October 2012
1 post
Number of times the Tumblr iPhone app has frozen in the last hour: 6.
September 2011
19 posts
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Just the Stats, Fats.
Here are some assorted stats about the trip, which I compiled because you obviously wanted to know:
Total time: 41 days, 6 1/2 hours
Miles driven: 8,054
Avg miles per day: 195.25
Longest drive: 829 miles - Bridge Bay Campground, Yellowstone to Mitchell, SD - Day 32
Photos taken: 6,915
Average photos per day: 167
States: 15 (MI, IN, IL, MO, OK, TX, CO, UT, ID, MT, WY, SD, MN, WI, OH)
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Days 41 & 42 - Westerville, OH to Holt, MI - Recap
Miles traveled: 246 States: 2 (Ohio, Michigan) Camp: N/A
The final stretch of the journey. Bittersweet.
Left Westerville in the afternoon to head up to Bowling Green. Decided to stop there and visit my brother on my way back to Michigan. He and his friends were having a get-together that night, so I decided to crash the event and hang out.
Had a great time, a few drinks, and some very, very...
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Day 40 - Joplin, MO to Westerville, OH - Recap
Miles traveled: 745 States: 3 (Missouri, Illinois, Ohio) Camp: N/A
I knew I was in for a long haul on this drive. I didn’t want to have to stop at any more hotels or campgrounds, so I decided I’d be making the drive straight through from Joplin to Westerville, which my GPS told me would be a 12+ hour drive.
For the most part, the early drive was uneventful. A few stops for gas and...
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Days 37-39 - Joplin, MO - Recap
Miles Traveled: 205 States: 1 (Missouri) Camp: N/A
Drove down to Joplin early in the morning. On the way, I contacted AmeriCorps and let them know I’d be coming. Once I arrived, they set me up with Catholic Charities at a distribution center.
At the center we passed out donated items to residents who had applied for aid and been approved for specific items, such as kitchen goods, food,...
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allisonunsupervised replied to your photoset
Drive: well, not COMPLETELY uneventful. ; )
Absolutely correct! I also met up with this delightful friend for a bite to eat at Laurie’s Place in Edwardsville, where I had what’s known as a horseshoe, which I’d never had before. Highly recommended.
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Day 36 - Chicago, IL to Cuba, MO - Recap
Miles traveled: 390 States: 2 (Illinois, Missouri) Camp: N/A
Started the day with an appointment at the Apartment People office in Lakeview. The hope was to find an apartment I liked and get the leasing process started so I could move as soon as possible after returning to Michigan. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way. The leasing agent I worked with was very nice, but there just...
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Day 34 & 35 - Chicago, IL - Recap
Miles traveled: N/A States: 1 Camp: N/A
Great weekend with great friends. Woke up late after attempting to make up for the cumulative sleep deprivation of the previous few days. Stopped by The Doughnut Vault just before they ran out and had one of the most delicious doughnuts ever. If you’re ever near Merchandise Mart in Chicago early in the morning, do yourself a favor and check this place...
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Day 32 & 33 - Yellowstone National Park to...
Miles traveled: 1,464 States: 6 (Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois) Camp: N/A
What a long haul.
I had planned on getting an early start, as I wanted to take the Beartooth Highway out of the park and the drive was going to take more than 24 hours even if I drove straight through. I woke up at around 4:30 AM to the sound of intense thunderstorms over the park. Figuring...
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Day 31 - Yellowstone National Park - Recap
Miles: N/A States: 1 (Wyoming) Camp: Bridge Bay Campground, Yellowstone National Park
I had originally planned to leave early in the day and head for Badlands, but the size of Yellowstone had made it difficult to see everything I wanted to. Instead, I extended my camp reservation at Yellowstone for an extra day.
My first full day in the park, I purchased a fishing license. I had initially hoped...
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Day 30 - Yellowstone National Park - Recap
Miles traveled: N/A States: 1 (Wyoming) Camp: Bridge Bay Campground, Yellowstone National Park
Woke up just after sunrise and made my way to Yellowstone Lake to take a couple of sunrise shots. Came back to camp for breakfast and then set about deciding what to see during the day.
I decided it would be best to visit the Fishing Bridge area and pick up some supplies at the gift shop before heading...
On my way home. 725 more miles before the trip is over. Hard to believe. I’ve seen so much over the last month. In some ways, I’m ready for it to be over. In others, I never want to stop.
I’ll try to finally get the recaps and photo posts caught up soon.
August 2011
80 posts
On my way to help build a house. 95 degrees out today. Gonna be a scorcher.
Made it to Joplin. Spending the day volunteering at a Catholic Charities disaster response distribution center.
I’ll try to post an update later tonight.
