Leg 7 - Houston, Day 5

March 31, 2011

Like good Catholic boys, Jim, his friends, and I went to Sunday mass on Palm Sunday. It was a really crowded mass. We went at the 12:00pm celebration and were forced to stand. It was a bummer but it was a nice mass. Afterwards, we all went running. The route started at Jim's apartment went out to a park and around the park path and back. The total mileage was shy of 9 miles? Maybe. We all stuck together until we left the park and made our way back to the apartment. Jim was running out of steam and said to keep going. Then the other two guys lost steam, so I just took off and booked it all the way back. I stopped shortly two different times on the way back. It was a good run and a good testament on how much fitness I had still retained for not training very much in the last couple of weeks. It was very hot and sunny out. Mid-80s in the middle of the afternoon. It gave me hope for the Fly Pig Full Marathon that Jim had talked me into doing. He had been training for it and, at the time, had me almost convinced to run the full with him.  After the run, we all split and grabbed showers. Jim took me to a barbecue restaurant. It was most delicious. You go up to a counter and pick out your meats and sides. Then pay and sit down to eat. They absolutely stack up your plate with food. I got three meats, duck, chicken, and brisket. Duck was very good. Something I would recommend to any one who decides to grab barbecue.

The parents of one of the girls that was hanging with us throughout the weekend has season tickets to the Houston Rockets. They were out of town for the weekend and were not going to use their tickets, so she invited Jim and I to the game Sunday night. It was AWESOME! The tickets were first row above the tunnel where the Rockets come in and out to their locker room and the same for the mascots. The game was against the Pacers, so I was able to see David West play for the first time since he left Xavier. And I know I am a tall guy and that players in the NBA are tall but you don't get a sense of how tall they are on television. Being that close to them, you just felt small or at least of average height, which is weird too. There was a lot of entertainment in between timeouts and quarters. It was a very entertaining night. Also, a group of the Rocket cheerleaders were in front of us during the game. Just spectacular seats. During one timeout, the Rocket mascot Clutch, which is a giant bear, was riding a segway and throwing out stuffed animals of himself. As he was going back to the locker room he stopped right below and threw his last stuffed animal. I caught it! It was a great feeling. Almost immediately after catching him, I had the bright idea of taking him along with me on the trip and taking pictures of everywhere I went. First was the Rockets game:

After the game, the girl took us to picked up some burgers. Burgers were delicious and were from Whataburger. Never head this fast food chain before. Time to get some sleep and wake up early to get to New Orleans for my next part of the trip.

Go Big or Go Home

Photos of the Trip:
Leg 7 - Houston, Day 5

Leg 7 - Houston, Day 4

March 31, 2012

Finally, the weekend arrived. Jim and I had set up a tee time around 12:00 pm. It was a hot day in the 80's. One of Jim's friends from the night before joined us to play. He was a beginner and was looking to get out to play more and learn the game. Since I didn't have my clubs with me, I borrowed Todd's clubs. They were find for the most part, a little short. His putter was the worst. I think he might have stole the putter from a little person and had been his since he was like years 5. It was so bad that all 3 of us in the group just passed Jim's putter around to putt. As soon as we were done, we headed out to pick up some Chipotle and watch the semifinal games of March Madness. Luckily, Jim has DirectTV and was able to replay the first half of the first game so we didn't have to miss a minute of the game. Todd was in New Orleans at the game. He forgot his tickets but was able to get into semifinal games. Throughout the day, Jim was getting updates on his status to see what he should do with the tickets. He took pictures and sent them to Todd. It ended up working out for him.

Jim called people over to start the night while we watched game 2 of the semifinals. The people showed up and we began to pregame. We played Boom. It was slightly unfair and after each round of play we all switched around to screw over new people. It was entertaining though. After we got tired of playing, we shifted to Beer Die and played like one game. By then, it was pretty late and not worth trying to go out to the bars, so we called it a night. I would mention who was all there, but I don't remember the people's name. I think there were 3 girls and 4 guys including Jim and I.

Go Big or Go Home

Photos of the Trip:

None

Leg 7 - Houston, Day 3

March 30, 2012

Today was a relaxing day to try to catch up on some blogging and do laundry. After getting up about mid-morning. I went for a run through the park nearby and got back to shower and launder some clothes. Before I knew it, it was 3:00 and time to meet up with Emily to golf with her and her students. I got to the course shortly after she did. The kids were pretty cool. We went to the driving range to hit a bucket of balls. I hit balls with no shoes on because I didn't have my golf shoes with me. It went pretty well. I hit a couple of good balls. We eventually went on the course. We split into two teams. We played 2 holes, I think. I tried teaching the kids some tips about golf out on the course. I did embarrass myself with the first tee shot. I shanked it pretty bad. It was a little tough because I knew the kids were looking up to me, and I had to be on my best behavior in front of them and Emily. After golf, I met up with Jim. We got together with two other guys and headed to a Cajun restaurant for crawfish and po-boy. First time for either foods. Both were pretty good, except cracking open the crawfish was a lot more work than I really want to spend on the amount of food in each piece. We split up after dinner to dress up for the evening and convene at a bar to start our night. We went a number of bars and met up with some girls. Jim showed me a honky tonk and left about 10 minutes of being there. It was definitely not my kind of bar. We went to a bar that had cornhole sets out back. We ended up playing against a team who one player thought he was the shit. Jim put him in his place. I just kept my player at bay and made sure Jim had first throw each turn. It was a lot of fun. That's all I have (It was two months ago, so it is hard to remember all that happened. I have a feeling many of these last posts will be similar.)

