Day 58

Having had our fair share of fun. It was time for at least one of us to get going with a real gig. Unfortunately I couldn’t accompany Shane back to Phoenix as Lauren was flying in to kick it for the weekend.

Tchau der bruder. It was was great seeing the nation with you.

Day 57

We started the day with a little amphibious action.
We rallied the Argo through the woods. But, once again we weren’t out 5 minutes before we were high-centered on the beaver-dam. Crimony!

The location was a little extreme for the Range Rover so we scowered the property for something with some muscle.

I was about to use a horse when I found the tractor neatly hidden in the wood-chip barn. We drove out to the dam & did our best to pull in out. Problem is the there was a hug log & a berm in the way.

That’s where the opposite of Captain Planet comes in: My main man. Shane.
He proceeded to move the berm and move/break the 20 foot log while I ate corn-nuts.

Now we need a climbing fix; after all we hadn’t climbed since the Black Hills. Debated on driving a few hours to do some outdoor climbs; but, settled on the rock gym in town.

Shane & I jumped into Luke's car & rolled over to the gym. Luke & Shane put on a climbing clinic while I drained mountain dew after mountain dew to stave off my mono-like fatigue.

Later Moms created an organic feast that ya’ll wouldn’t believe.

Fully fed, we once again have a hankering for digital entertainment, but all the DVD’s at the house were missing from their case’s.

So its off to red-box.
I’ve come to find this box is usually full of horrible film
Luke & Shane talked me into renting “The Box”.

Wow, worst movie I have ever seen.. I’m still (at the time of this writing) mad that this movie is actually in circulation.

Day 56

We drove up my family’s driveway at a sloggy 3 am. Parked in the back behind one of Lukey’s dirt-bike jumps.

Lets crash & terrify my unsuspecting mom in the am.
We let ourselves in through the wide-open door - wow.

Can’t muster a 5 am wake-up to startle my dad - fail. We do manage to get a mini-scream out of my mom around 10 as she walks into the front door with an armload of groceries. “Oh my gosh Rory!”

Whatup Moms! We scrounged breakfast and then headed out into the woods to check the beaver trap.
Nothing going. We re-set the trap but not before it slammed shut on my hand. Niice going.

Excited to re-explore the property further, I talked Shane into 4 wheeling the Jeep a little bit. We get stuck in a ditch within 5 minutes. We try to pull it out with the Argo..no go.

What are we going to use?
Might as well us Mom’s Range Rover? Hahha..
Mom comes power-walking up to us, “RORY NICHOLAS !!!”
(I laugh & continue hooking up the chains) “What’s the problem??”

We are able to yank the jeep out & decide we should get some errands done.
We change the oil for the 1st time in 6,000 miles & attempt to fix the circuitry on the malfunctioning hot tub.

Now with our productive fix; we head inside for a one of my mom’s famous dinner concoctions. Totally diverse, totally delectable.

After Dad took us all to see the hyped-Inception.
The top definitely fell people.
It was nice to hang with the whole family again.

Day 55

A tall stack of Pancakes waited as Shane & I woke.

Once again, there is nothing like a home-cooked meal to equalize.

Got to catch up with Aunt Debbie, Uncle Kody, & my formerly little cousin Melinda.

The plan for the day was to to take a day hike up to an alpine lake just outside of the town.

Shane, Michael, Tori, Kody, Kyle, Joey, Denali & I piled into the surprisingly spacious Honda Pilot & hiked up into the ruggedly beautiful wilderness.

Sharing the same genes; the lake was not enough of a challenge for Kyle, Kody & I. For a towering spire loomed in the distance.

We just had to look at each other & nod...Its on.

We picked our way through the forest, then boulder fields, & finally scrambled up the cliff face to the summit.

We managed to find a ridge to access the peak; but, just like the rest of Sand Point the other three directions were sheer vertical.
I'm talking 1,000 feet down....yikes.

Making our way back down took most, if not all of our mental & physical energy.
I felt bad for Kyle as he drove while the rest of us snored the whole way home.

Aunt Debbie had two stuffed pizzas waiting for us all as we arrived back at home base.
This is what summer is all about.
Remember the peaks & troughs theory? It has been completely non-applicable since Virginia.

With Monday on its way, I decided Shane & I should make our way to the coast.

Day 54

Had a light breakfast & caught up with Kyle & grilled his girlfriend Tori for a quick second.

She is such a catch, that she flipped it around & was grilling me.

Formalities exchanged, Kyle & Tori headed out to take care of some pressing errands.
Shane & I walked old town Sand Point biding our time.

About one o’clock we met up the a boat-ful of Kyle & Tori’s friends: Mike, Jackie, Sheldon, Tim, Tony, & Melanoma himself.

We laughed, drank 4 Locos, jumped off train bridges, and wake-boarded the rest of the perfect day away.

Following we re-grouped back at Micheal's to rehydrate with PBR's.

A local joint called The Dive was our final destination.
Dancing, bull-riding, and tequila were the final three ingredients to THE day.

Day 53 continued

We got as far as Coeur D'Alene, Idaho when the Droid rang. Land Developers INC wants Shane to report for duty in a little over a week.

I’m lightly depressed that Shane & I won’t triumphantly return to Phoenix together.
But happy that he’s got a real gig lined up!

Having caught his breath, Shane & I diligently map out the rest of our time.

Although we are both restless to make it to my parents; I exercise restraint & decide we need to make due on our promise to see my cousins. After all I vaguely remember it as an amazing alpine destination.

The drive from north is less than promising. There is nothing on the side of the highway except rotting barns & hay fields.
With a deadline looming I feel the pressure to come through.

The reliable old Cherokees delivers us just as my hope is about to run out.
My memory serves me well, as we find Sand Point to be just as I remember: Secluded & Pristine.

The city center in surrounded on all but one side by Lake Ponderay. The lake like old town is surrounded on all but one side by Idaho’s portion of the Rockies. Very..very epic.

My mom taught me to never show up empty-handed - so we stop at the grocery & pick up Kyle’s preferred liquid sustenance: Kokanee.

Kyle & his beautiful girlfriend can only stick around long enough to say hello & throw us the house keys. The have a dinner date with her parents.
Shane & I stay awake only long enough watch ¾ of Italian Job. This new-found thing called stress has eaten all our energy

Day 53

I awoke expecting to be football practice sore. Nope. Felt like I did nothing the day before.Wierd-but I'll take it.

Anyway, I grabbed a coffee, soaked in the hot tub for a quick second & jumped online to see what was going on.

An un-crankified Shane & I made plans to head all the way to Sand Point Idaho to see my maternal cousins.

Before we had to get some food/drinks. Stopped by Albertsons and got all the things we'd be dreaming of. I didn't get the iced Chai that I wanted cause I already had my caffeine so I went with couple Sobes; a Strawberry-Banana & Mango-melon. The former was peptobismalish & the latter was watered-downed Koolade. Plus the the scraped the glass bottle for platic. No class.

Day 52

First light found us on the trail. let us conquer this mountain.
The trail was just how I like it straight up, no need for time-wasting switch backs.

Our legs burned, our chests heaved & we couldn't figure out if we were hot or cold. I was either frozen by the mountainous wind or burned alive by my own heat.

By noon we had made it to what we thought was the summit...nope. Still had another 1,500 feet and three mountains over..maybe this wasn't my type of trail.
However, in retrospect I will agree the trail took us through nature as I have never seen her.

7/8 up to the recently spotted lookout tower (the real summit) Shane I heard some screeching down the slope. Sounded like a baby being... well attacked. Now fully alert we scanned the hillside. Ahh hah, It was bear cubs playing! There is the mom too! We zoomed in with our cameras, too grainy.

Well, do we say that was cool or do we go check these elusive creatures out?
Shane was cool watching from where we were. You want to climb all the way down there & climb all the way back? All to mess with a protective Momma bear.

"Uhh yes!"

I rationalized that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity & what was a little more exercise. I had my whole life to sit down.

