A lot has happened since my last post. For starters, the girl that I am pining over has become pretty much an apparition in my life. Occasionally I see her, but it's not like shes' really there. She kinda just represents something that was. Something sublime, and something destitute.
I went on my planned roadtrip. I really should have kept an online journal while I did this, especially considering I barely kept a real one. Really, all I did was just jot down notes to be fleshed out into a journal later. I left my home in Palmyra and drive to Chicago, going through Ohio and Indiana on the way. I stayed there two nights. On the only full day (August 12) I was there, I went on a walking tour of the financial district's architecture, which was amazing. Later I had Lou Malnati's deep dish pizza. This might be the second greatest pizza I've ever had (nothing will ever be better than Barlolo's in Palmyra!) and certainly the best deep dish I've ever had. After that I took the CTA over to Wrigley Field to watch my Philadelphia Phillies take on the Chicago Cubs. Weird enough, I found out an old childhood friend was down in Chicago to see the same game! So we met up in the concourse before the game and caught up. The game was incredible. Pedro Martinez made his Phillies debut, and the Fightins went on to win the game 12-5. This was also the game where some jerk Cubs fan threw a beer on Shane Victorino. Let me tell you, I was LIVID. I had seats behind the Phils dugout and went on yelling about how Philly gets a bad rap about fan behavior. Seriously. Classy Chicago, classy. He caught the ball anyway. See that's what happens when you have a gold glover in centerfield.
Anyway, next day was up to northern Minnesota (passing through Wisconsin) where the headwaters of the Mississippi are. Being able to walk barefoot across the Mississippi River will always remain one of the highlights of my life. Stayed there just the one night and headed out to Montana early the next day. This was the longest drive of the trip. I left Minnesota, drove through all of North Dakota, finally ending in western Montana (East Glacier Park). This was the day I seriously though I was going to die. No lie, it's the only time in my life that I truly thought that my death was imminent. Okay, so I was in western Montana and it's night. Forget anything you know about nighttime. Yeah, nighttime in the Poconos is beautiful and there aren't many lights around. Even less in Montana. Where I was driving, the only residences were ranches, with lots and lots of land between all the ranch house. And the homes are way, way, way off of the road. And then there was a thunderstorm. Again, forget all you know about thunderstorms. This lightening takes up the entire sky. There's a reason it's called "Big Sky Country" up there. Okay, so desolate, pitch black, crazy pouring rain, lightening, and really windy roads. Oh, and I had no idea where I was going and wasn't sure what road I was on. And the GPS lost satellite service. Imminent death. It was one of those "Okay, God, You have my attention" moments. That's the only thing that got me through, talking to Him and asking that I wasn't called home on that particular Montana road. Eventually I got past the storm, was able to call the hostel (which happened to be located above a bakery inside the park). I drove through Blackfoot country, but I'm not entirely sure if the road I was on was part of the reservation or not.
This wasn't meant to be an in-depth description of my trip, but is turning into one quickly. So let's buzz through the next stuff. I left the next morning for Seattle, passing through Idaho. I arrived in Seattle around 5:00pm local time on Saturday. Bad first night experience. Terrible parking by the hostel and couldn't find a place to eat dinner at. All I wanted was a cafe, but no. I settled for...*sigh*...a Starbucks. how cliche. It wasn't even the first Starbucks ever. Bad night. Sunday change around the entire trip. I went to Mars Hill Church, the Ballard campus to see Mark Driscoll. This was one of the most anticipated parts of the trip. I love that man and really hoped to meet him, but at the very least, I was excited about seeing him preach. Well, he wasn't there. He teaches probably 50 weeks out of the year, but this was not one of them. The message was really good, but still. I was out in the lobby/bookstore area and met a guy my own age, Matt, from San Diego, and another guy about the same age, Gino, living in Australia, but originally from the Philippines. We talked, we got lunch, and had a great morning/early afternoon. I actually finally enjoyed being on this trip. Anyway, they headed out and I visited touristy things like the Space Needle, Pike's Pier (closed since it was Sunday), and the first ever Starbucks. I met an amazing older guy at the top of the Space Needle. I sat and ate dinner with him while he pointed all kind of stuff out as we looked over the city. Great day.
