Pin and Amy's Great Adventure

2010-11-26T02:45:00.001-08:00

2010-11-26T02:44:00.001-08:00

Day 13: San Simeon

2009-09-11T00:53:00.000-07:00

8am - Woke up to pack up everything
9am - Went to our free breakfast buffet which was pretty good
10:30am - We check out and pack up our car. Somehow, things fit less and less in the car.
11:30pm - We pass into California! No welcome sign to be seen... :(

12:15pm - We stop in Barstow, CA to eat lunch. We ate at Costa Azul - I got a chile relleno with a taco and pin got a huge burrito.

As my mom warned me, at some point, there was an agricultural inspection check point at Rt15. I blatantly had a houseplant wedged between the 2 front seats and a cactus in the front cupholder. We were stopped. I was really worried he was going to make me throw out my plants, but he just looked at my houseplant - felt the leaves to make sure it was real, poked in the dirt to check for bugs, and asked questions as to where it had been prior to my car. After asking us 2x if we had fruit - (we did, but we said no...I through the apples out later) and glancing at the back of my packed car, he let us through!

During this drive, we were going through the Mojave Desert. Needless to say, it was super sunny and hot, and a pretty uncomfortable drive all around. I wouldn't really recommend it.

It didn't get better until we got past El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles), which began wine country. We also passed to Wasco, which seems to be rose country - this weekend there will be the festival of roses there - we will miss it!

As we neared closer to Cambria, we were driving up in the mountains (though only 1700ft elevation) and looking to the left and front, we actually saw that we were above the cloud line! It was so beautiful because it looked like white water, and the mountain tops were islands.

6pm - In Cambria, we were actually in the clouds, which was really cool and cold. After filling up gas ($3.79/gallon!), we took a detour towards the coast and drove through a beautiful little neighborhood. Turning down a side street, we found it was a dead end - right to the coast line! There was an aptly marked sign saying "END" and we realized we had exactly made it to the Pacific Ocean! A little bitterswe7et as it means we are very near the end of our journey...

6:30pm - We arrive at our hotel and check in. We ended up getting a room that is more like 2 ajoined rooms each with a queen bed. We walked down to the shore and it was so foggy! It was kinda gross though because there were millions of these little sand colored jumping bugs in the washed up seaweed. THere were lots of beautiful rocks though and I collected a bunch. Pin went and hunted down some paper towels to wrap them up in.

7:45pm - It was finally getting pretty dark so we walked back up the hill to the Best Western's restaurant called Cavalier. I saw they had butternut squash ravioli and immediately new what I wanted. Pin ordered the fettucini alfredo which was really good.

9pm - Since we missed out on the pool at the MGM Grand, we wanted to go to the heated outdoor pool at our San Simeon hotel. We run out in the freezing cold. Pin tries the water out and its warm at first until he puts his whole body in. It doesn't look warm enough to me so I decide I don't want to go in. Pin is not happy with this! He has to jump out of the water and we run back to our room. He pretty much ran straight into our hot shower.

10pm - We play a game of Elections - I win.

Distance Traveled: coming soon
Total Distance: coming soon
$ Spent: $146.08
Total $: coming soon

Day 12: Vegas

2009-09-09T19:36:00.000-07:00

coming soon...

Distance traveled: 0mi (lots of walking...)
Total Distance: 4009mi
$ Spent: $314.51
Total $ Spent: $1440.83

Day 11: Bryce Canyon/Vegas

2009-09-09T19:34:00.001-07:00

6am - This day, we got up early to go to Bryce Point overlook to see the sunrise. When we get there, there are already a few hardcore photographers waiting (with super cameras and tripods ready). We wait about an hour for the sun to really come up. During this time, a tour bus of japanese tourists arrive and flood the overlook. Pin was happy that he could take pics over their heads. I was annoyed that they kept butting into my tripod space. But I got some good pics of the sunrise with their silhouettes.

8am - Overhearing one of the photographers recommend a better spot, we drove down to Inspiration Point to get somer more sunrise pics. At this point, the view was really amazing.

9am - We head back and pack up our campsite. Then go to the Bryce Canyon Lodge store so I can buy a bucket hat and exchange some of the coasters I got to get a better match. I end up also buying a necklace and a pair of earrings...

10am - We head to Sunrise point and take the Queens Garden trail then connected onto the Navajo Trail. These took us down into the canyon to see the hoodoos up close. At the very end of the Navajo, we came upon "Wall Street" which is a basically a narrow crevasse for everyone to walk through. Then to walk up, the park had built basically a Lombard Street - we had to wind back and forth to get up the steep side.

11:30am - We head out of Bryce Canyon and towards Vegas! Right before Arizona, we stop for lunch in St George. We find a Thai restaurant that was pretty good. I got pad thai and pin got drunken noodles. Around here, there were some beautiful hillside houses - but you could see remnants of the geology that was there and it was sad to think they had torn it down. It might be like them seeing us replace forest with developments or a strip mall?

We pass through Arizona and then almost immediately into Nevada.

We get to the MGM grand and its a beautiful hotel. We get pretty confused trying to park, but finally get to the self parking lot. Inside, it was like culture shock for us. Going from being out in nature and camping for a few days, then entering a building that has more than one place to eat - marble floors and chandeliers was so weird. The check-in counter had about 15employees with a full line at each. It took forever to check in. At least we found out the valet parking was free so we wouldn't have to take down the annoying roof rack bag (and clean it).

The beds in the hotel room were amazing. We both showered and then went to the buffet. Our room package came with 2for1 buffet. It was really good buffet.

