Warped Tour and Harry Potter

I've been doing my best to try and have as much fun as possible this summer and keep it filled with random adventures. To ensure that my last day in the United States for the next two weeks was amazing, I decided to go to Warped Tour. As a whole, the tour was kind of lame this year, but the three bands that I did see were amazing. They included Relient K, Paramore, and Simple Plan. I also got autographs from the members of Relient K, which was pretty cool. The only negative was the fact that my head was probably not recuperated enough from paintball for all of the jumping, blaring music, and crowd surfers landing on my head (pitfall of being tall I guess).
While Chrissy and I were sitting around waiting for bands to play, we decided that we wanted to see a midnight showing of the new Harry Potter film. Unfortunately, all of the midnight showings were sold out, so we settled for a 3am show down in Easton, PA. We figured we might as well because it's not everyday that you can say that you went to a movie that started at 3am. We got home from Warped Tour around 9:45pm and napped before leaving at 2am for the movie theater. The movie was decent and worth the loss of sleep. Also, it's pretty cool to be leaving the movie theater at sunrise.
Well, I better go finish packing so that I can leave for the airport in a couple hours.

Exploring the Nation's Capital

Now that I have updated you all on where I have traveled since my epic roadtrip, let me get back to the most recent exploring that took place this past weekend. Chrissy finally got done with her semester of school on Friday (Yay!!!) so we decided to trek down to Washington D.C. to explore all of the museums and to visit her sister. Due to the craziness that is life, we didn't actually get down to her sister's apartment until about 10:45pm Friday after having to drive through countless monsoon-like conditions. Being as we arrived so late, Chrissy and I ended up watching the most recent episode of Bones and then going to bed.
We got up at about 9am to get ready for our day of exploration. We drove ourselves to the Pentagon City Metro Station and hopped the Yellow line to L'Enfant Plaza. Once we disembarked the metro, we began our extensive wanderings by heading towards the Capitol Building, bypassing the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. Before going straight to the Capitol, I became intrigued by the baby ducks swimming around the Reflecting Pool near Grant's Memorial. Finally we sauntered over to the Capitol Building, actually saw a couple getting married up on the balcony, and a friendly runner offered to take our picture. She asked us where we were from and we asked if she was enjoying her run.
We then looped around the Capitol to take pictures of the Supreme Court, Neptune Fountain, and Jefferson Library of Congress. Since I'm a nerd, and I knew Chrissy wouldn't mind, I requested that we go into the Library of Congress because I heard the Main Reading Room was quite awesome. Once making it through security, we took in the magnificent architecture of the place. Quotes lined the ceiling, along with frescoes so numerous pictures were taken. On display was one of the original copies of the Gutenberg Bible, which was printed back in 1455. We ventured upstairs so that we go an overhead view of the main reading room, and of course now Chrissy really wants to do some research there. She discovered that there is actually a Middle East and North Africa reading room, which would come in quite handy for her dissertation writing.
