We found a Wal-Mart to sleep in last night outside of Los Angeles, and Dave and I set phone alarms to wake up around 5:15 AM. We had tickets to The Price is Right (or "The PIR" as the Long Beach guys called it). The ticketing system is long and complicated, and it offers no guarantees of being in the studio audience until you are actually in your seat. They start handing out priority ticket numbers at 6AM, and then begin handing out available tickets at 8AM based on your priority ticket number. There are 2 shows, a 1:00 and a 4:00, and we had "tickets" for the 4:00 show. This means we can only get a ticket to the 4:00 show if tickets are available. Knowing the complexity of things, we wanted to get there early enough to ensure our chance to "Come on Down!". I'd also like to make note that it has been my lifelong dream to see a taping of The Price is Right, even more so to be an actual contestant.
We arrived at the CBS studio around 6:15 AM, but they have no parking. They recommend parking in a neighboring shopping center, however there is no RV parking there. Complications arose, and the line for priority numbers looked pretty long as we passed by. I was anxious to park the RV and get to the studio, but we couldn't find anything. Finally, many blocks away, we found a 4 hour parking limit section on the street side. We got to the studio at 6:45 AM, and received priority numbers 306-308. We later found out that the studio seats 325 people per show, so being 306-308 of 650 total seats available got our spirits pretty high.
Turns out groups greater than 15 persons automatically have tickets, and we were waiting for whatever remaining seats were available. We were also told that "there are significantly more groups for the 4:00 show than the 1:00 show". They start handing out tickets around 8AM, and after only a few minutes, the tickets to the 4:00 show are sold out. This means we will be on standby, with about 250 people still ahead of us. Somehow there were over 100 people that ended up on standby for the 1:00 show, and we became standby #'s 39, 40 and 41 for the 4:00 show. As standby's, we were told to come back at 1:00 PM, and this is when we would find out if groups didn't show up that would allow standby's to receive tickets.
We started our 15 minute walk back to the RV and tried to figure out how to kill the next 4 hours of time, since it wasn't even 9AM yet. Passing a movie theater in the shopping mall, we noticed that Batman played at 9:20 AM. "Sure, why not see it a third time" was all of our reactions. So we did. The movie wasn't quite as great as in IMAX, but still a great movie, especially when the theater provided interactive seats for us. The 5.4 magnitude earthquake was the largest in Southern California since 1992.
After the movie ended, we put our Tiki shirts on and tried to figure out where to park the RV, since it needed to be moved at noon. There was nowhere to put the RV, since all spots were taken, so we put a note on the windshield wipers saying that the RV wouldn't start, but we were working on having it fixed. We hoped Charlotte wouldn't take it seriously and decide not to start when we returned. Being standby 39, 40 and 41 was a little upsetting, however, because it didn't seem likely that we would get into the audience.
We arrived to see a lot more people waiting in lines. After they arranged all of the groups, they put the standby people in lines on the benches as well. We got excited when the announcer was searching for a group that apparently had not shown up yet. The green tickets that they hand out are numbered, and we saw the people on the next bench receive #'s 235 and 236. Knowing they were the last people before standby's meant we should get a ticket. And we did get a ticket! Kyle was 268, I was 269 and Dave was 270. My excitement for the rest of the day can be seen in how much I'm writing about it. Of course there are many more lines and waiting before we could get into the studio. We had ID checks, then waited for our name tags to be written. Dave had a guy that took his time and did it right, while Kyle and my name tags look like a 6 year old wrote them. It didn't look like I had always dreamed it would. We then waited another hour for our group interview with Stan. They do a 3 minute interview with 12 contestants, so the only information Stan gets is where you're from and what you do. The interview was uneventful despite our Tiki shirts, so I didn't think it was likely that any of us would get on the show.
We then waited to go through security clearance, and heard a bunch of screaming and yelling. Drew was walking past everyone headed for the studio! Of course I joined in the screaming and yelling, and saw Drew give us a thumbs up, saying "I like your shirts". Stan also came over afterwards saying that he would like to record us saying "The Price is Right Rocks!" on his camera because he liked our shirts so much. Things were looking up!
Walking into the studio was surreal, and I was somewhat surprised by how small the audience section was. It made me wonder how come it took people so long to get down to contestant's row when they were called. I was filled with energy and jumping up and down for a while. We then find out that they needed audio clips of the audience in different scenarios. They would use this for future shows if an audience isn't being loud enough during a certain part of the show. We, as a part of the audience, would be a part of The Price is Right future, our screaming or clapping used whenever there were lame audiences. How exciting! (I hope they weren't lying to us and did this at the beginning of every show!?!)
The show was a lot of fun, but slowly got more disappointing as it came to a close and none of our names were called. It ended that way...a wonderful experience, but none of us able to take home anything more than our name tags. The show will air on Thursday, September 25th, the first week they will be offering the show in High Definition. Get your DVR's ready. We are towards the rear of the audience, slightly left of the middle. There will be no pictures of The Price is Right because cameras are prohibited, as well as cell phones and Drew Carey glasses (unless they are prescription).
We headed back to the RV exhausted, but glad to return to our cell phones. The block we parked on didn't allow parking past 6PM, towing enforced, and it was now 6:05. We had been parked there for over 12 hours in a 4 hour space. Charlotte was the last vehicle on the block, and much to our joy, she did start up without any problems. We ate at In-N-Out Burger, the first time for Dave and me, and then headed for Long Beach, CA. Our convention starts Wednesday, and we are in desperate need of a shower. After sweating all day Monday on the drive from Vegas, and all day Tuesday because of The Price is Right, I don't think we smelled the best. Parking on a street under the shadows of the Hilton Long Beach (our home from Wednesday through Sunday morning), we turned in for the night.
Total miles driven: over 5400
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Day 23 - A rather unexciting day
Today we left the bright lights of Las Vegas behind and also lost our temporary guest in Charlotte. After dropping Ms. Langmandigo off at the airport we started on our way to Long Beach, CA, where we would be meeting up some of the local Sigma Pi members as well as some of the higher ups in our national organization for the Dodgers game. Unfortunately, since Lyn's flight was at noon we were forced to drive through the hottest part of the day in order to make it in time to tailgate before the game.
We watched intently as the temperature rose on our thermometer slowly from 92 degrees at 8 am up to 98 degrees at around noon. Shortly after that, the digital thermometer read "Hi" instead of a number reading, presumably since it cannot display a three digit number. Oh yes, and this is the temperature INSIDE of the rv with the windows open going 55 mph since we the AC doesn't actually work. Needless to say, perspiration was at an all time high.
Naturally Charlotte began to have trouble in the heat and decided to stop for a break (that's what we're going to call breaking down from now on) and "cool off" in the 110 degree heat of the desert. A few hours later she was ready to go again, so we slowly but surely made our way to Long Beach, arriving at aroud 5 pm.
We met up with some of the Beta Omicron chapter guys, got a tour of their house, and then hit the road with four of them to the Dodgers game...
We watched intently as the temperature rose on our thermometer slowly from 92 degrees at 8 am up to 98 degrees at around noon. Shortly after that, the digital thermometer read "Hi" instead of a number reading, presumably since it cannot display a three digit number. Oh yes, and this is the temperature INSIDE of the rv with the windows open going 55 mph since we the AC doesn't actually work. Needless to say, perspiration was at an all time high.
Naturally Charlotte began to have trouble in the heat and decided to stop for a break (that's what we're going to call breaking down from now on) and "cool off" in the 110 degree heat of the desert. A few hours later she was ready to go again, so we slowly but surely made our way to Long Beach, arriving at aroud 5 pm.
We met up with some of the Beta Omicron chapter guys, got a tour of their house, and then hit the road with four of them to the Dodgers game...
Guest blog from Lyn Mandigo
Lyn visited us for a few days and we decided to let her blog about Sunday in Vegas. When she decides to write about it you can read it right here in this space:
Today started out pretty slow because of all the fun we had the night before. As the rv started to heat up from the strong Nevada sun, Dave, Mike and I decided that we should go lounge by the pool for a while, leaving Kyle to sleep off his late night. We spent a few hours poolside trying to get rid of our headaches and get back our energy so we could venure out of the Oasis rv park to the Vegas strip. After the pool, we showered, ate lunch, put on our flamingo shirts and headed for the air conditioning and fountain drinks in the resort lobby to call a cab around 3:30pm. The cab dropped us off at Mandalay Bay, our friend Mark's recommended starting point for exploring the strip. We had decided to check out some of the sites and wait a while before we started gambling. So we explored Mandalay Bay and then headed over to the Luxor, the pyramid with the egyptian decor, and then went to Excaliber, the castle with medevil decor. From there, we went to New York, New York, "the greatest city in Las Vegas" which is complete with a statue of liberty and it's own old fashioned cart rollercoaster that costs $14 per rider. All of these hotels and casinos were truly amazing. They are so festively decorated according to their individual themes. You could spend hours just taking it all in. After New York, New York, we ventured down the strip some more and found a place to buy discount tickets to the shows. When we didn't see any for shows that we would be interested in seeing, we decided to check out one of the all you can eat buffets in a hotel. Due to price and location, we decided on the Monte Carlo buffet. When we entered, Kyle said he recognized it and thought he had been there before. The food was really good. We each got multiple plates full of entree items, and then shared an assortment of the dessert offerings. We left feeling satisfied and ready to walk the strip some more.
