1 Mile Down....9999 More To Go: May 2005

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

Reflections

By The Numbers...

Total days: 128
Total miles: 17094.7
Total states traveled: 31 + District of Columbia...New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Washington D.C., West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, North Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania
Oil changes: 4
Speeding tickets: 1
Accidents: 0
Visitors: 4...Shawn, mom, Jen, and Madeleine
People visited: 24...Jen, Shawn, Lesley + Deran, The Phillips (Barry, Therese, Zchary and Charlotte), The Lentz (Aunt Sandy, Uncle Steve, Katherine and Michael), The Goldsteins (Lisa, Sam and Noah), Ian + Marita, The Elstons (Uncle Rog, Aunt Tana, Polly), The Minters (Judi, John, Maya and Dede)
Lesson learned: countless

Some final thoughts:

This is a truly beautiful country. If you ever get the opportunity to see it all go for it. You will be amazed at the similarities and differences that exists within our country. I think I have a better understanding of what it means to be American. Every state and every city in this country has a history and a story. When given the opportunity residents want to do nothing more than tell their story.

There are so many amazing people in this country. I’ve definitely learned to relax more when meeting new people. I’ve learned that more often than not people can be trusted. I made a lot of new friends on this trip that I will hopefully continue to keep in touch with.

While the core of who I am is still the same but I have learned so much about myself. I am more comfortable with who I am. I am more confident. I mean if I can make it 5 months on the road by myself, what can’t I do?

There are so many places that I visited that I absolutely have to go back to and places that I didn’t get to see that I absolutely want to visit. This of course means that at some point I’m going to have to get over my fear of flying. I’ll get there.

Before I left on my trip various people had some predictions. My grandmother decided that I would meet the man of my dreams while my mother was convinced that I would find the place that I want live. Well grandma wasn’t right but mom was. One of the most important things that I learned on this trip was that I want to be where my family and friends are.

So my trip is over and it’s time for me to enter the real world. Time to get a job and find a place to live. But first things first…time to talk to and see everyone that I have missed so much the past 5 months.

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

What A Long Strange Trip It’s Been

Day #128
Tripometer: 17094.7
Mile #17000: Tannerville, Pennsylvania

I’m home!! The drive home was so long. My drive today was a relatively short one, only 4 hours but it felt like so much longer. Something I’ve noticed on my trip is that the long drives are harder than the short ones. On the shorter drives I tend to count miles and exits. My mom, dad and I all got home within a few minutes of each other which was really, really nice. I got a quick tour of the house so that I could see al of the work they had done since I left. It looks great. We had lunch and caught up on a little. It’s a little strange being home but mostly it’s really wonderful. I'm so greatful to have had the opportunity to go on such a journey. In a lot of ways I still can't believe I did it. Even more though, I can't believe it's over.

Monday, May 23, 2005

Rock And Roll Dude!

Day #127
Tripometer: 16832.6 miles

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is a wonderful place. They do an exceptional job looking at the history of rock music and have an incredible display of music memorabilia. Which I guess is good considering that’s what the museum is supposed to have to whatever. I was a little disappointed with the gift shop however. They of course had many items with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame logo on it but there’s so much more they could have done. I then made my way to one last baseball game (that is until I get home and get to root for my Yankees). This time I went to Jacobs Field and saw the Indians play the Twins. Good game. I can’t wait to get to a game where I actually care about the outcome.

Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame

Guitars

Sunday, May 22, 2005

A Day Of New Experiences

Day #126
Tripometer: 16603.6 miles
Mile #16500: Toledo, Ohio

There’s not really much in Detroit but cars and baseball. Since I don’t know so much about cars I decided to check out the baseball. I went to Comerica Park to watch the Tigers. Unfortunately it started to rain. Now they must grow them kind of fragile in Detroit because it wasn’t what I would raining. It was more dripping. But since it wasn’t my decision the Major League Baseball people decided to wait until the rain stopped. So I sat and waited. Now the wonderful thing about this game was that I was experiencing something new. For the first time in my life I was sitting the very last row of a stadium. I was sitting next to this very large family having themselves a wonderful time. I was incorporated into their family reunion. It was a great way to kill over 3 hours until the game started. Once the game began I thought I would try to make my way closer to the field where I had another new experience. This time I sat in the very first row of the stadium and watched a pretty good game. Ex-Yankee Javier Vasquez pitched a complete game 5-hit shutout. What was George thinking giving up on him so quickly? Anyway, the game lasted just over 2 hours, yup that’s shorter than the rain delay.

Comerica Park

Rain Delay

Front Row Seats

Saturday, May 21, 2005

Farewell Chicago…I’ll Definitely Be Back

Day # 125
Tripometer: 16382.1 miles

Today I left Chicago (sad face). It was great to see Maya and her sister Dede and I’m so glad I only have to wait a month before I get to see them again. Chicago is a fabulous city. I’m definitely going to have to come back. Hopefully Maya and her family will let me come visit them again. Unfortunately I didn’t get to Wrigley Field to see a Cubs game. That will have to wait until the next visit. On my way to Detroit (where I am now) I drove a little out of the way and drove down Lakeshore Drive, down the coast of Lake Michigan. It was a beautiful day and therefore a wonderful drive.

