I'm in Vegas! Got here a few hours ago, I *should* sleep (I'm starting to write this at 4:15 AM, late checkout at 1 PM... Getting into the house at 3 PM tomorrow) but I want to get all these pictures out when everything is fresh. A few quickies:
-I'm not going to play the 10k HU event. I need to be in Norcal for my sister's graduation (Amanda) the 11th-14th (I believe are those dates) so the decision is "made for me". I was iffy on playing it anyway, so this works out.
-It looks like Ariel (foxwoodsfiend) is going to be the last roommate. He needed a place to stay, and we had an opening, so match made in heaven. So to speak. I'm happy about that, since he's a sorta friend that I've known for a while but haven't really gotten a chance to get to know him all that well.
-My place in Cambridge has been packed and moved out! What an ordeal that was. Teddy helped me immensely, and I had movers come and put my belongings (minus what I brought with me) into storage. They will be there for the summer, possibly longer.
-If people have tried to contact me the past ~week, keep in mind I have had my hands FULL with packing, moving, driving, arriving, etc. But, I'm here, and once I settle in tomorrow, I'll be able to finish some business matters. (I think someone randomly sent me 750$ for a book - note that this is NOT THE WAY TO DO THINGS - but that has been in flux for a few days... Will get dealt with)

So, here's the trip:



Some raw stats... (Yeah, I kept this information, when you have a long drive, you are able to keep track of this stuff!)
2,835 total miles driven, 40.5 hours driven.
-I drove 1459.9 miles in 21 hours (~69.5 mph)
-Travis drove 1375.1 miles in 19.5 hours (~70.5 mph)
-We went through Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and finally Nevada. (13 States) I loved Colorado and Utah, Arizona was quick and a fun drive, but really disliked Nebraska and Iowa. Way too many bugs. And horrible drivers. I also don't like Ohio.
The CDs we listened to along the way:
Radiohead - Hail to the Thief x2
Weezer - Blue Album x2
James Blunt - Back to Bedlam x2
Radiohead - OK Computer x2
Keane - Hopes and Fears
Oasis - What's the Story Morning Glory
Radiohead - The Bends
Weird Al Yankovic - Bad Hair Day
Matisyahu - Live at STUBB'S
Maroon5 - Songs about Jane
Radiohead - Pablo Honey
Soundtrack from Romeo and Juliet
Weezer - Black Album
CD-R "Epics"
Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (Disc 1 and 2)
Dave Matthews Band - The Central Park Concert (Disc 1, 2, & 3)
Eagle Eye Cherry - Desireless
Dave Matthews - Live at Luther College (with Tim Reynolds) Disc 1 & 2
Dave Matthews Band - Listener Supported Disc 1 & 2
Bob Seger - Greatest Hits
The Grateful Dead - Greatest Hits
Jamiroquai - Traveling Without Moving
Radiohead - In Rainbows
U2 - 18 Singles
Green Day - American Idiot
Savage Garden
Elton John - Greatest Hits (Disc 1 & 2)
Matisyahu - Youth
Radiohead - Amnesiac
Radiohead - Kid A
The Killers - Hot Fuss
Jack Johnson - Brushfire Fairytales


The 1st Leg: Boston, MA to Holyoke, MA... to West Hartford, CT.

The trip began with me driving Teddy home. I didn't bring him all the way to Northampton, I was able to drop him off in Holyoke, which was a relief. I bid my adieu to Neil (his dad, who picked him up) and Teddy and was off on my home. I made it to my mom's house at night (just after the start of Lakers/Nuggets game 5) and essentially ate a late dinner, watched the game, and waited for Travis to get there. Nothing too difficult about this, I had done this drive plenty of time. But anyway, we left late at night (after the game) as to avoid traffic.

The 1st real Leg... but the 2nd for the trip: West Hartford, CT to some random PA town (Mill Town? Lamar?)