Our next stop was the Bellagio. The inside foyer was gorgeous. It had glass art work on the ceilings, an inside garden with beautiful flowers and neat water spouts, a garden train, and even a miniture mount rushmore. We also found the chocolate water fountain, which was amazing. It had dark, light and white chocolate cascading from the mirrored ceiling onto molded glass containers that directed the streams down an intertwined path to their containers full of chocolate at the bottom. Of course since we were all so full, we didn't find this appetizing, but just cool to watch. After looking at the inside of the Bellagio, it was close to 8pm and getting dark so we decided to stop outside to watch the famous Bellagio water fountain show, which was incredible and my favorite part of Vegas. The water sprays out of the fountains to the beat of the song that is playing out of the speakers on the Bellagio bridge for a good 10 minutes or so.
After the Bellagio, we checked out Caesar's palace and Harrah's and then decided to do some gambling at the Flamingo. I think the idea was that our shirts would bring us luck or at least perks there, but it doesn't seem like either was the case. Mike and I took a break from walking/standing and found some penny slot machines while Dave and Kyle went off in search of a $5 craps table. After losing $2 at our penny slot machine- which didn't take long with $.25 bets- Mike and I went to find the other two in our quadruplet and bought in to the $10 craps table they had found. Craps provided a good amount of entertainment. I think Kyle had the best streak rolling the dice, but then the table started to go downhill so we left. Mike and Dave went to find a blackjack table and Kyle and I watched. I am sure all of us were glad to be off of our feet for a few minutes after walking around so much.
After the Flamingo, we went to check out the Venetian and then called it a night. We waited in the cab line at Treasure Island to head back to the Oasis around 11pm. We were all tired and had a long day of traveling ahead of us. I guess the rest of the strip and Vegas will have to wait for a later day...
Memorable Flamingo shirt comments:
"Hey, are you guys together?"
"I know, they are all on the same bowling team"
"You guys must shop at the same store"
"I want a onesie in that print"
Today started out pretty slow because of all the fun we had the night before. As the rv started to heat up from the strong Nevada sun, Dave, Mike and I decided that we should go lounge by the pool for a while, leaving Kyle to sleep off his late night. We spent a few hours poolside trying to get rid of our headaches and get back our energy so we could venure out of the Oasis rv park to the Vegas strip. After the pool, we showered, ate lunch, put on our flamingo shirts and headed for the air conditioning and fountain drinks in the resort lobby to call a cab around 3:30pm. The cab dropped us off at Mandalay Bay, our friend Mark's recommended starting point for exploring the strip. We had decided to check out some of the sites and wait a while before we started gambling. So we explored Mandalay Bay and then headed over to the Luxor, the pyramid with the egyptian decor, and then went to Excaliber, the castle with medevil decor. From there, we went to New York, New York, "the greatest city in Las Vegas" which is complete with a statue of liberty and it's own old fashioned cart rollercoaster that costs $14 per rider. All of these hotels and casinos were truly amazing. They are so festively decorated according to their individual themes. You could spend hours just taking it all in. After New York, New York, we ventured down the strip some more and found a place to buy discount tickets to the shows. When we didn't see any for shows that we would be interested in seeing, we decided to check out one of the all you can eat buffets in a hotel. Due to price and location, we decided on the Monte Carlo buffet. When we entered, Kyle said he recognized it and thought he had been there before. The food was really good. We each got multiple plates full of entree items, and then shared an assortment of the dessert offerings. We left feeling satisfied and ready to walk the strip some more.
Our next stop was the Bellagio. The inside foyer was gorgeous. It had glass art work on the ceilings, an inside garden with beautiful flowers and neat water spouts, a garden train, and even a miniture mount rushmore. We also found the chocolate water fountain, which was amazing. It had dark, light and white chocolate cascading from the mirrored ceiling onto molded glass containers that directed the streams down an intertwined path to their containers full of chocolate at the bottom. Of course since we were all so full, we didn't find this appetizing, but just cool to watch. After looking at the inside of the Bellagio, it was close to 8pm and getting dark so we decided to stop outside to watch the famous Bellagio water fountain show, which was incredible and my favorite part of Vegas. The water sprays out of the fountains to the beat of the song that is playing out of the speakers on the Bellagio bridge for a good 10 minutes or so.
After the Bellagio, we checked out Caesar's palace and Harrah's and then decided to do some gambling at the Flamingo. I think the idea was that our shirts would bring us luck or at least perks there, but it doesn't seem like either was the case. Mike and I took a break from walking/standing and found some penny slot machines while Dave and Kyle went off in search of a $5 craps table. After losing $2 at our penny slot machine- which didn't take long with $.25 bets- Mike and I went to find the other two in our quadruplet and bought in to the $10 craps table they had found. Craps provided a good amount of entertainment. I think Kyle had the best streak rolling the dice, but then the table started to go downhill so we left. Mike and Dave went to find a blackjack table and Kyle and I watched. I am sure all of us were glad to be off of our feet for a few minutes after walking around so much.
After the Flamingo, we went to check out the Venetian and then called it a night. We waited in the cab line at Treasure Island to head back to the Oasis around 11pm. We were all tired and had a long day of traveling ahead of us. I guess the rest of the strip and Vegas will have to wait for a later day...
Memorable Flamingo shirt comments:
"Hey, are you guys together?"
"I know, they are all on the same bowling team"
"You guys must shop at the same store"
"I want a onesie in that print"
The Grand Canyon and then a big night in Vegas
Friday we went to the Grand Canyon. We woke up in Kingman, AZ and the nice folks at D&S looked at the RV and couldn't find anything wrong with it. We started Charlotte up and she seemed to be working fine. It was probably a heat related problem that was no longer presenting itself in the morning cool. We decided to go ahead and try to get to the Grand Canyon and Mike drove us all the way there without incident.
Once there we rented a car from Budget and I drove up to the Canyon. I find it hard to say much about the canyon other then it was grand. We drove around parts of it and took a lot of pictures which are now up in a web album. We watched the sunset which was quite colorful and headed home. About a half hour into the drive back to our RV park (A 1.5 hour drive total) Kyle realized we left our souvenirs where we watched the sunset so we turned back for them. I certainly hope those who receive those gifts enjoy them.
We got back to the RV late and everyone promptly went to bed after what had been a long day. Mike and Lyn made the mistake of trying to share one of the small beds in the back instead of taking Kyle's bed. This was a decision they would regret in the morning after a restless night of sleep. I awoke early and returned the rent-a-car. Once everyone else had gotten up we headed back to Vegas.
I drove us back to Vegas through a large rainstorm which was great because it kept Charlotte cool. We arrived at the Oasis RV resort around 2 and promptly headed to the pool, refreshments in hand. At the pool we met a local Las Vegan(???) who was very friendly and recommended we check out Karaoke night at the resort later that night. We debated for a short while and elected to attend Karaoke night. Sadly, Mike and Lyn were uninterested in performing. However, Kyle and I treated everyone to a rendition of You've lost that Loving Feeling by the Righteous Brothers. It was a less then stellar performance and I attribute the poor quality not to the two of us but to the fact that we were missing two of the four members of our singing group, "The Blue Man Truth." If we had the vocal stylings of James Calabrese and Ben Heriaud we would have clearly brought the house down.
After Karaoke shut down Mike and Lyn headed back to the RV for bed and Kyle and I played frogger on our way to the Silverton Casino. We essentially had no business being at a casino for the next 4 hours but nonetheless had a wonderful time. In our Tiki shirts the two of us were the life of the Casino and made many friends at the craps table. When all was said and done I ended up winning 55 dollars and, while Kyle at one point was up around 60, he ended up cashing out down 9. After such a late night the next day was less then pleasant and we didn't get going until well after 2:00 PM, but I will let guest blogger Lyn Mandigo tell you about our Sunday in Vegas.
Pictures
Once there we rented a car from Budget and I drove up to the Canyon. I find it hard to say much about the canyon other then it was grand. We drove around parts of it and took a lot of pictures which are now up in a web album. We watched the sunset which was quite colorful and headed home. About a half hour into the drive back to our RV park (A 1.5 hour drive total) Kyle realized we left our souvenirs where we watched the sunset so we turned back for them. I certainly hope those who receive those gifts enjoy them.
We got back to the RV late and everyone promptly went to bed after what had been a long day. Mike and Lyn made the mistake of trying to share one of the small beds in the back instead of taking Kyle's bed. This was a decision they would regret in the morning after a restless night of sleep. I awoke early and returned the rent-a-car. Once everyone else had gotten up we headed back to Vegas.
I drove us back to Vegas through a large rainstorm which was great because it kept Charlotte cool. We arrived at the Oasis RV resort around 2 and promptly headed to the pool, refreshments in hand. At the pool we met a local Las Vegan(???) who was very friendly and recommended we check out Karaoke night at the resort later that night. We debated for a short while and elected to attend Karaoke night. Sadly, Mike and Lyn were uninterested in performing. However, Kyle and I treated everyone to a rendition of You've lost that Loving Feeling by the Righteous Brothers. It was a less then stellar performance and I attribute the poor quality not to the two of us but to the fact that we were missing two of the four members of our singing group, "The Blue Man Truth." If we had the vocal stylings of James Calabrese and Ben Heriaud we would have clearly brought the house down.