Pin had gotten $25 for slot play by joining the players club so we spent that up and actually won $27.50! Though tempted to continue gambling - we stopped while we were ahead. Then we walked up and down the strip in search of gambling deals.

On the way we passed the Bellagio fountains and they started up. The fountain show was amazing, and the music was perfect. It was super dramatic and powerful to see.

12:30am - When we finally make it back to the MGM, I'm beat but pin stays down for more gambling (wins $10!).

Distance Traveled: 262mi
Total Distance: 4009mi
$ Spent: $112.70
Total $: $1126.32

Day 10: Bryce Canyon

2009-09-09T19:33:00.000-07:00

coming soon...

Distance Traveled: 343mi
Total Distance Traveled: 3747mi
$ Spent: $73.49
Total $ Spent: $1013.62

2009-09-08T14:35:00.001-07:00

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2009-09-08T14:33:00.001-07:00

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Day 9: Yellowstone/Grand Tetons

2009-09-07T00:49:00.000-07:00

Morning view on Yellowstone Lake, Yellowstone National Park, WY

First of all, average low temp in Yellowstone in September is 32 degrees F. And I'm pretty sure it got close to that at night. It was freezing, so we were both curled up in tight balls by morning.

7am - I woke up 30min late, and decided it was way too cold to shower. Pin got up and we packed up our campsite.

8:20am - Picked up our camera chargers from the ranger station (they were so nice to charge them for us overnight).

9am - West Thumb Basin - This was a beautiful area of hotsprings and geysers right next to the lake so they actually drain into the lake. The water is amazingly clear and are also extremely blue (sometimes rusty colored on the edges) due to the thermophiles that live in them. Unlike yesterday's these didn't smell like eggs.

10:15am - We get to the site of Old Faithful, which is so popular, they made the exit like a real highway exit with an overpass, etc. This geyser is called Old Faithful because the rangers can pretty accurately predict when it will erupt. The next time was 10:44am (+/- 10min). We sat there on benches waiting. At about 10:45am it finally started to shoot out little bursts of water. It got annoying after the 5th time. Finally around 10:55am, it really started erupting with really high jets of water. It was pretty cool, but questionably worth the wait.

11:15am - Midway Geyser Basin - These geysers flowed into a river. It had by far the prettiest and coolest thermal spring aptly called Grand Prismatic Spring. This entire area was almost entirely covered with water flowing from that spring.

11:45am - Firehole Lake Drive - this is a one-way loop taking us back to a thermally heated lake. On the way there was an ultra-clear spring. The Grand something Geyser is also back there. It was a huge geyser, with cascading layers of water. However, the predicted eruption time window was 3 hours wide. There was also this huge white bumpy hill that looked like the classic science-project volcano. I forget what its name was. It might have been Firehole?

12pm - Fountain Paint Pot area - Fountain Paint pot is this wide spring that bubbles with a white mud. It's a little gross looking - there was another call Red Spouter that looked like a mud jacuzzi. The cooler side were 3 geysers next to each other, spewing water and steam across the valley.

12:30pm - On this drive we passed the continental divide about 5 times - pretty cool. We head to Grand Teton National Park (just south of Yellowstone). On the way, there's a ton of construction on the only road there is, so it takes about 1.5 hrs to get 30miles. This put a huge cramp in the schedule.

2:30pm - Grand Teton National Park is so beautiful! Mostly because of the Teton mountain range that is constanting looming in the back of any view. Pin wakes up, we get some food to go from the Colter Cafe (cafe at the Colter Bay area). We plan to walk one of the Hermitage Point trails nearby, but then I realize we're really far behind schedule, and won't really have time. So, we go back and drive down to Jenny Lake Visitor Center.

4pm - We get to Jenny Lake and buy tickets for the shuttle boat that takes you across the lake to the western shore. This cuts out 2miles of hiking (one way) that we didn't ahve time for. Once we're across, we hike up to Hidden Falls (not so hidden with the signage and arrows) and then up to Inspiration Point. On the way, it rains in short spurts. It was really strange, as we saw pockets of rain (like one side of the cafe was pouring rain, the other side was sunny). The plus side of this, is that there were rainbows in view once we got up to Inspiration Point - definitely adding to the inspirational feel of the view. Next, we hightail it down to the dock to avoid missing the last boat back at 6pm.

6pm - I wanted to drive along Antelope Flats Road, which is apparently good for wildlife viewing (I wanted to see a moose), but there was definitely no time with a 5.5 hr drive to Salt Lake City ahead of us. Instead, we just drive through. Having eaten a late lunch, and having little time to spare, we drove through Jackson, WY instead of stopping for dinner there. I definitely would want to go back to Jackson, it was a beautiful ski-town with a million different restaurants and shops.

7:30pm - We get to Idaho, and hands down, this was the emptiest state we've encountered so far.

9pm - We get to Utah.

10:45pm - We stop to get gas and some food (notice we didn't get dinner yet!). There was a Taco Bell, but it was Brigham City, UT on a Sunday - it was closed. We succeeded in finding a McDonald's though.

11:45pm - We get to the hotel finally. It's a beautiful hotel, but we're both beat. VERY long day.

Distance Traveled:463mi
Total Distance: 3404mi
$ Spent: $134.85
Total $: $970.13

Day 8: Yellowstone

2009-09-06T23:32:00.001-07:00

Amy and I just can't get enough of national parks, so we decided to do some more!

