And so begins our cross-country trip! After a quick wiffleball game, we were off for day one. Dam Dolan, Alex Hirch and I had planned to do two days of driving on day one because of our late start. We planned to stay at Shenandoah National Park in Virginia for the first night. When we actually got to the park it was midnight and we would not have been able to get in until six or so the next morning. Instead of sleeping in the car at the gate, we decided to drive the long haul to the destination for the second day, Great Smoky Mountain National Park in Tennessee.

Tuesday, May 23, 2000

We drove all night with one driver, one navigator and a third sleeping in the back. We decided to rotate in 3 to 4 hour blocks. We arrived at the park at six in the morning greeted by a heavy haze and a light green lush forest. The woods here looked tropical in comparison to the woods of the northeast, for there were without the dark pines that we were so accustomed to. Our plan was to drive the ridgeline drive and catch the sun rise, alas the smoky mountain held true to their name and kept us from seeing any further than the hood of the car. After our failed sunrise viewing, we decided to go to the campsite. When we arrived we were told that the office would not be open for another half hour so we did what anyone would have after 25 hours of driving, we slept. We awoke to the sound of our new southeastern companion, the Tennessee rainstorm. The rains kept us in the car as we tried to out sleep the storm. After a couple hours we knew that we could not win. We drove into Pigeon Forge, the nearest town, and bought some supplies to fight the rain. Pigeon Forge was the home of Dollywood, countless mini golf courses, firework stores, and cheap and probably dangerous amusement parks. After we set up back at the campground we failed to catch up on sleep so… we did what we thought felt like Tennessee, we drank beer and played wiffleball. Our next endeavor was the Laural Falls Trail, which disappointingly was a paved pedestrian road to a nice little cascade. The trail seemed very unnatural and bugged us all a bit. Then the real rain came. We needed more tarps. We went back to the Wal-Mart in Pigeon Forge and loaded up. We had a great little camp dinner and then drank, to get ready for mini golf in the rain. Dan was our sober driver. The mini golf, well, it was poor. The holes were all straight shots with huge dinosaurs, ships and volcanoes nowhere near the putting area. Boo! Then it was bedtime, but it rain Noah's flood style for 6 hours.

Wednesday, May 24, 2000

The morning began for us with a thundering rumble in the distance. The little stream that ran through our camp had become a huge river. All the water had funneled down the mountains into our little stream. The noise of it all had actually awakened us. We had breakfast at Denny's and then took a look at Dollywood. We couldn't afford it. We went for another hike, this one was called "Two Chimneys" and it was much more impressive. The hike had a similar ascent to the Mount Washington hike. The foliage was obviously different which made it very intriguing. The view from the summit was the one we were waiting for, free of haze and representative of the park's beauty. Pasta was the creation Chef Merrill prepared for the boys on this eve and first year at college stories made up most of the conversation. The tales carried into the late of night before we decided to turn in.

Thursday, May 25, 2000

We took in our last moments at the Park as we packed up our wet tent and gear. Next stop, Memphis. En route, we stopped at a truck stop and saw no joke, folks dressed in 1930's attire. It was an odd site to say the least. We arrived at Jizel's house, a pal of Alex's and our shelter for the night. Jizel first brought us to Graceland the home of Elvis. Well it was not that great, but to a fan I am sure it would be something. Beal Street was full of blues performers and really represented Memphis. The folks were all happy and affable; I felt like I was in the south, finally. The real highlight was the AAA Red Bird baseball game that we attended. We had the best time yelling at the opposing players, watching the cheerleaders, sitting on the grass hill that was part of the stands called the Buff. It was quite an experience and it was really cheep! After 13 innings and finally a victory it was time to sleep. Alex got on the big screen as he ran around on the Bluff doing the airplane. The camera followed him for at least 30 sec and captured his crash landing into us.