Go Big or Go Home

Photos of the Trip:
None

Leg 7 - Houston, Day 2

March 29, 2012

I took my time getting up in the morning. Jim was nice enough to leave me his key. I purchased a ticket to the Houston Space Center and headed on out. It was a cloudy and dreary day yet again. It was sort of a bummer. The Houston Space Center was the same sort of experience. There wasn't a lot to see. A couple of movies and a tour around the Space Center really didn't make it all that exciting. I think Wright Patt's section of space is more interesting than the Houston Space Center, sadly. I mean it is essentially the birthplace of space exploration, and it was small with very little exhibits. They have one area that changes every so often and that is in the middle of the entrance hall and occupies maybe 400 sq ft. O well, it was worth seeing and to say I went there. Luckily, I was able to get the outside tour done before the rain came.

Next stop, I headed to Galveston to check out the Gulf of Mexico and complete 2 of 4 great bodies of water I plan to encounter on my trip across the country. There wasn't much at Galveston, nor were there many people on the beach. That is probably because of the rain. I drove my car onto the beach and then proceeded to walk to the Gulf to stick my feet in the water and take a bunch of pictures. It was slightly challenging since I was trying to keep my brand new camera from getting wet damaged, at least it was not pouring when I was there. A couple of new houses were in process of being built. I thought of how nice it would be to own one of those houses, except I hear the summers in Houston are unbearable, so it may not have been as great to have a house on the Gulf then.

Afterwards, I headed back to Jim's. It was early evening and was time to return. I had seen all I had wanted to. I returned and found his roommate Todd home already. Since Troy was also a fellow Flyer graduate, we decided to start playing Beer Die until Jim came home with food and dinner. Jim made gumbo for all of us. We played Beer Die, watched soccer, and ate dinner. Another friend of Jim's Emily came over to join us. She is part of the teachers across America group. I was roped into joining her and some her students to golf with them the next day. I was about 50/50 when approached to go. In the end, I decided to go because of my life's motto of "Go Big or Go Home". More on this later though. The night ended pretty good. Jim, as always, picked up the new game of Beer Die very well very quickly. Sadly, the night had to end since everyone else had to go to work the next day. I had to occupy myself for another day until I had people to hang out with again.

Go Big or Go Home

Photos of the Trip:
Leg 7 - Houston - Day 2

Leg 7 - San Antonio/Houston, Day 1

March 28, 2012

Well after a good night's sleep at a rest stop and thunderstorms rolling through the night. I got up and drove to the next rest stop to pee and brush my teeth. I was headed to San Antonio early in the morning to check out The Alamo and to view the place where my long time idol Davey Crockett gave his life for America. 

The Alamo is in a rather interesting place in San Antonio. It is downtown San Antonio, in the middle of it. Yeah, the middle of San Antonio. Apparently, the city built all its buildings around this historical building. I am not sure why. There did not appear to be any river going through the city or any other significant natural landmark that would justify constructing high rises around the Alamo. Any ways, even though The Alamo is just a building, I got very sentimental about the history of what happened there so long ago. It really hit home to hear the stories on what happened and being able to stand in the same place where all the men died fighting for freedom from Mexico. I only wish they were able to preserve the surrounding area and keep it the same way it was back then so you could see exactly how the land laid out and easily picture the layout of the barricades and such.

After spending a couple of hours there reading up on history, it was time to move on and head to Houston. The drive was not too bad. I was able to make it there by 1:00-ish and firmly placed myself back into the Central time zone. Since Jim was at work and wouldn't be off until 4:00 and back by 5:00. I went to the nearby park and decided to go on a little run. It was quite enjoyable. I think I ran around 6 miles. I saw a lot people in the park. After I ran, I grabbed some food from the cafe down by the street and returned to the park and just laid sprawled out in the middle of the grass to relax and zone out. A little dog came up to say hi. Not sure why, maybe he/she thought I could use a friend. I had hoped the guys starting to play basketball would ask me to play. I haven't played in forever, probably not since after I graduated college. 

Jim finally got off, I met him at his apartment, and we caught up a little. We were waiting for his roommate to return home and head to trivia down the street to hang out with some more people and try our hand at winning some good prizes. Jim, Todd, and I ate a steak dinner before it started and before the other people arrived. It was a most delicious steak. I recommend going to Porch Swing and grabbing your own. They cook it outside on a real grill with your baked potato. They give you a platter so you can put on your own toppings. I got to meet some of Jim's friends and was able to mesh in pretty well with them. I didn't really help much in trivia though. There was a tiebreaker that I was chosen to go do before we even knew we were in the tiebreaker. It wasn't much of a tiebreaker. There were 5 of us and we had to choose a card from the deck and the highest card won. I didn't choose the highest card and lost. Eventually the night ended, I had to plan for the next day and get my beauty sleep.