After Karaoke shut down Mike and Lyn headed back to the RV for bed and Kyle and I played frogger on our way to the Silverton Casino. We essentially had no business being at a casino for the next 4 hours but nonetheless had a wonderful time. In our Tiki shirts the two of us were the life of the Casino and made many friends at the craps table. When all was said and done I ended up winning 55 dollars and, while Kyle at one point was up around 60, he ended up cashing out down 9. After such a late night the next day was less then pleasant and we didn't get going until well after 2:00 PM, but I will let guest blogger Lyn Mandigo tell you about our Sunday in Vegas.
Pictures
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Day 19 - Thursday, July 24th - Vegas, Baby, Vegas!
It has been a long time since we last posted. It has been a busy past few days, but we'll try to post a few days at once to keep you all satisfied. Sorry we promised updates every night, as you'll find out we hit some bumps in the road...
Today, Thursday July 24th, we woke up in the Red Rock Casino parking lot in Las Vegas, NV, with minimal sleep thanks to the blaring pop music, temperatures in the upper 80's and bright lights all around us. We went to the Border's across the street as Dave mentioned in the last post, and awaited heading to the airport to pick up my fiance Lyn, who was flying into Vegas for the next 4 days. She was to arrive around 12:45 PM, and we arrived late, much to her dismay. We didn't know about the height restrictions, and the heat/lack of sleep didn't help anyone's moods. We got on the road excited for the KOA in Williams, about 4-5 hours away. Temperatures were easily over 100 degrees for the whole ride. We saw the Hoover Dam, and crossed over into Arizona. After heading south towards I-40, Charlotte gave Kyle some problems. She just decided that she didn't want to drive anymore. After pulling her over, I tried turning her back on, and she would idle very roughly for a few seconds, then would turn off, with a press on the accelerator doing nothing to persuade her. Time to call a tow truck.
After AAA hung up on us, we got in touch with a wonderful lady named Misty that worked at D&S Auto Repair in Kingman, AZ. Misty helped us out tremendously, even offering to pick us up if she could (I don't think her car could tow us though). Eventually a guy from Mike's Towing came out, and we were on our way in a short amount of time. This towing experience was much faster than when we broke down on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. We arrived at the Auto Repair shop, which closed at 5:00, but checked in to the Rambling Rose Motel next door, at the suggestion of Misty. After a quick dip in the pool, we started walking down to a Mexican Restaurant 8 blocks away, another one of Misty's suggestions. It was very relaxing for the 4 of us, and Dave ordered their special Burrito, a whopping 28 inches long. He was unable to finish the burrito, and ended up having breakfast, lunch and dinner fixed for the next day. We then started our walk back down Historic Route 66 back to the Ramblin' Rose. Kingman was one of the fortunate Route 66 towns that also had I-40 run through it, so it wasn't shut down like the rest of them. On our way in, Lyn asked the tow truck driver where Route 66 is based on the fact that the scenery reminded her of the movie cars. Turns out she was dead on.
The Ramblin' Rose was comfortable, and taking a shower was a welcome change, as was Lyn's presence. Lyn's adventures with Charlotte didn't start off very well, but things will hopefully be better the next few days. Please post comments on our blog to let us know how you are all doing, and if you think you can figure out what went wrong with Charlotte on US-93 South...
Today, Thursday July 24th, we woke up in the Red Rock Casino parking lot in Las Vegas, NV, with minimal sleep thanks to the blaring pop music, temperatures in the upper 80's and bright lights all around us. We went to the Border's across the street as Dave mentioned in the last post, and awaited heading to the airport to pick up my fiance Lyn, who was flying into Vegas for the next 4 days. She was to arrive around 12:45 PM, and we arrived late, much to her dismay. We didn't know about the height restrictions, and the heat/lack of sleep didn't help anyone's moods. We got on the road excited for the KOA in Williams, about 4-5 hours away. Temperatures were easily over 100 degrees for the whole ride. We saw the Hoover Dam, and crossed over into Arizona. After heading south towards I-40, Charlotte gave Kyle some problems. She just decided that she didn't want to drive anymore. After pulling her over, I tried turning her back on, and she would idle very roughly for a few seconds, then would turn off, with a press on the accelerator doing nothing to persuade her. Time to call a tow truck.
After AAA hung up on us, we got in touch with a wonderful lady named Misty that worked at D&S Auto Repair in Kingman, AZ. Misty helped us out tremendously, even offering to pick us up if she could (I don't think her car could tow us though). Eventually a guy from Mike's Towing came out, and we were on our way in a short amount of time. This towing experience was much faster than when we broke down on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. We arrived at the Auto Repair shop, which closed at 5:00, but checked in to the Rambling Rose Motel next door, at the suggestion of Misty. After a quick dip in the pool, we started walking down to a Mexican Restaurant 8 blocks away, another one of Misty's suggestions. It was very relaxing for the 4 of us, and Dave ordered their special Burrito, a whopping 28 inches long. He was unable to finish the burrito, and ended up having breakfast, lunch and dinner fixed for the next day. We then started our walk back down Historic Route 66 back to the Ramblin' Rose. Kingman was one of the fortunate Route 66 towns that also had I-40 run through it, so it wasn't shut down like the rest of them. On our way in, Lyn asked the tow truck driver where Route 66 is based on the fact that the scenery reminded her of the movie cars. Turns out she was dead on.
The Ramblin' Rose was comfortable, and taking a shower was a welcome change, as was Lyn's presence. Lyn's adventures with Charlotte didn't start off very well, but things will hopefully be better the next few days. Please post comments on our blog to let us know how you are all doing, and if you think you can figure out what went wrong with Charlotte on US-93 South...
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Hot, Hot, Hot
Not much to say about the 23rd of July except that it was hot. We had quite the drive and had to go quite slow because we started at 7300 feet and descended to 4300 feet then climbed above 7000 feet and then descended to back below 5000 feet only to climb up above 7000 feet again. We then descended down to Las Vegas an elevation of 2001 feet. This resulted in 7.3 MPG. Charlotte struggled at times but we made it without any real brake or engine problems. The views on the drive were great as always and you should definitely check out our pictures. Kyle is definitely the most aggressive when it comes to taking pictures and where I would just want to look, he has been clicking away so you should all thank him for that.
We arrived in Vegas around 8:30 and went to the Red Rocks Casino to catch an IMAX showing of the new Batman movie. Not only is the movie spectacular (We saw it on opening night as well) but the movie is even better in IMAX and was easily worth the 14 dollar ticket price. After the movie I had hoped we would drive to a Walmart for the night but neither Mike nor Kyle was interested in leaving the Red Rock parking lot. Therefore, we got ready for bed in an incredibly over lit parking lot where music was playing loudly from most of the lamp posts. It proved to be a hot and sweaty restless night.
This morning we drove to the Borders across the street where I am now blogging and uploading pictures. We will be picking Lyn up at the airport at noon and then driving to the grand canyon for the night. We will be staying in RV parks the next 4 nights (THANK THE LORD!) and will be able to update the blog each night as well as shower which is the really important thing. I worry that we are starting to smell like a gym bag that has been left in the trunk of a car for a few weeks.
Pictures
Progress Map
We arrived in Vegas around 8:30 and went to the Red Rocks Casino to catch an IMAX showing of the new Batman movie. Not only is the movie spectacular (We saw it on opening night as well) but the movie is even better in IMAX and was easily worth the 14 dollar ticket price. After the movie I had hoped we would drive to a Walmart for the night but neither Mike nor Kyle was interested in leaving the Red Rock parking lot. Therefore, we got ready for bed in an incredibly over lit parking lot where music was playing loudly from most of the lamp posts. It proved to be a hot and sweaty restless night.
This morning we drove to the Borders across the street where I am now blogging and uploading pictures. We will be picking Lyn up at the airport at noon and then driving to the grand canyon for the night. We will be staying in RV parks the next 4 nights (THANK THE LORD!) and will be able to update the blog each night as well as shower which is the really important thing. I worry that we are starting to smell like a gym bag that has been left in the trunk of a car for a few weeks.
Pictures
Progress Map
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Day 17, July 22 - Yosemite National Park - A day of Climbs and Falls
The evening consisted of the boys doing what we did through the majority of college careers, drink some icy cold refreshments and play poker. By the time that we were finished, we realized that it was 3 a.m., so we would be all ready for our trip through Yosemite bright and early the following day.
After another late start at 11:30 a.m. since we had to change the oil filter, shower, and check out of the resort, we finally entered the park. We began the trip at 6,200 feet and entered the park somewhere around 7,500 feet, not too bad of a warm-up for Charlotte and she performed like a champ! However, as we progressed the windy cliff side roads, her brakes were not feeling so great and began to seize up as they had our first day. We slowly continued on the now terrifying roads, worried that our brakes could fail at any moment and send us plunging a couple thousand feet to our deaths.