Our stay in Billings, Montana was short-lived, as we woke up extra early to get to Yellowstone. To get there, we went via the Beartooth Scenic Byway, the highest elevation highway in the Rockies. Winding through the northern mountains for close to two hours, we made it to a peak of over two miles above sea level, and were treated to some great views of the mountains, valleys, and lakes in between. I guess that was our reward for risking life and limb driving along some ridiculous cliffs. Amy thought we were going to die.

Yellowstone started off with a visit to Tower Falls, a nice way to begin what would end up being a jam packed day. Definitely a simple, elegant waterfall.

We moved on to see the Mammoth Hot Springs, which was our introduction to Yellowstone's massive hydrothermal complex. Turns out we would get to know it very well in the coming day and a half. Created by heated underground water spouting into natural springs, the entire area was covered by terraces of overflowing water and thermophiles (heat loving bacteria) that created some really amazing palletes of colors.

This was followed by a quick visit to the Petrified Tree, which was a fossilized redwood (like the ones in California) from way back when Yellowstone was a nice warm place. There used to be three trees next to each other, but people took pieces of the other two back in the 1800s and now there's only one. And it's behind a giant fence. Classy.

Feeling a need for some more hydrothermal action, our next stop was the Norris Geyser Basin. Hot springs and geysers. Everywhere. Like, seriously everywhere. We hiked around the entire basin, and saw some more really fantastic hot springs, and also got our first whiff of the nice bubbling sulfur (aka the rotten egg smell). Nice.

Taking a break from the rotten egg steaminess, we decided to take a walk over to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, and took in the view of two major Yellowstone River waterfalls, aptly named the Upper and Lower Falls. The peak of our hike led to Artist's Point, which is the view that inspired a lot of famous photographs and paintings of Yellowstone. Beautiful, really.

Back to more of Yellowstone's famous hydrothermal-ness, we dropped by the Mud Volcano. This was pretty much like the hot springs that we saw earlier, except the particular bacterial composition of the pool created a severe breakdown of the surrounding rocks into mud. The result was a big bubbling mud pool, with a nice sulfurous steam.Very cool, and totally gross.

Our day ended at Bay Bridge campground, where we set up camp and prepared for a cold night ahead. Temperatures were to drop to anywhere from 10 to 30 degrees fahrenheit, so we got bundled up and broke up both of our sleeping bags. And then we passed out. Exhausted.

Distance Traveled: 246mi
Total Distance: 2941mi
$ Spent: $115.79
Total $: $835.28

2009-09-06T19:47:00.001-07:00

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Day 7: Custer/Wind Cave/Devils Tower

2009-09-04T23:43:00.000-07:00

A random geologic formation soon after crossing into Wyoming

Today was filled with state/national parks galore. Though attempting to wake up early, we didn't actually get out of the hotel until 8:30am (about 1.5hrs behind schedule). After reading about Custer State Park in some travel magazines we picked up, I reaally wanted to go.

Custer State Park is home to the 2nd largest herd of buffalo in the country. They boasted that people often see the herd crossing the road (Wildlife Loop Road) along with other animals. We were a little skeptical, but we haven't seen ANY buffalo yet, so we opted to try and take the long way to Wind Cave. To our excitement, almost as soon as we turned onto Wildlife Loop Road, we see some Pronghorn Antelope on the side of the road just hanging out.

In the distance we spot a lone buffalo and eagerly take tons of pictures. We wondered why he was off by himself, but soon found the answer after driving over the hill - he was meeting up with a herd of buffalo! We drive further and see even more. As soon as we pull over, the head bison decides to cross the road, and a bunch of other bison (and babies!) follow. It was so cool to see a bison about 20ft in front of us.

Farther along we got to a herd of burros (donkeys). Though wild, they're known in the park for standing in the road to stop traffic then demand food from drivers. It was pretty funny. Some people did give food and the burros just stuck their heads right into the car. We didn't give food so some just used the side view mirrors as scratching posts for their head. I was hoping they'd wipe off some of the dead bugs stuck to the mirrors, but no luck.

On the way to Wind Cave National Park, we past through some prairie dog towns. They're sooo cute; all you hear is squeaking from them as they run around and into their holes.

11am - Once at the Wind Cave Visitors Center, we went on the Fairgrounds Cave Tour. We found out that Wind Cave is the most complex cave in the world. It also is known for its rare boxwork formations (not the typical stalagmites and stalactites) which were really amazing. Our guide told us it was due to calcite forming in cracks, then the rock dissolves away, leaving the "mortar" behind.

12:30pm - Head out in search of lunch. We ended up back at Custer and went to Sage Creek Grille which got good reviews online. While the food was pretty good (we shared a walnut and brie bruschetta, I got a buffalo burger, and pin got an english grille sandwich), the service was terrible. Our waitress took forever and was super awkward. She only acknowledged Pin when asking how everything was, and would give me a strange look when I talked to her. However, seconds before I was about the write the tip on the check, she stopped me to give recommendations of places to visit in Custer. I saw through her ploy and gave her the minimum 15% tip. We thought we were ahead of schedule but by the time we got out, we were pretty much on schedule again.

2:30pm - We decided we would try to make it up to Devils Tower in northeast Wyoming as it was slightly on the way. Though this would add 1.5hrs of travel time, who knows when we'd be there again, so we decided to go for it.

4:45pm - Devils Tower is the country's first National Monument - dedicated as such by Teddy Roosevelt in 1903 or something like that. Its nearly 700ft tall and is incredible to look at. Native Americans believed that the structure was created by a huge bear that tried to claw its way up to get to some people who retreated to the top. We walked around the trail that wrapped around the base of Tower (about 1.3miles). Along this route we saw awesome panoramas of the surrounding area and saw some mountain climbers about half way up the tower. Well worth the 1.5hr delay!