Go Big or Go Home

Photos of the Trip (photos are just of San Antonio):
Leg 6 - San Antonio

Leg 6 - Journey In

March 27, 2012

Got up sort of early but laid around the house and watched television until Kurt was ready to go. Again, it was nice to be able to relax and enjoy my time off. I headed out around 11:00am and began my drive to El Paso, TX where I was to meet one of Dominic's army buddies, who was nice enough to allow me to stay at his place for the night. I drive wasn't very exciting. the most annoying part was the broken cruise control. My foot, leg, and hip began to ache or became numb after a couple of hours. I only had two positions I could put my foot in and still feel comfortable with the my driving. I made it to the El Paso outer suburbs around 5:00pm. I planned to do a hike up a trail and then meet up with the army buddy. To my surprise, the park the trail was in closed at 4:00pm. I was perturbed since there were still at least 2 more hours of daylight, but apparently it always closes at 4:00pm. I was upset with myself for not checking this information out beforehand, but who would have thought of something like that anyways? My experience from parks is that they close at dusk or sunset, so why should I have thought of anything should be different out West? O well. While Dominic was trying to get a hold of his friend, I decided to kill some time and walk around the outlet store that was close by. I found out from Dominic about 20 minutes or so later his buddy was called out to the field for a last second training exercise. Apparently there is a term for this, I forget it, but it happens every so often. You have to be ready to go on a moment's notice. Just my luck.

Now, I was in a bit of a pickle on what to do. I needed to be in Houston the next day in the evening to catch up with Jim and go to trivia with him and his friends. I wanted to stop in San Antonio to check out the Alamo in the morning. Looking at the amount of time I had and the amount of land between me and San Antonio and Houston, the only choice was to continue driving through El Paso and make my way towards San Antonio. I hit the tail end of El Paso traffic when traveling through downtown. I figured I would drive to the next town and find a hotel to stay for the night. As I kept driving, I didn't see the point in wasting money on a hotel room, so I drove until I was about 2 hours away from San Antonio and slept in the car. Quite an unexpected turn in the trip taken in stride along with everything else.

Side Note: Along the route, I ran into a border patrol checkpoint. I started to freak a little because I didn't have my passport with me. Also, I didn't quite understand why there was a checkpoint in the middle of Texas instead of along the border. I drove up to the patrol officer and showed him my license. He asked if I was a US citizen, I said "yes", and on my way I went. No biggie, just sort of odd.

Go Big or Go Home

Leg 5 - Phoenix, Day 4

March 26, 2012

Today was the day I was suppose to leave Phoenix and drive to El Paso for the day and then start making my way back to the east coast. However, that is not how the day went. I made it to the auto shop just about when they had opened. I had to call in to make sure they were not too busy to take me in and work on my car. While they were changing my oil, they found my radiator was just about shot. Fantastic! Now, I have to get a new radiator. They had to wait for it to be delivered by their supplier and then install it. It took over half the day. I was quite unhappy and quite skeptical. The cost was a little higher than I had it would have been. The labor time seemed a little high but what could I do. So finally, the radiator arrives at like 3:00pm. I have been there since 9:00am. Clearly, I was not in a good mood. I got about 15-20 minutes on the road and tried to use my cruise control. It didn't work. Things were just not going my way that day. I called the shop and asked if it was something they could have caused. They just responded by bring it back in and to take a look at it, so I drove back. After 3 hours, it turns out it wasn't them and that the solenoid that activates the cruise control was shot. Well, I had no interest in getting it fixed and was ready to get out of there.

Throughout this time, I was texting Kurt to figure out what he was up to in the evening and hoped I could stay with him to avoid staying another night in a hotel room. He had no problem with it at all. He was actually going to be house/dog sitting for a friend and that we would sleep over there. It sounded good to me. So I grabbed dinner with him and another buddy of his. When I met up with Kurt at his apartment, Molly was making food and was about to sit down and Skype with her boyfriend Sam. Of course, I had to sit down and say hello to my fellow Flyer Alumn and give him a little bit of a hard time for ditching me in Los Angeles. We had a good laugh.

At dinner, the conversation was out of this world. I don't remember exactly all that was said (It was a awhile ago now.), but I remember saying "wow" a lot. The waitress was fun, too. It was a good ending to a bad day. I followed Kurt out to the house after dinner. The girls that live there have a labradoodle. Now, I have only met one labradoodle once before in my life, and he is a pretty most awesome dog. Their labradoodle was very much quite the same, very fun-loving and full of energy. Also, the dog was quite an attention-whore, a lot like my family's dog at home.

Tomorrow, I would finally get out of Phoenix, AZ.

Go Big or Go Home

Photos of the Trip:
NONE

Leg 5 - Phoenix, Day 3

March 25, 2012

Since it was Sunday, today was reserved for a day of rest. I got up and headed to the Rockies/Diamondbacks ballpark where the Reds were going to play their spring training game to buy a ticket. I thought there were going to be plenty of tickets to buy since it was just spring training. I found out that there were very few tickets left. Good thing I went early in the morning instead of right before the first pitch was thrown. I would have been quite upset with myself if I missed out on this opportunity. I didn't have anything else planned or had another idea on what to do with myself for the day.

I drove around for a long time to try to find a cafe that had WiFi connection so I could jump online and blog. I ended up at the food court in the mall. I had a nice sandwich there from a cafe place and there was free WiFi in the food court. It was rather nice. When game time came around, I headed to the park. I found a place in the lawn area and enjoyed a brew and peanuts. The Reds ended up losing. It was a decent game. There was a slight overcast. It was kind of a nice change from the sunny heat I dealt with the day before. I took a number of pictures of the Reds as well. After the game was over, I just laid in the grass and let the crowds pour on out. I was in no rush. I was able to turn on the basketball game on my phone and listened until security said I had to go. So I went back to the hotel room to figure out my next move. I had to pick up my buddy Kurt from the airport. He was returning from his spring break trip, and I accepted his offer of dinner for a ride.