We eventually made it to a parking lot to give the brakes a rest, and I saw a sign for a hiking trail to Bridalveil Falls. Mike and Dave were hungry for some lunch, but since I had a third of Dave's breakfast mash(12 eggs and a pound of sausage) and I have a significantly smaller appetite than the two of them, I felt fine and decided to go for a hike by myself. The trail itself was no more than a 1/4 mile to a vista point of the falls, but as I saw some others climbing the rocks towards the falls, I decided to follow. Shortly thereafter I came upon a smaller set of waterfalls that flowed into a pool that I thought you could maybe put your feet in and hang out by. So I climbed a little further up for a better view of the big fall and took some pictures before retreating to the RV to find the others.
Mike and Dave were just settling down for a nice nap when I got to the RV. I reported to them on my reconnaissance mission, and at first they were not too impressed with my rock climbing adventures and were still going to nap. However, when I mentioned the pool underneath of the waterfall they jumped at the idea since it had gotten pretty hot in the RV.
By the time we reached the first fall, we were all quite hot and since I am the smallest and surest of foot, it was decided that I should enter the pool first, and boy was that a wake up call. The water must have been less than 60 degrees! Shortly thereafter we were bored with just swimming, and slightly numb, so mike decided to climb the rocks near the fall and see if he could find a natural water slide created by the slippery plant growth (moss and algae). After testing the depth of the water at the edge of the rock we discerned that Mike could in theory do the water slide without killing himself. This spawned other adventures in which we took turns climbing underneath of the water falls for some great pictures and even cooler views of the park! When we climbed up inside the fall I was able to follow the water up through the rocks and determined that there must be another pool above us. So we dried up and climbed up another 100 feet or so of rock, where we found a second waterfall that was better than the first, and proceeded to explore them again.
We decided here that we would continue to climb until it seemed improbable that there were more falls or probable that we would get injured or break the camera, the latter being the more pressing issue. When we reached the third and final pool we were in awe of the view. It looked just like a picture out of movie, with four or five water falls running into a large pool, with a massive cliff in the background and an incredible view of the rest of the park behind us. We quickly decided that this pool was clearly deep enough for us to jump off of the falls! And so the journey began of first Mike and Dave climbing over for a better look (since I was carrying the camera I had become the designated picture taker). Once they reached the other side the fun really started. They found a nice spot that was not slippery and would allow us to jump into a part of the pool that was 7 to 8 feet deep. We took turns jumping off of this and utilizing the camera's burst shots (24 pictures in less than 3 seconds) to capture one of our most memorable days yet.
When we finally returned, a 1/2 hour stop to rest the brakes had become a 5 hour journey that we won't forget. In the end, we decided that Charlotte had not really had brake problems, but instead was just offering a recommendation that we stop and enjoy the beautiful falls.
So to thank Charlotte for her great recommendation we decided to let her have some fun on a real climb. From the valley where the falls lied at about 5,000 feet we ascended Tiago Pass to 9,945 feet at the park's east entrance, the highest that Charlotte will ever be barring drugs in the gas tank. Tiago Pass is one of the highest paved roads in the contiguous United States!
At the end of a long day and another 3,000 ft drop, we retired to a Mexican restaurant about 20 miles outside of the park , where we ate dinner and parked the RV for the night...
Pictures
Feel free to comment on the photos that you like, we can check those comments as well.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Day 14 - Sunday, July 20th - A Fun Drive
Today we left South Lake Tahoe after blogging at the Starbucks. We immediately hit some traffic as we headed south on Highway 50. Kyle was driving, and there were some splendid views as we climbed up a mountain, with a waterfall flowing in the background. Kyle seems to always drive when we head out of the mountains, and as a result, his gas mileage when driving is always better. He's always driving these sections because I prefer to take Charlotte up the mountains, and Dave says he doesn't mind not driving. Today was no different for Kyle...we started the day at 6600 feet, and at one point while he was driving, hit 600 feet.
One thing Kyle did forget, however, was that Charlotte is a little wider than your average vehicle. While driving through a small town with some road construction, Kyle stayed to the right enough to not be in the left lane. He didn't realize that there was a barrier on the right, and then we heard a loud scrape. Turns out it was just the awning, and Charlotte probably did more damage to the barrier than is shown on her.
We then hit some windy roads, which means slower speeds. Since all of these roads are 2 lane undivided highways, people don't have a great opportunity to pass us. We had many angry drivers eventually pass us, and 4 choose to show this anger with a one-finger salute.
After gassing up in Angels Camp, CA, I wanted to take the wheel. I had looked ahead on the GPS and saw some crazy curves in the road, and I wanted to drive us through whatever it turned out to be. The road was incredible. Check out Highway 120 between Moccasin, CA and Priest, CA. Here is a quote from the Wikipedia page for Moccasin, CA: "Locals tell stories of car accidents in history where the vehicles left the path of Old Priest Grade and tumbled into Grizzly Gulch. The terrain was so difficult that, in a few cases, the cars and bodies were not retrieved, some locals claim." Since you are reading this now, you can assume that I'm the only one that made it out alive.
We all made it safely to our campground at Yosemite Pines, and I was promptly yelled at by a camper for "speeding". I may have been going 7 in a 5 MPH zone, mainly so that I would have enough power to get up the hill. California people don't seem as friendly as the rest of the country....can't wait to actually get to the west coast.
One thing Kyle did forget, however, was that Charlotte is a little wider than your average vehicle. While driving through a small town with some road construction, Kyle stayed to the right enough to not be in the left lane. He didn't realize that there was a barrier on the right, and then we heard a loud scrape. Turns out it was just the awning, and Charlotte probably did more damage to the barrier than is shown on her.
We then hit some windy roads, which means slower speeds. Since all of these roads are 2 lane undivided highways, people don't have a great opportunity to pass us. We had many angry drivers eventually pass us, and 4 choose to show this anger with a one-finger salute.
After gassing up in Angels Camp, CA, I wanted to take the wheel. I had looked ahead on the GPS and saw some crazy curves in the road, and I wanted to drive us through whatever it turned out to be. The road was incredible. Check out Highway 120 between Moccasin, CA and Priest, CA. Here is a quote from the Wikipedia page for Moccasin, CA: "Locals tell stories of car accidents in history where the vehicles left the path of Old Priest Grade and tumbled into Grizzly Gulch. The terrain was so difficult that, in a few cases, the cars and bodies were not retrieved, some locals claim." Since you are reading this now, you can assume that I'm the only one that made it out alive.
We all made it safely to our campground at Yosemite Pines, and I was promptly yelled at by a camper for "speeding". I may have been going 7 in a 5 MPH zone, mainly so that I would have enough power to get up the hill. California people don't seem as friendly as the rest of the country....can't wait to actually get to the west coast.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Excitement Abounds
The last time we updated you on our progress we asked for names for the RV and since then much has happened. We picked a name for the RV after completely ignoring the votes cast. Many of you liked Hank and others liked The Beast (Maybe a majority but we didn't count). However, thanks to Pythagoras41, whomever that may be, we selected Charlotte as the name. As soon as we read that comment, we knew that Charlotte was her name. It fits perfectly and she responds well to it, getting us all the way to South Lake Tahoe CA since we updated you last.
July 18th we visited Crater Lake National Park and met up with Mike's friend Nick Mazzenga who is also traveling across the U.S. but doing so on a Motorcycle. You can see pictures of us and him in our most recent picture album. He was happy to see us and was surprised by the luxurious lifestyle we enjoyed in Charlotte as compared to his tent and Maverick. We lent him one of our flamingo shirts and took a picture and then went our separate ways. We enjoyed a relaxing lunch overlooking the Lake and then departed for Reno. This drive would prove to be quite the experience.
We booked tickets for the midnight showing of the new Batman movie The Dark Knight and set off towards Reno. As I sat in the front seat while Mike drove, I felt a rather sharp pain on my ankle. I looked down and was quite upset to see a bee right next to my foot. At this point it seems necessary to mention that I am allergic to bees but have never gotten an Epi-pen. I couldn't find the stinger in my foot and there didn't seem to be much swelling so we continued towards Reno.
Mike and Kyle were obviously concerned but being in the middle of nowhere we didn't have very many options. I decided it was best to call a nurses hotline and asked if there were any actions I could take to prevent or inhibit some sort of reaction. The nurse on the phone was nice and recommended I call 911 to see what they thought. At this point my reaction to the sting was minimal so I declined any emergency service and we continued down the road. I had hoped to make it to Reno and get some care there but felt that my throat was swelling at to0 quick a pace to wait so Kyle called emergency again to see if they could meet us somewhere.
We missed the turn off to where we were supposed to meet so we had to double back to get there. When we arrived we were a bit surprised not to see an ambulance but instead a fire truck. We pulled up and a woman approached us and asked where the patient was. I stepped out of the RV and informed her it was me. She seemed a bit surprised by this but led me over by the truck and sat me down. They gave me some oxygen and told me we had to wait for the paramedics to come to do anything else. All of a sudden they asked Mike and Kyle to go back into the RV and all huddled around me. I looked up and a Helicopter was landing. I informed them that this was completely unnecessary but they ignored me.
The paramedics got out of their helicopter and came over towards me. The first guy said to me "Well you don't appear to be in anaphylactic shock." Apparently somewhere along the line the signals were crossed and what we told them was a mildly worsening reaction to a bee sting became full blown anaphylactic shock. The paramedics checked me out and determined that I was fine. They unofficially recommended that I take some benadryl so I turned down treatment and we went on our way after taking some pictures. As we were about to leave one of the people from the fire department informed us that she had left her birthday dinner for the call. I was mildly embarrassed but clearly the blame rests on someone else.
