Normal America

Well I just about got everything packed. Gotta go to pick up snacking food, case of bottled water, and a couple of packs of ice for the cooler before I leave though. Pretty much from here on out I am gonna be updating from here whenever I can. I'll update next, when I am able to, maybe with some pictures.

(Note: Pictures have been uploaded an linked)

Ok, so far I have done a crapload of driving and the most I have had time to do other then that is sleep. I was gonna post some stuff last night but, alas Motel 6 doesn't have internet, anyway the breakdown:

Saturday:
I woke up late and left about 5 hours later then had planned. Passed through Louisville, which I was use to that. Then I drove and drove and drove. Saw a school bus graveyard midway. Craploads of school busses just spaced out sitting there, some gutted I think, it was kinda eerie I guess. I eventually got into St. Louis posted an audio log on livejournal, and well drove some more, drove by a car that looked like it had been recently blown up, singe marks were on the doors, least from what I could see, police were there, I can only guess what that might have been about, probably nothing. Missouri was just ,well long, and kinda weirded me out with the numerous bodies of water I kept driving by on the road through there. Kansas was a different matter, by the time I was getting near Topeka I think it was already close to 10 or 11pm our time. I was tired but, would have kept going....then the sleet came. I am determined as much as the next guy but; sleet+really freakin tired= staying at the Motel 6 in Topeka, KS. So I caught the tail end of Saturday night Adult Swim and pretty much that was it for Saturday.

Sunday:
This was the mother of all drives. I drove from Topeka, KS to Beaver, UT. After this drive I have decided to NOT go back that way. Imagine the worst driving conditions possible and you might have a slight idea of what I drove through today. Kansas was well boring, after a point I kept saying to myself: "Am I ever gonna get out of this freaking state or what". Course in retrospect I should have shut up cause a couple of hours later getting close to Colorado, craploads of hail for about 10 or 20 minutes. The drive from Topeka to Denver, CO was kinda uneventful which given what happened next was probably a good thing. So I drive through Denver (which is very reminscent of Cincinnati by the way) and eventually I start getting near the Rocky Mountains . These mountains are beautiful, I mean there are just one of those things you gotta see, their size alone just makes you go, DAMN THOSE ARE BIG. The pictures I took of them while driving, just doesn't capture them well enough. Twenty minutes or so I forget about the awe inspiring mountains and start cursing them and every driver near me. Two words for you folks: Winter Conditions. Apparently me being the idiot I am, I didn't think about you know, the snow on the mountains, and the possibilty I'd actually have to drive through the snow. My car is barely getting up this mountain side, transmission just straight up is working hard but with little success. Pretty much when I saw I was running low on gas I said. SCREW IT. I pulled over at the nearest gas station on the mountain, filled up with some gas and I guess did the whole, "Dude it's just snow, calmness, you drive as slow as you want, screw the other drivers if they got a problem, they can just pass you". After about another half hour of driving, hands gripped tightly around the wheel, I was able again, to enjoy the awesomeness that is the Rockies. Something I didn't know, those mountains are spread out over a freaking wide-ass area. I drove for almost 2 to 3 hours through them. It was around 7 or 8pm (our time), when I started to get into Utah more. The last leg of the trip was well a tad spooky. Mind you up until now I had been driving since 9am our time with little to any stops, with the exception of Gas/Bathroom pit stops. So till now I have been driving about 10 hours, which is pretty much what I drove the day before. I put the pedal to the metal and got out of the Rocky Mountains only to see them transition into rocky ranges. I knew what was coming up, red rock, very cool rock formations. Alas, it was night already. Knowing I was gonna miss some of the coolest parts of US Western landscapes, I was determined to get to Las Vegas, or at the very least get pretty freaking close. As the drive progressed I kept noticing little signs that weren't exactly making me feel at ease driving in the desert at night. "Dust Storm", "Icy Roads", etc. I am not quite sure but I think for about 10 or 20 miles I drove through a dust storm/ice storm. I do know I freaked or for the first 5 minutes, as the car slid all over the road, after a point though I just reminded myself, no hurry, just drive slow, eventually it let up. I was happy when the roads and the storm or whatever it was let up. I'd seen a lot of other cars that had gone off the road, and looked like they were getting assistance. I felt bad about not stopping to help but, in retrospect what could I have done, my car was about as useful as theirs, the ony difference being I drove, really freaking slow, so I wouldn't slide around. My cell phone was acting wonky the whole way so I am not even sure I could have even called anybody to help them. Anyway. I drove a couple more hours till I got to Beaver, UT. Why Beaver, UT? Cause after the I-15 Junction, it was the closest place with a hotel. I wanted to drive into Vegas and get a room but, I figured I would have ended up getting in at like 5am, and what good would that have been I would have slept all of Monday and got nothing done. So I checked into this Super 8 Motel, it has internet, a bed, and a shower, so I can't complain too much. I have been missing the internet a lot. I am about 4 hours give or take, from Las Vegas. I figure tommorrow I'll get there, see what I can see then check into a hotel there, and enjoy the Vegas night life. Well it's getting late and I gotta make an online reservation somewhere and plan some other things out before I get some sleep. I'll update this journal entry with some pictures when I can.

