Here's the site for our photo album so far. Feel free to check them out!!!
Jim and Ryan's Excellent Adventure!
Friday, September 10, 2010
Thursday
Despite Thursday being a relatively short drive distance-wise, the day seemed to drag on and on. We stopped at Devil's Tower National Monument, and DAMN is it one big ass, cool looking rock! Mother Nature is one cool lady, when she's not pissed and setting the world on fire or battering us with hurricanes and natural disasters.
There are no shortage of cows in the Wyoming countryside, but I don't want to see cows. I'm interested in critters I've never seen before. So far we've seen a mountain goat, prairie dogs, a jackalope or two, and some antelope. I have yet to see any buffalo, moose, elk, eagles, etc. I need to see these before I get to California. Quest accepted!
Today Jim and I are heading into Yellowstone. I heard that they're expecting 1 to 5 inches of snow today...Crazy. If they don't close the park due to the snow (wtf?) then we're doing Mammoth Hot Springs, Old Faithful, Yellowstone Falls and Yellowstone Lake. This is the part of the trip that we've been looking forward to the most, hands down. I can't wait! LOTS of pictures to come next update. Which reminds me...
There are no shortage of cows in the Wyoming countryside, but I don't want to see cows. I'm interested in critters I've never seen before. So far we've seen a mountain goat, prairie dogs, a jackalope or two, and some antelope. I have yet to see any buffalo, moose, elk, eagles, etc. I need to see these before I get to California. Quest accepted!
Today Jim and I are heading into Yellowstone. I heard that they're expecting 1 to 5 inches of snow today...Crazy. If they don't close the park due to the snow (wtf?) then we're doing Mammoth Hot Springs, Old Faithful, Yellowstone Falls and Yellowstone Lake. This is the part of the trip that we've been looking forward to the most, hands down. I can't wait! LOTS of pictures to come next update. Which reminds me...
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
EDUCATION!!!
This trip has actually taught me things. It's only half over, but I feel that I should share what I've learned so far...
1. Outside of NJ and PA, motorists on the road are actually nice. They'll move over to the right when they're clear of cars. It inspires you to do the same. Aside from being so long, the drive has been pretty pleasant.
2. I. Hate. Corn. I've driven through six states after PA. All I've had to look at is freaking corn. To the left: corn. To the right: corn. Ahead of us: corn. Behind us: you guessed it...CORN!!!
3. Eff Indiana.
4. West of the Missouri River, this country is absolutely gorgeous. The hills are great, and the landscape is beautiful. I can't wait until Yellowstone.
5. The Road Trip Gods don't like clean windshields. As soon as they sense one nearby, they immediately direct every single big juicy bug towards it. I may be out of windshield washer fluid by the end of this trip :-(
1. Outside of NJ and PA, motorists on the road are actually nice. They'll move over to the right when they're clear of cars. It inspires you to do the same. Aside from being so long, the drive has been pretty pleasant.
2. I. Hate. Corn. I've driven through six states after PA. All I've had to look at is freaking corn. To the left: corn. To the right: corn. Ahead of us: corn. Behind us: you guessed it...CORN!!!
3. Eff Indiana.
4. West of the Missouri River, this country is absolutely gorgeous. The hills are great, and the landscape is beautiful. I can't wait until Yellowstone.
5. The Road Trip Gods don't like clean windshields. As soon as they sense one nearby, they immediately direct every single big juicy bug towards it. I may be out of windshield washer fluid by the end of this trip :-(
Day 3...
Three stops today...all in South Dakota: Mount Rushmore, the Crazy Horse Memorial, and our sleeping destination - Deadwood.
You might have heard about the town from HBO...or that Wild Bill Hickock was killed here. I know it as a place with good steaks, a good bed, and a casino! Jim and I ate a great dinner, and then I decided to sit down and play a bit of blackjack. I put $60 on the table, knowing full well that I would lose it in a matter of at least half an hour. What I knew full well, though, turned out to be false. I played for about 45 minutes, and cashed out with $50. Good times cost me $10. I call that a win!
Mount Rushmore is actually pretty surreal. We've all seen pictures of it on TV and the inter-tubes...but to actually BE there was something else. It's easy to describe what it IS - four faces carved into the granite of the Black Hills - but it's something else. I'm not an overly patriotic person, but to stand there and see the mountain with my own eyes filled me with a sense of pride. It's really quite serene. You should go there someday.
The Crazy Horse memorial is a different story. I know about Crazy Horse - Indian, medicine man, etc. He was a hero to his people and all the American Indians of the time. He deserves recognition. However, that recognition doesn't need to be in the form of desecration of their sacred lands in the name of a big f***ing rock with his face carved in it. But what really bakes my noodle is that the project was started in the late '30s. It's now 2010, and all they have completed is the dude's face. Really? 80 years, and all you have to show for your work is a face? Way to honor the guy.
