Code. Design. Explore.

To sum up…

States driven through	14
Miles driven	4829
Miles out of the way	1980
Stops for gas	18
Bathroom breaks	31
Flat tires	1
Subway sandwiches eaten	15 (5 each)
Naps for Dani	26
Naps for Scott	10
Naps for John	4
Failed attempted naps for John	7
Times listened to Dane Cook CD	8
Bracelets made (by Dani)	4
Driving across country with your Brother and Dani… priceles

After almost 5000 miles we made it to San Diego. Of course we took a bit of a detour to Seattle, camping at the Badlands, Yellowstone, and California. Luckily we were able to escape Yellowstone without getting attacked by itself lush wildlife.

It was one of the best experiences in my life thus far. I got to know my brother a lot better than I have before. Of course we are close, we chill before we go out with our own friends. Sometimes we get home around the same time and chill out before bed. Still, it does not compare to spending 2 weeks exploring areas of the country we’ve both never gone to before. We took the bull by the horns and headed west. It’s amazing that we actually made it to San Diego. What an experience! Now for the details…

August 4, Day 1

Saddle Brook, NJ to Cleveland, OH

Today was a day of driving. We drove over 450 miles during the course of 8 hours. We found a Days Inn outside Cleveland and laid our heads down for the night. Tomorrow was another day.

August 5, Day 2

Cleveland, OH to Davenport, IA

Our plan — hit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame before heading to Davenport. Of course life doesn’t always go according to plan. We woke up only to realize that we had a flat. To make situations worse I apparently have a ‘rare’ tire. Lucky for us there was a Firestone just down the street.

We wandered around the town a bit while the car was getting fixed up. We decided to head to a sandwich place after a recommendation from Ben, the mechanic working at Firestone. Oh glorious Penn Station — only the best subs in the country! (And after this trip we can safely say that). Scott and I ordered the teriyaki chicken. They actually sliced up real chicken breasts and cooked them on the grill. Who does that!?! Dani had just the most delicious Italian sandwich ever. To that I would like to say thank you Dani for not having a large appetite. I cannot say the same from Scott and I… that sandwich was gooooood.

Well we didn’t get to hit the hall of fame, but now we had extra time. Oh would you look at this… we are fairly close to Chicago — let’s do it. And just like that we were there. One of my friends, Yeming, now lives in Chicago. I haven’t seen her in almost 2 years, so it was great to meet up with her for dinner and catch up again.

Chicago definitely exceeded my expectations. While we were there in August I would have to say that the best way to describe it would be to take NYC and San Diego and smush them together. You have a small beach like atmosphere because of Lake Michigan, but the culture and night life of NYC. Impressed.

August 6, Day 3

Davenport, IA to Sioux Falls, SD

We left early in the AM to reach our campground in Sioux Falls. We hadn’t camped yet so I was really anxious to pitch a tent, but I wasn’t the most anxious. Scott had never setup a tent himself, and Dani… well she has never camped a day in her life. Was I nervious that we may end up in another motel tonight? Nah… she’s a trooper!

We pull in to the Yogi Bear Campgrounds and ask about campsites. They had cabins so we figured we’d kick it off high class. Besides, this would be a good way to get Dani ready for the real camping. (Real camping means that you can’t see an inground swimming pool and hot tub within a 300 foot radius).

Fire is so much easier said than done. Scott has bought starter sticks and we had two bottles of literfluid, but our fire kept going out. We had bought charcoal from the campground, and it was real old! After some trouble our cabin neighbor (yes neighbor again making this not much of a camping experience), helped us pyramid the coals in the grill. One hour later we had fire… and burgers and hotdogs. Afterwards we took the knowledge we had just gained to start a bonfire for s’mores. Mmmmmmmmmm.

August 7, Day 4

Sioux Falls, SD to Rapid City, SD

We played dress up! Ever want to be a cowboy? If you’ve gone to six flags you may have had the opportunity to put on an outfit, take pictures, and be done with it. Scott, Danielle, and I lived it!

We hit up the saloons, robbed banks and trains, and help up a pretty lil’ lady named Danielle in a carriage. Scott and I even had a shootout. If you are ever in South Dakota make sure you check out the 1880 town, it’s well worth it.

On to Badlands National Park. The term badlands generally refers to the difficulty people have trying to travel through its rugged terrain and lack of water. It’s terrain was caused by the eroding of rocking due to the high winds over millions of years. It contains the world’s richest Oligocene epoch fossil beds dating back 37 millions years.

August 8, Day 5

Rapid City, SD to Buffalo, WY

We woke up and headed for the Black Hills of South Dakota. We were heading to see good ‘ol Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln , and Roosevelt at Mount Rushmore. On our way we were greeted by 300,000 choppers, bikes, and motorcycles. It was Sturgis a.k.a. bike week. The scene was unreal. Actually we weren’t even allowed to enter the town of Sturgis, SD because we were in a car and cars weren’t allowed there during the week.

Then we continued on to Buffalo, Wyoming to rest our heads. This would be our pit stop before heading to Yellowstone, and a popular pit stop at that.