Made my way down. checked the wind & adjusted my route so I stayed well down it. I crawled to a rocky outcrop about a 100 yards away & was instantly terrified. She was soo big! The little guys were my size.

Satisfied with the pictures I was able to finagle, I sprinted back around & up the slope. Well at least most of the way.
The elevation prolonged my expected exit strategy by about 5 minutes. She didn't notice me though, swooo.

Reunited with Shane I regained my composure. We resumed our uphill battle.

But the trail got the second to last laugh though. We had once more ridge to go...ahhhh!
However, the grade had tamed.
With a little more heaving & hawing we were at the lookout. It was packed.

We ate what food we had left (one slice of salami) & snapped a few pictures.

Now when we planned this adventure we were instructed that we would end here at Washburn; where we would have to climb down (the opposite flank) where we would find the inner-Yellowstone highway.

While up high we scouted the quickest way....it didn't look quick at all.

Three bloody miles. We debated doing the downhill trot to expedite the process, Shane had a headache though so that was a no go.

Somehow we made it there. Now to hitch a ride back to the car. Yes thats right Hitch-Hike. We were just doing what the lady in the back country office told us to do.

It was fun for like 10 minutes...Shane would do a little hulu dance & I would sing "Ride to the Canyon area,,,PuuuLeasSE!" We stood out on the road for an hour looking like idiots.

Finally, a young woman named Laura stopped for us. Saweet!

She dropped us off as close as she could which was about 3 miles from our car. We rubber tramped it about 3/4 of the way, the last bit we rode cush in the back of of an RV driven by some people whose names I already forgot.

It was now 4, but we were at the car. All the food to be found was demolished in 3 minutes flat.

Nutritionally equalized we decided we had to go see the infomous paint pots & finally Old Faithful.

Mostly a good idea. except there was mad construction & Shane was cranky.

We checked out the aforementioned attractions silently.

There was no laughter to be heard.That is unless you count incessant giggling form annoying French family that sat behind us as we waited for old faithful to do its thing.

Leaving the Old Faithful area was a nightmare, all 50,000 of us left on the same one-lane road. It took us two hours to go 40 miles.

Made it as far a Bozeman, Montana. Found a KOA campground. paid our fees, pitched the tents & took a long awaited shower.

Day 51

Nissin's finest fills us with the right chemicals for the impending death march.

We claw our way up.
Backtracking is way too fun! God was looking out though. Instead of the forecasted mid 90's we got breezy, overcast skies.

Atop the rim we make our way north towards Mt. Washburn. As predicted, the scenery is other-worldly.

Which is necessary, cause we've been aggressively climbing the entire day.

We make it to the base of the mountain & find our campsite inhabited. Didn't we reserve this for tonight? Before we go compare permits we take a second look at ours.
We have no reservation for the night. Apparently the old lady at the permit office had a moment. Always double-check

Luckily the people in camp are a family I had pored over a map with a few days prior. Shane & I reintroduced ourselves. The dad has no issues. The daughter about our age did though. She was looking at Shane & it wasn't a mean mug if you feel me. ahahah. The dad said we just needed to find the next load of firewood. Sounds like a plan.

We explored the area & found a semi-legitimate place to stake the tents. We were to tired to think through the variables- we set up. Soon thereafter we fell fast asleep.

Woke up a few hours later, which by our sun calculations made it about 6pm. Still too tired to explore, & too embarrassed that we couldn't hold up our one end of the bargain, we just stayed in our tents and read the afternoon/evening away. I love reading but for 5 hours?

The moon finally showed its face. Sleep wouldn't though. Mostly because a 30 foot pine tree creakily threatened to end us.

Day 50

Despite my 5 year hiatus, Shane recruited me back into the Monosodium Glutamate game.
Its doesn't weigh anything (for backpacking), makes you feel full, & costs 15 cents..soo whats the problem?

This morning I am glad I caved. Its warm zingyness is exactly what we needed after an unexpectedly frigid night.

The hike back from ice lake is more enjoyable, the noonday sun had temporarily suppressed the mosquitoes. We now take our time to inspect some thermal formations.

These thing are all over. Noxious gas & irritated water/mud exploding out of the ground just about everywhere.
The whole park is happily perched upon a huge volcano. So let me get this straight. We have curious grizzlies, angry bison, droves of mosquitoes, all on top of a boiling cauldron of magma. Oddly enough I couldn't be more a home.

Shane (now wearing actual hiking attire) sets the pace for the return trip & we're back with more than enough time to prep for our big back-country experience. We organize & despite our attempts to go lean, our packs easily are 70lb each. Spectacular!

Day one is supposed to break us in. To begin we're all whistles & nervous laughter. The trail follows the rim in westwardly direction for about 3 miles.This extended tour of the gorge leads me to assuredly announce that Arizona's canyon ain't got nothing on Wyoming's.

You know that saying that beauty is always followed by pain? Well we are firm believers in that. If you have read the blog in its entirety you are picking up what I'm throwing down.

Well, this proposition's truthfulness found us again. You should have seen our faces when we saw how far we had to descend. Atleast 2,000 feet. Straight vertical.

Not too big of a deal when you have a car at the bottom waiting for you.
Well when you have a 70 lb pack, no left LCL, & an itinerary that takes you right back up it in the am..life does not resemble a peach.

The campsite was nearly worth the effort. Raging river, soaring canyon walls, thermal springs. I read a little out of Matthew, a little out Tracy Kidder's latest & before the shadows overwhelmed
Shane had slapped together a delicious meal of ranch beans, mashed potatoes, salami & Coors tall boys. His trick works. I forget about what the am will bring..

Night peacefully falls, that is until I'm woken by something big rustling in the woods nearby. I grab the Taurus & investigate.
I can't see anything & I'm too tired to care, night Shane.

Day 49

Breakdown camp, the sun is up! We are way to excited for any rendition of a legitimate breakfast. We want to get inside the park. Our park pass that we bought at the Carlsbad Caverns, NM (if you can remember that far back) works flawlessly, no entrance/parking/vehicle fee. We’re in.

About an hour or so drive to the Canyon area visitor center. We were told the back country office is located here and we have a fair amount of research to do. It happens immediately upon entering the park. We are struck by it’s beauty and immensity. Over 2 million acres of preserved natural wonder. How can we possibly do this place justice.

We make it a quarter of the way to the visitor center and spot some bison on the side of the road. Keep going and spot some closer, and even a small herd. We pull over and follow them into the trees. If this thing decided to charge at us we would be instantly disintegrated. This beast definitely weighs more than the car but we still got very close.

Back to the task at hand, the backcountry office is very informative in terms of suggesting routes and possible destinations. It is getting a bit late to gear up and head out on a multi-day, several mile trek. We decide to camp in established campgrounds for the night and head out first thing the next day. That was the plan until we found out the cost of the backcountry permits. Free!

Change of plans, is there somewhere we can get to tonight? Ribbon Lake is a 2.5 mile hike from the Artist Point parking lot. Perfect. We have successfully evaded another fee. We pick up a fishing license and plan on using that to kill some daylight before we hike out to camp.

Destination: Ice Lake. We hike out to it and all the way around it and the fishing potential looks grim, especially given the time of day. Back to the car, where we unknowingly locked the keys inside of it. So perfect. The girl hanging out in her car next to us provides us with a wire hanger and we get to scratching. Of course we have no idea what we are doing but about 45 minutes of desperately twisting and pulling and we get it popped open. No words to be said, let’s go.

Our hike out to Ribbon Lake is much less flat than we anticipated but it is still free camping. We make it out and promptly build a bonfire to smoke out the mosquitoes. The lake is beautiful and there is not a soul around us. Even the camp we passed just under a mile back looked deserted. Rory took his pole to the lake while I gathered fire wood. I walk out to check progress and the fish are jumping all over the place. Some trout will make the usual beans a little bit more interesting, nice work Rory.