After exiting the Library of Congress, we began the long trek down the National Mall. I took pictures of the Washington Monument as we walked along, and I also took pictures of the National Gallery of Art and Museum of Natural History as we walked past. Some girls were handing out free Red Bull, so we took some just for the concept of getting free beverages. We then continued onto our next stop, which was at the Smithsonian Castle. We each got souvenirs before continuing to the base of the Washington Monument. Chrissy wanted to go and touch it, which reminded me of Finding Nemo where Nemo wants to go touch "the butt" (yes I'm easily amused). Given the time, we decided to backtrack to the Holocaust Museum to see if any tickets were available for the Permanent Exhibit. Unfortunately, no tickets were available, but we went through the temporary exhibits, including one about the effectiveness of the propaganda the Nazis used during World War II. It seemed fitting that our next stop was the World War II Memorial.
Following the World War II Memorial, we made our way towards the Reflecting Pool, which happened to be under construction, and thus, nonexistent. There was a crazy squirrel on a park bench who seemed to be posing for pictures in an attempt to lure people close enough to steal food that we passed as we walked along the edge of what should be the Reflecting Pool. I had a Forrest Gump moment, remembering how Forrest and Jenny were reunited after the Vietnam War at the Reflecting Pool. We then ended up at the Lincoln Memorial, which has Lincoln sitting in his chair with the "Gettysburg Address" and "Emancipation Proclamation" inscribed on the walls. We briefly sat on the steps of the memorial to enjoy the view before continuing on towards the Vietnam Wall.
After the Vietnam Wall, we got some soft pretzels and drinks and moved on towards the Memorial for the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence. Next was the Second Division Memorial (WWI) before we reached the White House. There was a mounted police officer who brought his horse over to a fountain for a drink, which greatly amused everybody watching. As we continued on, we stopped by The Willard Hotel, National Theatre, and then a Starbucks for some iced coffee and a frappucino. The caffeine helped fuel us for our trek to Ford's Theater and the FBI Building (no we didn't find Booth unfortunately). We then did a bit of souvenir shopping before touring the International Spy Museum, wandering passed the National Archives, (seeing another wedding at the Pershing Memorial) and then hopping the Metro back to Pentagon City. Once we relaxed at the apartment briefly, Chrissy's sister took us out to the Old Town section for dinner. We ate at a place called Overwood, which is a delicious grill establishment that cooks everything over a wood fire (thus the name). It was a very enjoyable evening full of chatting and laughter over the fact that the air mattress Chrissy and I slept on deflated, making it as effective as laying out newspaper for a bed.
 The next morning, the three of us went back to the National Mall so that we could get tickets to tour the permanent exhibit at the Holocaust Museum. Since we had 1.5 hours before our tour time, we wandered to a Starbucks and went to the American History Museum. We saw the original Washington Monument that made him look like a Greek god, the original Star Spangled Banner, and the Philadelphia. We then got a chance to tour the Holocaust Permanent Exhibit before We going to the Air and Space Museum in order to check out the space, Wright Brother's, WWI, and WWII exhibits. I really enjoyed seeing the lunar module and some spacesuits because my grandfather worked for Northrop Grumman and helped test spacesuits as part of his job. We finished our day at Ben's Chili Bowl for a late lunch before driving back to the apartment. After eating, Chrissy and I packed the car and made the long 4 hour drive back to East Stroudsburg.