6:30pm - We stop in Gillette at Casa Del Rey (now a new name). Though we had the address, it was impossible to find, namely because they were in the process of changing their name so there was no sign up. Instead we sat outside trying to figure out where this place was. In the end, it was worth the hassle, as the food was pretty good and not too expensive. I got a chile relleno with enchiladas and pin got a bean burrito. In stark contrast to our Sage Creek waitress, this waitress was extremely attentive and cheery. She asked us 2x if we were all right while we were eating their chips and salsa waiting for our food to come out.

11:30pm - Finally get to our hotel in Billings, MT. Before we go we have to wipe clean the roof top bag - covered with dead bug guts. Pretty gross.

South Dakota is our new favorite state!

Distance Traveled: 560 miles
Total Distance Traveled: 2695mi
$ Spent: $203.42
Total $: $719.49

Day 6: The Badlands / Mt. Rushmore / Custer

2009-09-03T22:26:00.000-07:00

A grasshopper in the Badlands National Park, South Dakota. These are everywhere!

What a long but fun-filled day!! Amy and I are both exhausted, but we're updating the blog anyway, because we're dedicated like that.

6:30am - Amy wakes up and decides to explore our campsite. It's absolutely beautiful during the daytime, and she gets some great shots of the flowers and animals in the area.

8am - I finally wake up. Little do I know how much I missed in the past hour and a half. We start to take down the tent, and get ready to hit the road.

9am - Ready, packed up, and ready to go. The owner of the campground takes us on a trip into his 'backyard,' and we get a nice view of the badlands from the upper plains. We also get to meet his herd of horses, all of whom are very friendly. One of them, Jason, tried to eat Amy's shirt, while another tried to eat my jeans. Absolutely adorable.

10am - We finally actually hit the road, checking out some trails along the badlands. We start off with the 'Window' trail, which gives a great view of valley below us, and we also blaze part of our own trail. The rock formations are really just breathtaking. We also note a few rocks that might be fossils. I don't really know what fossils look like (compared to just funny looking stones), so.... maybe.

11am - We embark on the 'Notch' trail, rated by the park service as a "moderate to strenuous" path. It starts off easy enough, meandering through a flat rockbed, but then we quickly come upon a wooden ladder leading up the side of the cliff. Amy's favorite part of the day, I think. And by favorite, I mean nerve-wracking. Once we get on top of the cliff, the path winds along some narrow ledges (so narrow, in fact, that more than once I thought the trail had ended, only because I couldn't tell where we were supposed to go next) until we came upon a spectacular view across the badland valley. A few pictures here, and we make our way back to the car.

12:30pm - Finally back to the car and we're starving. We stop by the Cedar Pass lodge for a nice lunch. Amy got an Indian Taco, which was essentially everything you would put on a taco (with buffalo meat instead of beef), on top of a big fried bread. I went with the unlimited soup and salad bar. 5 plates of food and a bowl of soup later, we're re-energized and ready to go.

1pm to 4pm - More exploring the badlands. We pretty much stop at every single overlook spot (as well as a few overlooks of our own), and take a billion photos. At this point, both of our cameras are about to die, but we push forward!

4pm - Leave the badlands, time to head over to Mt. Rushmore!

5pm - Pull into Mt. Rushmore. Huge heads. In a mountain. The end.

6pm - Pull into Crazy Horse National Monument. One big head. In a mountain. The end.

6:30pm - Check-in to our hotel room in Custer, SD. Small room, but I'm looking forward to the continental breakfast tomorrow. Mmm.

7:30pm - Head back out to Mt. Rushmore to catch the lighting ceremony at 8pm. Big heads in a mountain. At night. With lights. Whoop!!

Distance Traveled: 200 miles

Total distance traveled: 12135mi
$ Spent: $121.41
Total $ Spent: $516.07

Day 5: Minneapolis/SD

2009-09-03T21:52:00.001-07:00

Driving off into the sunset - while raining, South Dakota

We ended up staying overnight in Dani's apartment - nicer futon, and later waking up! Though we weren't originally planning to, it seemed wrong to be 15min away from the Mall of America (largest mall in America) and not go. I also found out that Target headquarters is in Minneapolis, where they have a 3 story store downtown. If it weren't for the snow, I think Minneapolis might be my heaven.

9am - I woke up and started getting ready. We had cereal, yogurt, and really good tea (Lady Grey) for breakfast.

10am - Finally got out the door; Dani drove as she was our Minneapolis tour guide for the day. I was super excited to find out she's a Prius owner! We headed to the Mall of America first. We were immediately amazed by the mall directory, which is 4 sides - each side with different categories of shops. Walking farther into the mall, we came to the center which is a huge indoor amusement park. There are at least 4 roller coasters and a dozen or so other rides - all INDOORS. [pictures coming soon]

Next to the amusement park is a Legoland store with huge statues built from Legos. It was mandatory to go into this store. They had some prebuilt Lego buildings that cost upwards of $100. They also had packs of "vintage" Lego-men, which I remember having when I was a kid. Are our toys really vintage?? [pictures coming soon]

Next, we headed to the in-mall aquarium. While we didn't have time to go through it, we did need a picture of the world's largest [something], and this was the world's largest underwater aquarium (see "25. World's largest").