Our bear fears have only increased as we are now isolated in the wilderness. I climb a tree and hang the food bag up as high as I can get it. We set up the tents upwind. Just try not to think about it. Good night.

Day 48 Continued

We make it to the Yellowstone east entrance just in time. The sun is going down and we have to find a campground in the park last minute. That was the plan anyway until we were promptly rejected by the thoroughbred Wyomingite at the guard house. The entire park is full, perfect.

Provided with a few helpful tips we go back the way we came in search of temporary residence. We were informed that the first few campsites along the highway are strictly hard side camping only. This means that RV’s and camper trailers are ok but tent camping is not allowed. Why? Grizzly territory.

After backtracking 13 miles we find Newton Creek national forest camp. They allow tents. We were a bit skeptical as to what changes a bear’s mind in that 13 mile stretch but we cannot stand backtracking. This is home for the night.

Rory rummages for firewood nearby while I throw a quick meal together. We make haste with the food, throw the supplies in the bear box, and set up camp. Bed time…

It is like 8:30. No way we can fall asleep yet, so now what? We set up the laptop next to the jeep and watch a movie. Bears don’t like movies right? We feel medium safe as long as we can convince each other that a fight with a bear is no issue because we out number it 2 to 1. Yeah right…

Day 48

Rained hard for awhile last night. Lightning got pretty close too. Good thing we put the rain flys on the tents.

Granola bars and water for breakfast. Followed by sickness.

Hit the 90 west. Lets get yellar!

Stopped at McDonald's to post these updates.

We'll be in Yellowstone for the next week or so. Back country trekking in Grizzly territory. Prayers for safety please...laters

Day 47

So much to explore! We don't know where to start. We head to the campground's general store to find someone to talk to. Nobody knows anything.

Time to get creative. I find a local climbing guide on the shelf. Rather than pay $35 for it. We page through & take pictures of interesting spots...plagiary, I know.

Now with a general idea, we head further up into the hills. The formations are world-class, & often right next to the road. The exhibitionist in me screams. I exercise restraint & head up into the woods away from the festivities, to our recently planned destination. Although granite climbing is a whole different world we manage valiant efforts on a bunch of huuuuge climbs. It feels good to push the envelop.

Rushmore is crazy commercialized. You cannot even get within a mile without going through metal detectors & what not. What happened to the outdoors?
We take a few pictures and coast back down the mountains to rustle up some grub.

Shane and I share a pitcher of Moosedrool over some sandwiches. Ah mountain life is good. Who would have known Minnesota and South Dakota would be entertaining?

We talk plans..lets get as close to Yellowstone as we can. We expect this place to eat time. Our drive through the plains is memorable. We talk & jam till dark. We pitch the tents in the Deer park campground which advertises itself as "exceptional camping". hahahahah
We find this place another peaceful experience.

Day 46

We Bison gaze until our eyes get shot with blood.
I figure the misquitoes ain't awake, so let the climbing be resumed!!!!

We set up a few routes (traditional style) in an abandoned quarry. Meaning there are no bolts in the wall. we make our own...sketchyyyyy.

We run real hard till the Minnesotan sun & westward gravity become too much.

We make it to the South Dakota's black hills by night-fall. Sylvan lake area to be specific.

Place is packed. So are the campsites. All the spots have reserved signs posted.
We debate the consequences & decide we don't care. It is 10 pm. Who is showing up to camp this late?

The question was answered moments later as a caravan of Dodge super-vans drove round the corner. Oh great we're going to be kicked out again. Giggly tween-agers pour out. This is going to be akward. Shane ditches me to shower. Great. Akwardness is fully mine.

Fortunately there is no confrontation. Sleep ensues.

Day 45

Wake up abruptly to Nate banging about the kitchen.
By the time my eyes adjust he has waffles & OJ ready

Make our way up to Wisconsin where we stop to get some water, fuel & sunglasses. They have imitation Ray Ban's for $3. I buy 3. I guarantee all three sets will be gone by Seattle.

Hit the 90, time to jam west. Goal is the badlands.
Drive allllll day.

Our climbing book leads us to a state park on the western end of minnesota. We call ahead they want $12 to camp. Uh, yes!

Show up around 730. The guy in the check-in shack looks exactly like Garrison Keeler. I wait for him to break in comedic song.

Blue Mounds State Park is too perfect. Prairie's really don't need an oasis, but if they did this would be perfect. Dense forest, lake chalked full of fish, climbing within a 1/2 mile, warm showers. A breezy 75 degrees. This could be a destination.

We decide to climb while we still have light. The path leads us through fields where bison and deer roam. This is too perfect. Problem is the mosquitoes are angry & the sun is going down fast.

A shower relieves some of the itching. Time to try our luck at fishing again. I try a little worm fishing, the a little jig & spinner fishing, nothing doing...still!

I switch up the baits, location, everything, once while moving i fall into a mud sink hole, wrench the knee. Spectacular.

While I fail at fishing Shane catches up with home on the phone & wanders about the lakeside playground.

He attempts to gracefully launch off the swingset...his belt gets caught on the seat & his pants are ripped off....hahahhah. Down to a single pair.


Roll back to camp, which by the way is nestled right in a little alcove, big rocks shielding us from the trail. Dinner is summer sausage, rice & ranch beans. Cowboy food.

Sleep cannot find me as I am too distracted by what I find up in the sky. Boy in the country sky something to behold.

Day 44

We're up at 730. Jeff & Nate have school. We're out the door by 830 or so.

Find our way to the train station. Hop on the old Amtrak & downtown Chicago here we be. Can I just say that the entire downtown resembles New York's wall street: clean & orderly. Attractive people walking about. Even the old guys saunter.

We don't let our utter incompetence slow us down..on to Berghoffs. A German stube that has been around since the late 19th century. We walk in & find it to be more of a mafia den. I never knew these two cultures mixed. We were both creeped out, plus they wanted $19 an entree.
We'll starve thank you.

Millennium park was expensively modern. You can tell this is Obama's stomping ground. Everything is brand new: We stand around taking pictures of ourselves until the blatant narcissism makes me nauseous.

Checked out Navy Pier. If you've been to Santa Monica you've been here. We have a drink for lunch then hoof it to Chipotle.ahhh. Money can't buy you happiness. But, $7 at Chipotle gets you darn close.

All major objectives now completed we head back up to Lake Bluff. Nate & Jeff have their noses buried in thier textbooks so Shane & I attempt to go to the local Xfitness to work out/hot-tub. They wanted $20 a person. What the H!

Backup plan is to loiter in Barnes & Nobles. I peruse rock climbing & motocross magazines while Shane cheered somebody that apparently needed cheering. All the while a group of tween-ager awkwardly linger. We get creeped out & move..they follow. Pretending to look at books, while glancing over every 3 seconds.

Nate, Jeff, Shane & I watch Layer Cake over a Bertoli's pasta and fruit punch.

Day 43

Cleveland? Shane does have distant kin there. No thanks. On to Chicago.

Shane resumes his driving position & I plug in my office (see Picture). I find this is the only time either of us have to write. So I crack caffeinated beverage & get down to business.
Writing is so much work though because there is usually much to see.
That or I have my head out the window trying to un-sickify myself (Shane has a tendency to drive insane).

This drive is a haul. 530 miles or so. We break up the monotony by talking about what we are going to with our lives, the point of life. You know light stuff like that.

The sun was setting as we made our way northward through Chicago. What a beautiful skyline.

Made it up to my old friends/roommates apartment in Northern Chicago.
Him & his roommate Jeff are both PA students with a similar sense of humor.
We catch up, trade war stories, & laugh over the rest of our Quenling.
Its good to see old friends.

Day 42

Woke-up first thing? more like 10am.

Got some different fishing lures/bait because the fish weren't feeling the spinners we were throwing at them yesterday.

We went down to the Allegheny river to fish this "guaranteed" spot. Not a bite all day. We do some exploring though.
Came home for a break/
Lunch/nap. blogged. Found out our friends Mija, Bobby-Sue, & Chad donated $50 (through our blog) Good looking out ya'll !