Hollywood to New Orleans

Last I left you was in Santa Monica. On Tuesday, June 8th, Chrissy and I left the Clarity Condo around 11am to venture into Hollywood. We did the typical touristy things such as wandering the Walk of Fame, taking pictures of hand/footprints outside Grauman's Chinese Theater, and looking at the Kodak Theater that is across from the Hotel Roosevelt. We then drove around and stumbled upon Beachwood Drive and wound our way up into the Hollywood Hills so that we could get a good picture of the Hollywood sign. Ironically, we happened to be listening to Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus at the time and when she said, "When I looked to my right I could see the Hollywood sign," that was where we saw it (yes I know we are easily amused). Following that adventure, we drove through the Mojave Dessert to get to Las Vegas. I was really excited to see the Bellagio Fountains because they were in the end of Ocean's Eleven. After watching the fountains, we went to the Buffalo Bill Saloon and Casino for some gambling. Played the quarter slots followed by blackjack. Blackjack was a lot of fun and really easy to pick up on. The dealer was really nice, as were the people from Alaska playing with us. Even though I lost all of my money, I enjoyed myself in the process.

After being up the majority of the night, I drove us to Death Valley at 5am so that we wouldn't roast in the heat, and so the truck wouldn't either. We stopped at the Badwater Basin, which is the lowest point in the United States at 282 feet below sea level. It's mildly creepy that there is a sign in the cliff indicating to where sea level is. Following our Death Valley adventure, Chrissy and I drove to the Leeds' RV Park to check in before our hike. The woman was very nice and helpful and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay. We went to Zion National Park and, for some odd reason, I thought it would be an excellent idea to do the Angel's Landing hike. The beginning is a windy trail up to one point where you think that you are done until you realize that you have to cross a narrow ridge holding onto chains in order to reach the actual Angel's Landing, which is 1488 feet off of the ground (pretty high for someone who hates heights). My best analogy is imagine being on top of the Empire State building and having the surface be smooth sandstone with patches of sand and needing to cross a two foot wide ledge while holding onto chains. Doesn't that sound like oh so much fun? I figure that conquering some of my fears is all in the experience. Truthfully, I wouldn't have made it without the help of Chrissy and some other random folks encouraging me as I slowly inched along. Afterwards, lyrics from the Sidewalk Prophets "Words I Would Say" came to mind, which state, "Be strong in the Lord, and never give up hope. You're gonna do great things, I already know. God's got His hand on You, so don't live life in fear." If I lived my life in fear, I would have never made it to the pinnacle of Angel's Landing, though the last half mile did take about an hour.

June 10th brought us to the Kanarra Creek slot canyon in Kanarraville, UT. This hike was positively amazing! The trail zig-zagged along the Kanarra Creek and across it at points. We also had to climb ladders at waterfalls until we couldn't go any further. It was very refreshing given the hot, sunny day. We then went to Bryce Canyon National Park, which is by far my favorite park. We hiked the Peek-a-boo Trail down into the canyon and back up again. After the hike, drove to Shady Acres campground in Green River, UT.

June 11th we drove most of the day. Since Aspen Seals Sledging was closed for the season, we went to Mile High Stadium in Denver because Chrissy is a Broncos fan. The weather was extremely bizarre. There were torrential downpours, followed by hail that piled up to about 4 inches in spots. This unfortunately kept the water trapped on the road, turning it into a lake. After the stadium, we drove to our campsite in Pagosa Springs, CO.

June 12th we found ourselves driving to Four Corners Monument. Unfortunately, it was closed due to construction, so we ventured to Goosenecks State Park to take some pictures. After that, we drove through Albuquerque, NM, before taking a quick nap. The next day we went to the Cadillac Ranch and each spray painted Bible verses onto the cars. Chrissy chose Proverbs 3:5-6, which states "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will keep your paths straight." I chose Matthew 6:25 which says, "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?" Attempts to find a place to watch the Germany vs. Australia game were futile, so we made our way to Shrevport, LA, for the night. (Germany won 4-0 for those who are interested).

June 14th we slept in a bit and then drove, with much excitement, down to New Orleans for the night. As a surprise, I got us a room at the Inn on Bourbon Street with a Bourbon Street balcony. Chrissy of course thought that I was crazy, but extremely happy. I figured I was just channeling Randy Pausch by helping make someone's dream come true, which does have an amazing feeling to it. It worked in my favor as well because I absolutely love jazz and New Orleans is the birthplace of jazz. After checking in, we wandered Toulouse Street to Jackson Square to take pictures of St Louis Cathedral at my brother's suggestion, and then found the statue of Joan of Arc. The downpours started, so we found our way into the French Market restaurant for dinner. I had some epic grilled chicken while listening to thunder claps that

sounded more like cannons going off than anything else. It was raining so hard that the floor of the back room started flooding because the patio drain was clogged. The wait staff was entertaining and kept asking us if we wanted to go for a swim. Once the rain stopped, we wandered along the Mississippi River to the Jackson Brewery for a sampler before making our way back to Bourbon Street for some shopping. That wore us out so we topped off the night by drinking Sangria on our balcony and watching the world go by.