You might have heard about the town from HBO...or that Wild Bill Hickock was killed here. I know it as a place with good steaks, a good bed, and a casino! Jim and I ate a great dinner, and then I decided to sit down and play a bit of blackjack. I put $60 on the table, knowing full well that I would lose it in a matter of at least half an hour. What I knew full well, though, turned out to be false. I played for about 45 minutes, and cashed out with $50. Good times cost me $10. I call that a win!
Mount Rushmore is actually pretty surreal. We've all seen pictures of it on TV and the inter-tubes...but to actually BE there was something else. It's easy to describe what it IS - four faces carved into the granite of the Black Hills - but it's something else. I'm not an overly patriotic person, but to stand there and see the mountain with my own eyes filled me with a sense of pride. It's really quite serene. You should go there someday.
The Crazy Horse memorial is a different story. I know about Crazy Horse - Indian, medicine man, etc. He was a hero to his people and all the American Indians of the time. He deserves recognition. However, that recognition doesn't need to be in the form of desecration of their sacred lands in the name of a big f***ing rock with his face carved in it. But what really bakes my noodle is that the project was started in the late '30s. It's now 2010, and all they have completed is the dude's face. Really? 80 years, and all you have to show for your work is a face? Way to honor the guy.
...and, suddenly, CORN...LOTS OF CORN!
I drove for 13 hours yesterday (12 if you want to include the time change). I saw 5 states (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota) out of our fine country, and I can say with a great deal of confidence that
I AM SICK AND TIRED OF LOOKING AT FUCKING CORN ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD.
Thank you, that is all.
All in all, though, yesterday was pretty much uneventful. The Rock N Roll Hall of Fame was interesting - there was a lot of cool stuff to look at, but that's about it. There weren't any interactive exhibits or things to do really. Just walk around and look at stuff. They wouldn't let us take pictures either, so I can't even show you what it was like. It was fun though.
Then the drive. The midwest is boring...long straight roads to nowhere. At least I had Jim to keep me company...and some rockin tunes to drive to. I caught 4 or 5 winds and wasn't tired until we reached Worthington, Minnesota.
Today is a relatively short drive to western South Dakota and to Mount Rushmore. Stay tuned!
I AM SICK AND TIRED OF LOOKING AT FUCKING CORN ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD.
Thank you, that is all.
All in all, though, yesterday was pretty much uneventful. The Rock N Roll Hall of Fame was interesting - there was a lot of cool stuff to look at, but that's about it. There weren't any interactive exhibits or things to do really. Just walk around and look at stuff. They wouldn't let us take pictures either, so I can't even show you what it was like. It was fun though.
Then the drive. The midwest is boring...long straight roads to nowhere. At least I had Jim to keep me company...and some rockin tunes to drive to. I caught 4 or 5 winds and wasn't tired until we reached Worthington, Minnesota.
Today is a relatively short drive to western South Dakota and to Mount Rushmore. Stay tuned!
Over the Mississippi
Now that we have brought our juggernaut to a halt for a night, we can relax and enjoy the view of Worthington, MS, which looks exactly as it does during the night time than when we are running on a caffeine and sugar frenzy. We got our second wind as we heard Toto's Africa come on the satellite radio.
The Wisconsin Dells, though we couldn't see too much of them in the dark, have a uniquely huge tourist magnetism. There were several indoor water parks and resort hotels lined up alongside an outlet mall and golf course. I guess they are similar to the Poconos for Chicagoans (I had to look up what people from Chicago call themselves.)
About half way through Minnesota, we found several fields off in the distance that had thousands of blinking red lights a hundred or so feet off the ground. The eerie thing was that this network of lights blinked simultaneously and spanned several miles in each direction. When we finally got close enough to investigate, we saw a giant prop in the short second of illumination from the blinking. They were wind turbines... THOUSANDS of them. We were so stoked that we solved the mystery and yet also saddened that we could not witness what we were seeing during the day.
We hit a few rest stops, mainly for gas and caffeinated things. We were unstoppable...for a while. Now I am waiting for Brice to get up so we can get our continental breakfast before we go the four or five hours it takes to get to Mount Rushmore.
Till Later,
~Jim
The Wisconsin Dells, though we couldn't see too much of them in the dark, have a uniquely huge tourist magnetism. There were several indoor water parks and resort hotels lined up alongside an outlet mall and golf course. I guess they are similar to the Poconos for Chicagoans (I had to look up what people from Chicago call themselves.)
