Day 22? The "halfway" point.

Made it to Maine. Furthest point from our start. We're tired but happy. We spent part of the day laying on a patch of grass across from a church. The views here are stunning. Lots of buoys and gulls (as written on bathroom signs here).
It's pretty peaceful. Wonder if the real estate is affordable? I could live here.
Time to turn around and head back home I suppose. Tomorrow's a long drive to Niagara. I'll make Pat or Colin take the wheel.
Written by Jeff while dodging the droppings of gulls.

Leaving nj

We've all been bad about keeping everyone up to date on our adventures. The problem is that we've all been subject to the relentless hospitality of Jeff's extended family in New Jersey. They've kept us housed, fed, entertained, and fed some more.

Our first stop in the garden state was long beach island. The location of the legendary 12th street house. There we met Mary Lou and Jim. With hardly a hello we were given free range of the house. It was late and growing dark so the most logical thing we could think of doing was jumpin into the Atlantic.

We dozed off in short order. I of course stayed up a bit later than everyone dealing with video stuff and the internet. I'll find a way to show it off when I get back to California I quickly discovered that we are moving too fast to edit and post videos.

In the morning after breakfast we went back to the Atlantic and dove in. A few minutes later the sky opened up and began to refill the Atlantic. Lifeguards came up and told us to get out of the water on account of the looming thunderstorm. I suppose there are some instances where listening to authority figures is good practice.

We saw the wharf. Saw the lighthouse and relaxed some more on the beach. This place has a lot of history in it. Particularly to Jeff's family. Im going to leave that story for him tell.

We are now on our way to Boston for the 4th of July. We spent the 2nd in New York City so i need to write in an entry explaining what we got up to there. Hopefully this post will remind you that we are in fact alive and doing well. Stay tuned.


This post by Colin
-- Post From My iPhone

Geogia guidestones

We made it to the Georgia guidestones this morning. Now we are On our way to pedroland on the border of south and north Carolina.

Here's a group picture.






This post by Colin
-- Post From My iPhone

Day 12 Venice, Florida

Having difficulty typing as my body is badly burnt from a full day at one beach, then another, and then a pool. We're recovering here in Venice, Florida at Erin's grandparents house. They are a couple of quiet and kind retirees, with interesting stories about their trucker days. Even as I type this now, one ear is turned towards their conversation with my road companions about close calls behind the wheel of a big rig. It makes me feel less concerned with our little "fuel" mishap yesterday.

This morning we woke up to the sound of a curious cardinal, pecking on the window. The birdfeeders in the backyard attract various species, and I've tried to sit out in the garden, hidden behind the bushes in an attempt to get a sneak shot of the birds when they feed. I've been able to get a good shot of a squirrel, two pigeons, a woodpecker, and a sparrow - but everytime I line up the cardinal in my viewfinder sights, it takes flight.

We're much calmer today than yesterday when tensions were high after the car "broke down." We have no aloe, and are too cheap to buy any, so we broke off a piece of a cactus and rubbed it all over our pink bodies.

I think I'm set for sodium intake for the rest of the trip. I swallowed enough salt water at the beach to make my throat sore. The water here in Florida (along the gulf) is suprisingly salty, and really green, and very warm. But beautiful.

Heading to the Everglades soon.

Posted by Jeffrey
from inside the belly of an alligator

All is well in Florida

Were back on the road and nearly right as rain. No need to worry about us. We will fill you in later.


This post by Colin
-- Post From My iPhone

Breakdown Florida

Hi everyone.

We've had an unexpected stop here in Florida. The expedition decided to start misfiring around Tallahassee and we lost power coming down a hill. We pulled over and tried to retard the car but to no avail. So here we are stuck on the side o the road waiting for a tow truck.













And just because it would be too easy to let us sit here and bake. We pulled over next to this dirty diaper that's been sitting and stewing on the side of the road fr who knows how long. It stinks.




Hope everyone is having a good day. And in case you're keeping count this is car problem #2. Thank you ford. Thank you.

This post by Colin
-- Post From My iPhone

Day 10 We greatly underestimate the Florida panhandle

Day 9 Mardi Gras Land

Getting out of Texas

This post by Erin
From Colin's Iphone
This post will be quick and full of spelling errors because I am having a difficult time figuring out this phone posty thingy. We are trying our hardest to get out of Texas but it's just so huge. Today's trip has been going well besides the whole being-stuck-in-traffic-while- simultaneously-having-to-pee-really-badly dilema.

There's not much to say about the scenery except that it's the same for hundreds of miles. Don't get me wrong, I love Texas (because jeff's family is super hospitable and we got to swim in the pool) it's just that it's really really hot here...and dry...and their sinks are shaped like Texas.

Will post again when we finally make it to Louisianna.