Friday, May 20, 2005

Checking Out The Neighborhoods

Day #124

This morning I walked around Oak Park. Frank Lloyd Wright lived in the area and designed a lot of houses in the neighborhood. I bought a map and went on a walking tour of the area. This afternoon Maya's mother took me on a driving tour of some of the various neighborhoods in Chicago. It's interesting how similar major cities are but at the same time how very different they are.

Frank Lloyd Wright Houses

Thursday, May 19, 2005

Downtown Chicago

Day #123

Today I took the Green Line into downtown Chicago and went to the Art Institute. What an awesome museum. There was such a variety of exhibits. I was really impressed. It is one of the best art museums I've ever been to. It's so big but not overwhelming. After the museum I went to Millenium Park to walk around a little. It was a very foggy day. I looked up one minute and couldn't see the tops of the buildings. The next minute I looked up and couldn't see all of the buildings. I went to the Chicago Cultural Center which is located in the old Chicago library. The inside of the building is absolutely beautiful. The entire lobby and upstairs is this incredible mosaic. There was also this really awesome photography exhibit done by a guy who went on a road trip from NY to Reno in the 60's. Of course I loved it.

Art Institute

Paperweights

Paintings

Look Familiar Mom?

Millenium Park

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

Ballpark #7

Day #122
Tripometer: 16046.6 miles
Mile #16000: Chicago, Illinois

Comisky Park...oh wait, everything has a corporate sponsor now US Cellular Field is not that impressive. While the White Sox are the best team in baseball right now they have a pretty dull ballpark and little fan support. After the game I went to Oak Park, a suburb just outside of Chicago where I will be staying for the next couple of days with Maya and her family. Tonight we went to a book reading by Maya's cousin's (Zayd for all those who know him) wife. She lived in China for a bunch of years and worked as a soap opera actress and wrote about her experience. The book is called Foreign Babes in Beijing. I recommend it. I haven't read it but I definitely plan to.

US Cellular Field

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

If You Build It I Will Come

Day #121
Tripometer: 15992.8 miles

I figured since I was in Wisconsin I should find something to do. I guess I should have done something cheese-related but I decided against that in order to go to the World Circus Museum. I am so glad I chose the circus over cheese. It's so disappointing that such a fabulous museum is in Wisconsin. It means that I probably won't ever get to it again but that's okay. The museum told the story of the Ringling Brothers and their rise to the top of the circus world. There was also a building that housed a lot of the old circus wagons. They were really beautiful. They also had statues of circus freaks which were quite amusing. The grounds were set up like a little circus...there was a place to get your face painted, pony and elephant rides and a petting zoo. It would be a really great place to bring kids if you ever find yourself in Baraboo, Wisconsin.

After Wisconsin I had to make the trip to Dyersville, Iowa to check out where the movie Field of Dreams was filmed. It was awesome. I love every minute of it. I was a little sad that corn wasn't in season but that's okay. It's a little weird though because the infield and right field are owned by one family and left and center field are owned by someone else. That means that there are 2 welcome and info centers and 2 souvenir stands. A little ridiculous.

Circus Wagons

Circus Freaks

Field Of Dreams

View From Center Field

Monday, May 16, 2005

Crazy Big Mall

Day #120
Tripometer: 15663.5 miles
Mile #15500: Baldwin, Wisconsin

I loved this place. A fact not everyone knows about me...I LOVE MALLS!! Granted I have to be in the mood for them but basically I think they're wonderful. I also love amusement parks and movies so any place that can put all three of these under one roof has to be fabulous. When I got to the mall the parking lot was big and scary. The sections of the various lots were not just lettered or numbered the were labled as different states so I decided to park in the NY section so that I would be sure to remember where my car was. Now I must have had an obscene image in my head because when I walked into the mall I was not completely overwhelmed by the size of it. The layout of the mall was really well done. There are 4 floors and the little amusement park, Camp Snoopy, is in the middle. It seemed like all of the children's stores were located in one wing of the mall. I thought this was really smart for a number of reasons. If you're a parent at the mall with your children you can either choose to only go to that part of the mall or choose to avoid it completely. The mall also had this very cool Lego Imagination Area where you can of course buy lego products but you can also sit and play with Legos for a while. On the 4th floor was a movie theater, a couple of arcades and some restaurants, but everywhere else there were stores, stores and more stores. Oh yeah...there was even a wedding chapel in the mall.

Mall of America

Camp Snoopy

Lego Imagination Area

Chapel of Love

Sunday, May 15, 2005

A Bird In The Hand Is Worth Two In The Bush

Day #119
Tripometer: 15425.9 miles

What are two birds in the car worth? Nothing...they're dead. On my way to Minneapolis two birds just flew into the front of my car. It was really sad. I'm not sure why they were flying so low and why they didn't get out of the way but there was nothing I could do about it. It scared me a lot. They made kind of a loud noise.