About half way through Minnesota, we found several fields off in the distance that had thousands of blinking red lights a hundred or so feet off the ground. The eerie thing was that this network of lights blinked simultaneously and spanned several miles in each direction. When we finally got close enough to investigate, we saw a giant prop in the short second of illumination from the blinking. They were wind turbines... THOUSANDS of them. We were so stoked that we solved the mystery and yet also saddened that we could not witness what we were seeing during the day.
We hit a few rest stops, mainly for gas and caffeinated things. We were unstoppable...for a while. Now I am waiting for Brice to get up so we can get our continental breakfast before we go the four or five hours it takes to get to Mount Rushmore.
Till Later,
~Jim
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Follow Up and Rocking On
We walked through the abandoned streets of Cleveland in search of food as we sought something that was not closed or abandoned. We felt drawn to discuss apocalyptic scenarios and the possibilities of the undead lurking around the corner. Cleveland is a ghost town, or at least in the business district where we where staying.
After a small jaunt through what could have been an interesting walking route between buildings and alfresco dining establishments, we found the only restaurant open, the Harry Buffalo. Our experience there turned out to be a great one. Good food and great beer.
Ohvi was an excellent conversationalist and we kept each other in intriguing conversation for hours. I wish him luck on catching that early morning Greyhound.
We now leave to grab our continental breakfast and head for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
After a small jaunt through what could have been an interesting walking route between buildings and alfresco dining establishments, we found the only restaurant open, the Harry Buffalo. Our experience there turned out to be a great one. Good food and great beer.
Ohvi was an excellent conversationalist and we kept each other in intriguing conversation for hours. I wish him luck on catching that early morning Greyhound.
We now leave to grab our continental breakfast and head for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Monday, September 6, 2010
Day 1 In The Books!
Meh...I forget...We made it to Cleveland just fine; found a hotel and checked in. We went to dinner at Harry Buffalo - a pretty cool restaurant/bar in town. Good place, good beer, and good company. We met a guy named Ovi (Oh-Vee) and chatted him up for a good hour and a half. He's in town for the night and headed back to LA tomorrow. He's a nice guy from Romania.
Back in the hotel now we're half in the bag and ready to pass out. Rock N Roll Hall of Fame tomorrow, and then heading out to our next destination, Mount Rushmore. It's a 21-hour trip...should be interesting!
Pictures from today:
Fuck it...pictures don't seem to want to work tonight...pictures from today will be up tomorrow hopefully.
The New Path
Similar to my dear friend Brice, I have dealt with the hardships of leaving behind those that would miss me. The past few weeks have been filled with nothing but questions and sadness. However, I feel that my charge is worthy of the sacrifice that needs to take place.
Do not get me wrong; I am as broken up as those I am leaving behind, almost to the point that I question myself and my mind becomes filled with doubt as to the certainty that I place in this new decision. I find that much newer and better paths face me in California. This trip is a new experience for the both of us and should prove fruitful in the end, if not enrich us with a new experience, good or bad. Now that we are in Cleveland, I find that I am excited to see what is around the corner and show Brice the inexperienced and serene landscapes of Yellowstone and the Black Hills, for that is our future destination.
Do not get me wrong; I am as broken up as those I am leaving behind, almost to the point that I question myself and my mind becomes filled with doubt as to the certainty that I place in this new decision. I find that much newer and better paths face me in California. This trip is a new experience for the both of us and should prove fruitful in the end, if not enrich us with a new experience, good or bad. Now that we are in Cleveland, I find that I am excited to see what is around the corner and show Brice the inexperienced and serene landscapes of Yellowstone and the Black Hills, for that is our future destination.
Ready? Set? DRIVE!
I don't know about Jim (I'm sure he'll post later) but I'm really mixed up about the trip so far. I'm supremely excited about seeing the country and having fun with my best friend, but my family and friends are all here. I said good-bye to my sister yesterday morning, and she was a mess. Of course, my mom immediately became as mess as well. I stayed rather stoic, but that's beside the point. I'm very close with my family - we've never really been more than a few hours apart for any REAL extended period of time - and that makes this difficult. We all know that this is a great opportunity and a fantastic adventure, but it's still tough. I'll miss them dearly, and I know that they get that despite what emotion I do or do not show during good-byes.
Anyway, enough of that sappy stuff! HOLY SHIT ROAD TRIP, BABY!!!! I'm picking Jim up at his house in about an hour, and from there we're hitting Route 80 West on our way to Cleveland, Ohio. No, we're not going to take the Drew Carey Show tour...we're going to the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame! It's gonna be about a 6-hour ride from where we are now...maybe a little more depending on how we travel...but who cares?!? This is the start of a great experience, and I for one couldn't be more pumped to spend the next week with my best buddy. So with no further adieu, we begin...
JIM AND BRICE'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE
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