Day 7 and 8 - Just north of DALLAS, Texas

We're staying with relatives here in a nice suburb of Texas. Pool, laundry, showers, and scrumptious dinners make it difficult for us to leave. But we have an agenda to keep up with, and if we stayed here it would only be for the comfort and hospitality of my aunt and cousins (and we'd never leave the house as there isn't much else for us to see around here).

We made a trip to the one tourist place that we all agreed was a must see - the Kennedy assassination spot, in Dallas. We made a 30 minute trip up there and were quickly greeted by men trying to sell us Dealy Plaza newspapers and give us short guided tours. I asked to see their credentials, and they asked for a dollar. One "guide" accosted Erin and Colin, and began spouting facts about that infamous day. I'm sure his theories about the grassy knoll were interesting enough, but I've already seen both the Mythbuster's and Penn and Teller's demystifying episodes on the subject.

We poked our heads inside the museum, and although the air conditioning felt splendid, the 14 dollar per person cost of entry seemed just rude to ask for at what should be a free/national/educational/monument to a president who was murdered from the premises.

The outside of the building was free to look at. We took pictures.

People stood in the middle of the street as cars passed by, trying to get a photo op next to the X that marks the first and second bullets that hit the president. We followed suit. My cousin was with us and felt it was his duty to lay on one of the X's for a snapshot, but soon realized that the asphault in Texas, in the middle of the day, was a little burny.

We all huddled together and discussed our theories on what happend that day in 1963. Although many theories were shared, including the one where Erin did it (which I'm leaning towards cause she's sneaky), we all agreed that little green aliens did it, from a planet called Grassie Knollia, somewhere in the vicinity of Beetlegeuse.

We dipped our toes in the Dealy Plaza pool and then made our way back to the sanctuary that we call my Aunt's home. It was a fun, yet brief, day trip.

As tourists from California here, I think we can safely say that we've done just about everything that needs to be done in Texas. Now off to New Orleans.

Written by Jeff,
from the inside of a small fortress,
somwhere in Northern Texas.

Day 6 TEXAS

Day 5 COLORADO

Day 6 driving

Today our destination lies roughly 500 miles to the south east. From our camp in lower piedra Colorado to lake Meredith in Texas. We camped next to the piedra river last night the waters edge was no more than 15 feet from our tents. We took the chance to put our bodies in it this morning. It was cold to say the least. We've been moving against the sun now for about 5 hours with just a couple stops. First we chugged through the Rockies and dealt with some minor vehicle trouble. Now were just flying along the 25 south towards New Mexico.

Thanks to Greg Giles of Pagosa Springs for dealing with our car. Here's a picture of his dogs we riled up while waiting.





More updates soon when we get to dalas and a real computer with an internet connection.

This post by Colin
-- Post From My iPhone

Day 5

I'm driving today. The gang absolutely
will not let me type and drive at the same time. Agenda for today... Drive drive. Make it to Colorado. See Mesa Verde. Drive drive. Camp. Will detail our experiences tonight when we reach camp. Here's what the weather was like for us today.






This post by Colin
-- Post From My iPhone

Day 4 ARIZONA - MONUMENT "ALLEY"

Day 4

We awoke today just before dawn to the sound of rain on our tents. Camp was packed and we were in the car by 7am. On our way out of Tusayan we drove alongside the grand canyon. The weather got pretty bad for a bit on our drive. Come to think of it the weather so far hasn't been completely cooperative with us. Especially in regards to good lighting for Jeff's picture taking.

The scenary outside of the grand canyon national park was astounding to say the least. We drove in the shadow of sheer red cliffs for quite a while. We saw a particularly large hole in the ground which isn't labeled in our atlas so we decided to stop and take a look. Also there was a big sign that read "really really good" so we knew that we couldn't skip the opportunity.
Jeff chatted up an older fellow from Japan, in Japanese, whom was riding his bike coast to coast by himself. We continued onwards about a mile down the road only to notice that the view of this unlabeled hole in the ground had improved vastly. We pulled off at anothe stop. We questioned the intention of the "really really good" sign. Because in fact this stop was most excellent. We ran on down a trail to a rocky outcropping that provided a full round view of this chasm. Impressive.

Our primary destination today was the town if Page, Arizona to see the slot canyons. We had to inquire as to the wherabouts of the slot canyons. Jeff and Erin discovered a kiosk with all the information we needed. Which was good because Pat was getting us nowhereby asking the cashier at Sonics.

For future reference, in order to see the slot canyons one must be part of a guided tour. This tour is $25 per person. One must also pay a $5 entrance to the Navajo nation park people. And one must also pay a $5 hiking fee to the nation. All cash. We had no cash.

We went to the only place the forlorn can find solace in such a nowhere land. Wal-mart. Stay tuned to hear the rest of our epic tales today. For now my fingers need a rest. Enjoy this picture of what we get to see during our trip.





