Day 5: Near Death Experiences (sort of)

[[OK the roadtrip may be over, but that doesn't mean you don't get to still follow along and pretend you're there. We have some posts we wrote but never connected to the net to post them, so we are going to start retroactively blogging day by day!!]]

We began the day well-rested and well-fed from our awesome North Platte hotel and then hit the road for Salt Lake City (after a stop at Starbucks, natch-- they should probably sponsor us or something).

It was a long drive without much to see, but as we got to Western Nebraska and Wyoming, the landscape got increasingly beautiful (and increasingly cloudy, in our case).

(So we really like windmills...)

1:33pm MT (3:33pm EST), Mile 2,306
We stop for lunch in Laramie, WY at Carl's Jr. I get a delish western bacon cheeseburger, however Russ and Chris' fries soon after prove to be a poor decision. I'll spare you the details.

5:47pm, Mile 2,579
So Wyoming is pretty damn beautiful (and long). The landscape is wide open with gorgeous plains and mountains stretching out for miles and miles. We could never live here, but it is quite breathtaking nonetheless. One of the most remarkable things we have noticed about being out west is that you can see weather patterns miles off in the distance. This is really cool to see-- until you come upon ominous thunderstorms... The time we noted above is when lightning struck probably about 100 yards behind our car, so close that we felt the car (and ourselves) shake. Pro bloggers that we are, we whipped out the camera to capture some lightning to share with our avid readers (it also gives a good sketch of how crazy we become when cooped up in a car for a good 10 hours daily):


7:44pm, Mile 2,699
Salt Lake City!! Utah is just utterly incredible. There really aren't words to describe how beautiful the snow-topped mountains, red rock cliffs, and lush valleys are and even pictures can't do justice to capture how the landscape looks to the eye (we try though):


We met up with my old friends Tris and Iris who were kind enough to host us, show us around town, and give us lots of fun facts (woop!). Tris took us to this little Latter Day Saints (Mormon) sculpture garden, full of LDS/Masonic symbolism and imagery. Of course, we decide to be wacky and irreverent:

After we headed to the lovely Stoneground, an Italian fusion-y sort of restaurant. Chris (and Russ) fell in love with the mushroom penne, and I had an equally delicious chicken penne with jalapenos and mozzarella alfredo, yum! Once we were quite full, they took us up a hill (mountain??) behind the Capitol building (filmed instead of the US Capitol in Legally Blonde 2) for an amazing night view over the city. Chris' camera died so here's a shot courtesy of Tris:


After that we were super tired and went to crash at Iris' (thank you!!) before our much anticipated drive to Las Vegas!!

Day 4: The Open Road!

I have never in my life been so happy to arrive at a 1 1/2 star hotel, but more on that later. Let's recap our day of epic driving:

This morning we departed early (8am) to grab some Starbucks and replenish our double stuff Oreos supply. Soon it was on the road, and boy was there a lot of road. We were so excited to be up early that we couldn't stop talking about exciting subjects such as Chris not wanting to dance in small clubs, Hannah Montana's (now ex-) boyfriend, and whether Wegman's cracked pepper and sea salt kettle chips were better than some other cracked pepper sea salt chips we found in Dominik's, a really lame IL supermarket. Hey, we promised to share the mundane...

11:52am, Mile 1,439
It was not long after leaving Illinois that we ran into some naaaaasty rain in Iowa. We came to the general conclusion that Iowa is pretty damn boring, but our judgment may have just been clouded (pun intended) by the poor weather. It sort of made it hard to seen anything past the few farms we could see from the road. HOWEVER. Then we came upon bliss a few short miles later. Here's the terrible rain we had to drive through:


12:44pm, Mile 1,473
There is no way to describe what happened here any better than what the place was called-- "Iowa 80: World's Largest Truckstop." These pictures are worth many, many words:




2:17pm, Mile 1,573
We stop for lunch in Grinnell, Iowa, a place where one of our friends went to college, which was probably one of the saddest places ever. We got Taco Bell for lunch, which was one of the saddest meals ever, and I speak for all of us when I say that we will not be back to Taco Bell soon. After getting back on the road, we became saddened upon realizing we had been on the road for almost 6 hours and still had over 6 to go... Hours later, as we crossed into Nebraska, the rain cleared up and the gorgeous views of the Nebraskan (?) landscape opened up before us. Iowa had saved itself a little bit with some nice views of wind turbines through the hills. We were all so exhausted and sick of being in the car, we sort of zoned out and powered through to our hotel. Here's some shots from the end of Iowa and Nebraska:




9:24pm, Mile 2,039
2,000 miles!! Oh my god, Hospitality Inn, we love you. Rated 1 1/2 stars on expedia, this quaint little room with 2 queen beds cost us a whopping 50 bucks. However, North Platte is an oasis of wonderful in a desert of hundreds of miles of nothingness. We grabbed some big bottles of beer and Sonic (my first Sonic experience!) and crashed in the hotel. Now to grab some sleep and head off to Salt Lake City tomorrow! Here's North Platte for your enjoyment:


Oh, and Nebraska sunset.


Love, us!

Day 3. CHI-TOWN FANTASTIQUE!!!!!!

Where to start?  Today was the perfect day to trek into the wonderful city of Chicago.  Weather was 72, sunny, and we actually got Junker out of bed before 9am.  SCORE!!!!

Anywho, we arrived at the train station at about 745am.  Russ thought it would be a fantastic idea to get an "8 o' clock" coffee at the local Mobil station.  It tasted like absolute garbage. Russ promptly disposed of the garbage water before boarding the train.  I still can't decide if 8 o' clock coffee is worse than Indiana.  Russ sums up our feeling toward the coffee.

Fast forward to our epic train arrival in Chicago.  We hit up a breakfast place and grabbed some Caribou Coffee to wash out the 8 o' clock coffee from hours before (yes, the rotten taste lingers).

First, we walked to millennium park and saw some cool art, including a giant reflective bean.::cue artsy pictures:: 

We also saw the field where Obama made his election victory speech. After, we strolled along the pier next to Lake Michigan to scope out the view and catch some of the lake breeze.  During our Lake Michigan adventure, we came across a Segway tour, which is pretty much the most hilarious thing you will ever see.  Runner up: this girl biking around in giant heels.

Next we made our way to the Sears Tower, and planned to ride it up to the top, but we were dissuaded by the $15 skyview fee (hey, it's a long trip, we need to conserve).  After that, hunger came upon us, and of course it was time to sample some local cuisine-- DEEP DISH PIZZA.  Thanks to Russ' iPhone app (Yelp maybe?) we found a place near us called Giordano's.  It was rated well, and was apparently so good that a half hour wait was happening on a Monday afternoon.  We got a thick crust spinach pizza, and the consensus was that it was probably the most delicious pizza ever.  Here is Russ being super excited.

Next we walked over to the Navy Pier which is apparently where like everyone in Chicago hangs out.  Shops, restaurants, a ferris wheel, Smirnoff snocones (amazing), and people watching are only a few of the great things this area had to offer.  After enjoying that for a while, it was time to grab our train back to Cary.

Upon getting back to Russ' cousin's place, we went out on a little cruise in their neighbor's boat down the Fox River. This place is beauuuuutiful.  Junker drank a giant bottle of Chimay and beer and wine were had all around. An excellent evening, really.

Now we are off to bed early, so we can be well-rested for our freakin' 12 hour drive to middle of nowhere Nebraska tomorrow.  Expect the next update then!

Day 2! PA, OH, IN, IL - 12 hours of just plain sexy

Such a wonderful day! I just don't know where to start.  Today was a day full of coffee, crappy states, Ra'Kweesh'a, driving, epic fails, traffic, BEN FOLDS, and beautiful houses! (with a tangent of fart wars).  

