6/29/2007
Day 8
So this morning we woke up from what was an extremely windy night and left for Greybull at about 9:30. When you think of long beautiful empty land your thinking of South Dakota and Wyoming because its just long straight road with no cops and mountains all around. I am proud to say that we reached triple digits in speed for the first time on this trip while driving. We stopped once to get gas and were going to eat at this place called Taco Time that had 99cent tacos but sadly it was closed. Once we came within 70 miles of Greybull we entered the mountains. We had been flying through the driving but this 70 mile stretch took forever. Just before we enetered the mountains David suggested getting some gas, but I said we would make it just fine because it was only 70 miles. The Element isn't great when it comes to steep hills and it burns alot of gas to get up a mountain...so after 30 miles, a stop to pee off the side of Bull Horn mountain and going through about three quarters of our already half empty tank we started to realize that maybe we would have a little trouble making it to Greybull. David gave me a lot of shit for this since I was the one driving and had refused to stop for gas earlier. So we coasted for about 20 miles down the Bull Horn with the air conditioning off to conserve more heat. Once we reached the bottom we thought we would probably make it to Greybull but just to be safe we drafted a bus for the rest of the way. I really have nothing nice to say about Greybull except its in the middle of nowhere, gas is over priced, and its hot as hell. We camped at a KOA and our camping neighbors are also from Virginia, they are from Alexandria. We have taken full advantage of the pool and are hoping for a cool night, but I am doubtful. We are both looking forward to the Museum of Areal Fire Fighting, David more so because it is free. After that our next stop will be Yellowstone.
Day 7
On day 7 we left Sioux Falls and drove to Keystone to see Mr. Rushmore. The campsite in Sioux Falls was ok. It had a pool and hot tub, but the pool had a rat in it. That didn't stop us from swimming because we didn't find it until we were in the water. We told the people in charge in hopes that we would get something free out of it, but they just responded "It is probably a gopher" but we were right in the end b/c it was a big stinking' rat.
On the way to Keystone we saw hundreds of billboards for what we thought was a drug store called wall drug. If you check out our flickr site you can see tons of pics of the various sign, and these pictures were taken literally in the last five minutes before we actually reach Wall Drug. Before this point there were easily ten times as many.
Wall Drug was a big fake cowboy town. We decided it just a crappy wanna-be Texas. They had overpriced cowboy clothing, fake gold mining, and free ice weather which wasn't actually ice water but rather cold water. Needless to say we didn't have any.Many of the stores in Wall Drug smelled bad. We decided it was like a mix between vomit and sugar. By far the best smelling room was the bathroom which smelled of lickerish and lollipops. There was a wax museums but it smelled to bad to go in and was mostly a store anyways. It didn't look to be inhabited by many persons of waxy persuasion.
When we got to Mt. Rushmore, we were very disappointed. The faces are much much much smaller than we had expected, and parking was $8.00 so just drove around and took pictures. We shall not justify it with any further mention here.
The campsite was supposed to be 2mi away according to goggle maps, but it took us over an hour to find it. It was down a long winding narrow road that made Noah sick to his stomach. The nice thing about the campsite was that it had free mini-golf and a small pool.
Thats about it.
check out all our sweet photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/elementzero/
-David and Noah
On the way to Keystone we saw hundreds of billboards for what we thought was a drug store called wall drug. If you check out our flickr site you can see tons of pics of the various sign, and these pictures were taken literally in the last five minutes before we actually reach Wall Drug. Before this point there were easily ten times as many.
Wall Drug was a big fake cowboy town. We decided it just a crappy wanna-be Texas. They had overpriced cowboy clothing, fake gold mining, and free ice weather which wasn't actually ice water but rather cold water. Needless to say we didn't have any.Many of the stores in Wall Drug smelled bad. We decided it was like a mix between vomit and sugar. By far the best smelling room was the bathroom which smelled of lickerish and lollipops. There was a wax museums but it smelled to bad to go in and was mostly a store anyways. It didn't look to be inhabited by many persons of waxy persuasion.
When we got to Mt. Rushmore, we were very disappointed. The faces are much much much smaller than we had expected, and parking was $8.00 so just drove around and took pictures. We shall not justify it with any further mention here.
The campsite was supposed to be 2mi away according to goggle maps, but it took us over an hour to find it. It was down a long winding narrow road that made Noah sick to his stomach. The nice thing about the campsite was that it had free mini-golf and a small pool.
