FROM THE ROAD

I move to D.C. in about 72 hours

So I arrived back at my house at approximately the same time that I left it 20 days ago on June 3rd. It was the journey that I had hoped for as long as I can remember. As little time we had, we saw things we needed to see and things we didn't but I'd argue we're better for it all. I don't really want to be back, as tiring as it is being on the road for three weeks. I'll be back in a car for a long trip in only a few days, but i'll be in one place for the next six months. The bonds of friendship have grown stronger in my eyes. I can only hope the rest agree. I regret nothing of this trip be it time, money place or anything else. What needed to happen happened and we did what we needed to do.

Now the four of us split and go our seperate ways.

Location: Milford, CT 

4:37 AM EST

And so it ends.....not with a bang but with Mario Party.   

This is for real...

I wake up every morning with nausea in the pit of my stomach. Unaware of what I did the previous day to have caused it. Completely unsure about how to fix it in the 15 minutes I have before I jump into the car and set off for another so called adventure of driving till our eyes are so heavy they can't even lift a spec of dirt from them. I feel as if I've aged ten years in this three week period. I've seen things that one would not expect to see, not at this age. Not in this time. Time has sped past me and I know now of what there is to come if I don't make up my mind about what I want to do with my life. I have seen the very epitome of what one's destiny can behold for them, as well as the bottom feeders paradise. Panhandling for a slice of bread to eat, or even the slightest bit of human kindness or interaction. I wouldn't say I'm like a child and this horror film of a country is being unveiled before my eyes. I'd would just say it's a culture shock to see some of the most different kind of lifestyles everywhere you go. I wouldn't expect salt lake city to have as many people begging as it did. Even though I was begging to leave, but thats a whole different story. Do yourself a favor and do not go to salt Lake city.

This trip has opened my eyes for good and for bad. I underestimated alot about this country and it's expanded my mind to the point of no return. I can't unseen the things I've seen and I can't really redo this voyage over again. Witnessing the country from the eyes of a fly as we zip past every city as every mile clicks up. A new state begins and only agony follows me until I get to the end of this one and to the beginning of another one. Only pleading to get back to the east coast where I am accustomed to. I am no longer headstrong to take on this country. I've absorbed everything I can from it and will hopefully pump it back through my own being or my work in some fashion. This palatte of beauty and destruction we call a country is both a wonder and an embarrassment at times. I've been lucky but I've seen those who have not been. Perhaps they made a few bad descions along the way...who am I to judge them. Am I one to say that I've never once put down someone else to get what I wanted out of them? Dare I say I've never taken advantage of someone in a given situation only for it to come back in my face. This country is about opportunity and it's only the opportunity you set up for yourself there is no handout, there is only time, precious time.

The End of the Road......Almost

Location: Bridgeville, PA 

"Still I'm convinced that giving in is the worst thing there is..." 

So this is it....almost.  Being back in Pennsylvania is weird.  As Matt said a couple days ago it's so close to home but still so far away.  At least when you're outside Pittsburgh.  This is probably our last night in a hotel and thus this is probably my last post while we are actually on the road.  I actually can't believe that I posted as much as I did but it's cool to be able to look back and see what I was thinking when this all started.  

Tonight we are at a Knights Inn only about 10 minutes outside of Pittsburgh.  This place has quite the clientele tonight but it is shockingly quiet right now.  It couldn't end any other way.  

So since our departure from the Super 8 in Mizzou we went to downtown St. Louis and saw the arch.  Going up into it is just about the coolest thing ever as they put you in these 2001: A Space Odyssey like pods and send you up to the top.  If you ever go there spend the $10 just for the ride.  It's worth it.  Once you get to the top of the Arch it's obviously pretty awesome as well as you can see pretty much the whole city from the little windows.   After taking the ride down we walked around the city and saw the cool pink fountains behind the capitol building and checked out Busch Stadium.  Then we left.  

Next up was Evansville, IN where we met up with Craig who was nice enough to take us out to lunch at a pretty awesome Mexican restaurant in town.  After that, we drove up to my cousins house in Louisville where my Aunt and Uncle were nice enough to take us out to dinner at an equally good BBQ place in town.   We stayed at their house for the night which was almost surreal as I was just there three weeks ago under totally different circumstances.  It was a great stop.