Home-cooked dinner with John & Shannon as well as their witty little kids J.D, & Jolie.
Shannon wouldn't let us leave without taking a huge box full of food. Whatta sweetheart.
Fished all night. Not a bite in the infamous fishful Allegheny river. Had dun playing around with the kids though

Day 41

Drove around downtown Pittsburgh, Matt took us to Primanti's in little Italy. Best Sandwich I've ever had. Really cool open air, warehouseish restaurant on the banks of the Allegheny.

He drove us around. Saw the Steeler's home field, so on and so forth.

Later we fished, tried to catch, but just fished. We brought some Quenling though so it was whatever. Stayed till dark.

Showered to de-slime myself. (I went in to get a snagged lure more than once).

For dinner Matt took us to this Mafia joint called Mineos. Cash only. Place was packed. I'm not kidding. But I didn't see any action so its was whatever.

Day 40

Being Huck Finn types we've had enough of the city & decided to peace.

Pittsburgh it is. All I can think is how much I dislike the Steelers. Seahawks for life.
But Shane wants to stop there, so I'm game. Seeya Uncle Jere.
We have a proper New York Deli Lunch & find our bus.

This bus was a little different. The electrical plugs didn't work & the motor sounded like it was going to shake apart.

Being mechanically inclined we were stressed the whole time. Got back to the car. Threw our crap in the back & headed towards Pitt.

I can see why the Germans like the place, its just like the Deutschland. Except you have total freedom here.

Rolling fields, quaint villages, cows, cars that cruise at 170 mph, stuff like that.

As it got dark, we had a bit of a problem though, fireworks started exploding all over as we drove through the hills. Very distracting on a non-divided rural highway. Obviously we made it out alive.
Around 10 we got into town. Found Shane's cousin's address, except it was a warehouse. He wasn't home from the Dave Matthew's show so we just sat & waited for him.

He eventually showed up & let us in. dude lives in a warehouse..hahah. for $300 a month I would to!. We watched a movie & cracked a few cold ones.

Day 39

We kinda slept in. I forget how (I forget alot when I'm tired) But, we got more sleep than normal, so I'll just chalk this memory loss off to Mr. Daniel's old No. 7.

Anyway, we head over to Harlem. I wanted to find some ballers, little kids playing in the street in the water of an illegally opened fire hydrant, & get us some Sylvias.

We take the train as far as it goes. then hoof it. We find Sylvias & a seat. We are brought waters. then see our waitress attend to everyone else around us (even those who came after us) first. I noticed they were all black (reverse affirmative action)? Well we waited for another 45 minutes. We were brought some corn bread by the bus-boy. We bided the time by people watching & playing on our phones.

Food & iced tea eventually show up. I got Chicken & Waffles. I wanted to take a picture of our food but our hands were way to greasy to touch our cameras.

Also our iced tea was actually tea flavored syrup. We went the economical route (like usual) & got a pitcher. So every time we refilled our cups it would slowly drain out of the pitcher like melted butter, rather than cascade like a pure fluid would...ahahha. We were going to be exercising all afternoon anyway.

We walked around for awhile looking for ballers (all the courts were vacant, too hot I suppose), which would be a plus for the little kids playing in the streets. nothing going.

We catch the F train back to Times Square. We explore wide eyed like 10 year olds, we continue south to ground zero. I thought they kinda cleaned up & erected a little memorial. Not the case. Massive construction site. Which is good. Except its all walled off. We find the preview center, after circulating the block twice. The whole thing got real to me, soo sad.
Quiet Thai Dinner & A/c comforted sleep ensued.

Day 38

About 1 am I find the A/C thermostat & turn it to as low as it will go.
I set my alarm for 4am so I can turn it off before he wakes up.
A few cool hours never hurt anybody. Plans goes off without a hitch. I get down to atleast REM stage 3. I'll take it.

Refreshed. We head out for a day on the town for real.

First we go to central park. Where we wonder around aimlessly looking for it's infamous rock climbing boulders. We find them & do our best. which really isn't. But we're climbing something & that is all that counts.

From here we walk downtown. We try to go up the Empire. Costs 20 apiece. No thanks. Time for the Staten Island ferry. We literally have to push for a railing spot with all the eastern European tourists with their weird 3/4 shorts. We give up after awhile & just stand on the benches to take pictures.

From here we walk back uptown through Wall street. Dudes there just smell like they're worth a billion. Our time there is short lived for our stomach are grumbling. China Town!

Place is so colorful & active! We eat at Wongs. Greasy food & the worst service ever.

Later we meet back up with Kelsey at a eastside club. The Crash Mansion. Local bands are jamming. 1st band was legit, it was an experience. 2nd band was a group of Kazakstanians that played fairly well, but had the most awkward stage presence. Wanna be Gym-class-Heroes rounded things up. not good.

We took a taxi (searched for the Cash Cab for awhile but couldn't him) home. This too was an experience. Apparently if you have a nose up on the car next to you you are allowed to take their lane, dude didn't even look in his blind-spot, ever. One hand on the wheel, one holding his cell phone to his head. Skills.

Day 37

We 're woken up as soon as the sun crests the skyscrapers.

We weren't sleeping anyway. It is going to be the 7th hottest day in New York Cities history. Ohh lucky us!

Jere has worked in the Middle East his whole life so he relishes the heat. He is also single & usually works alone, so he not too perceptive of others needs. Point is he think the floor fan is sufficient. When in reality it just circulates the steam.

To sleep its a soak the shirt in the sink, & throw another over the eyes like you're dying of the plague status type of thing.

We wake up 50 times tired(er) than when we went to sleep.
We get coffee. Iced coffee actually. Shane never drinks coffee, thats how tired we were.

We go to our individual banks to get some spending money. Shane's atm denies him, as well as the teller. He has to call the 1800 number. They say the Wells gold card is being phased out for the platinum. We mailed your new card to your house... hes even happier. and then so am I belatedly.

We walked around Manhattan for awhile. I forget what we did. Either it was whatever or we were to tired/perturbed. Probably both.

I do remember going out to for sushi with Jere & his quasi girlfriend. Interesting experience. She is a high-powered little thing. She is a multinational corporate lawyer with homes around the world. She invites us to paint her new town home (which is right next to Madonnas). We lose the job as soon as I tell her we charge $150/hour. Shes no good for him anyway, on more than one occasion she literally shushes him.

After we meetup with Kelsey, my gradeschool sweetheart in The lower east village. hahhahaa, Place called Flight 151. It was crazy seeing her. We stay awake only long enough to have a single Killians.
Time to go to sleep. & by sleep I mean we're going sauna it up lying down.

Day 36

Philly. philly, philly. What a smooth word for our nation's murder capitol.

We cruised around by car & weren't too impressed.

Decided, to make our way to New York City.
Finagled about how. Final solution was to airport park in Philly ($7/day), free shuttle to airport. train from airport to bus pickup point. bus to NYC for $14. we're getting good at this.

Let me tell you about this bus service. Not only is it 3 times cheaper than the train (which is a billion times cheaper/less stressful than driving), but its clean, has blasting A/C, plugs to charge are connectives, & wireless internet.

Arrived in New York. Took the train uptown to my uncles place. Got there earlier than expected so we had to kick it with the doorman for awhile until Jere got home from work. He & Shane traded movie liners while I read.

Once Jere arrived we dropped our bags, & headed out for a bite to eat.
After we went to the local bookstore to find Jere's new book. Exhausted from the encroaching heat wave we headed home for an early night.

Day 35

Had a slow wind up again.
lightly scavenged breakfast & then headed back to the park, with socks & plenty of cold water, AND the girls.

2 on 2 again. Played a couple semi-intense games. then mixed up the teams so it was a little more even.

Jenny & I against Shane & Blake. Almost a perfect match; although Blake & Kevin kept subbing in for eachother. so it was more like 2 on 3.