August 9, Day 6

Buffalo, WY to Yellowstone

Yellowstone today! We barely covered any ground, but it took just as long as our other full days. This was because we had to go up and over mountains that were winding and curving for 200 miles. When you are going 35 mph it takes a little time.

We had planned to camp at West Thumb so we can make our way to Old Faithful tomorrow and hit all the other stops on the way. Unfortunately we did not plan for the campsite to be full. We turned back and headed for Bridge Bay. This time we booked it ahead. We got there and set up camp. It got cold real fast and we were not prepared. I knew it may get cooler at night, so we planned ahead and brought sweatshirts and pants. We did not plan on camping 8000 feet above sea level, and it gets a lot colder up in the mountains. The temperature fell below freezing (it hit 20 degrees F).

Nonetheless I was not up all night because of the temperatures. No, I could not fall asleep because the howling coyotes and possibilities that bears would seek our campsite and turn it upside down for food. Luckily the coyotes were all that happened tonight.

August 10, Day 7

Yellowstone to Spokane, WA

What can I say? This was one of the greatest days of my life. To call it a ‘park’ would only soil this beautiful wonder vivid with life. From herds of buffalo bathing to elk relaxing in the sun this spot has it all. The thing is, the animals are only part of the experience.

Unfortunately we didn’t get to do much site seeing yesterday because of the time that we arrived. Still we made up for it today. Instead of just naming everything we have seen I feel as though I should talk about each a bit. This is not only for everyone reading this, but to help jog my memory and relive those moments again.

mud volcano/sulphur caldron - consist of mud pots and fumaroles (steam vents) because the lack of available water. The vapors are rich in sulfuric acid that breaks down the rock into clay. The soil can reach temperatures of 200� F.

lower falls (uncle tom’s trail) - At 308 feet high it rumbles through the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. We hiked up to the viewpoint above the falls, but I’ve been told there is a great lookout point under the falls as well.

emerald spring - although the water is reflecting the color blue, it appears green because the 27-foot deep pool is lined with yellow sulfur deposits.

steamboat geyser - world’s tallest active geyser throwing boiling water over 300 feet into the air

celestine pool - rich and beautiful deep blue in color

fountain paint pot - one of several mudpots in the park. very acidic and constantly bubbling.

fountain geyser - a placid blue pool of water that can have up to 50 foot eruptions lasting over 20 minutes

old faithful - blasts 4,000-8,500 gallons of boiling water over 150 feet into the air usually every 90 minutes

We headed towards the North Gate and preceded to drive through Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho to get into Washington. It was some serious night driving and my eyes were burning from how tired I had been. We were all very tired, but as you guessed it Dani was asleep and Scott joined her for a bit. We had been up since 6 or 7am, and it had been quite a day. I may not have been straight driving because we’d get in and out of the car, but it still takes a toll on the body. Once we headed back down the mountain Scott took over driving again. I attempted to fall asleep and to the best of my ability I think I just may have done so (about damn time). After some serious progress Scott had gotten tired and needed a rest. We had to get to Seattle on friday, and I really didn’t want to show up there too late. It was definitely tempting to grab a motel in Montana, but we would pay for it in the morning. We carried on and before long we were in Spokane. Of course it was nearing 1am, but let’s not talk about that…

August 11, Day 8

Spokane, WA to Seattle, WA

Only a 5 hour drive. After driving for 9 or 10 hours a 5 hour drive is a walk in the park. We did the drive and arrived in Redmond just shy of 5pm. I always tell people Seattle because people can understand that better than Redmond.

Side note: Redmond is actually where I had lived the last 2 summers. It’s on the east side, and while not as lively as the west side (downtown Seattle) we are known to get pretty crazy.

We grabbed some dinner and headed to the Pink House. Nothing too crazy tonight, but it was great to see everyone again. Just like old times. Drove back with J-rod and crashed at his place.

August 12, Day 9

Seattle, WA

Rise and shine — wow we actually don’t have to do any driving today!! We stopped for some late breakfast/early lunch before heading down to Lake Union for some kayaking. I had gone to this place last summer to kayak and it was great. I wanted this weekend to serve two purposes — chill out with all my friends and show Scott and Dani a good time. After all I had been there for some time before that. We did some kayaking and docked on the big hill where they have fireworks each year for 4th of July. The water and air temperature were several degrees colder than when I had previously docked and jumped in the water. Either way we still had a blast.

Our next stop was Pike’s Place Market. Since we were there Scott and Dani had to get formally introduced to the 1st Starbucks ever. Check. Then we ended to this really fancy French restaurant, The Red Door. And you guessed it, we entered through a red door. The food was delicious, but the wines were even better. Up until this point I had never actually been so taken back by someone’s knowledge of a single topic. Of course I had professors that could go on about strong induction or why you can’t write a sort algorithm better than O(nlgn), but this was actually interesting! Wow that was definitely a dorky comment, I’m just putting it out there…. Our waiter was going on about how they use a steel barrel that spins to push the grapes against the barrel, then store it in the wooden barrel, and blah blah blah. I’m not in anyway putting his knowledge down, but I honestly can’t remember all the details he went into. I think he actually got tired of talking, so he came back with a book on how they prepared the actual wine I was drinking. Wow!