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Day 29 - Canyonlands National Park to Yellowstone...
Miles traveled: 673 States: 4 (Utah, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming) Camp: Bridge Bay Campground, Yellowstone National Park
Woke up early to catch the sunrise at Mesa Arch. I was a little slow in getting ready, so I pretty much had to run the trail out to the arch to make it in time. Once out there, I hung out and talked with a couple of other photographers and waited for the sun to make its...
Stopping for the evening in Cuba, MO at the Wagon Wheel Motel on Route 66. I saw it on my way through on the Route and it seemed like a good place to stop.
I feel bad because when I called the number on the website, I think I reached the owner at home and woke her up. She said she’d come by and get me checked in though, so that’s good.
3 hours from here to Joplin tomorrow morning....
On my way back to Joplin. Just passed through Springfield, IL. Probably going to stop for a while soon. Feeling very tired. Called the Americorps office and arranged to stop in there tomorrow and get set up with some work. Don’t know yet where I’ll stay, but I have some time to get that figured out.
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Day 28 - Canyonlands National Park - Recap
Miles traveled: N/A States: 1 (Utah) Camp: Willow Flat Campground, Canyonlands National Park
Originally, the plan for this day was to check out Canyonlands, Arches, and maybe Dead Horse Point State Park. That ended up not happening. I spent the entire day at Canyonlands.
My first stop was at Shafer Canyon Overlook across from the Island in the Sky Visitor Center when I first arrived. I walked...
Red Bull stopped having any effect around 2AM. I was starting to get a little concerned about how tired I was, so I pulled off at a travel plaza to sleep. Four hours later, and I’m back on the road.
Hopefully that’s the last time I have to sleep in my car for a while.
Badlands isn’t happening. It’s already dark and I’m still two hours away. I’m okay with it though. I’m extremely tired and so ready for a shower and a real bed. From what i read, the campsites at Badlands are about as minimal as they get. Just not feeling it.
Going to drive ‘til midnight or so and see where I end up, then it’s back to Chicago in the...
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Still in Yellowstone. I’ll post updates and pictures for the last few days once I’m on the road home.
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Leaving Canyonlands and taking off for Yellowstone. I had hoped to stop at Dead Horse Point State Park and Arches, but I got too caught up here. If I stay here any longer I’ll be arriving at Yellowstone in the middle of the night.
Just another excuse to make the trip again next year.
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Day 27 - Rocky Mountain National Park to Moab, UT...
Miles traveled: 460 States: 2 (Colorado, Utah) Camp: N/A
Woke up early with the intention of doing a little bit more sightseeing at RMNP and then getting on the road to Moab/Arches before noon. I decided to drive up Trail Ridge Road toward Grand Lake before leaving for Arches. However, I underestimated how long it would take to drive the entire road. I only made it about 1/3 of the way before it...
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Day 26 - Rocky Mountain National Park - Recap
Miles traveled: N/A States: 1 (Colorado) Camp: Aspenglen Campground, Rocky Mountain National Park
What an amazing day. What an amazing place. It’s almost hard to believe there can be places this beautiful. I think sometimes I see images from overseas and forget that there are amazing locations and beautiful landscapes here in the US, too.
When I set up camp the night before, I set alarms...
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Sorry for the flood of posts, guys. I have to push all the updates I can while I have wi-fi access.
Also, expect tons of pictures with the updates from the Parks. Half of one day and I already have 30 to post. I was hoping to get out and do some more walking around, but there are some big storms kicking up right now, so it may be a while.
Also just discovered I probably won’t be camping in...
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Day 25 - Amarillo, TX to Rocky Mountain National...
Miles traveled: 490 States: 3 (Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado) Camp: Moraine Park Campground, Rocky Mountain National Park
Long, tough drive. Long stretches with nothing around and no big cities for miles. At one point I was actually worried I was going to run out of gas because it was so long between stations.
Stopped early at the Window on the Plains Museum in Dumas, TX. Nice little place with a...
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Day 24 - Houston, TX to Amarillo, TX - Recap
Miles traveled: 700 States: 1 (Texas) Camp: N/A
Woke up and had a big breakfast prepared by my friend Daniel. Spent an hour or so trading music before I hit the road. I stopped briefly in Austin because my brother had ordered me a shutter release switch for my camera, but it hadn’t arrived by the time I got there.
Once I got on the road, it was a pretty uneventful drive. Many, many miles...
do-over replied to your post:
DO NOT TEASE OR FEED THE ALLIGATORS. I sincerely hope you stood there going “Nyah nah nah nyah nah nah” and then ran like hell for the thrill of it.
I went with, “Must be tough to brush all those teeth! I can smell your breath from here!” Followed, of course, by the running like hell thing.