This game to 11, went on for an hour & a half. My hypothalmus (thermoregulation center of the brain) said lets get out of the sun, your melting your neurons moron, However my ego trumped & we kept going. .

By the time we all crawled back Janet had a feast waiting.
We sulkily ate, knowing it was our last meal together.
The boys & Nicole headed back to Norfolk.
While Shane & I headed north.
Sad.

Day 34

Ahh to wake up to a ceiling-fan blown 74-degree breeze.

Breakfasted like Tiffany.

Next we were able to wash our clothes.

It was about time, I can't speak for Mr. Melde but I had worn all my clothes atleast 4-5 times. Which doesn't sound like alot. But for all you non easterners: doing so leaches the color out of the fabric, as well as any sort of pleasant smell in a room.

Around noon we finally made our way out the door. Kevin somehow found a parking spot at the metro station & we headed downtown. We walked around. Their had to be 200,000 people in the square mile around the monument.

I can't count how many pictures we ruined just walking around. hahah. Shane & I wondered west into the city to kill some time. We found a place called Iron Horse. Had a few specials in the greaser-era basment pub before it was time to meet back up with everybody else.

We ended up setting up our little picnic along the Potomac where we could see the show clearly. It eventually got dark ...wow. Although my camera is 14-megapixels or something, it did me no justice. The shear amount of fireworks lit created a massive cloud above the whole city.

Now the real joy was getting a spot on the metro. all 200,000 of us piled into the 4 or 5 city stations. It was a hot mess.

Sgt. O'Reilly kept yelling at everybody & it took every ounce of my limited restraint to see if the volley ball would bounce of his nose and against the carriage & back to me.

Day 33

For breakfast we consumed enough calories/nutrients/minerals/vitamins too balance our deficit

How Janet did this... for all 7 of us boggled my now financially aware mind.

Exhausted we watched soccer & blog all day.

For dinner we have a casserole thing with pulled chicken, water chestnut, cream of chicken soup with bread crumbs on top. plus rolls, and Italian salads. bam!

After some heartless debate, we decide to stay in for the evening
Some board games are pulled out & I am immediately maxed on the boredom scale.

I fold to the peer-pressure..Cranium it is.

It takes all of 5 minutes before all 7 of us are jumping around laughing, screaming, & mimicking each-other. ahahahahahaa. Exercising the old neuroganglia has never been so fun.

After 2 hours of Cranium/Scattergories we descend den-ward to watch "Hook" on VHS. Why is there a 45 minutes build up to Neverland?? No one can stay awake longer than 15 min.

Day 32

Day 32

Jenny & Chuck headed to work while the rest of us headed to the couch for sommor World Cup.

Bored from another game, Nicole scampered off to the mall to spend her paycheck, I played around on the 50 inch Mac, while Shane, Blake & Kevin migrated den-ward toward the wii Mario cart.

Someone then got the great idea that we should go play 2 on 2. Ok?

Being 75% awake we all forgot socks & water...idiots.

We get there & quickly remember it is 100 degrees with humidity soo high I reckon they should create a 4th form of matter. Gas, liquid, & solid states of matter do not cover what one finds everywhere east of Houston.

Anyway we slug it out. & have heatstroke within an hour.
The droid manages to lead us home, where we A/C it real hard.

I'm 3 minutes into a rock climbing dream when I'm rustled awake. Time for wine tasting.
I'm not too excited; to say the least.

Thought it would be overly pretentious/weird. Not the case, prices weren't bad & and the whole 4th of July Family plus a few more of Jenny's friends took the place over.

We sat on the patio in the middle of this quasi vineyard pouring eachother drink after drink, while eating overly sophisticated cheeses. I felt myself becoming cultured.

We cut ourselves off & eventually made our way home to shower before our night out.
First we met up with some of Jenny's co-workers. all of them were..well interesting. With Steven taking the lead. oh wow.
We all embarrassed ourselves for a few hours then made it home to completely clean out Janet's fridge.

Day 31

Janet (our host mom) has homemade English muffins ready for for us as we walk down the stairs.

Happy off-the-get-go we decide it’s worth fighting the metro to go back downtown.

Trip is uneventful, except Pauly the post office killer wanders about our train car. I try to summon up the courage to give him the hug he needs..I fail.

Anyway, eventually make it downtown to check out the museum of natural history (a must see people), the German heritage museum (babe ruth was a german) woot! walked through China town looking for somewhere good to eat. Can't find anything. We stop at this take out like place called Chop't. Its a salad place that is on the level with Chipotle & Dilly's Deli. We go to the bank, buy a few things & head back to the train. Dinner is awaiting us. By Dinner I mean feast.

After dinner Jenny, Shane & I head over to play some bball at the local park as we wait for Blake, Kevin & Nicole to show up. We have a few and call it quits

Day 30

We make plans to make plans to find a place formal to sleep that night.

First we need to re-associate with society.

We do this by essentially showering in Target's parking lot. Refreshed we take a look at the map, call our contacts and figure out what we're going to be doing with the rest of our money.

Decision is to DC it until the 5 or 6th at the Christoph stronghold with the likes of Blake, Jenny Kevin, & Nicole.

Problem is we have to wait for everybody to get off work. It is 10 am on a Wednesday.

Some McDonald's caffeine provides the drive for a solution. How about we get a start on the Smithsonians?

We make our way over to the Metro station where Shane is mugged right in front of me.

Tricky ticket machines.

The station ticket helper guy is of no assistance, he actually confuses us more. It's another whatever.

The Smithsonian does not disappoint. It overwhelms actually. Time for another coffee.

We finagle our way back to Virginia & make our way toward the Christoph home. The drive is only 15 miles, but we get stopped by tollbooths twice each time they want $5. what happened to a quarter?

What an all-American family. Dad is a ranking military/government guy, mom is a sweetheart code writing, cooking machine, son is a fighter pilot, & the daughter freshly engaged special-ed teacher.

We laugh, eat way too much & watch a movie before falling asleep in our very own rooms

Day 29

  
After a night in the Baltimore's Motel 6 we woke up hungry & with a overrunning errand list.
  
Bought an amazing loaf of pesto/olive oil bread at Mom's grocery & walked over to REI to replace my leaky air mattress. Exchanged it & bought some other stuff including a national rock climbing guide. Paged through it & found that we were minutes away from picturesque climbing. Talked Shane into heading over. 15 miles from downtown DC you can find a park unchanged since the Puritans landed. Wow: deer, turtles, cliff & crags, and whatever else is in the best wilderness setting you can imagine. The historical Potomac river slices through the center of this park, caged in by 70-foot shale cliffs. perfecto rock climbing! Problem is Shane & I are distracted by the extensive beauty & end up exploring all day.
  
 Before we know it its time to find a place to sleep, upon recommendation we head downstream along the Billy goat trail. Problem is the trail is for Billy goats & we have massively overpacked. My pack is near 70 lb & Shane's has to be that at least. I finally find a shell beach that looks good & its not 5 minutes before I'm down to my shorts & jumping in headfirst. The water is a welcome relief from our 5 hour, 100 degree, waterless hike. 
  
 After setting up my tent I rig up my pole so we can have some proper protein for dinner. Unfortunately spinners weren’t working so I just went swimming again.
  
   I scrabbled up the cliff & found Shane cooking our normal sustenance. Rice, Mom's pesto bread & ranch beans; overly seasoned with Mexican (extra) hot sauce. 
  
     Small campfire with driftwood, laugh a little. goodnight friend.
  