We continued to Reno and thoroughly enjoyed the showing of The Dark Knight. It was an incredible movie. After the movie we went to a Wal-Mart parking lot for the night which we were promptly kicked out of. We drove to a different Wal-Mart 5 miles away and were luckily able to stay the night there. The next morning we got up and drove the rest of the way into South Lake Tahoe. We enjoyed a relaxing afternoon by the pool and around 5:30 PM got dressed in our wonderful Tiki shirts and headed to an all you can eat buffet at Harrah's Casino. We gorged ourselves to the point of exhaustion and then headed down to the Casino floor where we attracted a lot of attention in our colorful garb. Collectively very little money was lost.
The KOA where we stayed turned out to be unsatisfactorily far away from the casino's and our cab ride cost almost as much as one nights stay. We tried to take the bus half of the way home but after waiting for almost half of an hour it drove right by us without stopping. I doubt that they didn't see us so it was a tad upsetting. We spent the entire next day on the beach in the sun which was incredibly relaxing and I think we all really enjoyed the chance to relax.
Today we will depart for Yosemite and from there we go to Vegas. We only have 10 more days until our Fraternity Convocation in Long Beach and are getting excited to meet everyone there. Mike is getting excited as well as he only has 4 more days until Lyn meets us in Las Vegas. Poor Kyle and I will have to wait significantly longer to see our significant others because they were unable to meet us anywhere during the trip.
Also, our total trip mileage has surpassed 4000 miles. I am sure many of you did not even expect us to make 1000.
Pictures
Driving Progress
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Day 10 - Naming the RV
This morning we decided to fore go the sunrise in Yellowstone park and instead sleep in (well, some of us...Dave was up at 5:50 am as usual) and then go back to our favorite dinner spot, Buckaroo Bills, for the all you can eat breakfast. The night before we had worn our famous Flamingo shirts which the waitress absolutely loved and we promised that we would be back in the morning with our other shirts. We arrived about an hour before the buffet would close and I parallel parked the beast right in front of the restaurant(yes you did read that right, I parallel parked a 25 foot RV) and we made a grand entrance to the place in our soon to be world famous tiki shirts. Our waitress from the night before was there again as well as some of her friends that had heard the lovely tale of the triplets from Virginia. During our dinner the night before we had talked about how cool it would be if we came back and took this very route on the 25 year Anniversary of this trip with our families and three different RVs. At the conclusion of a nice breakfast, our waitress friends just had to have a picture of us (because of our dashing good looks, not the shirts as some of you may presume), that we prey will be on the wall when we return in 2033!
After a wonderful time in Yellowstone we are officially back on the road again from Wyoming to Crater Lake, OR. Along this journey we have crossed the 3,000 mile mark in our journey. Normally this would mean that we should be changing the oil, however our vehicle seems to eat up the oil at a much faster rate than most cars, so we've changed it about once every 500 miles! The driving once again has provided some some spectacular views of our country. We have also now gone through 15 states on our journey.
Since I once again have the driving day to write about there's not too much to speak of, so I will bring up another subject. Mike, Dave, and I have been discussing what to name the RV the past few days, and we are looking to you, our faithful readers to vote on what the RV should be called. I will not mention who came up with the names in order to avoid bias. The choices are as follows:
1) Dolly
2) Hank
3) Bobby Sue
4) Other (make suggestions)
Please post your vote through our comments section and the RV will take the name of the most popular vote!
Pictures
Progress Map
After a wonderful time in Yellowstone we are officially back on the road again from Wyoming to Crater Lake, OR. Along this journey we have crossed the 3,000 mile mark in our journey. Normally this would mean that we should be changing the oil, however our vehicle seems to eat up the oil at a much faster rate than most cars, so we've changed it about once every 500 miles! The driving once again has provided some some spectacular views of our country. We have also now gone through 15 states on our journey.
Since I once again have the driving day to write about there's not too much to speak of, so I will bring up another subject. Mike, Dave, and I have been discussing what to name the RV the past few days, and we are looking to you, our faithful readers to vote on what the RV should be called. I will not mention who came up with the names in order to avoid bias. The choices are as follows:
1) Dolly
2) Hank
3) Bobby Sue
4) Other (make suggestions)
Please post your vote through our comments section and the RV will take the name of the most popular vote!
Pictures
Progress Map
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Day 9 - July 14th - A Day at Yellowstone
So of course Dave got the day started a lot earlier than us, and hung out at the KOA until we woke up. We were picked up at our campsite around 8:30 AM to go to our rental car, a 2005 White Dodge Stratus. The guy that picked us up had a wealth of knowledge about the area, and Southern California, where he is originally from. "Too many assholes there." We had to head back to the campground to get our Yellowstone Pass. The drive was incredible...speed limit was 70 on a deserted road, and I took full advantage of a car that can accelerate (even though it was only a 4 cylinder). Yellowstone was incredible, and the pictures posted show much of what we saw.
We ran into a traffic jam not too far into the park, and I said "there's probably some buffalo in the road", and less than 10 seconds later, a car pulled forward, and a bison was 10 feet from our car. We saw many more bison that day, as well as some pronghorns (or weird looking deer, we couldn't tell), and later on a pair of elk. The first half of the day progressed with us looking at hot springs and geysers, something we got really tired of before we got to Old Faithful. The Grand Prismatic Springs was incredible, and besides our pictures, looking at some online would also do it justice. Old Faithful was obviously something we had to check out, but it turned out to be extremely boring, and Dave is convinced that the park pumps water for this huge geyser every hour and a half. His captioning tells his side of the story.
After Old Faithful, we drove a lot more, not concerned about stopping for geysers and hot springs anymore because they all look the same. We saw Yellowstone Lake, the largest high elevation lake (above 7000 feet) in North America. It is at about 7700 feet. We then wanted to check out some waterfalls, and parked at the Upper Falls. We started hiking around, and after half a mile, we came upon a trail called "Uncle Tom's Trail". It leads down to a great view of the Lower Falls, but it is a 328 step descent and subsequent climb, all at an altitude of 8000 feet. Let's just say Dave wasn't the only one out of breath. Altitude sucks.
We then decided to walk to Artist's Point, which has an incredible view of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. The hike was close to a mile, more uphill climbs involved. We then realized after capturing the great view, that we were 1.5 miles from our car at the other parking lot. Wearing our bright pink flamingo shirts from YoWear, we figured somebody would pick us up as hitchhikers. We were wrong. After 20 minutes and 100's of mosquitoes, we finally made it back to the car, and were completely exhausted. We decided to start our drive back to the campground, and on the way saw some cars stopped. We also stopped to see what everyone was looking at (this is the standard for driving in Yellowstone), and found 2 fairly large elk roaming around. Some of the pictures were blurry, but we got some great ones of them.
We ate at Buckaroo Bill's in West Yellowstone, MT and decided to return for their Breakfast Buffet the next morning. We got back to the campground originally with plans of waking up early (4AM) to see the sunrise, and more sites at Yellowstone, but were too exhausted and decided against it. After sitting in the hot tub later on, we took showers and turned in for another cold night.
By the numbers:
100's:
Dollars saved by renting a car
Comments on our shirts
Mosquitoes destroyed
Mosquito bites
Times Dave (we) needed to stop and catch his (our) breath
Sweet Pictures
Map of how far we've gone
We ran into a traffic jam not too far into the park, and I said "there's probably some buffalo in the road", and less than 10 seconds later, a car pulled forward, and a bison was 10 feet from our car. We saw many more bison that day, as well as some pronghorns (or weird looking deer, we couldn't tell), and later on a pair of elk. The first half of the day progressed with us looking at hot springs and geysers, something we got really tired of before we got to Old Faithful. The Grand Prismatic Springs was incredible, and besides our pictures, looking at some online would also do it justice. Old Faithful was obviously something we had to check out, but it turned out to be extremely boring, and Dave is convinced that the park pumps water for this huge geyser every hour and a half. His captioning tells his side of the story.
After Old Faithful, we drove a lot more, not concerned about stopping for geysers and hot springs anymore because they all look the same. We saw Yellowstone Lake, the largest high elevation lake (above 7000 feet) in North America. It is at about 7700 feet. We then wanted to check out some waterfalls, and parked at the Upper Falls. We started hiking around, and after half a mile, we came upon a trail called "Uncle Tom's Trail". It leads down to a great view of the Lower Falls, but it is a 328 step descent and subsequent climb, all at an altitude of 8000 feet. Let's just say Dave wasn't the only one out of breath. Altitude sucks.
We then decided to walk to Artist's Point, which has an incredible view of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. The hike was close to a mile, more uphill climbs involved. We then realized after capturing the great view, that we were 1.5 miles from our car at the other parking lot. Wearing our bright pink flamingo shirts from YoWear, we figured somebody would pick us up as hitchhikers. We were wrong. After 20 minutes and 100's of mosquitoes, we finally made it back to the car, and were completely exhausted. We decided to start our drive back to the campground, and on the way saw some cars stopped. We also stopped to see what everyone was looking at (this is the standard for driving in Yellowstone), and found 2 fairly large elk roaming around. Some of the pictures were blurry, but we got some great ones of them.
