Rush hour?

As I sat in New York, NY rush hour traffic today, I wondered why they called it rush hour when it lasted me almost three hours. I guess I had a little time on my hands. HA. Today was the big trek from Luke's sweet Bloomington, IN pad to grad ol' Yale campus in New Haven, CT, which totaled 15 hours in driving time. I was making great time with limited stops until New Jersey and New York each used me like a dirty play thing. Just when I thought it was done and I was about to call the cops, Connecticut stuck up from behind and kicked me between the legs like a mischievous three year old. Well as you can guess, I'm a little sore and tired. Til next time kiddies.

1,736/3,600 New Haven... for those of you who are keeping score.

877/3,600 Bloomington, IN

The trip down to Bloomington, IN was an interesting one because of one special gem I found in the Indiana landscape, a place called Fair Oak. It seemed like an different place to stop for lunch, but I should have know that with as much advertising as they had on the side of the road the place was going to be loaded with ankle biters. That's kids Shawna haha. A few of the activities that were offered at this fair establishment were barn tours, calfing demonstrations, and the process of making cheese. I guess that it's close enough to Chicago to sell it as a tourist attraction. At least my sandwich was great.

Once in Bloomington, Luke informed me about the local folk so I wouldn't have any culture shock when we were out on the town. Bloomington wasn't a half bad place all in all. The food we had was amazing, the Indiana University was huge, and, for the most part, had a general youth atmosphere, but I didn't have to deal with the aspects that Luke warned me about.  

Pub Grub
Guiness and Stew

Turkish Style Lamb shank with salad, rice, soup, and tea for $12!

643/3,600 Chicago, IL

This wasn't my first visit to Chicago, but there were a few important firsts, the most important of which was watching defending champions the Chicago Black Hawks beat the Detroit Red Wings while I was in Chicago. OT glory, Amazing! Not quite as fun for my friend, T.J., who was working for most of the game at Fridays. Which brings me to another first, getting drunk at Fridays, thanks to T.J. Oh and that special little bar that I will always forget. 

Lastly, it was the first time I have seen T.J. and his parents since last time I saw then... I'm counting it.

Special thanks to T.J.'s parents for letting me enjoy their hospitable home once more.

The journey begins

Thought I should start this one off with a few words about the evening of Friday the 25th of March 2011.  It may have been a little over the top with the fire department, cops (Billy), and later on the Land lord, but I appreciate all my friends that came to send me off and even more to the friends that can read (brought me a mixed cd).  Ask someone else about the party details.  I'll miss most of you guys I'm sure. haha.

I'm all packed and I hit the road after watching UND destroy Denver. As the picture shows, my car was packed to the brim.  I have downsived my life enough to fit just my essential things into this small car.  Humbling to think what we really need just to live on, which could still be a few less things then I have haha.  Staying the night in the cities and tomorrow I will be meeting up with an old friend, T.J., in Chicago.


235/3,600 miles down and only 3,365/3,600 to go, I'm basically there. 


As I was driving today one of my favorite songs came on the internet radio, swing life away by Rise Against, which was perfect for the situation at hand... the best verse sings,  
      
      I've been here so long, I think that it's time to move
      The winter's so cold, summer's over too soon
      Let's pack our bags and settle down where palm trees grow

      I've got some friends, some that I hardly know
      But we've had some times, I wouldn't trade for the world
      We chase these days down with talks of the places that we will go

Interpret as you will

Since my many followers wanted another post...

On my last day of work I woke up to this (see picture above, taken after car was cleaned off), so I knew it was going to be a good day. I guess this is ND's way of saying goodbye... umm thanks.  Once I was at work Garrett and I moved around a bit of snow until the boss closed the base down for the day. I know what you are thinking, "oh no! who was protecting us on Wednesday March 23 of 2011?!" The answer is the cops, of course, and the army of snow plows, but I digress.  Since the storm delayed my out processing from the 23rd to the 24th I'm officially unemployed as of today. On the 27th or 28th I'll be unemployed and homeless.. that should be interesting.  

I know I had a few other things I was going to type, but this damn memory says no.  Not use to this blog business yet. More to come, if I remember. . . 

The Map

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Last Week in the ND

12:07 A.M. and it's officially the last week in North Dakota, so it seemed like a good time for my first blog post.  Officially hitting the road on the 28th with whatever I can fit into my mid-sized car.  This trip is going to be interesting to say the least.  The trip is going to be a 3,600 mile trek to the east coast and then down to Dallas, TX.  Stops along the way include;
Minneapolis, MN
Chicago, IL
Bloomington, IN
New Haven, CT
Washington, D.C.
Knoxville, TN
Bella Vista, AR

I'm really looking forward to visiting friends that have been strewed about this continent, but the ultimate question is whether I have to ability to deal with myself for that many hours on the road.  Imaging that many hours on the road excites, intrigues, but also scares me.  I think the point of a road trip is the adventure/trouble one might get into and maybe a little bit of self discovery.  I'm also a little afraid of what I might post of this blog... damn you internet and this love/hate relationship we have.

My question to everyone who may read this is what to do along the way? Places to stop and things to do along the way.  Maybe I could post a map on this blog so people will have a better idea of where I'll be.

Well one post down