On to the ballgame. I went to the Twins game today. I've don't like games in a dome. I know that the field is comparable in size to all of the other major league fields but it felt and looked A LOT smaller. It was definitely a strange environment to see a game. Maybe it would have been better if there were actually some people at the game.

Metrodome

Saturday, May 14, 2005

3 States...1 Day

Day #118
Tripometer: 15299.3 miles
Mile #15000: Brandt, South Dakota
Oil Change #4

First I went to Sertoma Butterfly House in South Dakota. It was ok but not as cool as Butterfly World in Florida. Next stop, Pipestone National Monument in Minnesota. This was very cool. I met and talked to a Lakota Indian who was carving a peace pipe. He was really interesting to talk to. I walked around a little outside and checked out the quarry where Native Americans still go to find pipestone. It was very small and a little out of the way but totally worth going to. Last stop, Fargo, North Dakota to the Roger Maris Museum. It was very small but very interesting. There was a 45 minute video on his entire major league career. I really liked that they looked at him as a whole player and not just him during the 1961 season when he broke Babe Ruth's homerun record.

Sertoma Butterfly House

Pipestone National Monument

Pipestone

Oracle

Lakota Indian Friend

Friday, May 13, 2005

Badlands National Park

Day #117
Tripometer:14923.5 miles

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SARA K-L!!!

Talk about a windy day. I tried to hike around the Badlands today but for I while it was too difficult to open my car door. After a few tries I finally got the door open and walked around a little. After almost falling over I decided that I had had enough and got back in the car. The Badlands are beautiful...at least what I could see from my car. If you find yourself in the South Dakota area I highly reccomend them.

After the Badlands I headed further east (I'm getting closer to home) to the Corn Palace. Sounds weird doesn't it? Well it was. This building is covered with corn. Each year the town redesigns and then redocorates the outside of the building. The inside of the building has more about the history of the buildings and photos of the past. It is also a big auditorium and is used for concerts, proms, graduations and other such thing. There were a few things about the building that I didn't understand. The main thing was that it takes the town almost 5 months to completely redecorate the building. Why would you take on such a ridiculously large project just to enjoy it for 7 months and then start all over again?!? I guess so that you can be the town to say that you have the one and only corn palace.

Badlands

Corn Palace

Thursday, May 12, 2005

What Goes Around Comes Around

Day #116
Tripometer: 14506.3 miles
Mile # 14500: Rapis City, South Dakota

HAPPY BIRTHDAY YOGI BERRA!!!

In the beginning of my trip I was teasing some people back home about the weather I was having. Now you can all make fun of me. This morning I woke up and had to dig my car out from under 6 inches of snow. The weird thing was that I was doing this under the sun in 60 degree weather. I don’t get it. I’m just glad it’s sunny.

My first stop was Crazy Horse, a monument developed to celebrate the Native Americans who live/lived in the area and find the Black Hills to be sacred. This is an awesome work in progress. When it is complete it will be the largest statue ever created, bigger than the Washington Monument or the Great Pyramids. The area has a great video that takes you through the process so far. There is also a great Native American art exhibit. As of now the face of Crazy Horse is complete and the head of the horse has been outlined on the side of the mountain. I hope that it will be completed sometime in my lifetime. It would be really cool to be able to come back and see the finished product.

Next stop, Mt. Rushmore. One of the best things I’ve purchased on this trip has been a National Parks Pass. This lets me get into national parks, monuments and memorials for free instead of paying for each park individually. This has absolutely paid for itself. Mt. Rushmore, a national memorial, got sneaky though. They don’t charge you to get into the park but they do charge you for parking and you can’t use the pass for this. I was a little annoyed but what was I going to do. I parked my car and stated to walk to toward the mountain I looked up and realized that I couldn’t see anything because it was so foggy. So I went to the Visitor’s Center and the museums they have that tell more about the artist and the process and then went back to check out the mountain. Still nothing. I was determined not to let this be another Stone Mountain or Crater Lake so I put my butt on the wall and just sat there and waited for the fog to move out of my way. And after 2 hours it did.

Crazy Horse

Mt. Rushmore

No One

George Washington

Everyone

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

All Sorts Of Weather

Day #115
Tripometer: 14407.7 miles

Today was a nasty day. It did a little bit of everything…it rained, it sleeted, it hailed, and it snowed…all in one day. Since it was so disgusting out I thought it would probably be a good idea to spend some time indoors. First I went to Jewel Cave National Monument. I was more impressed with the size of the cave than I was with the actually cave. Luray Caverns were much more impressive to me. The ranger that led the tour was a bit annoying too.

On the drive to Jewel Cave I had passed the National Woodcarving Museum so I drove back and went in. This was very cool. I’ve always been fascinated by woodworking but this was a whole other level of woodworking.

Jewel Cave

Woodcarvings

1 Mile Down....9999 More To Go