Natural Wonders and a Moose

After updating the blog in Minneapolis, Chrissy and I drove straight through the night so that we could make it to the Badlands National Park near Cactus Flat, SD (Don't worry we alternated sleeping and driving and would switch when necessary).
On Wednesday, we drove through the Badlands after purchasing the America the Beautiful Pass, which will get us into every national park that we visit. We did a one mile hike on the Notch Trail in the Badlands. We only saw chipmunks, but there were signs warning us about rattlesnakes. The hike has a ladder that leads up to a ridge along the rim of a cliff, but the trail is wide enough that there was no chance of falling. At the end of the trail, there was a beautiful overlook that showed more of the rock formations and flat plains of South Dakota. We continued driving the scenic byway through the Badlands and stopped at a handful of other viewpoints before exiting the park into Wall, SD, so that we could get gas and coffee.
After refueling, we found our way to Mt. Rushmore and took pictures from along the road. We then drove back down the mountain into Keystone and shopped for souvenirs. We enjoyed chatting with this one guy who worked in the store about our trip. Another worker commented on my colorful shoes (imagine that haha). We drove back to I-90 west and ate some lunch and drank Starbucks while I made reservations for camping and horseback riding before driving to Sundance, WY, in search of the statue of the Sundance Kid. I am a big fan of the classic movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, so I was really excited to be able to go to the town where the Kid took his name from. Our next stop was Devil's Tower, but we did not enter the park to explore considering there was a nice thunderstorm brewing. We did stop at the store on the outskirts of Devil's Tower and chatted with a woman who was hanging out on the porch and watching the approaching storm. She asked if we were spending the night in the local campground, but I told her we were driving to Cody, WY. That eased her mind because she didn't want us to be in the bad weather.
Chrissy and I trekked to Cody, WY, through Bighorn National Forest and slept at the Ponderosa Campground. We were too tired to put up the tent, so we curled up in the front of the truck and slept. The next morning (Thursday), we showered and I chatted up the manager of the campground. He gave me a free map of Wyoming and a booklet on Yellowstone National Park. We set off and drove about an hour to Crossed Sabres Ranch, where we had reservations for a 2 hour horseback riding adventure. Our guide's name was Jacob, and a woman named Bayley came with us too because she had never gone horseback riding before. Jacob is originally from Arkansas while Bayley flew in from Georgia to work in Wyoming for the summer. I rode on a gray horse named Smokey, while Chrissy rode on Rowdy. Our ride took us up into some mountains with a great view of the Rockies and the ranch down in the valley. Smokey enjoyed looking at the scenery more than keeping up with the rest of the group, which I was perfectly content with. We bonded over enjoying being loners every once in a while. We saw some bear tracks on our ride, but no bears. Jacob was really nice and stopped to take some pictures of us.
After our ride, we drove the 8 miles to Yellowstone National Park. We stopped at a viewpoint to take pictures of Yellowstone Lake, but when Chrissy turned around, she noticed there happened to be a bison eating grass on the hillside right across the road from us. A little farther down the road there were 6 more bison that were really close to the road so we got some really good pictures. The first sight that we stopped to view was the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River. We then went and took pictures of Upper Falls before driving over the Continental Divide to see Old Faithful. Our timing was great there because we arrived a half hour before the geyser was to go off again.

Following Old Faithful, we began our trek south towards Jackson Hole, WY, where we were planning on meeting up with my friend, Julie. I was amused by the construction signs in Grand Tetons National Park because they are completely serious when they say "pavement ends". One second you are on a nice road then BAM dirt road. I bet the Porsche that was following us was none too thrilled. As we continued through the Tetons, we saw bunch of cars pulled to the side of the road. I took the advice of the woman at the ranch who said whenever cars are stopped, pull over because there is an animal there. Chrissy and I wandered over to the other people and found out that there was a mama moose who had just given birth about 10 minutes before we showed up. We saw the newborn on its wobbly legs and got some great pictures and video of the mama. After the pitstop, I continued driving towards Jackson Hole and followed Julie's directions to the gas station in the town of Wilson so I could find her. I then followed her up Teton Pass into Idaho to her house in Victor. While driving up the pass, a moose ran across the road in front of Julie, which amused me.
Once we stretched our legs at Julie and Josh's house, Julie brought us to the Wildlife Brewery in Victor for dinner. Chrissy and I were both really excited for an actual meal finally. We chowed down on some pizza and I drank a Porcupine Porter because I thought the name of it was fun. The conversation was entertaining over dinner and Josh made some suggestions of what to do today. Once we got back to the house, Chrissy and I unpacked and then pretty much crashed because we were exhausted and were really excited for a bed to sleep in.
Well I guess I should go shower and call my Uncle Bob to inform him of our impending arrival tomorrow. More again soon!