Got into Las Vegas early today. Hotel check in wasn't until about 3pm, and I had give or take 1hr an a half to kill, so I parked in the hotel parking lot and walked to Bally's Casino. As a time killer casinos are great. I played the slots and more or less came out with about what I started with, I have never been lucky when it comes to gambling, I'm just happy enough that I just about broke even. I think later on I might walk to the Bellagio an see what their casino is like. Tonight I'll probably spend an hour or two at the blackjack tables. I was going to go see Penn & Teller at the Rio but, yeah 75 bucks a seat. I like Penn & Teller but, I also like not being broke. I wanna check out the whole Area 51 thing but, timewise it's just not looking likely. Next time I take a trip I need to take two weeks off instead of one, then I'll have more time to stop and see stuff. Tommorrow I am probably gonna get up early so I can get to the Grand Canyon around sunrise. I figure it'll be cool to see the Grand Canyon at first break and, I'll get a head start on my driving. Pretty much the game plan is tommorrow: see the Grand Canyon and get to San Antonio,TX other then that, that's it. I'll post some more pictures on here later. To see the ones I already posted click on the links in the below entry, a pop-up window should appear with the image in it. Normally I'd have found a way to just put them on the page but, it's my vacation and that means extra work, lol. Later

Ok well I left San Antonio at around 10am their time and just got back here in Frankfort 10 or 20 minutes ago, the clock on the computer showing 4:35 AM!!!. I'll post what the heck has been going on tommorrow, you know AFTER I SLEEP. I guess in this sense it's a good thing I have run out of minutes on my phone, that way I won't be woken up by any calls, I would think. Anyway, tommorrow I'll post what happened on the rest of the trip, hasta.

Well the trip ended officially Fri. morning at 4:35AM. A lot of stuff happened over the last two or three days.

Las Vegas: Great city but, if you stay there bring lots of cash. The Bellagio was really nice. I looked around the place and thought, now THIS is what a casino should look like. Very swank, I did not stay here as it is SOOO out of my price range but, yeah the place is very cool. The water fountain show outside it is neat but, it's like Stonehenge you see it and then after you see it your like, ok where to next. Bally's was a nice place to gamble in as well, mostly I played the slots which FYI apparently the newer 10s didn't work in them. I wanted to see Penn & Teller at the Rio casino but sadly 75 bucks at that point was a lot of cash, if I wanted to get back to KY, partly with what I had left. The weather was nice but, the freaking wind chill, brr. If you go to Las Vegas ever, walk up and down the strip it's something to experience.

Hoover Dam: ... ok I took pictures as I drove over it. I just didn't see the point in stopping here and taking a tour. I think at this point I just wanted to have a somewhat smooth drive that didn't seem as rough as that hour or so I spent in the Rockies (LOL, little did I know what was coming up next.). I just didn't stop here, I just took some pictures while I drove over it.

Grand Canyon (yes it's a city look it up yo): So despite the fact that I was running into snow and ice, I stubbornly traveled still all the way to the Grand Canyon to find that the view I got was mostly just white, lol, oh and I was very cold once or twice while trying to take pictures. Next time I won't be so stubborn about going to see something when there is ice/snow coming down so bad that even driving at 20 mph your car is slipping and slidding.

When I traveled from the Grand Canyon to San Antonio I TRAVELED. This wasn't no 500 mile trek, oh no no, we're talking close to 1,000 miles folks, which is quite a bit different. When I say I didn't really eat much of anything or sleep for almost two days, I mean it. By the time I was getting close to San Antonio the darkness of Tuesday was giving way to the sunrise of Wednesday. I just about got into an accident while in some city, the sun was so blinding at the stop light (sleep deprivation probably didn't help). The rest of the drive to San Antonio I kept having momentary seconds of drifting off.

San Antonio: The moment I got into San Antonio I was awake, big cities will do that, mainly cause of all the other cars around I guess. I spent about a half hour trying to find my friend Kim's place, Mapquest.com is faliable even one time out of three I guess. I thought some of Frankfort's shopping center roads were screwed up, pft, San Antonio's, least in that one section I was in, was confusing. Kim's a cool gal, she was leaving the next day so we just hung out, she took me out to lunch, which considering the lack of food, I was grateful. I would have paid but A.) Knowing her she would have fought me over it and B.) At that point I was hungry and there was no WAY I was gonna turn down a free meal. I got a chance to meet Kim's mom/bro/and sister too, so that was kinda cool. I left there at about 9pm and proceeded to look for the elusive hotel room. I found one which was moderately cheap I guess, it wasn't no 70 or 80 bucks like a lot of the others though, I can tell you that, crap I'd rather sleep in my sleeping bag then pay that. I missed the continenal breakfast that morning by about a half hour, which I was kicking myself for. After leaving the hotel and freaking out over the directions for a little bit, I passed through Austin, Dallas, Nashville, etc. The only times I stopped were 4 or so times for gas, other then that I was determined to get back to Frankfort, and I did, it was around 4:30am but, I DID get back.

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