This morning we got up and drove through Lexington, Huntington and Charleston before stopping in right outside Pittsburgh.  We hit a mall in Charleston for a while which was about as classic a mall as you could get.  Every stock store was in it.  The town itself actually reminded me a lot of Providence which was kind of weird.  From there it was straight driving to this Knights Inn.  

After we checked in we went to Bob Evans for dinner which was sweet.  We have been talking about it all trip so it was good to finally get there.  They were out of salad though....what is the deal there.  

Tomorrow marks our last day or so on the road.  We are going to the Pirates game in the afternoon and then either trying to make the long trip through the night back home or stopping somewhere in between if we decide we can't make it.   One way or another I think it would be great if we can go to the same Waffle House that we went to on the first day.  It would be a funny bookend.  Plus I want to see if that guy is STILL in the bathroom. 

And so it the end of the road is upon us.  I want to thank anybody who took the time to read my ramblings over the past few weeks.  This whole thing has been an amazing experience.  When it is really all over for good I'll definitely post a final write up about the whole crazy three weeks.

Steel City here we come....       

Almost Done

Unfortunately it's almost over, we're back in PA for the first time since day one. The trip back has gone by quickly. Yellowstone was awesome, worth the trip. Although there wasn't much in terms of people until we reached Kansas City, the drive was beautiful the whole way. We were able to stay with Paul's family in Louisville which helped out a lot as we are all getting short on funds. We should be able to make it home without a problem though. Tomorrow we go to the Pirates game before the final stretch home. In less than a week i'll be living in D.C.

Kansas City loves Poison (the band not the thing that kills you)

Location: St. Charles, MO 

"You can never escape, you can only move south down the coast." 

More dashes tonight 

Wednesday 

- Left the Days Inn and made the quick trip out to Mt. Rushmore.  

- Saw the most famous rock in the country.  It was pretty cool too see because it's such a legendary land mark.  I got a bottle of soda with LBJ on it to.  Yup.  

- We drove through South Dakota which was actually a lot more interesting then Wyoming.  

- At one point we stopped at Wall Drug in Wall, SD.  There were signs for this place like 80 miles before it showed up so we had to stop.   This was seriously the coolest place ever.  It's just a giant cafe/store/gift shop/quirky entertainment complex but it had 5 cent coffee.  

- We drove some more until we found another place off the highway called The Corn Palace.  A guy named Judd told me how to get there.  It was basically a high school gym with corn art everywhere.  It was weird.  

- After this we drove straight through to Missouri Valley, IA where we stayed at the Rath Inn.  Decent place but the interweb didn't work.  Plus there was a bug infestation in the room.  Not really but there were enough to annoy me.  

Thursday

-Got up and drove to Kansas City.  

- "Is that a Poison shirt?  Where did you get that? Man that is sick, that is ill." 

-We went to 18th and Vine where we went into the Negro League Museum and this awesome Jazz Heritage Museum.  

- I could have listened to Louie & Ella all day man...."I fell in love with you the first time I looked into, them there eyes." 

- We left there and went to the Royals Stadium which was a huge bust.  The whole thing is under construction and it's a good thing their attendance is terrible because it would be a nightmare trying to get around the complex during games.  

- Stopped at a Stake N Shake.  This was seventeen days in the making.  Stake at Stake N Shake...never again.  

-Started making our way to St. Louis where we hit the second brutal storm of the trip.   Surprisingly, I was not driving this time.  

-Stopped at  this crazy travel lodge where we stayed for quite a while while the rain sort of passed.  Bought a six foot beef jerky thing.  Big mistake.  

-Drove here to this Motel 8 or whatever it is right outside of St. Louis.  They have an indoor pool here which of course we immediately went into.  The water was salty.  

-They also have internet as you might be able to gather but for some reason facebook does not work.  I can't believe that website did not exist four years ago.  

And so marks the end of the last Thursday of the trip.  I can't believe we only have three more days on the road.  It's going to be very difficult to get used to staying in one place again.  If everything goes smoothly we will be back in CT on Monday.  Wow.  

Tomorrow though is another busy day.  St. Louis and the arch in the morning, Indiana and Craig? in the afternoon, and Louisville and my Aunt & Uncle at night.   After that only one more city to see on the trip (Pittsburgh) before it's all over.  

Well, bedtime.