Moments after finally falling to sleep I am vividly dreaming. I never dream. Dreams change from adventures to very very scary nightmares. I wake up screaming. Shane is jarred awake as you can imagine. Pray alittle, breath alittle & I'm good. Thing is I fall right back into another nightmare..awesome. Except I don't wake up from this one. Instead I am woken up by a Shane rapping on my tent door. "Dude, I had the most vivid dream. I had a girlfriend. It was sweet. She was Indian."
  
ahahhahahhahaaa
     

Shane's 24-28th

Dropped off Rory and thought I was out a solo mission until the end. He bought a one-way ticket to Texas... I think that is a fair thought. Anyway, after some mental planning I contacted the only people I know in the VA area. Jenny (sister-in-law) and her girlfriends were waiting for all the boys to disembark. The Navy's biggest aircraft carrier just pulled into port in VA and onboard are many future friends of mine and a best friend from junior high (Blake).

We finally coordinate after I purposely waste two hours in the Wal-Mart air conditioning just waiting homelessly. I meet the roommates/sailors and the festivities begin immediately, literally. It takes just a few hours and I am surrounded by a group really cool people that are overly interested in what I am doing with my life at the moment.

We carry on like this through the weekend. Many great parties, meals, and an entire day at busch gardens with Blake and Jenny. Got to tour the biggest nuclear powered aircraft carrier in the U.S. Navy

Made friends with a wide variety of characters at this apartment. This is the kind of place where three people pay rent and three times as many people stay there regularly. Soo much fun. I secured a floor spot and woke up surrounded by new and interesting people every single day.

Things carry on like this through the weekend. I get a call from Rory one night while Messer and Rhodes are trying to pay Jolly (Navy names) five bucks to lick the dish washer juice that has gathered in its door jam. I have never laughed at a group of strangers in my life, mindless banter.

Anyway the good news is Rory has pseudo-decided not to join the real world yet and return to the adventure. Back into action we go, but not before these guys send me off in proper fashion.

Rory's 24-28th

Spent time with my beautiful girl

explored Austin's in-city wilderness

Met her entire family

We all had stab at climbing

Interviewed Saturday. Went really well. was offered a position for the fall. Which is really encouraging cause I really like Austin, & because I would like to get going with this teaching thing as soon as possible.

However I left the interview unsure. Why? Well its Christian school (mostly good), its mad wealthy (not soo good), & predominately white (totally not good). I rather be in the inner city working. Know what I mean? Also, he wanted me to teach two section of AP Biology & three sections of Pre-AP biology. Which is alot for someone who has never taught before! Told him no thanks.

Bought a flight back to Virginia to meet up with Shane.

Day 23

23rd

Set the alarm so we could see our boys in blue. After driving around this resort town for way too long we found an Irish bar. Lively place with somewhere to sit. Accidently ordered a bucket of coors light. With all the excitement we forgot it was like 8 am. hahaha.

From here Shane drove me to the Norfolk airport. Found a great job opportunity in the previously favored Austin, Texas. Said our temporary goodbyes & I was off to the land of layover & delays.

If it was not for a few friends made in my connecting airport I woulda gone insane..Made it to Austin by Midnight.

Day 22

22nd.

Lethargy is slowly creeping into our situation.

As we drive north towards Norfolk, Virginia we talk about why this happening.

Apparently Maslow has it right - a safe & secure place to sleep is paramount.

I mean camping is cool & all, but for a month? +

We're usually awoken in the 5's or 6's by a combination of gnawing hunger, a screeching animal, and sweat in the eyes.

Slowly but surely we break the tents down, eat whatever we can find for breakfast and begin to head north.

Per normal road trip guidelines the passenger is supposed to set the route for the day. However, once the a/c is breezing & Black Keys are jammming- there is no possible way to fight off the sand man.

So the driver thumbs through the ipod, texts his brains out, & studies the road atlas.

This is fine really cause we more or less trade piloting.

Lunch is usually our first break. usually about 2. More often than not we find ourselves at Chik-fil-a. Believe me we've done our research & nowhere else can you get quick wifi with such healthy food on the cheap food.

Finally refreshed & caffeinated (when we feel rich) we make actual plans.

But by this time we have dug ourselves a bit of a hole:

-we have limited light to make it too far

-little notice time for friends/couch surfing host.

So, more often then not we'll call all the national/state parks just for kicks. I say this bc we are beginning to notice that these aforementioned parks want $25-40 to camp for a night. Yo idiots! Motel 6 is $35!

Being the case we'll just find what we can find, sometimes this means camping just off a fire road, sometimes a coach surfing host will get back to us last minute, sometimes we whatever it & get a hotel.

This night turns out amazing! I talk Shane into stopping at Myrtle Beach.

Shannon (the EconoLodge front desk girl/lady) & Shane strike up a flirtatious Harry Potter conversation & we end up getting a room for way too cheap. ahahahahah

We lug our gear up there. Pump the A/C to 60 & watch some World Cup.

Before long my itch for activity trumps my need for veg time.

Time for the beach!! The water is 75 & we have 2-3 foot swells. Woot woot!

We run about like toddlers on a pixie-stix-only diet for about an hour.

Then we skim & body board till the moon creates the strongest ripe tide I've ever felt.

What a good day.

PSA/Days 20-21

This will mark a new style and technique to formatting the blog and its entries. Finally sitting in a comfortable place, in a temporarily undisclosed location, I am realizing the current methodology is terribly inefficient and unfeasible at best. The reason you are experiencing delays as a reader is the result of several impacting factors. These inconsistencies include the non-ubiquitous nature of Wi-Fi, the drastic variability in our daily activities, an utter lack of energy (our fault, not yours) when it comes to writing. From now forward days will be combined and important stories will be told because we realize you don’t care what we are having for breakfast everyday. This will also allow us to upload more pictures which we all know is the true reason you have chosen to visit this site. Enjoy the adjustments as we work on our punctuality.

The drive from our temporary residence in Orlando to Savannah, GA is a bit longer than we had originally planned. We spend most of the day alternating driving duty, jealous that the passenger is napping. Savannah is beautiful once you get downtown. Cool layout to a city but the bottom line was that all our couch-surfing requests have proved futile and all the state parks in the area have closed their gates. After less than two hours of picture taking we are already back in the car. Charleston, SC is out next target. Yes, we did realize that changing cities does not change our sleeping situation but we did not actively consider it. We hit some weather on the way, this includes lightning. Driving down a two lane highway with sparse traffic, a bolt of lightning strikes the earth just off the dirt shoulder next to the opposite lane and we freak. One of the loudest surprises we have eve endured. We plan to sleep in Forest Service campground about 35 miles outside Charleston. It is agreed that we cannot spend the money on a hotel.

Well the rain did stop but it has laid copious amounts of fog all throughout these forest roadways. Needless to say, these alleged campgrounds never did show themselves so we had take a sketchy road to another shady dirt road, pull over, and just camp by the car. Scary at first but it turns out to be beautiful in the morning. Score.

Mission of the day: Laundry. First time since Austin, TX. Some manipulative Korean woman is charging us infinity quarters to wash our clothes. Whatever, just do it so we can go see the city. Charleston is awesome! We are instantly surrounded by positive vibes, beautiful scenery, and even friendly/attractive people. The day turned out to be a success even though most of the touristy and historical destinations were closed by the time we got to them. We have the mysterious Korean woman’s ancient cement truck tumblers/washing machines to thank for that. But seriously, go to Charleston, South Carolina. It is night time already but with a little bit more research we were able to find the very primitive camp site we were looking the previous night. Not before a series of genius ideas and pit stops resulting in some fresh bread for our usual rice and beans dinner and of course a DVD to watch on the laptop while in the middle of the woods. Yes, it took us three weeks to figure out how to plug a laptop into the car and rent a DVD. We’ve got everything we need, we really are happy campers.

Day 19

Mosquito nightmares for both of us. We have a little bug spray for breakfast and head towards the other end of the everglades. We can’t survive two nights but the trails on the other end are supposed to have some easily visible wildlife. The Gator search must go on.