It was about 11:30am at this point, and we really needed to head out since we had a looong drive to South Dakota (and needed to check in by 10pm). So of course, we debated riding one of the roller coasters (finally decided no time), and also decided to go to the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. The sculpture garden was pretty, and reminded me a little bit like Grounds for Sculpture in NJ (though not as big as ours I think). The main feature is a huge bent spoon with a cherry spewing water into a large pond. By now, Lucas was done with his morning orientation activities, so we headed out to meet him for lunch. [pictures coming soon]

12:15pm - Already past the time we should have left, we met up for lunch in "Dinkytown" - UMN's downtown - at Potbelly's. We ate pretty quickly, said bye to Lucas and Dani and headed out on the road.

1:30pm - Headed off to South Dakota. We were 1.5hrs late already, though luckily, we would be crossing through to Mountain time and would then be only 30min late. Along the way, the landscape really started to change. TONS of farms for miles and miles and the terrain was getting flatter. Even more annoying was that random parts of RT60 were completely closed for road construction. Lacking the extensive road network we're used to in Jersey, this meant detours that were miles and miles out of the way. We even had to detour onto the original detour a second time to get around a 2nd road closing. This was all before even entering South Dakota. The other nice thing about the midwest terrain, is its conduciveness to wind turbines, which we saw many of along the horizon.

6:30pm - To make the drive more interesting, SD makes up for cornfields with tons of billboards for the same thing. They work though - this is how we ended up at the Corn Palace (world's only!) in Mitchell, SD. We figured this would be an ok stop considering we needed to get gas and dinner, and the corn palace had free admission. For those who don't know, the corn palace is the world's only palace made of corn. Structurally, it is normal, but the exterior and some of the interior, is made completely of corn. Every year, they rebuild the exterior to a new theme. You can find out more at www.cornpalace.com. While we wanted to get gas, we were put off by the non-branded gas stations and the cheaper "unleaded plus". Later, we found out this just meant 10% ethanol added - which is the norm in NJ. We stopped at a Country Fair grocery store to get breakfast food. This meant we had to stop later down the road at a gas station to fill up and get quick dinner food. We ended up getting personal pizzas and eating in the car.

10:45pm CT/9:45pm Mountain - Time change! Though we were worried, a few miles out of Murdo, SD, the time changed giving us extra time to get to the Badlands Ranch and Resort.

10pm - We finally get to the Badlands National Park. It was pitch black and my headlights cast huge shadows over the geologic peaks that sandwiched the winding road we were on. It was incredibly scary to drive through - I don't think you could have paid me to stop the car and get out. Needless to say, we were both pretty excited for tomorrow when we could see these in daylight. Our campground was farther than we thought and was down a long dirt road. The manager had closed the office but ended up seeing our carlights as he was playing his xbox in his motor home next door. He showed us to our camp site and we set up the tent and air mattress. Both were awesome - good buys. Unfortunately, we had no idea where the bathrooms were - that wasn't fun.

Thanks to Dani and Lucas for our time in Minneapolis!

Distance Traveled: 544mi
Total Distance Traveled: 1935mi
$ Spent: $120.23
Total $ Spent: $394.66

2009-09-02T15:27:00.001-07:00

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Day 4: Madison / Minneapolis

2009-09-01T23:47:00.000-07:00

Our first real day of long haul driving, and it was super fun! Amy and I are both officially (in my mind) qualified truckers.

10am - Woke up in Chicago, about 2 hours later than we had planned. Whoops!

11am - Waiting for the bus to get downtown, and it turns out that the bus we wanted didn't run after 9am. Figured that out after about 45mins of standing on a street corner looking sketchy and lost. Double whoops!

12pm - After deciding to drive into downtown, we finally make it, meeting up with Jing at Fox & Obel's (Chicago's answer to Whole Foods) to grab some food. Heading down to Navy Pier, we eat in the park and take a quick stroll down to Lake Michigan. Unanimous decision to avoid a hive of yellowjackets is made, and we head back, to drop Jing off at work.

2:30pm - We swing by Giordano's Pizza to pick up a famous Chicago deep dish pizza, and head off to Minneapolis. So long for now, Windy City!

4pm - Wisconsin! First sign that we see upon entering Wisconsin states, quite simply, "Cheese, Gifts, Fireworks." I immediately get the feeling I'm going to like this state.

4:45pm - I realize that Wisconsin has nothing but endless fields of corn. Love for Wisconsin beginning to fade.

5pm - We take a quick detour to Madison, Wisconsin, to visit Amy's cousin at the University of Wisconsin. It's a beautiful campus, though the main street area was fairly uneventful. After taking a quick tour, we head back out, only to see a guy protesting along the highway. Wisconsin interest is once again piqued.

7pm - Continuing through the state, more driving, more singalongs (Weezer was the artist of choice), and a whole ton of interesting rock formations / hills / valleys off in the distance. The pizza from Chicago meets its partial demise somewhere along the line here.

9:50pm - Gas stop. Debate about whether or not to buy a giant 44oz blue raspberry slurpee for $1.29. The yays beat the nays 2 - 0, and brain freeze takes its toll.

10pm - Minnesota! Fail at attempt to doubleback and get a picture of the "Welcome to Minnesota" sign.

10:30pm - Arrival at Lucas' apartment. Horizontalness begins, as we discuss many very serious subjects, like seahorses with Lucas, Boris, and Dani. The apartments are super nice (especially Dani's curtains), and we learn to call the futon home.

