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.
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Day 22 & 23 - Austin, TX to Houston, TX - Recap
Miles traveled: 203 States: 1 (Texas) Camp: N/A
Left Austin early Monday afternoon headed for Houston. Once again, I was surprised by the size of the state. Looking at the map, I didn’t figure the drive could be longer than two hours or so. False. 3+ hours later, I arrived in Houston.
I arrived in the Houston area and we immediately went out for food to Chuy’s and had some great...
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Day 21 - Oklahoma City, OK to Austin, TX - Recap
Miles traveled: 440 States: 2 (Oklahoma, Texas) Camp: N/A
Pretty driving-heavy day. Left Oklahoma City before 7 AM. Though I was aware that just the portion of the drive in Texas was hours long, I don’t think I was really ready for it, especially on only about 30 minutes of sleep.
One very nice thing about the drive was the “scenic pull-offs” along the Texas interstate....
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Route 66 - Day 3 - Recap
Miles traveled: 356 States: 3 (Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma City) Camp: N/A
What a day. I don’t really know how I’m going to be able to sum it all up, but I’ll try. I started the day well rested in Springfield. After a big breakfast, I left town with the intention of making it to Oklahoma City by nightfall. However, with Joplin in between, I knew there was a strong possibility I...
Listen
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Pulled into a Walmart parking lot in Oklahoma City this morning around 5:30. I thought I’d try for a couple of hours of sleep like I got the first night.
Unfortunately this time it’s just not working, so I’m going to head on to Austin. Once I get there I’ll see if I can sneak a couple of hours of sleep.
No rest for the weary.
We are now solidly into the “non-stop nonsense babbling to myself in weird voices and accents” portion of the evening.
On the road again. Because of how long I stayed in Joplin, I’m going to be driving pretty late into the night.
Right now I’m stopped for gas in Miami, OK, headed for Oklahoma City.
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I’m at the McDonalds in Joplin, MO. I had planned to be in Oklahoma City by now. Once I stopped in Joplin, I knew that wasn’t happening. I’ll still be driving on to OKC tonight, but I had to stop and get these photos transferred and edited.
I can hardly put into words what this place looks like right now. Apparently they’ve recovered a bit, but some of the areas look like...
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Route 66 - Day 2 - Recap
Miles traveled: 270 States: 2 (Illinois, Missouri) Camp: N/A
Left Edwardsville around 11AM after a couple of hours of sleep in my car. Shockingly, I didn’t really feel tired, despite the lack of sleep.
First up was crossing the river on the I-55 bridge. Apparently the bridge that was a part of historic Route 66 is closed. It was really cool to drive by the Gateway Arch. Very awesome to see...