Thats about it.
check out all our sweet photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/elementzero/
-David and Noah
Day 6
On day 6 we drove from Minneapolis to Sioux Falls SD. In the morning we went to the Mall of America. It was cool, but a little disapointing. There is no doubt that it is very very large, but there are dublicates and even triplicates of some of the stores. Naoh and I each bought hats. From there we drove to Souix falls, the drive was uneventfull, and the campsite was ok. It was a Yogi bear franchise so it was themed, but it did have a pool and even a hot tub.
6/28/2007
Day 5
Day five we drove from Madison to Minneapolis. This was not a very long drive at all. It only took us a few hours. Our campsite was great, possibly the best one yet. It was about 5 miles outside of the beltway, and was great. It was called Lake Elmo park and had the coolest swimming pond ever. It was basicaly a pool/lake. It had a sandy bottom and stuff, but the water was filtered and chlorinated. We swam a lot. An hour or so in the afternoon, and then annother hour or more again in the evening. For dinner we had grilled cheese and soup.
6/27/2007
Day 4
On day 4 we went to Madison WI from Chicago. We had a hard time finding our campsite, but as a result we got to see downtown Madison.
Once we got to the campsite we set up our tent and got directions to the university. The campsite was relatively nice. It was a wide open space, and we had a site with electricity with is something we really like. The only odd thing about it was that there was no camp office, we just put cash in an envelope and put the envelope in a box.
From the campsite we headed to the U of W campus for our 3:00 tour. The tour was good. At the end the tour guide Yoni gave Noah coupons for buy one get one free ice cream. Noah bought the both b/c David did not want to pay for it, and Noah refused to share with David, even though David drove there and walked on the tour and even split parking just to look at a university for Noah.
Anyways, from there we went to the grocery store. We tried to take some video in the store, but they shut us down, so we just took a liter afterwords. We then went back to the campsite and had Mac & chee with hot dogs for dinner.
After seeing downtown and the campus of U of W I realized that the album "State street" (my all time favorite acapella album) was made by the U of W accapella group.
-David and Noah
Once we got to the campsite we set up our tent and got directions to the university. The campsite was relatively nice. It was a wide open space, and we had a site with electricity with is something we really like. The only odd thing about it was that there was no camp office, we just put cash in an envelope and put the envelope in a box.
From the campsite we headed to the U of W campus for our 3:00 tour. The tour was good. At the end the tour guide Yoni gave Noah coupons for buy one get one free ice cream. Noah bought the both b/c David did not want to pay for it, and Noah refused to share with David, even though David drove there and walked on the tour and even split parking just to look at a university for Noah.
Anyways, from there we went to the grocery store. We tried to take some video in the store, but they shut us down, so we just took a liter afterwords. We then went back to the campsite and had Mac & chee with hot dogs for dinner.
After seeing downtown and the campus of U of W I realized that the album "State street" (my all time favorite acapella album) was made by the U of W accapella group.
-David and Noah
6/25/2007
Day 3
Day three we went to downtown Chicago. It took us a while, but we eventually found and parked in the E Monroe St. Garage. It was located by millennium park, directly between Navy Pier and Shedd Aquarium, so it was perfect for us. Also, it was only $13 a day, a price unmatched by any of the other nearby garages.
After getting the car situated and making some sandwiches, we headed towards the aquarium. The walk was about a mile and a half to the aquarium. When we got there we saw it was all worth it. Shedd is a great aquarium. The first exhibit was a big tank with a coral reef in it. While we were there, there was a diver in the tank feeding the fish. There was also a guy outside the tank talking and the inside the tank was talking too.
We wondered through the exhibits and got lots of pictures of cool stuff. After lunch and charging up the camera a little, we went and saw a dolphin show. It was great. They had four dolphins doing a variety of tricks. Much better than any exhibit I have seen at any other aquarium.
After that we saw some beluga whales, and funnily enough, a baby beluga. I was singing the Rafi song, I couldn't help myself. Also, while looking at a fake model of a beluga, I noticed that the beluga's face looks very similar to the faces of the ninja turtles in the original live-action movie.
The only part of the aquarium that didn't live up to our expectations was the jelly fish. There were only two small tanks with jelly fish in them.
After the aquarium, we walked back to our car to take a break. After relaxing for a little bit, we walked to Navy Pier. The walk was nice because we saw a lot of boats tied up, but it was tiring being another mile and a half. Once we got to the pier we were really tired, and rather than pushing through the crowds in a place clearly only for tourist, we decided to turn around and head back to the car.
From there we returned to my friend's house and hung out for a while. Then the three of us went out for dinner at pot belies as a thank you for letting us stay at your house gift. It was really good. Then we wondered around Napersville river walk for a while until we returned to the house. The rest of the evening was uneventful. We just watched TV, and worked on uploading to flickr.