Special thanks to Jing for letting us stay at her place and being such a wonderful hostess, as well as taking time away from work to have lunch with us. Also big thank yous to Lucas, Boris, and Dani for staying up to meet up with us and hang out, as well as giving us a wonderful place to spend the night!

Distance Traveled: 421mi
Total distance traveled: 1391mi
$ Spent: $106.90
Total $ Spent: $274.43

12. A bison

2009-09-01T01:10:00.000-07:00

Submitted by Amy: a bison or buffalo

At the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History

Day 3: Cincinnati/Chicago

2009-09-01T01:03:00.000-07:00

Our favorite sequence of photos: Kevin interacts with the cannon onboard a steamboat in the Cincinnati History Museum

9am - We woke up in anticipation of Kevin coming home from his morning meeting.

10:30am - We finally get out of the house and head to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. I love Cracker Barrel, though surprisingly have never had it for breakfast (this was Pin's first ever time at Cracker Barrel). Pin tried to solve that triangle peg game, unsuccessfully. Kevin got the Grandfather platter with Chicken Fried Chicken (we still don't know what this means), and me and pin split Blueberry pancakes and eggs in a blanket. Everything was really good, though how could it not if its fried in butter? The pancakes came with cute little jars of syrup and blueberry syrup - I swiped them. I was successful in finding 2 servers with the name Amy (see "6. Likenamed Servers"). Afterwards, we walked around the store and each got some candy and I bought a blue blanket (60% off - yes we found room for it in my car).

11:45am - Finally set off to Cincinnati downtown, to the Cincinnati Union Terminal where Museum Center is. Museum Center is basically an old train terminal that was converted into 3 museums - The Cincinnati History Museum, the Cin. Museum of Natural History, and the Duke Energy Children's Museum. A ticket for all 3 museums was only $12pp.

We went to the History museum which turned out to just be a "Cincinnati History" museum, not a Cincinnati "History museum". We were greeted by a nice guy at the Information Station, who promptly stated we didn't have the "new joisey" accent. He showed us briefly around the first level of the museum which was basically various replicas of Cincinnati from the 1940s - 70s. We got to feel like giants.

Kevin and I were pretty excited about running into P&G history all over the museum. That is a picture of us with a box stamped with the P&G logo, btw.

After walking through this part and the Cincinnati during war time part, we were pretty disappointed with the museum. Then we found the lower level which turned out to be Cincinnati history to pre-revolutionary times. This museum is pretty kid-oriented, so we got to play around in the "flat-boat era" where people sailed from Pittsburgh on flat-boats until they reached their plot of land where they used the wood from the boat to build their new home. Though the studio apt here was much smaller, I think the rent is much more affordable - I thought about moving in.

There was another part depicting the public landing era where we could visit stores with people dressed from the time period. The apothecary guy was pretty amusing and suggested Kevin and Pin join the steamboat as log-cutters if they were strapped for cash and needed a cheap way to get down to Louisiana. On the steamboat, an super old guy explained the workings of the steam boat - steam engine! Then we visited the printer, where there's an actual guy who casts the letters to put in an old fashioned printing press (it was eerily similar to the batch code blocks at P&G). He was pretty enthusiastic about it and said they print a lot of wedding invitations (hint hint??).

We visited the apothecary guy in his pharmacy where he showed us how they used to make pills the old fashioned way. He also demonstrated blood letting on me - which took me a few moments before realized the leeches we fake.

In the natural history museum, we immediately sat in on a curator's presentation of the polar bear, where he was asking for volunteers to try some polar bear blubber for $1. I volunteered Kevin, who seriously considered it, before the curator admitted he was just kidding - it was Crisco on a bag. In the lower levels of the museum, they had replicas of a cave and an ice cave which were pretty cool and realistic. We had almost too much fun taking pictures - since no one was there. Here's a selection:

Pin is the modern relative of the Pikaea The natural order of species to save from extinction. We thought I would get most important, and pin was least important. Luckily for Pin, the answer was "everyone is important."

4pm - Afterwards, we headed back to Loveland to get some of Cincinnati's famous Skyline Chili. I was skeptical about it, since I've heard mixed reviews from P&G people and have never had chili. I ordered their classic 3-way Chili and Spaghetti (spaghetti with chili and shredded cheddar cheese). Kevin got the 5-way (+ onions and red beans) and Pin got the burrito - vegetarian style. (see "27. Meals") Turns out I LOVE it, and I ordered another to go.

5pm - Next we went to Graeter's ice cream, where kevin treated us to some great ice cream. Me and pin shared cookies and cream and blueberry pie (see "27. Meals")

5:30pm - We went back to Kevin's place. While we were planning on going to see the largest Jesus statue (in Monroe, OH), we opted for a round of MarioParty. I basically killed Kevin and Pin (I had 7 stars, they had 3 and 2 respectively). Then we had to rush to pack our stuff back in the car as we were behind schedule to leave for Chicago.

7:45pm - We finally leave Kevin's place - definitely sad, as his condo is SO nice, and it was a fun time! Resolved to be more proactive about filling up on cheap gas, we filled up twice on the way to Chicago.

10:45Central/11:45EST - Time zone change! I found out my car changes its time automatically. Though we gained an hour, we were still and hr late getting into Chicago.

12:30am - Finally get to Jing's apartment in Chicago. It's a beautiful apartment and we're happy about the huge couch we are sleeping on. Though we are only in Chicago for a short time - we are pretty sure we won't be waking up for breakfast...

Thanks to Kevin again for showing us around Cincinnati and feeding us so well! And to Jing, for staying up late to meet us!