Friday, May 26, 2000

Yeah, our first day without rain! We left Memphis by 8:00AM so that we could get an early start on Mississippi Highway 55. We saw some armadillos and space, and that was all we can say about Mississippi, except for a great lunch stop in the middle of the state. Louisiana was not the most unique state, but it did have a hell of a lot of roads in the air over swamps. New Orleans was a lot like Key West without the hippies. Space was tight and the architecture was very tropical. We stayed at a great hotel near downtown. We had a pool and a trolley stop right out side the front door. We ate dinner at the Acme Oyster House where I had some oysters and a po-boy sandwich. Then the famous Bourbon Street called to us. The streets were dirty, liquor was everywhere and strip clubs were the place to be. It was fun but not my style and we left before midnight.

Saturday, May 27, 2000

Our plan for the day was to drive 543 miles to San Antonio Texas. Upon entering the city were faced two very difficult obstacles, one was that there were no vacancies in the entire city, and second was that we were in the middle of a tornado producing and hail dropping thunderstorm. The storm was remarkable, the temperature dropped by 20 degrees and the lightning lit up the sky as if the sun were out. I had never seen a storm like it. Our next option was Kerville, a city that was full of cheap hotels. Well, it was not full enough. Memorial Day weekend has a lot of power over the tourism in Texas and we were paying for not knowing it. At this point it became clear that we were going to drive all night through the storm and reach Guadalupe National Forest at some time in the morning. The course of the day had us driving thought bayou, grassland, and desert; the day was complete.

Sunday, May 28, 2000

We reached Guadalupe Mountain National Park by 6:00 AM. The campsite consisted of about 20 sites nestled in a valley between two large mountains of the range. With no sleep we decided to undertake a minor hike through Devil Hallway. The hike had little elevation change and was a great warm up for our hike the next day. The hallway trial followed a dried up river bed into a small canyon, only 3 yards across and 60 feet tall. It was so narrow. This was our first, of many, desert experiences. The flora and fauna were really different to us and we were not just passing through, we had many dry days ahead. After the hike, we drove to the nearest town, which was in New Mexico, and got some food. Back at camp the night was dominated by wiffleball and food. We slept outside and it seems like we will for the rest of the trip because the tent is broken.

Monday, May 29, 2000

We woke up at 5:30 to beat the heat on out assent of Mt. Guadalupe, the tallest point in Texas at 8,790 feet. The 8.5-mile hike was an unending mass of switchbacks in the sun. The views were amazing from base to summit and the effort was quality. The top of the mountain had a nice summit marker and birds that tried to attack us with kamikaze dives. Lunch, which we deserved for completing our hike so smoothly was in White City New Mexico, the only city. Since we had some extra time, we decided to drive to Santa Fe. The drive was long and straight, and 106 degrees plus the whole way. We enjoyed dinner at the Atomic Café to cellist and guitar music and retired to our Motel 6 with some beers and a night of ESPN.

Tuesday, May 30, 2000

We ate breakfast at the famous French Pastry Shop in the plaza major. With food in our bellies, we headed to the Georgia O'Keefe Museum, which was as wonderful as the last time I saw it. I liked being in a city that I was familiar with because I could show the guys everything that I learned when I came here with the family. Santa Fe was done; next stop Petrified Forest National Park. The park, which was about one hour across the border into Arizona was a desert riddled with chunks of petrified wood. We were told that we could over night hike there, which meant that we could just hike out into the pathless desert and sleep somewhere. This was a first for all of us. This desert was complete with dunes, but these were hard and made of baked clay rather than wispy sand. We were on the lookout for quicksand and rattlesnakes as we made our way to what we decided would be home for the night. The views were all amazing, the sunset was unforgettable and the isolation was unreal. I was actually nervous because there was nothing to distract me the site was perfect calmness. We took a walk but the darkness was so absolute, that even with a flashlight, we had no landmarks to direct us. Once we laid out on the tarp to sleep we saw the best part of the desert, the infinite stars. I had never seen so many stars and shooting stars in my life.