We ate at Buckaroo Bill's in West Yellowstone, MT and decided to return for their Breakfast Buffet the next morning. We got back to the campground originally with plans of waking up early (4AM) to see the sunrise, and more sites at Yellowstone, but were too exhausted and decided against it. After sitting in the hot tub later on, we took showers and turned in for another cold night.
By the numbers:
100's:
Dollars saved by renting a car
Comments on our shirts
Mosquitoes destroyed
Mosquito bites
Times Dave (we) needed to stop and catch his (our) breath
Sweet Pictures
Map of how far we've gone
Drving to Yellowstone National Park
After our last update back in Mount Rushmore, we have managed to do many things and have taken over 1200 pictures. This puts our total pictures for the trip up to 2500. I am confident we will soon fill up each of our iPods and have no where to store all these photos. Perhaps I should have bought a USB external hard drive. Anyway, we left Mount Rushmore in the afternoon and Mike took the first shift driving. The drive was uneventful and we stopped in Buffalo for dinner. After dinner Kyle took over and drove us to a Wal-Mart about 110 miles away from the entrance to Yellowstone. While Kyle was driving, Mike and I played backgammon and partied a bit with our good friend Jose Cuervo. This party led to Mike falling out of his bed in the middle of the night. The picture can be seen in our photo album.
The next morning I arose around 7:30 and got us on the road. Both Kyle and Mike slept most of the way during my drive and I was glad when they woke up when we stopped. It was then that we found out that Mike had left the Gas cap in Buffalo, WY at our last gas stop. I turned over control of the RV to Kyle and went back to sleep. I actually ended up sleeping most of the way through Yellowstone and arose shortly before we reached the KOA that would be our home for the next two days. Upon our arrival we headed straight for the hot tub and enjoyed the water for an hour or so.
The people whom you meet in places like RV parks are always interesting. In the hot tub we met a man from Vegas who was rather interesting. He and his wife were traveling for essentially the last time because she had been recently diagnosed with stomach cancer and was given two months to live. He offered this information to us within minutes of us joining him in the hot tub and we struggled to respond in an appropriate manner. We continued to talk to him and he turned out to be quite an outspoken individual and gave us advice on all sorts of things to do in and around Vegas and recommended we stay away from the gay RV resort there.
After the hot tub we enjoyed cooking dinner over an open flame beside the RV. I find that food cooked over an open flame is always tasty. Mike reserved us a rent-a-car for the next day and we tucked in for what proved to be a rather cold nights sleep. Unbeknown to us it gets rather cold here at night and this was no exception. Up until this point I had been sleeping with a sheet and a light fleece. Here at 6500 feet that was not enough to keep warm. I awoke extremely cold in the middle of the night and stumbled around looking for my sleeping bag. Turns out it got down to 38 degrees that night. I'll let Mike write about our day in Yellowstone.
-Dave
The next morning I arose around 7:30 and got us on the road. Both Kyle and Mike slept most of the way during my drive and I was glad when they woke up when we stopped. It was then that we found out that Mike had left the Gas cap in Buffalo, WY at our last gas stop. I turned over control of the RV to Kyle and went back to sleep. I actually ended up sleeping most of the way through Yellowstone and arose shortly before we reached the KOA that would be our home for the next two days. Upon our arrival we headed straight for the hot tub and enjoyed the water for an hour or so.
The people whom you meet in places like RV parks are always interesting. In the hot tub we met a man from Vegas who was rather interesting. He and his wife were traveling for essentially the last time because she had been recently diagnosed with stomach cancer and was given two months to live. He offered this information to us within minutes of us joining him in the hot tub and we struggled to respond in an appropriate manner. We continued to talk to him and he turned out to be quite an outspoken individual and gave us advice on all sorts of things to do in and around Vegas and recommended we stay away from the gay RV resort there.
After the hot tub we enjoyed cooking dinner over an open flame beside the RV. I find that food cooked over an open flame is always tasty. Mike reserved us a rent-a-car for the next day and we tucked in for what proved to be a rather cold nights sleep. Unbeknown to us it gets rather cold here at night and this was no exception. Up until this point I had been sleeping with a sheet and a light fleece. Here at 6500 feet that was not enough to keep warm. I awoke extremely cold in the middle of the night and stumbled around looking for my sleeping bag. Turns out it got down to 38 degrees that night. I'll let Mike write about our day in Yellowstone.
-Dave
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Day 7 - July 12 2008 - Back on the Road
After a great visit to Mount Rushmore and Custer State Park we will be getting back on the open road today. Since we nearly ran down the RV over the past few days, we have decided to spend most of the day blogging, putting up pictures and hanging out by the pool in the Rushmore Shadows RV Park. Today was our first try at emptying the sewage tanks and I am happy to report that there was no spillage!! We are have some minor/major difficulties with our computers currently so unfortunately the newest batch of pictures will probably be delayed for a few days.
As we get back on the highway we hope that Wyoming and Montana prove to be a little bit less windy than South Dakota. On the drive through a state that I have found particularly beautiful, I often encountered gusts of wind greater than 45 mph(considering that we were traveling about 40 mph at the time it was pretty remarkable. Nonetheless, we have found that the midwest provides an incredible view as we head west into the sunset over beautiful farms and wide open fields. Be on the lookout for a number of great pictures that we have gotten over the past few days on our extensive drives through Wisconsin, Minnesota, and South Dakota...
(Written by Kyle)
As we get back on the highway we hope that Wyoming and Montana prove to be a little bit less windy than South Dakota. On the drive through a state that I have found particularly beautiful, I often encountered gusts of wind greater than 45 mph(considering that we were traveling about 40 mph at the time it was pretty remarkable. Nonetheless, we have found that the midwest provides an incredible view as we head west into the sunset over beautiful farms and wide open fields. Be on the lookout for a number of great pictures that we have gotten over the past few days on our extensive drives through Wisconsin, Minnesota, and South Dakota...
(Written by Kyle)
Day 6 - July 11th 2008 - Ridiculous Amounts of Driving Continued
As Mike alluded to in the previous post I tend to rise early and today was no exception. I arose a mere 3 hours after Mike parked the RV at the rest stop. 4 AM Central time is the equivalent of 5 AM on the East Coast. I used the restroom and prepared to leave. We pulled out of the rest stop around 4:20 AM and headed towards Mount Rushmore. During the drive I counted cars and had the 10th car pass me as Mike woke up at 5:30. I encouraged him to go back to sleep but he elected to keep me company while Kyle slumbered despite the enormous racket of the RV.
The drive was completely uneventful and I enjoyed the beautiful scenery and tried to put as many miles as possible behind us. At 9:30 Kyle took over and drove us the rest of the way to our campground at Rushmore Shadows Resort, arriving around 12:30 PM (MDT). I took a brief nap from 9:45 AM Central Time to 9:40 AM Mountain Time. Waking up before I went to sleep was slightly disconcerting. Our RV park was quite nice and we settled in before deciding to head up to Mount Rushmore.
Mike drove us up the mountain because he felt more comfortable doing that then letting Kyle or I drive the rough terrain. As we climbed the mountain Mike was concerned because he didn't feel the RV was accelerating adequately and didn't sound quite right. After 12 miles of driving we arrived at the Mountain and got out. As we did we noticed a distinctly bad smell coming from the RV. We decided the RV must just be tired and went to look around. Mount Rushmore is pretty cool and coming all this way to see it was worth it. The size of the whole thing is overwhelming and imagining the creation of it and the fact that no worker died while making it is incredible.
After walking around we went back to the RV and Mike started her up and went to back out of the parking spot. He put it in reverse and was having trouble backing up when he realized that he had the parking brake on. At that moment it dawned on him that he had not removed the parking brake when we left the campground. That meant that we had driven 12 MILES UP A MOUNTAIN with the parking break on. The RV drove much better after removing the parking brake.
We proceeded to Custer National Park and drove the Wildlife loop. The pictures from that should be up in a photo album soon. Being stopped by Buffalo and Donkeys was a unique and incredible experience. The RV encountered some more brake problems while going through the Wild Life Loop. The right front side brakes overheated and we were forced to stop for a while to let them cool down. After that we managed to make it home without incident and as usual tucked in for bed early due to an incredibly long day that started at 4 AM.
By the Numbers:
499: Normal Miles driven.
18: Miles driven avoiding wild Buffalo.
12: Miles driven with the parking brake on.
11: Mike's crankiness level on a 10 point scale.
3.5: Hours Mike slept in a 35 hour period.
2: Incidents involving brakes on the RV.
1: Time Zone crossed.
Pictures
The drive was completely uneventful and I enjoyed the beautiful scenery and tried to put as many miles as possible behind us. At 9:30 Kyle took over and drove us the rest of the way to our campground at Rushmore Shadows Resort, arriving around 12:30 PM (MDT). I took a brief nap from 9:45 AM Central Time to 9:40 AM Mountain Time. Waking up before I went to sleep was slightly disconcerting. Our RV park was quite nice and we settled in before deciding to head up to Mount Rushmore.
