronicling of the Joe Kimpel summer XC tour begins here. This is Adam, website co-founder and long-time Joe Kimpel knower. Joe and I are four thousand miles into the trip so far, and many more to go.

I’ll have highlights from the first thousand miles up in the next couple of days, then continuing updates as I find time to get the photos off my camera and can find an internet connection.

Those Indie Spinner Rack guys are at it again! And by “at it,” I mean “being awesome.” If you haven’t listened to it already, check out episode #91, the MoCCA wrap-up. Great episode, and they talk about a bunch of CCS-er’s books near the end.

Thanks, guys!

Faux-Pas #5, in super-limited edition

You heard it here first! Starting this coming week, me (Adam), will be starting a cross-country tour with none other than this site’s namesake, the one and only Joe Kimpel. We’ll be visiting all kinds of people who, yes, do actually know Joe Kimpel. I’m hitting comics-related places all over this great nation, in all different cities (Highlights will hopefully include the Charles Schulz Museum in Cali among other places).

So keep checking back in the coming weeks to see all the Joe Kimpel photos and stories that we litter the countryside with.

Here ya go!

Here’s a potential back cover for Monsters & Girls #2. My sauciest drawing yet. I’m also making some Harry Potter puppets with a new friend