We find a trail just a few miles off the entrance and head down. The trail is a loop of wooden bridges suspended just above the concrete and we hear alligators everywhere. Turtles, garr, heron, and finally and stack of five or six baby alligators right near the trail. We continue the loop only partially satisfied. Just toward the end we see a small group huddled around a bend in the bridge looking down. The real deal, probably 7 to 8 feet long. It’s massive head was barely surfaced and it’s dark eyes were looking at all of us. It is just below the bridge, definitely within arms reach. Rory decides he will take advantage of that. Finding a stick, he and some European grandpa skewer it for signs of life. The beast shuffles back into the tall swamp grasses, disgruntled that it has lost its camouflage. That’s it for the everglades. We cruise up towards Orlando while simultaneously sending a multitude of facebook messages and couch surfing requests. A couple of girls I befriended in Vegas live in the area. They agree to house us for the night, having a place to stay is always a good feeling. Turned out to be an Saturday night. Got some chipotle, some light party supplies, and played the best board game ever made. Apples to Apples. We had a solid size group of their friends and roommates playing along and sharing some laughs. Once again we find ourselves meeting new people through obscure connections and hanging out with some randoms. This is our vague interpretation of the meaning of life, building relationships. Or something along those lines. Special shout out to Mija and Bobbie Sue (and their pups), not everything stays in Vegas…right?

IMPORTANT UPDATE

We have not forgotten about our loyal follwers. Internet has been scarce lately and the events of the day occasionally make it difficult to be a diligent writer. Expect to be completely caught up within a week. Thanks again for being patient, all three of you.

Day 18

World Cup! USA vs. Slovenia. You know that ref is losing his job for waving off the goal. Good game though. I think we are both getting an itch from being indoors too long. With little delegation from either party a new course trajectory is set. We’re off to the Everglades! We’ve been on a Gator quest since Louisiana. We wake up Bill, say our good-byes and head out. We repeat the “you think you’re there the whole time” drive all the way back across the Flordia Keys. We could swim it faster.

Finally, we hit the mainland, stock up on a few supplies, and head toward the world famous wetlands. The visitor center has already closed on us so we head into Gator country with a little map and brochure from the entrance gate guard. Half a mile in and it already looks like the only humans that have been here in the past built the little road we’re driving on and promptly left. We take a quick glance at the first campground a few miles from the gate and decide against it. We want to go into the everglades, way into the everglades. Our map shows an area about 40 miles deep where the rivers snake and overlap numerous times before hitting the ocean. That’s got our name written all over it. The ecosystem appeared to change about four times on our way out there. Wooded forest, mangrove patches, stagnant water swamp, and desolate grasslands that give Rory flashbacks to his time in Africa. This place is enormous.

We pull into the campgrounds to find one single couple occupying the entire land expanse. Brian and Jennifer are sitting out here next to their own Jeep actively fending off our number one enemy, mosquitoes. We select our spread and begin to realize the severity of our problem. We have less than a half of a can of bug spray left and intend on staying at least two nights. These are the breaks, we’ll manage. We set up, walk past our neighbors on the other side of the tree sprinkled field to say hi, and set out to explore the immediate area. Not long into our walk through the tall grasses we decipher a few too many snake holes below the thick. They seem endless actually. We begin looking for the quickest way out when we notice Brian and Jennifer pulling out of camp in their Jeep. They spot us, make an abrupt right, and pull up to us as close as they can. “...Guys wanna go on a little adventure?” No doubt, we run the car and jump in.

They take us to a dirt road that leads to some obscure lake. It’s a slow crawl on the rough dirt at first until Brian spots a large mud puddle. He mashes the gas peddle and doesn’t think twice. We blow through repeated troughs of white mud and lose visibility 100%. We make it out to the sketchiest trailhead and canoe launch imaginable. We walk for about a half of a mile before the bugs get too bad. Just the natural motion of swinging your arms while walking earns you a serious handful of mosquitoes and company. It becomes unbearable so we literally take off running, get to the car ASAP. Nightfall offers no improvement. The four of us build a camp fire and share the few meager supplies we have. The only refuge from the bug bites lies inside the fire’s smoke plume. It is worth not being able breath for a limited time. We still find plenty to laugh about for a few hours before heading off to bed.

Day 17

Peanut butter and Jelly? Never again. It turns into an instant stomach ache. I suppose that is our just reward for trying to eat the same thing every morning while convincing ourselves it still tastes ok. Back to the reefs for some more free snorkeling, sorry again Florida. Too bad Rory lost his dive mask while trying to catch pelicans on the top of one of the coral breaches. A short search underneath the boulders leaves us empty handed. It is lunch time anyway which is exciting in this rare instance because we have left over Mexican food. We take a jaunt back through “the hood” of Key West in route to Robert’s house. He wants us to fix his scooter. We get to work on some low budge, sub-par white wine and take care of that in due time. Rory wrenches and Shane pays some outstanding bills from back home. Enough of the lameness, NBA Finals game 7 is tonight. Time to break the bank. Duval street, the main drag, is crawling so it takes visiting a few places to settle down. Close game. The Lakers take it but we think the NBA is fixed anyway, GO SUNS! We get back to the house and jump into to some random conversation. We discuss China’s future, the American credit system, and building a highway to Cuba until 2 am. Good Night.

Day 16

Woke up slowly and tried to occupy my idle hands until Rory was awake too. Can’t open the door or all the A/C unit’s graveyard shift work would be completely futile. No joke, the swamp is airborne and tangible on the other side of that door.

Each room in Bill’s house (couch surfing host) has its own individual A/C unit. Helps to save money. Electricity to the island is expensive. We left it at that because any inquisition as to why the costs of conveyance are so high would surely lead to a deeply historical lecture.

Breakfast consists of trail mix, water, and yard work. A former tenant recently vacated clearing out large sections of the yard that have apparently not been touched for eons. Rory, Robert, and I do what we can before we agree that this should be made a multi-day event. Pack up the backpack; we’re walking to the beach.

There is a state park just to the southwest that is supposed to have a nice beach. Our chosen path takes us through the island’s own version of the projects. The low-income housing adjacent to the wealthy tourist façade comes as a surprise to us both.

Does this park charge for pedestrians or just cars? No time to find out, sorry Florida. A windy road terminates in paradise. Few words are exchanged before we are under the surface of the Atlantic with our masks just on pointing out amazing things to nobody. Hours are spent free diving coral reefs just off the beaches of the southernmost point in the continental United States. Fish of every color are scattered around the reefs. Large, small, camouflage, spiky, slow, outgoing, are all equally entertaining to these two desert dwellers. Large schools of blue and green minnows socialize along the fringes of these reefs. Swimming along the seabed gets me underneath the school so I swim up through the center. They move in a uniform fashion but will not separate. Instead, they form a colorful ring around me until I pass completely through and they regroup. We search for the fabled sea turtles that occupy this area. No luck but we’ll be back. There is an old fort that resides within the park boundary so we walk through on out way out, barely worth mention. A walk down the main drag back towards the house results in some cheap pizza and extensive dinner planning. Fajitas it is. Mexican food is more reliable than the sun or the moon.

Day 15

With couch surfing plans quasi secure, the goal was to wake up early and head down to Key West, the very end of the Florida Keys island chain. No, of course that didn’t happen. Slept through the alarms, left all our stuff strewn about Roy’s house and garage, had no food to eat, no gas in the car, and nothing but a general direction. The Keys! Our visions of a free place to stay in this island paradise serve as a quick motivational shot. All the aforementioned problems are solved punctually. And we are on our way to meet some more random people.

Turns out Key West is not very close to the mainland. We make it to Key Largo (the beginning of the island chain) in a fair amount of time. The drive through the keys however is a whole new pace of progress. The highway across the island chain is somewhere north of 100 miles long. Our max speed was probably 40 mph. As our new friend Robert would put it, “You think you’re there the whole time…” but you’re not. Finally find the small, weathered beach home and meet Bill, our new couch surfing host. A few formalities followed by nothing but smiles.