This post by Colin
-- Post From My iPhone

Day 2 GRAND CANYON

This morning Jeff, Erin, and myself woke up about 430 am to catch the sunrise over the grand canyon at Mather point. Currently it is monsoon season in the state of Arizona so the sky was overcast from one end of the horizon to the other. We could see some golden crescents peaking through the clouds far out east. Around 5:15 we were lucky enough to have the clouds part almost purposfully around the sun. Jeff got some amazing pictures of the sun beaming through and I got some footage of the rise. I'm sure well get around to posting them when we are near a power outlet and significant Internet connection.

We returned bleary eyed and tires around 630 to camp. I dove back into my tent and left Jeff and Erin in the car. Didn't get much sleep though. I had the loudest insect get stuck between the screen and liner of my tent and it tried furiously for the next hour and a half to escape. I took the chance to re-wake and joy out some ideas for our trip movie and write down various other thoughts. Finally we all woke up and relaxed for most of the day.


Ill leave this post for now because this is as much typing as I can handle on my iPhone.

Plans for tomorrow:
Waking up at the crack of dawn
Driving through the painted desert on our way to slot canyon at antelope canyon. Then we will travel through monument valley to stay at gooseneck state park in Utah.

Until next time. Best wishes from the gang.














This post by Colin
-- Post From My iPhone

Outside Grand Canyon National Park, and just before Tusayan - Ten X Campground:
$10 dollars per night.
Large and private campsites (1/4 acre for the good ones. Get campsite 24~ if possible.)
Bathrooms are long-drops. Some water faucets, but no drinking water. No showers (you can sneak into the RV campsite in Tusayan and pay 1.50 for a 6 minute shower.)

Grand Canyon Entrance Fee: $25 dollars per vehichle. Good for a week. Lots of parking places, and viewing spots/points. Follow signs easily.

Day 1 VEGAS and LAKE MEAD

2 Hours in Vegas sounds like enough to me.

According to their slogan, what happens in Vegas, stays there... and money is no exception. So in order to save some of our cash for the rest of the month long excursion, we decided to just get a first hand feel of the city, spend no more than a few dollars at the slots - just to say we did that - and then head out of sin city with our tails between our legs.

Parking was a pain to find, cause most people who go there stay there overnight, and thus have access to a hotel parking lot. We pretended to be a hotel patron, and parked in one of those for the two ours we spent there. There's literally no street parking, anywhere. No meters. No big public parking lots. So it's a search for a spot if you just want to have a quickie with the city.

Between the three of us, we only lost 15 dollars in the casinos. We played at the Bellagio and some other smaller and lesser known hotel that I can't think of the name and probably because it's smaller and lesser known. But walking around the city is easy, and there's plenty to see for free on your feet.

There's also a great deal of expensivish restaurants, but we managed to find a pizza/burger/bar with reasonable meals at reasonable prices near the end of the main drag.

Only one of the four of us wanted to stay longer but with the democracy that we declared in the car earlier, we moved on from that city quickly.

The closest camp site to Vegas, that is also on our route, is Lake Mead. For being heavily polluted and in the middle of a desert, it was a lovely lake with well placed campgrounds.

We set up camp, some faster than others, and then played cards, ate dinner, wrote in our journals and fell asleep to the soft sounds of the wind in the trees.

The next morning we were awoken to the sound of screaming birds at about 5:00 am.

Lake Mead: Las Vegas Bay $10 per vehichle
No showers, good views of the lake and valleys, lots of firewood in the area.
Note: Make sure you pay the fee at the campsite, and not at the exit 9 miles away where you have to make a u-turn and end up with an 18 mile mistake.

First entry

We are about to be stuck in a car for a month.

More accurately, we'll only be in the car for about a fourth of the road trip, the other time split between setting up tents, sleeping in them, and taking photos of everything we see. Hopefully we can stand each other by the end of the trip, despite some family predictions that we'll be turning around before we hit the East Coast.

Well, good news is we've upgraded from our small yet efficient Korean wimpy car, to a massive American Made, Ford Expedition behemoth. We've actually decided to name the car Behemoth, as that is the only word that can define such a powerful, momentum building heap of machinery. Although our gas consumption may be a bit higher, our sanity will remain reasonably healthy throughout the vacation.

Our goal is to travel to and through as many states as possible over the next month plus. We'll hit the road hard and keep up a fast pace while spending as little as possible. Hopefully split four ways this trip should cost each of us less than $500 dollars including food, camping permits, gas, and occasionally slushies from 7-11. It's a challenge, I know, but we're setting our goals high and perhaps we'll land in the middle somewhere. (Maybe around $600?)

We're starting from the lowest, and westernest part of the United States, and we're traveling from here to Florida, then to Maine, and across to Washington state, and then back home. It's a giant circle, through a wide range of landscapes, cities, and cultures, and it's something I feel lucky to have the time (and money) to do.

Feel free to follow along or use this blog as a guide for when you decide to leave it all behind and get stuck in a car with a few friends and a bag of trail mix.