Day 2: Catholic School Girls (this should get my hit count up!)

There is nothing quite like a red bull in the morning. Except maybe 2. Used to chase a latte. A really big latte. After a 4 mile run. And so was the start of Day 2. Despite the long Day 1 and a warm night in the tents, we were back on the road towards Alaska. (Side note: A friend pointed out that green tea is much healthier. I agree, but you try to stock green tea in a cooler meant for beer. Not easy.)


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An hour into the drive, we passed the Hall of Fame that you only thought couldn't exist. That's right - the Recreational Vehicle and Manufactured Housing Hall of Fame. Now, I may have an active imagination, but not even I could make this up. This is an actual 80,000 square foot space dedicated to celebrating "Affordable Housing". I just don't know what else to say - the site says it all.

Just down the road from that gem was South Bend, IN. The home of the College Football Hall of Fame. While I was unaware of this, it did not surprise me all that much. Of course, this was skipped due to time constraints in order to focus on a brief tour of the Notre Dame Campus.


All I can say is "Wow". An absolutely amazing campus. It is clean, the buildings are big and impressive, the history is well known. More importantly, the girls are old enough, repressed enough, smart enough and Catholic enough to make college a lot of fun. I would say that I will be sending my first born son here, but as my brother pointed out, that requires a mate to breed with, and, well, most of us know how that is going (maybe romantic thoughts like that are helping to hold me back...)



After a hair raising 2 hour stop on the Chicago "Express Highway" in which we traveled a total of 20 miles we zoomed west towards the KOA in Rochester, MN. If you are ever in need of such lodging in this beautiful area, I highly recommend the KOA. It has a pool, foosball table, clean bathrooms and WiFi. That's right - the same things that impress a 12 year old impress me. Add boobies to that previous sentence and I think you have it all.

All in all, a stressful, but productive day. 623 total miles in right around 11 hours despite the troubles in Chicago. The extra driving has paid off - we have already knocked a day from the trip which we are using to hike in the Badlands (where we are driving tomorrow). Mmmmmmm...

A couple side notes:
1. I am driving the Saab solo. My bro, his girlfriend and their dog are in the FJCruiser and leading the way. We communicate by walkie talkie to avoid dead spots in the cell coverage. Walkie Talkies are awesome ("Roger that", "ten-four", "over and out", "big dog" and "breaker breaker one nine" have been uttered roughly 723 times in two days.)

2. I know my HTML - I was just lazy. I'll try to remember to make the links pop up in new windows from now on. On that note - HTML is NOT A PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE - it is simply a markup language. If you ever speak with or interview someone who says "I program in HTML" punch them. Hard.

3. Feel free to leave comments - anonymous or otherwise. I'll try to respond to any requests. Also, feel free to share the blog with anyone who might enjoy it. I get quite a kick out of the life I lead, so I might as well share that with others.

Day 1: Miles and Milestones

My inability to stick to the simplest plans absolutely blows my mind. We're gonna meet for dinner and a drink? Nah, I've decided to stay home and play PS2 instead. I'm gonna train for a 5k? Might as well make it a 10 miler. We should start off easy and only drive 500 miles? Pa-shaw and screw that. We're doing 700+. And so was the first day. With the big blue monster filled to the hilt and the saab not far behind, the first real day of the journey was underway. 725 miles, and 12 hours later (not to mention 4 hours after our original destination) we finally reached East Harbor State Park on the Ohio section of Lake Erie.

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"How", you may ask, "are you blogging if you are in state park?". Well, it has come to the attention of many state park agencies (including Maine and Ohio) that people don't go camping to actually camp. They go camping so they can drag all their worldy possessions to a location where no on can contact them on a cell phone. They then set up their DVD players, tvs, microwaves and MacBooks to enjoy the luxuries of home with ringing phones exchanged for mosquito bites. Needless to say, said MacBooks MUST have a WiFi connection to be fully effective, so the state parks have met the demands of the people. I am not completely happy about this, so I am frowning while taking advantage of the WiFi. That'll show them.

Anyway - not a whole lot of sites were seen today. As my brother pointed out, "New York State is freakin' huge" - about 400 miles east to west to be exact. This span is home to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, Women's Rights National Park in Seneca Falls and Niagara Falls all within a few hours drive of each other. Not a bad stretch of history, but we had places to be and miles to drive, so they all were skipped for this leg.

The real excitement came towards the end of the short Pennsylvania stretch of Day 1 as my trusty Saab hit 100,000 miles! Nearly 70,000 of these miles have been driven by me. And despite one new turbo thanks to a botched oil change, leather seats ripped form my brother's car and numerous new tires and brake pads, this dark blue beauty still seems to be running well.

Two last notes - 1. I drove through Sandusky, OH today. That's right - the home of the fictional Callahan Auto Parts. Just awesome. 2. Northern Ohio is GREAT when it comes to water parks. Why? Because they are all HUGE and indoors. But not completely indoors, as the below photo can attest. No, the slides actually go outside than back in. Yeah, that is some cool stuff.


Anyway - a rather bland post today. Notre Dame and driving through Chicago tomorrow. And if you don't own walkie talkies, go buy them now. They are AWESOME...

Leg 3: Hiking, Highways and Home

Homecoming. A joyous occasion for 90% of high school students. On no other evening can you guarantee pep rallies, bonfires, furry mascots and the loss of virginity (in the classiest of towns, this can all happen simultaneously). While I don't expect all of these in the final leg of my trek, a boy can hope for at least one or two.

This leg of my journey will see me leaving the West Coast hospitality of Robert and Dwight for unknown adventures in the storied west. National parks will be crossed off my list, ballparks will be visited, and the Midwest will have the chance to show that it has more to offer the world then some great beef and a few super consultants.

(Editor's note: Please don't confuse Robert and Dwight for "Robert and Dwight". They both have very nice and attractive female companions. It gives me a lot of hope, because if those two can be so lucky, then I might have a chance too!).

And just as it looks like the last visit has been made, the last trail hiked and the last tank filled, I will visit one of the most perfect towns ever created (even if the fame is unwarranted).

So without further adieu, my final itinerary of the journey...

	Date	Start Location	End Location	Miles	Time	Notes
Day 22	Monday, August 4	Grand Canyon National Park	Zion National Park	254	4:51	A morning hike followed by an afternoon drive. I may need these to help me contain my excitement.
Day 23	Tuesday, August 5	Zion National Park	Denver, CO	634	9:17	Another morning hike and afternoon drive through Bryce Canyon. I might even stop and visit one of the few Dookies (NSFW!) I actually like.
Day 24	Wednesday, August 6	Denver, CO	Kansas City, MO	603	8:45	Batting practice for the Sox in KC.
Day 25	Thursday, August 7	Kansas City, Mo	Knoxville, TN	732	11:13	Might have to get some friends of the road to keep me awake.
Day 26	Friday, August 8	Knoxville, TN	Shenandoah National Park	371	5:56	Drive through Great Smokey Mountains National Park.
Day 27	Saturday, August 9	Shenandoah National Park	Cooperstown, NY	442	7:23	Baseball HOF!!!
Day 28	Sunday, August 10	Cooperstown, NY	Pelham, NH	257	4:32	Home Sweet Home
Day 29	Monday, August 11	Boo	Hoo	0	0:00	Crying as I boot up my machine for the fist time in 28 days

3,300 dusty miles for the finale.

10,500 total miles @ 25mpg = 420 gallons of gas. You can do the math from there.

So those are the plans. Can I stick to them? Will I run out of money? Luck? Patience? Check back for updates, pictures and stories as frequently as I can post them...