We made it to a random Amish Pennsylvanian town. It was pretty late (530 AM EST) and both of us had gotten up at a reasonable time. (I had done a ton of moving and packing) We initially wanted to make it to Cleveland, but frankly that wasn't happening, so we stopped at a Hampton Inn. The sign said "welcome to Lamar," which I thought funny, but apparently that wasn't/isn't the actual name of the town. Who knows, outside smelled like manure and there were a bunch of cows everywhere.




The woman behind the counter was pretty nice, we got a late checkout time, slept, woke up to eat Subway, and we were off!

The 3rd Leg: Mill Town, PA to random Ohio rest stop

I had to throw this in here... I don't overtly dislike Ohio, but I really hate the Cavs. And I don't like LeBron. There is a funny "Cleveland Tourism" youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysmLA5TqbIY
found that fast, there are actually 2 of them, both are funny.. But a line is "our economy is based on LeBron James!" I saw a bunch of people wearing LBJ jerseys as well as some for sale. In a random small Ohio stop. I will say the Ohio rest stops were the best. Didn't take a picture but the 'bucks barrister was vvv cute, so again, have to point out the Ohio positives when possible.


random LBJ jerseys.


me posing in front of a handicap spot. and the ohio reststop. thought it was funny.




The 4th Leg: Somewhere in Ohio to Des Moines, Iowa

We were trying to push the pace to get to Denver in time for the Nugget/Laker game. Didn't happen. Stopped in Des Moines, Iowa at another Hampton Inn. Funny enough:



Apparently Barker's mom works for that company. We just thought it was somewhat coincidental.

This is what the place looked like: Whee.



Standard Iowa roads: (Notice how long and straight they are... It's literally hours of this. No joke)



Along the way saw a bunch (not just 1 or 2, but probably 7 to 10) windmill propellers. Neat sight. We couldn't get a good picture, but here is 1 we sorta caught (they are HUGE!) as well as a "completed" wind energy station as near as we could get.



We passed "mall of the bluffs". Got a picture of the sign, but it's really not that cool. Basically, it says "Mall of the Bluffs". Would've been cooler if it was an actual bluff and wasn't a mall.


The 5th Leg: Des Moines, Iowa to North Platte, Nebraska

This was an entire day - getting to Colorado.

Let's see, lots of boring driving, etc etc. Including Lincoln, Nebraska.

lots of that.

We stopped in north platte nebraska for applebees, in order to watch den vs lal Game 6. In Nebraska there was a beetle incident; we filled up and this HUGE beetle somehow made its way into my car. Didn't notice it until we were driving, it landed on my shoulder, i flipped out, knocked it over to Travis. he knocked it over to the side where you can put things on the door (yeah really descriptive right?). we stopped, he eventually got it out, etc. that was def. the highlight of that day - cross country driving is really fun huh?

The 6th Leg: North Platte, Nebraska to Denver, Colorado

Not much happened. Just was a lot of driving. Stopped at a "Best Inn and Suites" (broke up the pattern of Hampton Inn). Went to IHOP the following day, where we saw a black cowboy. Thought it was awesome:



Also, finally took a picture of the car once through Nebraska. (Before cleaning) Moral of the story: Nebraska is the state of long roads and lots of bugs.




The 7th Leg: Denver, Colorado to Grand Junction, Colorado

Ok, this is where I took the most pictures. colorado is beautiful. We decided to stop in Grand Junction to watch the Cavs game (Magic wrapped it up there!) This was probably the only worthwhile driving part in isolation (in addition to Utah). It was a good thing we went in the middle of the day. I have about 40 pictures, but I'm just going to post a few:











Somewhat of a tragic site... Didn't look like anyone was seriously injured, at least. But:











Also, this is the name of a town in Colorado:




The Last Leg: Grand Junction, Colorado to LAS VEGAS, NV!

Basically, there is a 110 mile+ stretch through southern Utah (good pictures although it was past sundown!) where there isn't a service area. Kinda nuts. The end of this stretch is Silena, Utah. We stopped there, and at the gas station I saw this beer: (Thought it was awesome)



Got in at 2:30 AM, checked in at the Luxor, and voila! Cross country drive was over!

Note: Sorry for the long, long delay with posting this.