I went back to the area where I had dinner the night before and went to the Starbucks to continue blogging for the rest of the day. While I was blogging, I am pretty sure a girl walked right up to me and took a picture of me with her camera phone. I have no idea or if she said anything. I pretty much just ignored her. I was listening to music on my headphones, so I couldn't hear anything but my music. I am pretty sure she was drunk. O well.

So I went and picked up Kurt from the airport and then head to wait around to pick up another friend. His roommate Molly was also returning from spring break. Both of them are fellow graduates of UD and now grad students at Arizona State University. It turns out Molly was in North Carolina with her boyfriend for his grandfather's 90th (I think) birthday celebration. Her boyfriend's name was Sam. I know Sam and was shocked to hear Sam decided to go to North Carolina instead of sticking around in Los Angeles to hang out with me while I was there. Sam also went to UD. He and I played many seasons of intramural basketball and volleyball together. We enjoy giving each other a hard time pretty much all the time.  Anyways, I dropped her off and headed off to dinner with Kurt. We went to a different brew house. It was quite delicious. We caught up on life since we haven't seen each other in about 2 years or so. It was a good dinner.

After dinner, I headed back to the hotel room to figure out where to get my oil change. I found a place that was literally 2 blocks away. It was perfect. It wasn't a quick oil change place and felt like a reliable place to go. It was a pretty nice and enjoyable day. The next day would not be.

Go Big or Go Home

Photos of the Trip:

Leg 5 - Phoenix, Day 2

March 24, 2012

The big day in Phoenix. First, hike up Camelback Mountain. I drove to the side that was suppose to be harder and more challenging. I was unable to find a parking spot at the main parking lot, so I drove down the street to the Post Office where a little company was offering rides to either of the trails up the mountain and offered free water/gatorade and food. The cost to ride and be picked up was $5. That was a pretty nice deal and allows a hiker to experience both sides of the mountain. So I jumped in the van and took a ride to the tough course because I have to Go Big.

The beginning started out pretty good and easy. A couple of man-made steps. Then, it was straight up and boulders the rest of the way. I constantly saw runners coming down the mountain, a lot of them. They run up and down the mountain for training. Crazy people. It takes about 45 minutes on average for a person to go up. A lot of the time is spent climbing over boulders. Finally, I reached the top. And man, what a view it was. A full 360 degree view of Phoenix and the surrounding areas. The view was surreal.

Now, onto my second hike for the day. I was to climb Piestewa Peak (aka Squaw Peak) using the Summit Trail. I refueled on my fluids and hit the mountain before it was to get too hot. It was nearing early afternoon this time. The climb was not as steep the entire route as the Camelback Mountain trail, but it was much longer. It never seemed to end. Again, I saw people running up and down the trail for their workout of the day. Why? I do not know. I finally made it to the top and took quite an enjoyable rest at the top. However, what goes up must come down, and so would I. I trekked my way down the mountain safely. I walked back to my car to grab some trail mix and gatorade. I sat down at a picnic table with an older couple. Then, we got to talking. The couple had recently moved to Phoenix. They helped their son move there months earlier when he got out of the Navy. They returned home to Kansas and found out that the husband had been laid off, and the wife, I believe, was either let go from her company or decided to quit so they could move to Phoenix. It took some time, but he was able to find a a job and sounds like she was on her way to find a job as well. They have really enjoyed their experience so far in Phoenix. They brought up the fact that you can drive like 5 minutes to climb mountains and hike trails and feel like you are truly out in the wilderness, but you are still in the city. After thinking about this, I thought this was quite cool as well. And if I were to move to Phoenix, I would be one of those crazy runners going up and down the mountains that I had climbed earlier that day. After continued small talk, they headed on their way to their hike up another trail in the area. I jumped into my car and traveled to the Desert Botanical Garden to check out all the different cacti, flowers, and butterflies. I tried using a different lenses at different times, but it wasn't until I got back to the car that I realized I grabbed the wrong lens. I had wanted to use the wide angle lenses. However, I had grabbed the telescopic lens. I am not sure how you use either one, but I do know the wide angle lens is more for closer pictures.

Afterwards, I headed to the new hotel to check-in, shower, and unwind. Once, I got back I took off my shirt and noticed it had a red oval ring around my neck. It turns out the rust from the chain I wear rubbed off of it onto the shirt and my skin. The shirt was ruined, and now, I had a rusty tinted neck. This sucked because it was very hard to wash all of it off of my neck and it proceeded to ruin future white shirts I wore, but again I didn't know this at the time.

For dinner, I headed to the populated street of Tempe, Az. I headed to a Local Brewery restaurant that was above a Starbuck's. It was a nice place. I found a spot at the bar and enjoyed watching sports. I contemplated between a pasta dish and steak, both sounded really good. The guy next to me had the pasta dish, and it smelled quite delicious. However, I opted for the steak since I hadn't had one in quite a long time. It was disappointing. They overcooked it. I could have complained but had no energy or desire to really bother. I just wanted to eat and then sleep. Thankfully the beer was pretty good. I did try a lettuce wedge for the first time. It is just a quarter of a head of lettuce with bacon and bleu cheese. Quite satisfying. I will now probably try it on my own. I have always wanted lettuce for sandwiches/burgers at home but wouldn't buy a head of lettuce because it would go bad way before I had the chance to eat it all.