Mike drove us up the mountain because he felt more comfortable doing that then letting Kyle or I drive the rough terrain. As we climbed the mountain Mike was concerned because he didn't feel the RV was accelerating adequately and didn't sound quite right. After 12 miles of driving we arrived at the Mountain and got out. As we did we noticed a distinctly bad smell coming from the RV. We decided the RV must just be tired and went to look around. Mount Rushmore is pretty cool and coming all this way to see it was worth it. The size of the whole thing is overwhelming and imagining the creation of it and the fact that no worker died while making it is incredible.
After walking around we went back to the RV and Mike started her up and went to back out of the parking spot. He put it in reverse and was having trouble backing up when he realized that he had the parking brake on. At that moment it dawned on him that he had not removed the parking brake when we left the campground. That meant that we had driven 12 MILES UP A MOUNTAIN with the parking break on. The RV drove much better after removing the parking brake.
We proceeded to Custer National Park and drove the Wildlife loop. The pictures from that should be up in a photo album soon. Being stopped by Buffalo and Donkeys was a unique and incredible experience. The RV encountered some more brake problems while going through the Wild Life Loop. The right front side brakes overheated and we were forced to stop for a while to let them cool down. After that we managed to make it home without incident and as usual tucked in for bed early due to an incredibly long day that started at 4 AM.
By the Numbers:
499: Normal Miles driven.
18: Miles driven avoiding wild Buffalo.
12: Miles driven with the parking brake on.
11: Mike's crankiness level on a 10 point scale.
3.5: Hours Mike slept in a 35 hour period.
2: Incidents involving brakes on the RV.
1: Time Zone crossed.
Pictures
Day 5 - A slow start
So we started out the day 15 minutes from South Bend at the great KOA campground Kyle mentioned. We arrived at Notre Dame's campus around 8:15 AM and just drove around finding great places to take pictures, namely in front of the stadium, Touchdown Jesus, and the Golden Dome. With Dave behind the wheel, we left the campus with over 1000 miles of driving for the next 2 days. We had to traverse through some slow residential neighborhoods to make it to the highway, and on the way through we heard a shotgun go off. It sounded like it was right next to the RV. We stopped to see what happened, and found out that the outside rear tire on the driver's side essentially blew up. Luckily there are two rear tires on each side. After waiting 1.5 hours for a tow truck (that never came), I decided that I'd rather just drive to a shop and have them fix it. So off we went, riding on 5 tires, towards Zollman's Tire, 7 miles away. After less than 1 mile, someone else fired off a shotgun right next to our RV. Turns out Notre Dame isn't a shotgun wielding town, but rather we were down to 4 functional tires, and 6 miles to Zollman's. Driving really slowly, we finally made it, and had them replace all 4 of the rear tires. They got it done in like 30 minutes! So after eating lunch, getting gas and groceries, we finally got on the road around 1:30 PM. A very late start considering we wanted to drive about 10 hours each of the next 2 days.
Being on the road was uneventful until we rolled into Chicago around 2:30 or 3 PM. We hit terrible traffic, and didn't get out until like 4:30. But we weren't going let a little traffic slow us down. It was cloudy and a little drizzly outside of Chicago, but it started to clear up when we went North into Wisconsin (traveling on I-90). We stopped to get gas, and Kyle was next for driving. Dave and I went into the convenience store and found some great deals on booze. Unknowingly to us, they sell liquor at the gas station, and at great deals. We got a 5th of Jager for $20, and a Liter of Cuervo for $20. After Kyle started driving, the sky looked really dark ahead. The road then turned white with rain, and trees were blowing horizontal. The wipers worked great, and Kyle got us through safely.
Kyle drove for a good 6-7 hours until around 10PM (about 350 miles). I filled the RV up with more oil (she's taken 6 quarts so far on this trip...not exactly normal, but she's still running), and cleaned all the bugs off of our "Panoramic" windshield. When lifting the passenger wiper up to clean, one of the arms cracked. It doesn't seem very fixable, so hopefully we don't hit any more bad weather, or I might just take off the whole passenger wiper (and give only the driver a good view). So we left the travel center in Dexter, MN around 10:50 PM. I drove through more of Minnesota, and was able to watch the Moon set in front of me during my drive. After that I started getting tired, and pulled over to a Rest Area next to Jackson, MN at 1:00 AM. We had driven a total of 577 miles, from 1:30 PM EDT to 1:00 AM CDT. Dave and Kyle were already asleep, and I tuckered in for what I hoped would be a great night's sleep. I underestimated Dave's ability to wake up early though...
See all of our pictures here: Pictures
See a map of our progress here: Map
Miles Traveled on 6 wheels: 571
Miles Traveled on 4 wheels: 6
States Traveled: IN, IL, WI, MN
Time Zones Crossed: 1
Breakdowns: 1
Being on the road was uneventful until we rolled into Chicago around 2:30 or 3 PM. We hit terrible traffic, and didn't get out until like 4:30. But we weren't going let a little traffic slow us down. It was cloudy and a little drizzly outside of Chicago, but it started to clear up when we went North into Wisconsin (traveling on I-90). We stopped to get gas, and Kyle was next for driving. Dave and I went into the convenience store and found some great deals on booze. Unknowingly to us, they sell liquor at the gas station, and at great deals. We got a 5th of Jager for $20, and a Liter of Cuervo for $20. After Kyle started driving, the sky looked really dark ahead. The road then turned white with rain, and trees were blowing horizontal. The wipers worked great, and Kyle got us through safely.
Kyle drove for a good 6-7 hours until around 10PM (about 350 miles). I filled the RV up with more oil (she's taken 6 quarts so far on this trip...not exactly normal, but she's still running), and cleaned all the bugs off of our "Panoramic" windshield. When lifting the passenger wiper up to clean, one of the arms cracked. It doesn't seem very fixable, so hopefully we don't hit any more bad weather, or I might just take off the whole passenger wiper (and give only the driver a good view). So we left the travel center in Dexter, MN around 10:50 PM. I drove through more of Minnesota, and was able to watch the Moon set in front of me during my drive. After that I started getting tired, and pulled over to a Rest Area next to Jackson, MN at 1:00 AM. We had driven a total of 577 miles, from 1:30 PM EDT to 1:00 AM CDT. Dave and Kyle were already asleep, and I tuckered in for what I hoped would be a great night's sleep. I underestimated Dave's ability to wake up early though...
See all of our pictures here: Pictures
See a map of our progress here: Map
Miles Traveled on 6 wheels: 571
Miles Traveled on 4 wheels: 6
States Traveled: IN, IL, WI, MN
Time Zones Crossed: 1
Breakdowns: 1
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Day 4 - July 9 2008 - Leaving Paradise
For the past 2 days we have all had a blast at Cedar Point. The rides sometimes left us speechless, and other times left our stomaches queasy, but never failed to amaze. The number of high thrill roller coasters is astonishing when compared to any other theme park that I have ever visited. The RV park was awesome (especially if I had known about the showers, since I was the only one who attempted to shower in our RV. It started out promising, though there turned out not to be enough water pressure to come out of the shower hose and since i already had put shampoo in my hair I had to crouch with my head between my feet to get the little amount of water that was coming out of the spout to rinse, truly a pathetic image).
As we left the park today we were able to snap some great pictures of the rides that we enjoyed so much and headed to Ann Arbor, Michigan to visit the University where Dave's sister will attend school next year (Happy Birthday Anna! see picture below). We hung around for a little while, checked out the big house and then moved on to just outside of South Bend, Indiana to spend the night. We've got another great RV park tonight, this time fully equipped with free wi fi and a map of all KoA campgrounds across the country!
Today was the first time that Mike left me drive again (he thinks he is a superior driver despite totaling 3 cars since getting his license!) and this time we did not break down. Driving this beast reminds me of the good ole days where I drove my conversion van around school until my parents broke my heart and gave it away while I was working last summer (love you mom and dad!). Despite running out of water a few days ago and lacking the essential hose to refill our tank, we were able to create a makeshift funnel from a water bottle and partially refill our fresh water with a bucket (now we can wash dishes again!).
Tomorrow morning we will visit Notre Dame and then begin the long journey out to South Dakota to see Mount Rushmore.Please check out our progress so far and pictures at the links posted below...
Pictures
Progress Map
Cedar Point!
Having been to Cedar Point with Christina's family a few years ago, I suggested that we make it a stop on our road trip. I am happy to report that neither Mike or Kyle were disappointed with this suggestion. We arrived on the 7th around 5:30 PM or so and were in the park around 6:15 PM. I knew exactly what ride we needed to go on first.
The last time I had been here I was too fat to fit into one of the rides and everyone else in Christina's family insisted that it was by far the best ride in the entire park and the best roller coaster they had ever been on. We walked briskly over to the ride and I got nervous as we approached the entrance to the ride. They have sample chairs out in front so that larger individuals can test the seat before waiting in line. After a bit of struggling I am happy to say that all my weight loss has paid off and I was able to ride Millennium Force. I was not disappointed and strongly feel that it is the best roller coaster I have ever ridden. The first drop is truly amazing.
Cedar Point definitely lives up to its reputation as the best theme park for roller coasters in the world. We had a blast using our starlight passes and were able to ride 6 rides in the 3 hours we were in the park. We rode: Millennium Force, Mantis, Raptor, Devil's Drop, Wicked Twister, and Magnum (The first steel Hyper Coaster). We came back to the RV, cooked up some dinner and promptly went to bed exhausted after a long day that started in the parking lot of a towing company.