We were told before arriving that all his good guests show up with “the house drink.” A little profile research indicated that Bill’s house drink consists of a bottle of Captain Morgan rum and a bottle of Coca-Cola. The bags are barely inside before we are welcomed the “Key West way,” that is with mandatory participation in Captain Morgan hour. Bill is a data bank of Key West facts so we discuss the local history and happenings. A young real estate agent in full business dress and flip-flops finds his way in the open front door, this is Robert. All Jokes. He was fully aware that we were in the midst of a welcome party/Captain Morgan hour and did not wait to participate. Bill, in his 60’s and without a car, kindly asks for a ride to run a couple errands. We are granted a free tour of the entire 2 mile by 1 mile island, complete with incessant historical references and facts, for agreeing to drive him. Back to the house where Captain Morgan hour actually reveals itself to be several hours. Crafty trick, but no complaints. We carry on like this late into the night, other local friends come and go, and the occasional foreign passerby stops by for a quick conversation. Couch surfing is God’s gift to broke travelers. Free accommodations are one thing but instant immersion into the local lifestyle cannot be bought at any hotel chain. Totally invaluable.

Day 14

I was jarred out of Sunday night's unconsciousness by Roy's Great Dane, a 180 lb dog who acts more like a small Labrador. Ok Remy we're up!

Shane & I started to gather our gear in preparation to hit the road once again- when Roy decided that we need to shove those plans & prepare to go wakeboarding. Alrigght fine, if you're gunna force us. Sooo, Roy, Shane, Matt, & I headed over to the marina where we quickly cranked the jams & the throttle as we attempted to re-create that one notorious BIG music video.
Anyway, we started to kick things off by doing a little open-ocean swimming. Yip, yaps & back-flips ensued until we remembered that splashing around in the open-ocean attracts sharks.
Pulled the Anchor & cruised back into the inter-coastal islands. Paradise by definition I do believe.

As Roy chauffeured us to his preferred wakeboarding spot, we kept an eye out for manatees & dolphins. spotted a couple-but, we had wakeboarding on the brain.
First, 6'8" Matt showed us how to catch your front edge & I did my best to jump the wake/roost. Shane gave it a try & decided he'd rather "max" & watch. Not 5 minutes into my second run Shane spotted a dolphin in our path, I carved over to him & prepared for him/her to mess with me (afterall they are supposed to be quite curious/intelligent). Nothing. I skimmed right over him and right on by...knarly.
After we'd all had our fill of boarding we cruised over to rookery bay. A small island sanctuary. We laid anchor a few hundred feet out & swam ashore. Looked for conch shells, said our hellos & before you know it our sunburns/tans were getting worse. Now the real entertainment of the afternoon was the swim back to the boat, what an experience. You know those times when you under-estimate a swim's distance & potential currents? Well that happened to all of us. I almost had to pull out the backstroke: but not quite. Relieved to be alive-we decided we shouldn't push our luck- lets go home
That we did. Once home we pieced together a small feast; that & the History channel (which has NO historical shows oddly enough) ate the rest of our night.

Day 13

Awoke refreshed. Worked on the car for awhile, played some basketball.. whatever, whatever. We all watched the game..

Day 12

Lush sleep was jarred by birds screeching their brains out at 5 am. Debated doing something about it. Took a shower instead, fell back asleep till 9.
Packed the Jeep & the pulled out the map & we debated to continue north or venture all the way south to South Beach/ the Keys.

Pros: Miami!, snorkeling in the keys, Everglades.
Cons: 800 miles down & 800 back. Hate backtracking.
No regrets...lets go.
Drove all the way down into Miami. Place is for real legit. Met up with a couple of Shane's friends to watch the USA vs. England game. everywhere was standing room only...love it.
After the game we walked/swam South Beach.. Decided to head over to Shane's friends house for the night. Ended up across the state: Fort Myer's.
Kicked it casually (as Shane would say) for awhile; then crashed.

Day 11

From the gator-less river we drove further eat to Jacksonville. Straight to the beach. Water was so choice. Swam/ bodysurfed for an hour. Napped on the beach. Lets head south.
Put it on cruise & made it to Daytona beach by early afternoon. Tons of people, rip tides were insane, I got pulled over to a fishing section-quite scary. Skim boarded for a little bit- forgot how much I love skimming the shallows. Called it a day and drove to the Daytona Beach KOA campground.
Ahh, to set up camp early! Shane & I cooked a dinner of rice & beans, cleaned the car out, read a little, talked on the phone a little. Then slept alot.
recup day

Day 10

We woke up to the smell of freshly brewed coffee & scrambled eggs. Are you serious?

We said, “Hasta” & hit the road. We weren’t on the road for 3 minutes before we saw a sign for the naval aviation museum. We had to go. Place was soo cool & free. Score. Got talked into going to the IMAX. Show was about Fighter jets... I get motion sickness just watching. Shane grinned the whole time.

Drove east across the brunt of Florida...But, stopped in Tallahassee to hitup: Boston Market, Wells Fargo, & Best Buy. Best $5 meal ever, Man we're going through money somehow (Ya'll see our Donate Button), & Shane bought a legit Canon.
Made it as far as Mixon. Looked around for a place to watch game 4. Most of the bars had no TV's...what the hell. Eventually found a place called DD's.

The entire "bar" was just a big shed. 15 foot by 15 foot at best. In one corner they had a homemade karaoke setup which was continuously man'd by someone screeching out one country "tune" after another. Despite the environment, the game was fun to watch & we met a local who told us about a riverside campsite.

Made it to the "campsite only to find a boat launch & a couple picnic tables, and three signs which read "NO Camping Allowed". It was midnight & pitch black. We looked at each other & said, "What the hell. We pitched the tents & tried to sleep.

However, every 5 minutes or so a car would drive out to this ultra remote boat launch and idle around for awhile.. what the hell (again). Scared we'd be kicked out ,we just lie there saying,"Please Lord!" This went on until about 1. Fitfully sleep till first light. Woke to find ourselves in the middle of the swamp, we searched the riverbank for gators.. things are harder to find than you'd think.

Day 9

Breakfast of clif bars and water from the site spigot..oh whatever..

Headed over to Pensacola beach to swim, bodysurf, & look for tar balls.

Can’t hate this place at all. We cooked lunch (main blog picure). & basically had a great day.

Thoroughly sunburned we searched for a wireless hotspot. Found one at the local McDonalds..lol. We grabbed a couple $1menu chicken sandwiches & facebooked/started this blog.

Like usual, before we knew it, it was dark. Luckily we had arranged to coauchsurf that night. So we headed over to the dude’s condo. Were weto be killed? We just said screw it.

The Condo was ridiculously nice & the dude ended up being the coolest southerner we’d met thus far. We just ate some snacks & shared stories for a few hours until Shane & I couldn’t stay up any longer. Crashed hard after a full day in the sun.

Day 8

We capitalized on the free breakfast… again. We had till 11 so we lounged around & watched the, “The Price is Right”. Is it just us or are the games getting way too easy?

Anyway we dropped Jon off at the airport & continued east.

We stopped here & there to look for oils & gators. Couldn’t seem to find either.

I talked Shane into stopping at a huge casino in Biloxi, Mississippi. The idea being; lets ride the elevator to the top floor & potentially peer further out into the gulf. This was fruitless as well. Whatever; we used their wireless & electricity for awhile..

Landed in Pensacola, FL; at the Big Lagoon State park specifically. Ranger hit us up for 20 bucks. But, it turned into the best accommodation money we’d spent yet.

Campsite was on a little hill that was about a 1/5 of a mile or so off the coast. Warm pine forest, with a floor of white sand. Soo legit. We parked and walked down the elevated boardwalk through the mangrove marsh. Made it to the beach right at dusk. I swam around in the 78 degree water looking for alligator babies, while Shane chased a huge stork.

Decide we wanted to drive into Pensacola city to watch the game. We kinda got lost; but Shane’s droid saved the day again. After watching Kobe be Kobe we walked down the boardwalk to “Captain Fun”. Place was packed with happy-go-lucky beachgoers dancing to the live music. Shane & I act stupid for awhile then head back to pass out.