Time to hit the hay and prepare for another day of the trip. Tomorrow would be less exciting or at least not filled with so much activities to do, which would be relaxing.

Go Big or Go Home

Photos of the Trip:

Leg 5 - Phoenix, Day 1

March 23, 2012

Got up kind of early in the morning because there were a couple of places I wanted to stop on my way into Phoenix, so I would not have to retrace my steps. I tried to do this as much as possible to cut out miles and time. Below is the view I opened my door to when I headed down for the free continental breakfast at the hotel.

I ate and got out of Flagstaff without a hitch. My first stop was to Montezuma Castle. This castle was built in a the side of a mountain and is the largest well-preserved cave dwelling in North America. Most of the castle is the original brick laid down by the Aztecs. About 50 yards from the foot of the hill/mountain that provided transportation, protection, and food for those dwelling in the castle. Though names after Montezuma, an Aztec ruler, there is no record of him living there during his lifetime. It was pretty cool to see. However, I was disappointed there wasn't a trail or hike to the Montezuma Castle. Once you entered, it was 200 yards on a paved sidewalk. I think they could do more with this place to utilize more than just they way it is set up now. For instance, placing a giant courtyard where people can hold receptions, fundraisers, dances, etc. with the Montezuma Castle in the background would be a huge hit and great scenery. O well, now on to Tuzigoot.

Tuzigoot is a pueblo ruin. A tribe lived there for a long time but abandoned it for some odd reason long before the colonials reached them in the West. There is no evidence as to why they left, and it is a great big mystery. It was cool seeing the preserved remains and how they built rooms on top of each other. There was also a pretty cool view from the top. You could see miles in all directions. Very easy to see friends, traders, and enemies approaching from all directions. Again, there was no hiking to Tuzigoot but at least, I got to walk among the ruins and up to the top room and look around.

After leaving, I started my way to Phoenix finally. On my drive in, I had planned on going to the Desert Botanical Garden. One problem, I needed to get in front of a television to watch the Xavier-Baylor game. So as soon as I had to deal with the traffic, I knew I wouldn't have enough time to go to the botanical garden and watch the game, so I drove to my hotel room, checked-in, and looked for a place to watch a game.

The area of the hotel was kind of sketchy, but the hotel room was decently nice. It was clean and had the basics that I wanted, so it worked for me. I searched extensively, in 10 minutes, for a good sports bar downtown Phoenix. First place, I could not find. The second place looked like no one was there. Finally, I gave up because the game had just started and just went to Hooters downtown. I just found a parking lot and didn't care the cost and walked as fast as I could with the game playing on my SWEET DROID BIONIC! I plopped myself at the bar and ordered a beer and began to watch how the Muskies were going to manage the large 20 point deficit. Sadly, they did not make it back. Since it was Friday, I was a good Catholic and ate a cheese quesadilla . I must confess, however, I forgot it was Friday in the morning when eating breakfast and ate a ham, cheese, and egg biscuit. I didn't realize it until I was about to order at Hooters. I was quite upset with myself. I had done so well for Lent. After the game, I drove back to the apartment to prepare for my big day in Phoenix. It was packed full of activities. The big guy needed his rest and be prepared to start early in the morning.

Go Big or Go Home

Photos of the trip:

Leg 4 - Grand Canyon

March 22, 2012

So, I had it planned out. I would head to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and get my butt to Phoenix to watch the basketball games. Good, right? Wrong!

I got up, drove through Las Vegas (again), and into Arizona. All going great and making good time. One problem. I reach the North Rim, and it is closed for the winter. CLOSED FOR THE WINTER!!!!! It is freaking late March. It doesn't open until May. I understand a little because there was a little snow on the ground when I was driving there and most of the time it is really snowy but, the U.S. had the warmest Winter yet. How could it really need to be closed still? Come On!

Now I will have to decide what to do. Skip the Grand Canyon to reach Phoenix in time for the games or drive to the South Rim. I chose the South Rim. I could listen to the games from my super sweet Android Bionic because Droids (especially the Bionic) are so much cooler than iPhones. I made it to the South Rim 3 hours later. It was actually a perfect time. The sun was slowly setting, and I was able to get some pretty sweet pictures. However, I did not actually stay for sunset. I was tired and irritated. So I checked out and headed to Phoenix hoping. At this time, I could make it there for the start of the second half of the second games. After about 30 minutes of driving, I gave up and decided to stop in Flagstaff for the night. I booked a room, picked up some grub and drinks, and watched the games from the comfort of hotel room.

I looked up hotels for my future stay in Phoenix for the next couple of days. Tired and exhausted, I was able to find good places. Also, I planned out what to do on my way into Phoenix and what I wanted to do while in Phoenix. Super exciting. Well off to bed.