Adventures Through the Midwest

Woke up at 4:15 am to get ready and got a text from my friend, Oliver, wishing us luck on our travels. We left my house in Galilee, PA, yesterday morning at 5:40am. Did the necessary stop and get gas and ice for the coolers at Turkey Hill in Honesdale, and then ventured over Farview Mountain and through Wilkes Barre to get onto I-80 West. Stopped at a Dunkin Donuts and my co-worker, Elsa, called to check up on us and to pray for me over the phone, which I found very touching. We entered Ohio around noon and stopped at the first rest area to lay in the grass and eat peanut butter sandwiches. We had forgotten a knife for the peanut butter, but Chrissy was able to find a worker at the rest area who had an extra plastic fork so we improvised and used that. I drove all the way across Ohio and into Indiana. I noticed that the truck drivers in the Midwest are all either overachievers or crazy and have 3 trailers hooked to their trucks. Quite an interesting feat if you ask me.

We successfully found Indiana Dunes State Park and pitched our tent at site 24. Since we realized that we changed time zones and gained an hour, we decided to drive the hour into Chicago so that we could play tourist there. We parked in a lot off Ohio Street by the ESPN Zone and walked to Navy Pier, Millenium Park, Chicago Theatre, and up the Magnificent Mile back to the truck. One of my goals was to see the sign to the Chicago Theatre lit up at night because I am a big fan of the movie Chicago and of the Roaring 20s in general. I also achieved another goal and went to where the garage at 2122 North Clark Street used to exist because that is where the St. Valentine's Day Massacre occurred back in 1929. With my fascination with the Roaring 20s comes a keen interest of the gangsters of the day. Actually, while driving through Indiana I felt like I was in Road to Perdition, which is a movie that stars Tom Hanks. We finally went to bed around midnight after our fun-filled driving and excitement.

Today we woke up at 7am and took advantage of the shower facilities at the campground. Packed up the tent, caught a glimpse of the beach along Lake Michigan, and then set out to fight through Chicago traffic on our way up to Minneapolis, MN. Wisconsin is apparently very big on the indoor waterpark resort because we saw about 7 of them along the way. We stopped at one to get a picture of a statue of a gigantic orange moose, deer hurdling a log, and mouse sitting on a piece of cheese (go figure).

We crossed over the Mississippi River and arrived at the Mall of America with not much of an issue after I got a warning for speeding. The mall was a good time. One of Chrissy's favorite authors was holding a book signing there, so we stood in line so she could get a signed copy of the newest book. The people in line were really entertaining and one helped Chrissy get a free shirt because she yelled that we had driven 21 hours from Pennsylvania to the signing. (I have now heard Chrissy tell me amazing for the hundredth time. One day she'll realize that this is her trip too and that I am happy when others are happy.)

Before the book signing, we got asked by this woman if we were planning on going on any rides. We told her that we were and she gave us some free extra tickets that she didn't have time to use. We both felt blessed by all of the kind people that we came across this evening. After buying souvenirs, we drove to Starbucks to sit in the parking lot and get some internet so that we could both update our blogs. The goal is to drive all the way to Cactus Flat, SD, tonight so that we are outside the Badlands National Park to do a hike early in the morning on the Big Notch Trail. I'm excited to show Chrissy where I almost accidentally ran off a cliff 5 year ago when I visited the park. Well, time to get back to driving. More again soon.