Finlay around 11 or so, we went for a quick dip in the hot tub and then off to the tent for bed.
After getting the car situated and making some sandwiches, we headed towards the aquarium. The walk was about a mile and a half to the aquarium. When we got there we saw it was all worth it. Shedd is a great aquarium. The first exhibit was a big tank with a coral reef in it. While we were there, there was a diver in the tank feeding the fish. There was also a guy outside the tank talking and the inside the tank was talking too.
We wondered through the exhibits and got lots of pictures of cool stuff. After lunch and charging up the camera a little, we went and saw a dolphin show. It was great. They had four dolphins doing a variety of tricks. Much better than any exhibit I have seen at any other aquarium.
After that we saw some beluga whales, and funnily enough, a baby beluga. I was singing the Rafi song, I couldn't help myself. Also, while looking at a fake model of a beluga, I noticed that the beluga's face looks very similar to the faces of the ninja turtles in the original live-action movie.
The only part of the aquarium that didn't live up to our expectations was the jelly fish. There were only two small tanks with jelly fish in them.
After the aquarium, we walked back to our car to take a break. After relaxing for a little bit, we walked to Navy Pier. The walk was nice because we saw a lot of boats tied up, but it was tiring being another mile and a half. Once we got to the pier we were really tired, and rather than pushing through the crowds in a place clearly only for tourist, we decided to turn around and head back to the car.
From there we returned to my friend's house and hung out for a while. Then the three of us went out for dinner at pot belies as a thank you for letting us stay at your house gift. It was really good. Then we wondered around Napersville river walk for a while until we returned to the house. The rest of the evening was uneventful. We just watched TV, and worked on uploading to flickr.
Finlay around 11 or so, we went for a quick dip in the hot tub and then off to the tent for bed.
6/24/2007
Day 2
Day two was not a huge day. We woke up very cold in our tent. We had hot coco and oatmeal for breakfast. Because the weather was looking crappy we decided to head out around 8:30 in the morning. We stopped at CVS to get Noah one of those eye cover things so he could sleep later, and we also stopped for gas.
The drive was about 6.5 hours and was very uneventful. There were a lot of tolls which sucked, but that's about it.
My friend was not going to get home until 10 at night, so we just hung around outside the house. After a while we then went to a shopping center and had dinner at Cici's pizza. We also bought the Dan Brown book Angels and Demons (on CD) at a discount book store for about $10.
There is not much else to tell. When Dave and his family got home we hung out and chatted for a little while.
We would like to thanks Dave's family for letting us stay at their house, for feeding us, and for being so friendly.
Will post day three stuff soon.
-David
The drive was about 6.5 hours and was very uneventful. There were a lot of tolls which sucked, but that's about it.
My friend was not going to get home until 10 at night, so we just hung around outside the house. After a while we then went to a shopping center and had dinner at Cici's pizza. We also bought the Dan Brown book Angels and Demons (on CD) at a discount book store for about $10.
There is not much else to tell. When Dave and his family got home we hung out and chatted for a little while.
We would like to thanks Dave's family for letting us stay at their house, for feeding us, and for being so friendly.
Will post day three stuff soon.
-David
6/23/2007
Days 1
Friday we drove from Norther VA up to Cleveland OH. It was a long uneventful drive, with a few cool sights. We arrived in Cleveland around noon and ate lunch in the Rock & Roll Hall of fame parking garage. Very glamorous. Anyways, after that we went into the R&R HOF and paid $36 so the two of us could check it out. All in all it was worth it. There were tons of cool relics/memorabilia. There was one part of the museum that was a little odd. It was a movie called "Mystery Train". This movie was about 20min long and featured a number of somewhat disconnected video clips with little to no voice over. At first it was kinda lame with lots of random pictures of trains, but the second half was much better. There was video from a live performance of Madonna's "Like a Virgin" which was quite amusing.
After the R&R HOF we went for a walk towards where we had seen a number of people congregated before. It turned out to be some sort of grand prix. I (david) was too cheap to pay the $5 general admission, so we never really got to see what was going on.
After that we drove through downtown Cleveland and saw Jacobs Field. Also, while at the R&R HOF we saw the Cleveland Brown's Stadium. There are/will be pictures of all on this on our Flickr site.
At the campsite later that night, we went swimming in the lake (Woodside Lake Park's namesake). This was a residential/vacation campsite so there we lots of locals.
**** As we are writing this sitting in a penara bread steeling their Wi-Fi and condiments, we heard this. "What did I do wrong, I just want to get out of here" and a guy stormed into the kitchen. That is all for now, we will keep you posted****
And now back to your featured blogging
***He is now baning on the coffee machine loudly***
Any ways. After swimming it it began to cool off so we took hot showers and headed back to the campsite. At this point it is probably in the 60s. For dinner we had salad and quesadillas. I actually had salad, which for those of you who know me is quite a feet.