11:12am, Mile 814

After a quick Starbucks fueling, we were off through underwhelming Pennsylvania.  That's really all we would like to say about that wonderful state.  Underwhelming.  Then we entered...duh duh duhhhhh...O. H. I. O.  *in Fargo accent* (As a side note, Ohio had been previously agreed upon as the "Ben Folds" state.  Please keep in mind that all Ohio activities were made wonderful with the underlying rhythm of Ben Folds).  The first rest stop in Ohio marked my very first McCafe experience!  It was, like the entirety of Pennsylvania, underwhelming.  It tasted like it would be really good chocolate milk, had it been cold.  Here is me being excited for such a wonderful experience, however misguided that naive excitement might have been.  

3:16pm, Mile 1,063

We are now in Indiana.  Indiana a little bit sucks.  HOWEVER.  It is home to two wonderful things. 

1. Gas that costs $3.09 

2. The RV/Motor Home Hall of Fame 

I don't really even know how to follow that.  The RV/MH not only exists (sad face), but it is considered tourism in Indiana.  The only thing left to mention about Indiana is how it is almost as boring as Ohio.  Here are some pictures that accurately reflect the ENTIRETY of the 7 hours we spent in these two states today, respectively. 

5:32pm, Mile 1,186

Epic Fail.  Epic. Fail. 

So.  We pulled into a line to go through the toll booth that would release us from the unrelenting claws of Indiana (named the iZoom...cute.), and this woman in this SEXY red SUV (see picture below) decided to go through the iZoom lane without an iZoom pass.  So this woman spends 5 minutes trying to shove the ticket into the machine that simply just does not take tickets.  After this grueling 5 minute bummer, she decided that it might be a good idea to ask for help.  Eventually (we infer), the service plaza people just got tired of her and let her pass through.  

Oh and PS.  As if this experience could become even more of an epic fail, this woman was wearing BRIGHT ASS PINK spandex pants, and a silk t-shirt with pictures of animal heads alllllllll over it.  Good lord she was so hot.  

8:57pmEST, 7:57pmCST, Mile 1,270

We arrived at my cousin's house a little later than expected (EFF YOU CHICAGO SUNDAY AFTERNOON TRAFFIC!), but we were greeted by beer and Thai food, so life was happy.  Oh, and their house is beautiful.  And by a river.  

Chicago tomorrow! :-) 

(p.s. leave comments, we miss you!)

Day One!

OK, we realize it's only 4pm, but since we left at 1am it feels like a whole day already. Here are some points of interest from the day so far:

c. 1:35am, Mile 30
"I feel like we should have got to the Mass Pike by now... did we go past it??"
Oh yes, our trip got off to a fantastic start as Chris (ever the trooper for taking the early morning shift) drives past the Pike and he and Russ don't realize it until we've gone 5 exits past it... (I was trying to sleep in the backseat since I'd worked all day). Small detour, we're still westward bound!

4:40am, Mile ???


7:40am, Mile 365
We arrive in Ithaca, NY and meet up with the lovely Kendra for breakfast at the greasy, sketchy Manos Diner. Both she and the food are fantastic. I wake up and drink 3 cups of coffee to get ready for the 5 hour drive to Johnstown and let Russ and Chris rest. Hot cakes are had all around, the blueberry ones are particularly enjoyed by Chris:

Kendra's unreasonably small apple juice is not particularly enjoyed by anyone:


1:44pm, Mile 634
Johnstown, finally! We stopped for snacks at Wegman's before leaving Ithaca, grabbed some french fries at a McDonald's in the middle of nowhere, Pennsylvania and a 5 hour drive later, we have made it to our hotel. Russ is now off visiting Cadets camp (drum corps) and Chris and I are going to rest up and contemplate heading to Pittsburgh for the Pirates/Tigers game (though after 13 hours on the road, rest is looking more likely). Probably an early night and then up around 8am tomorrow to head to Chicago! Our hotel here is kind of funky, so here is a photo from the Pennsylvania countryside instead:

we're leaving!

zomg we're actually going??  oh man.  she's stressed!  but happy! and tired and cranky and hungry.  BUT WE'RE READY TO GOOOO!!!! :-D

here we go!

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Russ, Kevin, and Chris depart in a few short hours for the West Coast. Tune in as we share the intimate details of our excursion-- the highs, the lows, the awesome, the mundane! There will be writing, photographs, songs, maybe even videos! Yeah, you love it.