Distance Traveled: 319mi
Total distance traveled: 970mi
$ Spent: $42.00
Total $: $167.63

6. Like-named Servers

2009-09-01T00:15:00.000-07:00

Submitted by Jon L: Photo with an ihop (or other eatery) employee that has the same name

Amy with Amy from Cracker Barrel, Loveland, OH

27. Meals

2009-09-01T00:13:00.000-07:00

Submitted by Amy's mom: what we eat everyday

Kentucky: Hofbrauhaus, Combo Appetizer platter

Ohio:

Breakfast at Cracker Barrel, Eggs in a Basket and Blueberry pancakes

Skyline Chili, 3-way Chili with Spaghetti

Skyline Chili, Burrito- Vegetarian

Graeter's ice cream - cookies and cream and blueberry pie

24. Local Newspaper

2009-09-01T00:06:00.000-07:00

Submitted by James G. - with a copy of the local newspaper wherever we stop

Weirton, WV

21. Red Corollas

2009-09-01T00:04:00.000-07:00

Submitted by Katie R.: Red corollas of different license plates

Ohio (OH)

Illinois (IL)

11. VW Van

2009-08-31T23:46:00.000-07:00

Submitted by Pin: Every VW van we see

(Cincinnati, OH)

Day 2: Columbus / Cincinnati

2009-08-30T21:16:00.001-07:00

View of the Cincinnati skyline from Newport, KY

Second day of Pin and Amy's Great Adventure roadtrip, and we've already had our first run-in with a potentially life threatening situation (not really).

9am - Waking up bright and not so early. We realized last night that the hotel only has a breakfast buffet from Monday through Friday, so there was really no motivation to wake up early to eat. 9am counts as sleeping in, right? Check out wasn't until 11am, so we had plenty of time to shower, repack everything, and lounge around in our fabulous top floor executive (?) room for a little while.

11am - Left Pittsburgh, cheery and ready to see the rest of Pennsylvania and get into the middle of nowhere.

11:30am - Realized we only had enough gas to go another 30 miles. GPS says there's no gas station within 50 miles of us. Panic ensues. We pull into a town off the highway only to discover the town center contains a flea market, a cabin, and what looks like something that might have been a gas station 30 years ago.... before it burned down.

11:45am - Amy discovers a gas station (and not just a gas station, but a Sheetz, which if you've ever lived in the middle of nowhere, you would know is the best gas station for food ever) 6 miles down the road. Eureka! We're saved from the corn people, and the road trip is saved from disaster.

1:00pm - Arrived at Columbus to get lunch, because I was beginning to die from starvation. Little did we know, when you're in the middle of nowhere, even the cities shut down on Sundays. There was literally nothing open except for one street vendor selling hot dogs. Imagine a zombie movie where everyone's dead or eating people's brains. That was Columbus on a Sunday afternoon.

2:00pm - Pull over to a Wendy's because I'm about to die. At this point, we were planning on just plowing through to Cincinnati and eating there, but sometimes when my stomach is arguing with me, you just can't argue back. It yells. And growls. It's scary. I ordered for Amy and I, and told the cashier we would like "5 piece nuggets, medium fries, and a side salad." Somehow the cashier took it as "nuggets, fries, a salad, and a junior bacon cheeseburger." Not sure how, but I didn't realize until after I paid, so.... good one, Ohio. You got me.

4:30pm - Arrived at Kevin's apartment in Loveland (yes, that's right) Ohio, near Cincinnati. One word. Ballllller. Nicest one person condo ever, with a guest room, guest bathroom, balcony... the works. Sweet. Hotel Kevin rocks.

8:00pm - We finally make it out of the apartment, and make our way across the Ohio River to Newport, Kentucky. Dinner is at a German beer / bratwurst house, and it's delicious. I had a nice liter of Munich brew (with a banana undertone) to go with my veggie burger and munster, while Amy and Kevin had half liters of a light brew with their food (alfredo tilapia and wurst with apple kraut, respectively).

10:00pm - Walking along the banks of the Ohio River, we had a nice view of the Cincinnati skyline from Kentucky.

10:30pm - Drove back across the river and walked along Fountain Square in the Cincinnati downtown area. Once again, a super quiet zombie city, and from the looks of it, it's almost completely sponsored by Fifth Third and US Banks. We did, on the other hand, make some progress on the scavenger hunt here, finding our first '70s VW van. Whoop!!

11:45pm - Back at Hotel Kevin, time for an early night of sleep, resting up for what's to come!

Thanks to Sheetz for saving us from certain death in rural Pennsylvania, and Kevin for being our tour guide and host!!

Distance Traveled: 270mi
Total Distance Traveled:651mi
$ Spent: $51.75
Total $ Spent: $125.53

26. Cannon

2009-08-29T23:32:00.000-07:00

Submitted by Lydia M: Straddle a cannon

22. State License Plates

2009-08-29T23:06:00.001-07:00

Unknown

Wisconsin

West Virginia
Virginia

Vermont

Texas
Tennesee
South Dakota
South Carolina
Quebec
Pennsylvania

Ontario

Oklahoma

Ohio

North Carolina

New York
New Jersey

Nebraska

Missouri
Michigan
Maine
Maryland
MA

Kentucky (OH)

Kansas
Iowa

Illinois (OH)

Georgia (OH)

Florida
Delaware
Connecticut (Photo in PA)

Colorado (OH)

California (Photo in PA)

Arizona (OH)

Arkansas (OH)

18. Welcome

2009-08-29T23:04:00.000-07:00

Submitted by Amy and Pin
PA

Ohio

Kentucky

15. Chick

2009-08-29T23:03:00.001-07:00

Submitted by D. Chick: A picture with a baby chick

My cellphone holder (PA)

The word "chick" on the side of the white building. (Columbus, OH)

14. ABC Cities

2009-08-29T22:41:00.001-07:00

Submitted by Kevin T: A city starting with each letter of the alphabet

A
Biglersville, PA
Coraopolis, PA
D
E
F
Gettysburg, PA
Harrisburg, PA
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
Pittsburgh, PA
Q
R
Scotland, PA
Trenton, NJ
U
Valley Forge, PA
W

...too many photos...