The next morning we got up at 8 AM so that we could get into the park early. Our first stop in the morning was Millennium Force again. Mike and I rode up front which yielded an incredible view as we plummeted from 310 feet in the air. As we exited the ride we even had to scrape the bugs off of our shirts. We spent the rest of the morning riding rides including the 128 MPH Top Thrill Dragster. The launch in that ride pins you straight back in your seat and then straight up into the air. We also rode a bunch of other rides that I'm not going to bother listing.
Around 12:30 we were all getting quite hungry so we headed back to the RV for lunch. We decided to head to the hotel lobby to update the blog with all the pictures and the two entries that you've read so far. Sadly, both my and Kyle's laptops are far from functional and we were forced to share Mike's to update. As we were going through pictures an enormous thunder storm rolled through effectively closing the park for a couple hours. Due to the park not being open we enjoyed some refreshments in the hotel lobby until the rain stopped. We headed back to our campsite and found the RV sitting in a couple inches of standing water. We decided to ignore it and head back into the park and see what rides were open. As we walked through the park a few of the major rides were opening so we were able to ride a few of them before deciding were were tired and unbearably queasy.
After a dinner of chicken and hot dogs Mike and I went to race some Go-Karts while Kyle took pictures. We went swimming after Go-Karts and the three of us showered in the pool side shower instead of trying to shower in the RV. I am certain the site of the three of us taking turns under the spout was hysterical.
In the middle of the night another huge storm came through and I awoke this morning to see more than 3 inches of water surrounding our camp site and Kyle's sandals had floated all the way down the street. I walked to the bathroom that is located in the RV park and was stunned to see that there were showers in the bathroom! We had unnecessarily showered at the pool for the last two days when there was a shower less than 100 feet from our RV that had both cold and HOT water. Obviously I felt like an idiot and I'm sure Mike and Kyle will feel much the same when I wake them up and tell them.
Our plan for today is to get out of here around 10 or 11 AM and drive to Ann Arbor, home of the University of Michigan where my sister decided to attend school this fall. (Clearly she made a mistake by not going to UVA.) If time permits we will also try to get all the way to South Bend, Home of The University of Notre Dame.
Hopefully we will find a better way to upload our pictures so they don't have to be individual blog posts and are easier to read. Thanks for reading.
EDIT: pictures can be found here
http://picasaweb.google.com/UVAdave/Country997RVVirginiaBeachToCedarPoint
-Dave
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Day 2 - July 7, 2008 - A Turn for the Better
So last night we stayed in the parking lot of Interstate Emergency Services (www.iestowing.com), and slept relatively poorly from 1AM-7AM. Dave likes to wake up really early, so he went outside around 6, and moved the RV to get it repaired just after 7:00. After pulling off the front driver side wheel and brake, IES decided that everything was okay, things just got a little hot from riding the brakes on the downhill. Maybe next time Kyle should be a better driver, and Dave shouldn't take us through the scenic mountain route (j/k). So we got on the road around 8 AM headed for Cedar Point in Sandusky, OH. Of course, with some more mountains to go through, there was no way I would allow Dave or Kyle to drive the RV, so I took the shift. It drove much better after a couple quarts of oil and the free engine coolant from IES (who charged us for nothing for the work they did!).
After a great picture at the Ohio state line, we decided to not push the RV too far and to stop for lunch/groceries outside of Youngstown. We found a Wal-Mart to park in, got groceries next door at a Giant-Eagle, and went to a Starbucks for internet. Dave purchased T-Mobile's Hotspot Service for a month, and we found out some information about Cedar Point. There was a great deal where we got 2 nights RV parking (electric hookup only), 2 day passes, 2 starlight(after 5 PM) passes, and 4 challenge park passes, and some other worthless items. After adding an additional starlight pass and a day pass, we had 2 nights parking, and 2 days stay at Cedar Point park for $100 each.
Leaving the Ohio State Line, I decided that there were minimal mountains and that Dave could drive the RV on the flat highways...Kyle might be able to drive later (haha). I was relatively pleased with his driving, although the construction zones were a little scary (probably are for anyone sitting in that passenger seat). We arrived at Cedar Point just after 5 PM, and pulled in to our great parking space for the next 2 days. It includes a picnic table and a charcoal grill (we have no charcoal). It's our first RV park, and it's really exciting. There are easily 500 RV's here, and everyone is friendly...should be a great couple of days. Our RV spot is closer than most of the spots normal guests park in for the day. We changed clothes and got ready for a great time using our starlight passes at Cedar Point...
Miles Traveled: ~310 miles
Miles Towed: 0 miles
States Traveled: PA, OH
Breakdowns: 0
After a great picture at the Ohio state line, we decided to not push the RV too far and to stop for lunch/groceries outside of Youngstown. We found a Wal-Mart to park in, got groceries next door at a Giant-Eagle, and went to a Starbucks for internet. Dave purchased T-Mobile's Hotspot Service for a month, and we found out some information about Cedar Point. There was a great deal where we got 2 nights RV parking (electric hookup only), 2 day passes, 2 starlight(after 5 PM) passes, and 4 challenge park passes, and some other worthless items. After adding an additional starlight pass and a day pass, we had 2 nights parking, and 2 days stay at Cedar Point park for $100 each.
Leaving the Ohio State Line, I decided that there were minimal mountains and that Dave could drive the RV on the flat highways...Kyle might be able to drive later (haha). I was relatively pleased with his driving, although the construction zones were a little scary (probably are for anyone sitting in that passenger seat). We arrived at Cedar Point just after 5 PM, and pulled in to our great parking space for the next 2 days. It includes a picnic table and a charcoal grill (we have no charcoal). It's our first RV park, and it's really exciting. There are easily 500 RV's here, and everyone is friendly...should be a great couple of days. Our RV spot is closer than most of the spots normal guests park in for the day. We changed clothes and got ready for a great time using our starlight passes at Cedar Point...
Miles Traveled: ~310 miles
Miles Towed: 0 miles
States Traveled: PA, OH
Breakdowns: 0
Day 1 - July 6, 2008 - Ecstasy then Despair
After a sunrise picture on the 4th of July in a cloudy Virginia Beach VA, We went our separate ways to celebrate the holiday with family and friends.
This morning, Mike and I met Dave at an Exxon in Oilville, VA for a brief drive back to Charlottesville where the journey would begin. There in the town where we first met, we readied the RV and took pictures in front of the Frat House and the Rotunda before finally getting on the road at 1:30 P.M.
After successfully clearing Afton Mountain (Our first real test for the RV) we ran into some traffic on I-81 we decided to exit onto Route 11 to bypass the congestion. As we were driving through the small towns we realised we were heading right through Woodstock Virginia home of CHAWS!!!! a fellow fraternity brother. He was home for the fourth so we stopped off at his house and hung out for about a half hour. We met his family and ate some delicious cheesecake.
Shortly after leaving a rest stop near the Pennsylvania border we made the potentially fatal mistake of taking route 643 instead of route 70. While climbing the mountainous terrain we averaged a whopping 18 mph(hitting a low of 15) and amassed a plethora of angry drivers who could not pass us on the winding road. On the down slope (18% grade for 1.5 miles) I was forced to ride the brakes heavily to navigate the hairpin turns without flipping the RV.
As we pulled up to the tolls for the PA turnpike we noticed smoke coming from the front left wheel. After pulling over for half an hour to let the breaks cool. Due to their overuse on our decent, we resumed the trip for about 2 miles before realising that the breaks might fail if we continued.
After 3.5 hours we finally made it to the auto shop where we would spend the evening. Hopefully the next post brings happier news.
States Travelled: Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania
Miles Travelled: 220
Miles Towed: 25
Breakdowns: 1
Miles on Towtruck: 799,800
This morning, Mike and I met Dave at an Exxon in Oilville, VA for a brief drive back to Charlottesville where the journey would begin. There in the town where we first met, we readied the RV and took pictures in front of the Frat House and the Rotunda before finally getting on the road at 1:30 P.M.
After successfully clearing Afton Mountain (Our first real test for the RV) we ran into some traffic on I-81 we decided to exit onto Route 11 to bypass the congestion. As we were driving through the small towns we realised we were heading right through Woodstock Virginia home of CHAWS!!!! a fellow fraternity brother. He was home for the fourth so we stopped off at his house and hung out for about a half hour. We met his family and ate some delicious cheesecake.
Shortly after leaving a rest stop near the Pennsylvania border we made the potentially fatal mistake of taking route 643 instead of route 70. While climbing the mountainous terrain we averaged a whopping 18 mph(hitting a low of 15) and amassed a plethora of angry drivers who could not pass us on the winding road. On the down slope (18% grade for 1.5 miles) I was forced to ride the brakes heavily to navigate the hairpin turns without flipping the RV.
As we pulled up to the tolls for the PA turnpike we noticed smoke coming from the front left wheel. After pulling over for half an hour to let the breaks cool. Due to their overuse on our decent, we resumed the trip for about 2 miles before realising that the breaks might fail if we continued.
After 3.5 hours we finally made it to the auto shop where we would spend the evening. Hopefully the next post brings happier news.
States Travelled: Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania
Miles Travelled: 220
Miles Towed: 25
Breakdowns: 1
Miles on Towtruck: 799,800
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