Wednesday, May 31, 2000

We woke up and hiked out of our desert. There was no life other than grass. The sun of 7:00 AM was more intense than we could have ever imagined. The hike out was also up, so we struggled a little in reaching the car. From the car we could look out on what we had accomplished, the barren land that we had eaten and slept on. It was a truly unique night. I am happy that our tent has been destroyed, because it has forced us to experience everything a little more. We have breathed the air, seen the stars and heard the sounds. A much better experience! We reached the Grand Canyon by early afternoon. The Grand Canyon is the biggest thing that I have ever seen. We drove around the rim and stopped at all the scenic over looks that we could find. The people who visit the Grand Canyon have to be the most diverse bunch in any one place. The park was like and international convention, it was really cool. Our plan was to go to sleep early and wake up at 5:30 in the morning to start our 12-mile round trip hike to Plateau Point.

Thursday, June 1, 2000

We were out of camp and finally on the trail with a couple of power bars in our stomachs by 7:00 AM. Our goal, the point, was at the bottom of 3000 feet of switchbacks. Most of the way down was in the shade and fairly easy. The last 1.5 miles to the point was in the sun and very tough on us. Once we reached out goal, out came the cameras and food. Once we left the point and reached the main trail and Indian Garden, Dan and I had an idea. We wanted to hike to the river. The canyon is filled with information prohibiting this kind of undertaking. "The Canyon shows no mercy" the signs said. The Grand Canyon was our goal and we were going to do it up right. Dan and I took off for the river, a 6 mile round trip. We passed people at an amazing pace on our way we had un-human energy. We reached a steep section called the Devil's Corkscrew and we plowed right through it. The Colorado River came into sigh after only one hour and fifteen minutes of hiking. We swam in the frigid waters, which merely cooled our 120 degree cooked bodys. After pictures and a minute or two to take it all in, we left for Indian Garden. We had 9 miles of up hill hiking ahead, in 120 degrees. We went as fast as we could, we reached Alex in 45 minutes. Dan then decided to try and run up the trail, so Alex and I bid farewell and began our slow assent. This was a difficult thing to do; it was the hardest thing that I have ever done. We all got mild heat stroke and set to cure it with pizza, lots of pizza. Next stop, sleeping under the stars and an early drive to Rocky Mountain National Park in the morning.

Friday, June 2, 2000

The drive from Northern Arizona to Utah and Colorado was the most beautiful drive so far. The highway weaved through river canyons and across mountain passes. Once in central Colorado, the snow capped Rockies were the skyline. We left the car to have snowball fight in the 70 degree weather and just took in the beauty of the state. Colorado is by far the most scenic state we encountered. The road to the park was very curvy as it climbed 8,000 feet to our campsite. The site was great, but cold. In order to survive our night without the tent, we had to wear every piece of clothing that we had and wrap clothes, or a towel (Dan) over our faces. The sky again made it worthwhile.

Saturday, June 3, 2000

In the light of day we could really appreciate the dramatic beauty of the park. We took a small trial that followed a creek to three different lakes. The end of the hike was at Emerald Lake which nested beneath 3 snow covered angular peaks. The second half of the hike was all in the snow and the weather at that altitude (10,000 ft) was still great and hovering around 68 degrees. To our amazement was also encountered a marmot, a mix between a ferret and a beaver, kind of. Snow angles and snow ball fights followed soon after. We ended our day with mission impossible the movie; not bad. Then we really ended our day with a campfire, smores and beer; the last night outdoors - done right!

Sunday, June 4, 2000

Today was a long drive. We planed to drive to Chicago a 19-hour performance and well…we were too young to get a room. We found this out at 4:00 AM in a rainy Chicago. So… we drove on, fuck Chicago. The worst part was that I tried to drive really slowly, 50 mph, during my shift so that we would get there at a more agreeable time. No use. Boo Chicago.

Monday, June 5, 2000