13. Lydia's House

2009-08-29T22:39:00.000-07:00

Submitted by Lydia M: Pin in front of Lydia's house going like this (see picture)

8. Mascot

2009-08-29T22:31:00.000-07:00

Submitted by Melissa P: Picture with a mascot of any kind

A statue of the dog that was killed at the Battle of Gettysburg. He was the mascot of the Confederate Army.

5. Fob Shots

2009-08-29T22:24:00.000-07:00

Submitted by Jon L: fob shots (super big smile, peace signs) with random tourists in atleast 5 different cities

1) Halo Farm, Trenton, NJ

2) Devil's Den, Gettysburg, PA

Ok so we didn't do it with tourists...

Day 1: Gettysburg/Pittsburgh

2009-08-29T21:09:00.000-07:00

Statue of General Warren on Little Round Top overlooking battlefield, Gettysburg, PA

Today was the first day of Pin and Amy's Great Adventure roadtrip across the country - aka, moving me to Stanford. Pin came over last night and we got up early to leave this morning. Before going, there was last minute shoving of more things into my car.

Here is a pic of me and my family with my super packed ca

10am- Met Neha and Muneem at PJs Pancakes for a final breakfast in Princeton! Thanks for meeting us!

11am - Stopped at Walmart to buy an air mattress and air pump.

12pm - We stopped at Halo Farm in Trenton (makers of the great Halo Pub ice cream!) to fulfill my recent dream of seeing it. Got to see a cartoner packing out grape nectar. We bought a half gallon of ice tea, mostly because it was only 79cents! and I got a book cover for 10cents. Not having cups, we stopped about 50miles later for a starbucks straw so pin could drink it. We also stopped at the Trenton Farmer's market next door and bought some peaches and apples. Anyone who lives near here should buy their milk, juice, eggs, etc from Halo Farm - it's SO cheap.

We got to Pennsylvania around 1pm, but didn't see a Welcome PA sign...this will have to do

Around 3:30pm - We arrived in Gettysburg and filled up gas ($2.59/gal) waiting for Lydia M.'s parents. They were so nice! They drove us around Gettysburg showing us the main highlights and giving us an overview of some of the history. We visited: Culp's Hill, Devil's Den, Little Round Top, and passed by a lot of the state infantry monuments. We were proud to see that NJ's monument was hidden in the trees. Apparently, they were probably sited where the infantry fought. NJ was having a picnic from a hill in the trees for a good view of the battle.
After, we stopped at Pizza House - a Gettysburg College staple - and got pizza and hoagies. Though Pin tried his best to treat Patti and Barry to dinner, Barry won this round. We went back to their house in Biglersville (known as "Apple Country"), which took us through beautiful hills and apple orchards (aka wireless dead zone). We immediately met one of their cats (pictured), Adolf, who must be the oldest cat alive (over 17 years). We got acquainted with the Myers beautiful house as well as Patti's extensive collection of Pfaltzgraff folk art ware! :)

11:30pm - We arrived at the Crown Plaza in Pittsburgh. Many fond memories of visiting Neha here! This is a fantastic hotel, btw, they gave us a baggie with lavender linen spray and chocolates on the bed.

Big thanks to my family for sending me off, Neha and Muneem for meeting us in Princeton (Malasa for trying!) and the Myers family for showing us around their hometown of Gettysburg!

Distance Traveled: 381miles
Total Distance Traveled: 381 miles
Money spent: $73.76
Total $ Spent: $73.76

Pin and Amy’s Photo Scavenger Hunt List!

2009-08-28T22:10:00.000-07:00

Thanks for your suggestions, feel free to add more as we go!

a family (at least a parent and one child, better if more) with mullets, Jon L.

an african american naruto cosplayer, Jon L.
street signs with your names (i.e. pin ave, amy blvd), Jon L.
sitting on the back of a chopper at a biker convention (with the owner of the bike), Jon L.
fob shots (super big smile, peace signs) with random tourists in at least 5 different cities, Jon L.
photo with an ihop (or other eatery) employee that has the same name (good luck, pin), Jon L.
milking a cow, Jon L.
picture with a mascot of any kind, Melissa P.
Do the “Matt Harding “, Spike S.
Omaha steaks, Diana C.
Every VW van we see, Bev T.
A bison or buffalo, Amy T.
With Lydia’s mom (or in front of Lydia’s house if mom is not available), Lydia M.
A city starting with each letter of the alphabet, Kevin T.
A picture with a baby chick, D. Chick
As many phallic natural occurrences as possible, Kevin T.
One foot in each state, Jing C.
Every Welcome state sign we pass, Pin and Amy
Taking shots with locals
Pictures with clementines (or an orange), Katie R.
Red corollas of different license plates, Katie R.
Expansion: As many license plate states we see, Amy/Pin

Packing

2009-08-28T12:54:00.001-07:00

My packed car (partially packed!)