Go Big or Go Home

Photos of the trip:

Leg 3 - Los Angeles

March 21, 2012

The first night in Los Angeles. I spent at a Panera Bread trying to figure out where to sleep and what to do the one and only full day in Los Angeles. Upon a previous discussion with a friend from UD, Sam K., I decided to go hike the Hollywood Sign Trail, head to Santa Monica Beach, hike the Escondido Falls Trail, and return to Santa Monica Beach for Sunset. Needless to say, it was going to be a long and exhausting day with the need to move with haste from location to location to get it all in. I was out the door by 6:30am and ready to find the Hollywood Sign Trail. Disappointingly, L.A. traffic was already bad at this time. I tried going an alternate route, but my GPS still took me around to the main highway of I-10 West. I made it out there after battling the crazies on the California highway. I got out and prepared myself for the hike.

It wasn't too bad. Just a dirt road on a pretty decent incline that turns into a road and leads all the way up above and behind the Hollywood Sign. The view is pretty nice, 360 degree view of downtown and other cities in the area. I don't really know what the other cities are. One photo I took is below. Pretty nice, eh?

O and look! It is the HOOVER DAM!!!! It is a lot smaller than I thought it was going to be. O well. On the way down, I ventured off the road to a beaten path. I walked a bit on it and got bored so just turned around and headed back to the car.

Onward to Santa Monica Beach!. It was a pretty easy drive to get there, traffic wasn't too bad, and I was able to find a parking spot pretty easy along the beach. I walked around a little bit. Stuck my feet in the Pacific Ocean, which was really freaking cold! I walked around on the pier and people-watched for a bit. After watching so many people running up and down the boardwalk, I had the urge to go run myself. I laced up my running shoes, grabbed my iPod, and my headband. I ran up and down the boardwalk. It was a blast, though my running wasn't very fast, and I don't think I made it very far. Actually, it looks like I ran (also walked a bit too) 5 miles in a time I do not wish to disclose.

Afterward, I trekked out to Malibu to go on the hike to Escondido Falls. It was in a fancy neighborhood. I had to park my car at the entrance of the side street and walk back to where the trail began. It was a confusing trail with no signs and multiple paths. I luckily made all the right turns and made it to the base of the Falls. It was pretty cool. The water runs over moss and gives it an interesting look. After taking a couple of pictures, I saw a couple come down from the right side of the Falls. It looked like it was off the beaten path. I asked them if it was worth the trouble. They both said yes, so I got ready and headed up the path. It was boulder climbing with some loose gravel. You definitely had to watch your step. The grade of the incline was pretty high but not scary. It was also pretty easy to figure where to put hands and feet. After awhile, it got worse. It was a lot of work and I didn't know where to stop or where it was really going, so I just kept going up and up. As I was climbing, I saw a fence at the top with a piece of paper attached to it. I was not able to read it, and I had not seen any other hiker during the climb. I stopped many times to take a break and catch my breath. It was a real work out after the hike and run earlier in the day. It was also a decently warm/hot day. Very sunny out. Climbed to the top, which was like a 150 feet. Found out the sign says do not trespass. Trespassers could be bitten by guard dogs. And I had no idea where the actual fall began and there was not a path anywhere to be seen, so I had to go back down the way I came. This truly sucked. As

I was going down, I had to plan out every step and the path I was going to take. It is much harder to go down than it was to go up and it was very hard to go up. Multiple times I found myself starting to go down the wrong way and had to back track to find a way back down. The whole time I was thinking, how did I go wrong and where did the couple that I met actually went. A couple of times I slipped in the loose gravel and wavered a little on the decent. If I had missed a step or my footing became loose or lost my grip, I would have fallen very far before being able to stop myself or for a place to even stop my fall. Clearly, I could have died trying to descend. After reaching most of the way down, I saw the initial path to my left and another path to my right. It was like 10 feet from the bottom of the fall. I went to the right and found exactly what the couple was talking about. I was so upset that I wasted all that time and energy climbing all the way up to no where, when all I had to do was go 10 feet. I took some pictures and heard some voices above me. I looked up and there were people just above the fall. I saw another path that lead of the mountain. I decided against going up that because I don't think I would have had the strength to go up and back down. On my way back, I got lost because of all the many different paths and not remembering which way I came. Chose a path I thought was the write one, but I was wrong and ended on top of a hill on an ATV path in someone's backyard. I was just o so happy at this point. I was able to walk to a back gate and make it to the road and back to my car. Finally, the adventure was over. It was now like 5:00/5:30. Worst time of day to travel any where in Los Angeles, so I decided to drive along the Malibu Beach and stop along the way to take pictures and relax a little. There was no point in trying to get back to the house I was staying because I probably would have gotten pretty pissed sitting in L.A. traffic. I had a good time with this. I took some pretty good pictures. I was able to reach Santa Monica Beach right before sunset, so I stopped there and took a number of pictures as the sun set over the Pacific Ocean. I messed around with a couple of settings.

As I was taking pictures and waiting for the sun to set, I was people watching. I noticed a girl walking on the boardwalk talking on her iPhone. After I took pictures and returned to my car, I was searching for places to grab some dinner. She jumped in the car two behind me. She drove off and happened to have an Ohio license plate. First thought was, what are the odds of seeing another Ohian driving their car in Los Angeles at the Santa Monica Beach at sunset at the exact same time I was there. I had to find out who she was and where she was from, so I followed her hoping to pull up next to her and have a quick convo at a redlight. Long story short, it didn't work out. I lost her and never had the chance.