Left Monday morning for Northern California. Was asked if I knew where to score weed by some people who were out taking pictures of the "Welcome to California" sign. The answer was no. That night I walked amongst trees that seemed to be from a movie. The redwoods towered above me, seemingly unreal. They can't be real. No trees are this tall. And then the Sequoias. Let's put it this way. If Matt from "My Side of the Mountain" lived inside this tree, he could have had several modestly sized rooms.
The next morning I walked along the beach for just a couple minutes. My original plan was to go to San Diego, but decided I didn't feel like being in a car for 14 hours again (the Minnesota-Montana part of the trip). I decided I'd go to L.A. instead. Well, while driving, I decided that was too far as well, and instead stopped in Monterey. Monterey somehow managed to balance major disappointment with sheer awesomeness. I was majorly disappointed because it wasn't the beach scene I hoped for. Monterey is still "northern California" and was not the warm weather or warm water I had envisioned. Instead, it was a bay. So, I didn't get to swim at all, but I did sit along the rocky ledges and the small sandy areas. Also while there, my former English teacher self enjoyed a trip to the National John Steinbeck Museum in Salinas. Fantastic! I also had the biggest and greatest burrito of my life while in Salinas! I also stopped briefly at the Leguna Seca raceway.
So I stayed two nights there, and then headed out to the Grand Canyon. Ridiculously hot drive through the desert. I refused to use the air condition for fear of overheating my engine. I got a little sweaty. I was really concerned about where I was going to stay at the Grand Canyon. If you want to reserve a campsite, you need to do it months ahead of time, and not days. They do allow for a certain number of first-come-first-served visitors. I arrived just before dusk and drove to the end of the south rim, stopping occasionally to take a couple pictures of the sunset. Fortunately, I arrived at the campsite with a few spots left and was able to set up Jordan's tent while darkness deepened its shade.
I did the whole walking around taking pictures thing the next morning, and then headed out Taos, NM, where the next hostel was located. This wasn't a fun drive. More desert. More hotness. More sweat. The Grand Canyon is in northern Arizona, and Taos is in norther New Mexico, but I couldn't go straight east. Straight east was an Indian reservation, so I don't know if that's why all my directions said to go southeast, and then north to get there or not. I was in Albuquerque , about to head north, when I noticed Ebony's engine temperature going up. I stopped to get dinner and poke around in Best Buy and a Border's. I called the hostel, and it was about another two hours of driving. I did NOT feel like making that drive. And my car's temp was still higher than it ought to be. So I scratched that plan and decided to stay at a Motel 6. Balancing out costs of going to Taos (room rent, gas money) and just staying in Albuquerque , I found out staying would only cost maybe $10 more. It was worth it.
Next morning I drove to Wichita Falls, TX. Nothing to tell here. Stayed in a motel. Should have taken a 15 minute drive north just to say I was in Oklahoma, but I didn't. The next day was off to Houston to stay with my aunt and her husband. One of my cousins was able to come over with her husband and two kids. It's great getting to see family you usually see about once every five years or so, if that!
Next morning for me really marked the "okay, I'm on my way home" moment. I drove through Louisiana, Mississippi, and into Alabama. I stayed that night at a motel in Gadsden, AL.
Come morning, I was off heading north to Billy and Becca's home in Lynchburg, VA. I was in Georgia for about five minutes, then Tennessee, and finally Virgina.
I stayed there for way too short of a time, and left the following morning for home, passing through West Virginia and Maryland. I got home early evening/late afternoon, and was never so happy to see the "Welcome to Pennsylvania".
The trip was incredible and something I'll always, always, always remember. Although there were a couple people to almost go with, I'm very glad I went by myself. It was an experience like none other.
Honestly, I wanted this post just to be a quick couple paragraph summary of the trip, and then explaining what else was going on in my life. Obviously that didn't happen. I'll update the rest some other time.
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