After dinner we cleaned up the campsite and watched a couple of movies on my computer. "Cathouse" a documentary about a whore house in Nevada, which we will be investigating in more depth later. And a movie called "This film is not yet rated" which is about the flawed movie rating system in America.
It was about 50 fifty degrees when we went to bed, but when we woke up at about 4 AM it was like 40. We could see our breaths (and nips were standing at attention). We had trouble going back to sleep but manage eventually.
That is all. Peace out. Check out the new flikr pics.
-David and Noah
After the R&R HOF we went for a walk towards where we had seen a number of people congregated before. It turned out to be some sort of grand prix. I (david) was too cheap to pay the $5 general admission, so we never really got to see what was going on.
After that we drove through downtown Cleveland and saw Jacobs Field. Also, while at the R&R HOF we saw the Cleveland Brown's Stadium. There are/will be pictures of all on this on our Flickr site.
At the campsite later that night, we went swimming in the lake (Woodside Lake Park's namesake). This was a residential/vacation campsite so there we lots of locals.
**** As we are writing this sitting in a penara bread steeling their Wi-Fi and condiments, we heard this. "What did I do wrong, I just want to get out of here" and a guy stormed into the kitchen. That is all for now, we will keep you posted****
And now back to your featured blogging
***He is now baning on the coffee machine loudly***
Any ways. After swimming it it began to cool off so we took hot showers and headed back to the campsite. At this point it is probably in the 60s. For dinner we had salad and quesadillas. I actually had salad, which for those of you who know me is quite a feet.
After dinner we cleaned up the campsite and watched a couple of movies on my computer. "Cathouse" a documentary about a whore house in Nevada, which we will be investigating in more depth later. And a movie called "This film is not yet rated" which is about the flawed movie rating system in America.
It was about 50 fifty degrees when we went to bed, but when we woke up at about 4 AM it was like 40. We could see our breaths (and nips were standing at attention). We had trouble going back to sleep but manage eventually.
That is all. Peace out. Check out the new flikr pics.
-David and Noah
6/22/2007
Time to go
It is now 5:45 AM and we are about the leave Fairfax. Today we will be visiting the rock and roll hall of fame. Tomorrow we will then be heading to Chicago. I don't know if we will have any internet tonight, but if we do I will try to post pictures from the ride up as well as any pictures we can take at the hall of fame. Talk to you soon
6/21/2007
WE leave tomorrow!!!
Things are really down to the wire. Today we need to still finalize our route and also print out Google map directions between stops. Also, I have fixed the issue with commenting. For some reason it was set up so that you had to have an account, now anyone is allowed to comment on the blog. I have also fixed the issue of the timestamps for posting. Previously they were set to Pacific time as opposed to eastern.
6/20/2007
2 Days LEFT!
We are leaving the day after tomorrow! There is lots more we still have to do. I can't wait for the trip. On the first day we will be departing around 6AM. Early enough that we can go visit the Rock and Roll hall of fame in Cleavland on that first day so we can go directly to Chicago on the second day.
6/19/2007
3 days encounting
We are still rounding up stuff for the trip. We have to get a tarp for under our tent, we have to get video tapes, and we need to finalize our rout. Also, we are thinking about getting in touch with Honda to see if maybe they can help us pay for our trip.
6/18/2007
Leaving in four DAYS!!
Noah and I will be leaving for our trip this Friday and we have a lot to do. We both badly need money, and as a result are working as much as we can. The camera issue is mostly worked out. Yesterday I posted our pics from our trial run, and today I will try to post our trial run video.
6/17/2007
New camera agian
So the other day I bought this cool new flash based video camera, but as it turns out it was a piece of crap. So I returned it and bought a new video camera which isn't as cool, but seems to work a little better. Today I am going to go out and buy the required microphones. I will be posting video soon from both the trial run down to VA beach, and from my trial interview I did yesterday.
6/15/2007
Just got a new camera
Today I bought a new video camera for the trip. The one we had did not have mic in, but our new one does. Hurray! Anyways I am going to try to put some video up on this site soon.
6/10/2007
We got the grant!
A little behind on the posting, but yeah, we got the grant! Up to $600 depending on our interviews and how they turn out. We are really psyched. This last weekend Noah and I took a trial run trip down to VA beach. The campsite we were planing on staying in was full, so we ended up staying in a near by more expensive KOA. I will be posting photo and videos from the trip throughout this week.
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