Just as if that wasn’t enough, next up was Woorley Ball. Think of lacrosse sticks (but half the size) and nets raised to the height of a basketball rim. Sounds like fun right? Well you can’t stand, walk, or run. No, that would be too easy, so they decided to put everyone in bumper cars! To make matters worse/more exciting they have steering wheels that you have to crank by hand. Annnnd if that wasn’t enough you should start drinking. No seriously, you are supposed to drink when you play. Actually you getted subbed in and out. When your hanging back watching the 2nd line play you are downing the brews. It’s definitely a good time. Scott and I were tearing things up! Of course we had the help of J-rod and G on a few of the rotations which can’t hurt the team. I can’t forget the great teamups with Guns (aka Big El, aka Elyssa) and Anju. Oh yeah!

August 13, Day 10

Seattle, WA to Portland, OR

We had planned to go to Snoqualmie Falls, but of course by saying ‘we had planned’ I’m indirectly saying we did something else. Well you are right. We were too tired or hung over or just lazy. It was about 45 minutes away which considered around the block when you are driving cross country. However, we didn’t want to get into Portland too late. We had breakfast at one of the greatest breakfast places ever created — Brown Bag. They don’t have them on the east coast. It isn’t a chain, but there are 2 or 3 in Seattle/Redmond. This is not to say that the east coast doesn’t have there share of breakfast eateries. How can you count out the Ridgewood Pancake House? Those lumberjacks will own me everytime (note that with Jen, Carly, and Mark as witnesses I got owned by those p-cakes).

Wow I think I’m going off on so many tangents because I’m so damn tired. Moving on… we made it to Portland and it had already been dark for some time. Scott said he could continue to drive and power through, so we went on. We probably drove for another hour before pulling off to find a motel to crash for the night.

August 14, Day 11

Portland, OR to Fort Bragg, CA

We woke up around 7am and headed for Crescent City, California. We were on our way to the Redwoods National Forest — the last national park on our 2 week tour. The redwoods were, if nothing else, magnificent. To call them trees would be sort of like calling Yellowstone a park.

You enter the redwoods forest and are welcomed by a cool misty fog. Not so much a fog that carries the mood of going to work, but rather a soothing, implicit message that it is just you and the crisp cool air of the outdoors. There were trails off the beaten path during our entire drive from end to end. We picked the trail suggested by the park ranger and went with it. I think we may have started heading down the wrong path because for some reason we were on the most strenuous trail the park had to offer. These aren’t my words, I’m just quoting the posted signs. We had gotten about 15 minutes in, but knew we weren’t going to be able to finish the trail. We had first thought it may have been a loop, but instead we were going to have to backtrack — a word we couldn’t afford if we wanted to get to our campsite before nightfall.

We left the Redwood National Forest, but not before we drove our car through the famous Chandelier Tree.

We took off and headed for Fort Bragg, which is a large town (according to my campground atlas) for camping. It was located right on the coastline of California which was perfect. It wasn’t that far in distance, but the coastal roads kept winding back and forth so I couldn’t push it over 45 mph. It was a nice camp site and we were able to make a campfire. We weren’t allowed to for the past few days (of camping) because they were having a drought and the cities were all on danger alert for fires.

August 15, Day 12

Fort Bragg, CA to Palo Alto, CA

We had decided not to visit Napa Valley, so we had time for San Francisco before heading to Palo Alto to crash at Shirin’s place. I woke Scott and Dani up before we crossed the Golden Gate Bridge. It was nice, but if there weren’t so many darn clouds in the sky it would have been more enjoyable. Unfortunately SF always has clouds.. except of course when Full House is filming there intro.

While in San Francisco we walked around Golden Gate Park before heading downtown to eat. We ate at this chinese restaurant, and I preceded to head across the street for some delicious desert. The place was Yoogo Gelato and I recommend it to anyone that is out in SF. It doesn’t seem to be located anywhere else. When you go get the Green tea and taro — amazing!

That night we had met up with Shirin at her place. It was really great seeing her again. We didn’t get to sleep until like 4am (as you can see by the picture that we only had about 3 hours of sleep).

August 16, Day 13

Palo Alto, CA to San Diego, CA

SF to SD in a day. Actually less, because we stopped in LA. While in LA we hit up the famous Mann’s Chinese Theatre, Walk of Fame where Hollywood stars have there… stars. We also drove down Rodeo Drive per Dani’s request. Someday we will all be shopping there, definitely not anytime this year though. We took the coastal highway for a bit to see Venice beach, but there was so much traffic we couldn’t make it to Laguna Beach for Dani. I guess we’ll have to do another road trip soon!

We keep on our route and finally make it to beautiful, sunny San Diego. I had a really sweet apartment with hot tubs and pools, a huge bed, and well — it was mine own place. What a trip! (pun intended)

August 17, Day 14

San Diego, CA

14 days later we are here…