So, I found a place close by the guy I was staying with. It was a hole in the wall Italian/pizzeria that one probably wouldn't normally stop and eat. However, I was feeling bold and was really feeling pizza. It was delicious. I got a small pizza and a salad. I was only able to eat half of the small pizza because it was so big. It was a bit doughy (as in too much bread), but it was still quite good. The place is Pompeii in La Puente, CA.

After eating, I returned to shower and pass out. Also, I decided to look up the Escondido Falls trail info on www.localhikes.com to see what they have to say about the trail. This is what I found: "Attempts to climb beyond the base of the upper falls could result in serious injury!" I wish I had read this before. O well. Tomorrow, I would venture to the Grand Canyon the next morning to be "Awe" 'ed.

Go Big or Go Home

Photos of the Trip:

Leg 2 - Journey Out

March 18, 2012 - March 20, 2012

My journey out to Los Angeles essentially begins in Cleveland on Sunday. Luckily, I had a friend I was able to crash in Chicago on Sunday to really begin my trip early Monday morning out onto I-80 West. I arrived in Chicago in the evening just in time for the Xavier game. Whiteny and I headed to a bar to grab dinner and watch the game. Sadly, they were not showing the game on a television so I was not able to actually watch the game. Very disappointing but luckily they won. We got back watched the remainder of the Kansas game, and I was so tired that I just called it a night. A very uneventful evening after such a crazy weekend. Just what the doctor called for before the long drive.

Got up the next morning and left at 6:15 and headed out on my way. I'll just skip all the boring stuff. Drove to Iowa, then Nebraska, then Colorado, and night fell as I entered into the state of Colorado. I had been driving for 14 hours or so and felt pretty good actually. There were no problems along the way and my Check Service Engine light actually went off after filling up in Iowa.

Quick notes, Iowa is a pretty cool state to drive through with rolling hills, wind farms, and it was cloudy so it made the scenery that much nicer. I like the dreary look. Nebraska is a horrible state to drive through and was the worst part of the drive. Just flatness every where and no cities to drive through. Just plain emptiness. The beginning of Colorado was nice, but then it got dark and cold. I was just wearing shorts and a light weight jacket because I left my sweatshirt in Cleveland.

Got to Denver and started up the mountains. Then I got tired and was not in the mood to drive through mountains at night as it started to ice up. So, I debated on trying to find a hotel or just sleeping in a rest area. Finally, I chose a rest area. I crawled up in the back of my car with my blanket and pillow. Slept for maybe an hour. I was awaken by some idiots being loud next to me. I couldn't fall back asleep, so I decided to continue to drive a little more. After a couple of hours, I pulled over, used the restroom, and went back to sleep. A couple of hours later, I did the same the same thing. Finally, I made it to Utah. Found a Scenic View stop and slept there until morning, which was like 4-5 hours. Below is what I woke up to in front of me. Man, what a view to wake up to.

So I brushed my teeth and headed on my out through Utah. I stopped a number of times at different Scenic Views along the way. It was a very beautiful drive. However, driving up and down the mountains were quite annoying and a little nerve wrecking. On the border of Utah and Nevada, I stopped for gas and a maintenance guy at the gas station said I needed new rear tires because the inside tread on my current ones were wearing away. I agreed and it turned out the tires were from 1996 and definitely had better days. The bad part was that it costed me time and money. So I waited for an hour because the new tires needed to be delivered by the vendor and then installed.Finally back om the road, I drove through Vegas and headed to California. The mountains never seemed to stop. Continued annoyance followed. Made it to the suburbs of Los Angeles and decided to pull off to eat and find a place to stay. I ended up at a Panera store because I knew they would have free wifi connection. I went onto CouchSurfing.org to find a place to stay. This site allows people to create a profile and either host or surf on couches for free. A great website for frequent travelers. I was lucky enough to find a place to stay in the area I was already in. So I drove there, showered, and planned my only day in Los Angeles. Then, slept like a baby.I had finally made it out to the West Coast.

Go Big Or Go Home

Photos of the trip:

Leg 1 - St. Patrick's Day

Well, I decided to start the trip in Cleveland, OH, more specifically Troy. Troy and I have been friends since our trip to Germany. I literally did not this man until I went on this trip. Met him once before at a paintball venture in Dayton with our mutual friend Timothy R. We have been great friends ever since. Troy and I decided we needed to hang out and what better weekend than St. Patrick's Day. And wouldn't you know it, it fell on a weekend this year. We had hoped to make an epic trip but the cost to benefit ratio was not panning out, so it was decided to have me drive to Cleveland to see him and hang out with his buddies. I saw this coming the minute we started planning for the trip. Thus, began my scheming for the planning of the 5 week trip. Why 5 weeks? Because there are 5 weeks between St. Patrick's Day weekend and Mike P's bachelor party in Pit-In-Bay, OH.

Any who. Within the first hour of driving to Cleveland, OH, my Check Engine Service light came on. (Another flashback. Get used to it. It will happen often. It is how my mind works.) There was a lot of talk on how I would get out to Los Angeles and back. I always joked that I would take my trusty 1998 Nissan Altima and if it dies, it dies and I will go from there. The car has 175,000 miles on it before I left. I took my car in to the shop to get checked out and have an oil change. Also, the same engine light actually came on the Monday before I planned on leaving. Everything checks out. I am betting on why the light came back on was because they never cleared the system after looking at the engine. (Some of the engine's pistons/spark plugs failed to fire was the initial reason.) So I drove up to Cleveland.

Made it Troy's place in good timing. I was able to avoid most of Friday's traffic in Columbus and Cleveland. We decide to go up to his roof to try out the camera and have a couple of brews before heading out for dinner with Dave and his girlfriend Sarah. While enjoying our dinner and each other's company, we couldn't help but notice across the way that a dude was breaking up with his girlfriend after ordering food and before being delivered. We were all shocked as wee all agreed she was quite and attractive girl. Troy and I debated approaching her but she walked out before we finished our debate. I told him he had to go. He had no opening line. Disappointing.

Anyways, after dinner we went out to a bar Troy told me I had to go to. Dave and Sarah were up for it, so off we went. Since Xavier was playing that night and since it was March Madness was on, all I really wanted to do was watch the games. After many approaches by women at the bar, one told me there were televisions upstairs in a room to watch the game, so I didn't have to keep looking at my phone for updates. I was in. I was gone for like an hour and Troy and Dave thought I had been taken and wouldn't be heard from ever again. A long trip ending quite quickly for the big guy. I finally returned and enjoyed the rest of the evening with the gents and lady.

The goal for St. Patrick's Day was to get up by 9:00 and start the festivities. I don't think we got out of bed until 10:00 and then started making a glorious breakfast. Hash browns, tater tots, and eggs with corned beef. It was all delicious. Eric and friends also joined us for morning breakfast and drinks. We all headed to the roof to enjoy the warm morning sun and check out the nice view of downtown Cleveland.



We drew up a game plane and headed downtown. We had two cabs and one decided to go to Blind Pig and the other some bar 10 blocks away. Why? I don't know. I was in the correct cab that went to Blind Pig. Troy, Dave, some guy, and me stayed for a couple of drinks and ventured out to find the other group of people. Then, there was bar hopping throughout the day. At one of ouyr last bars, we saw two fights happen within the first 10 minutes of arriving and actually watched a guy being dragged out on his head out the door. I recommend not doing this in the future as it did not look like much fun. Other than those fights, the bar was pretty cool with two floors and a live band. The live band were truly rocking it. We just sat there and watched them play as we drank our drinks. By 5:00/5:30, we were ready to head back and regroup to prepare for the evening. It was only Troy, Dave, and I who made it back. Everyone else was M.I.A. We chilled for an hour. Troy slept. Dave hung out with his girlfriend. I watched basketball, finally! We all headed to Dewey’s in Lakewood and out to the bars in the Lakewood area. Troy was milking his drink, and soon we were ordering shots back and forth for the rest of the night.

The next morning wasn't too bad. I was mostly just really tired and had no desire of really to start driving out to the West Coast, but I knew I had to get to Chicago by the evening and before the Xavier game started. I left by early afternoon and began my journey outward. O what adventures lay ahead I do not know but was excited and nervous for the journey.

Go Big Or Go Home

For more pictures of St. Patrick's Day, go here:

Pictures out on the town were taken with my wonderful Droid Bionic phone. I didn't want to risk something happening to my brand new camera out there with all the crazy people.

Introduction

Well it is about time I start writing everything down that I have been doing. The question has been asked why I am going on a 5 week vacation trip across the great ole United States of America. Well the answer is simple, because I CAN! Work was not really thinking, I think, when they agreed to let me leave for 5 weeks just as a project was just about to start up. Also, I am going on this trip because I have never seen the Pacific Ocean, haven't been further West than St. Louis, MO, always wanted to see the Grand Canyon and Phoenix, had promised to visit my friend Jim in Houston and buddy Dominic in the South, again, and some chick named Clare down in Orlando (only because she works for Disney World and hopefully she can get me in the park for free!!!).

So the main reason for the trip is to take pictures of anything I find interesting, so it gave me a reason to buy an expensive camera and a good one at that. I bought a Canon Rebel T3i with a bunch of accessories. I didn't get it until the Wednesday before I left (March 14, 2011), so I really don't know what I am doing with it. Though it has a revolving LCD screen, 18mp, and a couple of different lenses and what not. I bought a hiking backpack with it. Obvious choice since I plan/ned to go on hiking trips.

Well, below is the proposed itinerary. It is a lot more involved since I have been on the road for a week now.


Cleveland, OH for St. Patty's Day
Chicago, IL
Los Angeles, CA
Grand Canyon, AZ
Phoenix, AZ
El Paso, TX
Houston, TX
New Orleans, LA (maybe)
Atlanta, GA (maybe)
Orlando, FL (as long as Clare is able to entertain)
Greenville, SC
Washington D.C. (if Orlando falls through might see if there is time to go)
Put-In-Bay, OH
Cincinnati, OH (HOME)

So, yea there is quite a bit of traveling for 5 weeks. It will be fun, stupid, sad, boring, lonely, upsetting, annoying, and of course EPIC!

Enjoy reading and feel free to comment and share with who you like. I will be keeping the rated G as much as possible because I am sure future employers will see this. Also, my family will be reading this I am sure since I will be sharing it with them.

I will sign off on each post of: Go Big Or Go Home.

This has been my life's motto for quite some time. It has gotten the best of me at times, but it has always brought a story and life lessons with it.

(Note: I will not be proofreading most of these posts, so I bet there will be grammar errors. Point them out if you want, and I will try to correct them when I find the time.)

Thanks for reading.

Go Big Or Go Home

Album of whole trip: