The Great American Road Trip

where did everything go?

2005-11-29T14:23:00.000-05:00

don't worry, it's all still here... i just moved all of the previous posts over into the archives (just click on the drop-down menu on the right for a complete list of dates from previous posts). this should make it easier to browse through the entries in chronological order... but if it's not let me know and i can switch it back. feel free to use any of the pictures in any of the posts for any non-commercial use, and if you want a copy of the original file let me know and i'd be happy to e-mail it to you

adios to all, thanks for stopping by and making this blog worth doing

i'm already gone...

-noonan-

(last picture. promise.)

the end

2005-11-27T22:05:00.000-05:00

so it’s all over now... the trip is finished, the credits have rolled, the story’s over and everyone’s gone home. but first, a few thank you's:

to dave, for managing to live with me in very close quarters for two months without getting fed up with all my annoying jokes and disgusting habits. for laboring over the van, and creating a "rolling wagon of death" that he let me drive as if it were my own. for being crazy enough to do this trip in the first place. for pretending to know the difference between a shark and a dolphin so we wouldn't have to get out of the ocean. for playing dozens of games of epic duels with me, even though i'm better. for first buying those cheddarwurst sausages that became a dietary staple. for not being afraid of silence. for bringing the "true american" and chopping enough wood everywhere we camped to fuel a bonfire. and for just plain being one of my best friends... couldn't have done the trip without ya. well maybe i could have, but it'd have been awful lonely. so thanks for coming.
to my folks for letting me live at home the past year while saving aside money for this trip. for encouraging me to travel, and to not be afraid to be adventurous. and, for letting me come back home when the trip was over and feeding us lobster. and to my sister, for being wicked awesome and for managing to send me birthday greetings (and even a present!) while i was still on the road. love ya all
to the minotaur, for being a stallion of the open highway. 21,000+ miles go by fast when you're driving a noble steed like the minotaur
to everyone we saw during the trip, thanks for not running away when you saw us coming. it was great to see some old friends during the course of our travels... luke and anna, jesse, ben, all the former guys from marshall (thanks for letting us crash at your house), marta, kristin, uncle bill, and probably a bunch of other people i'm forgetting... but thanks too. and special thanks to the williams family for their hospitality during our weekend back at dave's house.
to the national parks system, for being well-run, affordable (thanks to the national parks pass), and proof that a government-affiliated agency doesn't have to be inept and frivolous with funds
to my l.l. bean hiking boots, which have served me well over the years and most of the way through the trip, until they finally started to fall apart after hiking in colorado. they've been good to me
to God. for blessing us in so many ways during the trip... like just being able to do it in the first place. and dave getting back and off orders just in time for us to leave. for giving us almost picture-perfect weather conditions for the entire trip. for that campground in alaska where we were right by the ocean all by ourselves with all that free firewood. for keeping us safe during all those long days (and nights) on the road. for making the timing so perfect that we had no choice but to go. for this amazing creation he's allowing us to enjoy as an appetizer for heaven's glory. for the friend's he's given me who made this trip worthwhile. for, well, everything... but mostly for His love. it's unexplainable and undeserved, but it's there and i can't deny it's mysterious presence. and for that i'm eternally grateful, because to be Loved is to be known... and to be known and still Loved by the Creator is one of the greatest paradoxical truths of the christian faith. and, too, he kept us safe from the elk, despite their crazed bloodlust for us

you know, the funny part about reminiscing about the trip is that the most memorable parts of the trip are the ones that, on the surface, appear less than spectacular... things like making super-strong mocha in the morning over a roaring campfire. staying up late one night in yellowstone burning the vast quantities of wood we’d gathered and split. playing a board game beneath the st. louis arch. changing a flat tire in the parking lot of the u.s. customs in washington state. listening to every single cd in our collection, including the horrible ones we hadn’t heard in years. living it up to the max every time we stayed at a motel. sitting around in jesse’s apartment in oregon, watching fox reruns on tv, and feeling like things hadn’t changed a bit since we all lived together our senior year. trying to do every hike in half the time we were told it would take. telling corny jokes and seeing dave roll his eyes for the umpteenth time. waking up early and realizing you're making you don't have to be anywhere except where you are and falling back asleep. trying to hit ravens that waddled out after roadkill on the highway. poring over the map at night while planning our next day's travels. pushing the van when we ran out of gas. buying and testing out almost every energy drink known to man. feeling every day like you're living out a dream... because you are. and stuff like that

thanks for following along during our journey. hope the stories weren't too boring or the pictures too corny... but even if they were that's ok, because this was our trip and our story, and to us it'll always be a cherished memory. and if you ever have the chance to chase after a dream, go for it all out. most of the time you end up flat on your face, but when you do finally catch hold of one...

it's priceless.

still rockin' it out on air guitar...

-noonan-

top five trip stuff

2005-11-20T22:37:00.000-05:00

so i have this tendency to make 'top-five' lists (in sort of a weird tribute to john cusack's character from "high fidelity"). and of course, there's plenty of stuff to rehash from an epic, two-month-long trip across north america. so it's long and it's boring and you're probably better off clipping your toenails than reading it, but here it is nonetheless...

top five national parks:

denali. as close to a pure, unspoiled wilderness as you can probably get with a park that gets as many visitors a year as they do. an amazing place for hiking, backpacking, mountaineering, or just animal watching
yosemite. despite the heavy summertime traffic that it gets, this has still got to be one of the top parks to visit. it’s got a little bit of everything... mountains, waterfalls, lakes, rivers, wildlife, you name it. and the best part is, they not only allow it but they encourage you to gather your own firewood. a dream come true for your average axe-wielding pyromaniac
grand canyon. it’s hard to describe how amazing this place was... so you’ll just have to go experience it for yourself. the place literally comes alive with color at sunrise and sunset, and is still magnificently beautiful the rest of the day
rocky mountain. plenty of hiking options ranging from small loop trails to mountain lakes, to attempting to summit longs peak (highest mountain in the park). plus, trail ridge road is dubbed “the highest highway in the world,” so you can climb to over 12,000 ft. in elevation without ever leaving the confines of your car. now that’s the true american spirit :)
yellowstone. slightly overrated, it still deserves mention because of it’s status as being the “grandfather of national parks.” the geysers and hot springs are pretty cool, but they become mundane once you’ve seen them once or twice. the buffalo are everywhere, proving that they’re back to stay now that they don’t have to fear men with guns. but the best part of the park is their liberal firewood collection policy... we gathered up so much deadwood that we had some of the most amazing bonfires during our entire trip in that park. good times indeed

top five scenic routes:

anchorage to homer (alaska). starts off driving alongside turnagain arm, with the chugach mountains rising up right next to the road. winds it’s away across the kenai peninsula, following the kenai river for part of the way, before heading south along the west coast of the peninsula all the way down to homer, where you can drive right to the very end of the homer spit. mountains, ocean, lakes, rivers, you name it... it’s here and it’s gorgeous
banff to jasper (alberta, canada). banff national park is one of the prettiest places you’ll ever see. only downfalls are that it’s in canada, and it costs sixteen dollars to drive through. it’s worth the money, but whether it’s worth going to canada just to see is a whole other question. nonetheless... “it’s got lots of trees. it’s pretty.”
coos bay (oregon) to eureka (california). this was our first taste of the pacific coast, and it was pretty impressive. pacific ocean and redwoods... not a bad combo
sonora to lee vining (california). route 108 takes you through the sonora pass... it feels a bit more like a mule trail than a road at times because of all the winding switchbacks, but it's as gorgeous a drive as any we saw during the trip, finishing up with a stellar view of mono lake before it winds back around into yosemite national park
estes park to granby (colorado). highest paved highway in the u.s. goes through the heart of rocky mountain national park. impressive? you bet.

top five cd’s. this was a difficult category to choose from, since we probably had a couple hundred cd’s in our combined music collections that we listened to over the course of the trip. but these stood out as quality tunes that kept us rocking while on the road:

mesmerize, by wheezer. great tunes, easy to sing along to if you’re so inclined, and we played “beverly hills” when we were actually in beverly hills, so that made this cd an instant classic with that feat alone
brace yourself for the mediocre, by roper. nothing like some self-proclaimed ‘false metal’ to keep you company while driving. “say sayonara to sad goodbyes”
best of van halen, by (duh) van halen. wasn’t a huge fan of theirs going into the trip, but dave got me on their bandwagon with this sweet collection. we would play “jump” whenever we thought we were close to running out of gas, to give the minotaur a little bit of an extra adrenaline rush to make it to the next gas station. almost always worked
the everglow, by mae. this is the sort of cd you can listen to three times in a row and not realize it... not because it’s a boring cd, but because it’s so great and it’s easy listening and it flows real well. if you haven’t heard it, you should. really. stop reading this worthless rambling post, buy the cd, and listen to it. either that or have some ice cream, especially if it’s got chocolate and peanut butter in it. mmmm....
apathetic, relient k. we probably could have put any of their cd’s in this list, but this was their new one that dave and i both just got and it’s really good. plus we just saw them in concert, which was wickedly awesomely radically amazing. i’d throw in more superlatives, but that’d just be silly

top five road trip movies

arrested development, season 2. hilarious show, which appealed to both our sense of humor. plus it helped pass some long hours driving while we were watching it
bottle rocket. this is a “hate it or love it” type movie. probably 99.9% of the world hates it... but we loved it. “Here are just a few of the key ingredients: dynamite, pole vaulting, laughing gas, choppers - can you see how incredible this is going to be? - hang gliding, come on!” and the yellow jump suits are just too much
canadian bacon. never thought i’d love a michael moore film... but i do. mostly because it has john candy in it and it pokes fun at canada almost nonstop. best watched while in canada... makes it even more hilarious
it’s a mad, mad, mad, mad world. one of the best comedies ever. period. made even better by the fact that we were in california while we watched it, and tried to find out if there might perhaps be a “big W” still around somewhere (there wasn’t)
lord of the rings. this would be at #1, except for the fact that i left behind/lost/forgot to bring disc 1 from ‘return of the king,’ so we were working our way through the trilogy and loving it (we felt like we were living in middle earth at times, with some of the scenery we were hiking through in alaska) until i opened up the case... and there it was, gone. crushing. that’s the best one, too. and i still haven’t found it... yet.

top five pictures. this was really hard to whittle down to five... but here we go:

1. this is pretty much our favorite picture ever. which would explain why it's at #1. top of mt. margaret, denali national park, alaska

2. we cut up my too-short pair of sweatpants into pirate pants. and now, they're pretty much the coolest pants ever... i'm actually wearing them right now. adding to this picture is the fact that dave's wearing the hewn-off pant leg as a hat, and i have an eye patch on over the goggles. i think we took this in yellowstone
3. grand canyon national park. we hiked down to a spot called 'skeleton point,' so of course i had to bring my pirate flag along with me. skeleton = pirates = awesome.
4. this is especially poignant because we got to camp right at this spot... probably a couple hundred feet from where dave took this picture. plus that's a snow-capped volcano in the center, which i think is cool

5. this is actually one of the worst pictures taken on the entire trip. so why is it in here? because i was so excited that i managed to get a shot of the space needle while we were in the midst of traffic in seattle, that when i saw it i yelled out "bingo!" then dave saw it and he pointed out that it's a pretty horrid picture, with the huge abuttment sticking into it and the guardrail at the bottom. nevertheless, for the rest of the trip, whenever we managed to get a tricky shot we'd utter the classic line of "bingo!" so there you have it

top five videos. another hard lot to choose from... mostly because few people would understand the humor of the majority of the videos, because you had to be there. nonetheless, here's my stab at sorting out the cream of the crop (just click on the links if you want to view them, as well as get a brief description of the video)

canadian customs. "pat, do we look like criminals?" the obvious answer to that is a resounding yes
that's no moon. and that's no acting, either. nonetheless, this is a favorite of ours, because we planned our trip to include orlando just so we could fulfill this dream of ours... mocking the epcot center
stuck in the sand. yes we drove down onto the beach... why? because we could. and because we were pretty sure we could drive back out. we eventually got out after some pushing and creative driving... but not before filming this initial attempt
swimming in alaska. watch me try to get the shirt off my head... high comedy. and that's glacier-fed water there, folks, which probably put it at a steamy 32.0001 degrees farenheit
out of our class. the absolute best part of this is dave's face at the very end. priceless

top five meals

seafood dinner, maine. not only did it mark the end of the trip, but it was a darn good meal. lobster, clams, scallops, blueberry pie... so good. fitting conclusion to the trip
outback steakhouse, somewhere near south calrsbad, california. after spending all day riding waves, we were tired and hungry. so we decided to treat ourselves to a real meal at a restaraunt, and we got some amazingly good steaks here. we ate appetizers and steak and everything we could get our hands on until we were so full and content, we almost spent the night right there in the booth
taco bell, anchorage, alaska. we had little to eat aside from granola bars all day long, and had a full day of hiking in kenai fjords national park as well as a longish drive back to anchorage, so we were starved... and got 28 dollars worth of food for ourselves. and ate it all. wrap your mind around that for a second... that's a lot of tacos, quesadillas, burritos, chalupas, and i can't even remember what else. it was epic
pizza hut, fairbanks alaska. our first night in a hotel after pretty much a week of straight driving and living in the van... so we lived it up to the max. that pizza tasted so good
grilled cheese sandwiches, hot dogs, and chili, yosemit national park. this meal stands out from amidst all our quality campfire cooking, because we stretched it out into the night while we kept a roaring fire going all the while. spent the day hiking, and finished it off with a frigid dip in a lake, so we were cold and hungry when we got back to the campsite... this meal cured both of those problems, with the help of one of our trademark campfires

top five trip-related purchases

national parks pass. not only did it save us close to a hundred dollars in admission fees, but it made us feel like VIP's. plus, after seeing just how amazing our national parks system is, i'm glad that i was able to help support it in some small way with my purchase
bodyboards. easier that surfing, but probably just as much fun for someone who's just starting to mess with bigger waves. plus we plan on using them many times in the future. some of the best days on the trip were when we were just camping in cali, lounging around by the beach, and spending every minute we could in the waves. all thanks to the bodyboards
can opener. this sounds like a no-brainer... but we forgot to bring one. kind of a good thing to have when you live off of things like tuna fish, clam chowder, and chili for extended periods
stereo cable. one cable and connector we got let us pump audio directly from either my laptop or ipod into the stereo in the van. once we managed to get it hooked up right, it worked like a charm
dave's boots. he didn't have a good pair of hiking boots for the first part of the trip (just sneakers), so we were searching for a quality pair for him once we got back into the states. finally found a real nice pair in his price range in spokane, washington. that town was good to us... we also picked up some sweet gonzaga shorts out there, as well as an extra copy of epic duels for dave and the sweat pants which i later turned into pirate pants. but the boots were the most important thing for the trip... dave wore them almost non-stop for a while, he loved them so much

top five wildlife encounters

california condor, grand canyon. we walked by almost close enough to touch it, and definitely close enough for it to peck our eyeballs out. pretty wild (you can watch the video here)
big huge moose, alaska. i've seen my share of moose before, but never one this big. it was massive. enormous. awesomely huge. and it crossed the road right in front of us
elk, everywhere. they're a pretty imposing looking creature... have that "dont' mess with me or else i'll gore you" look to them. we saw plenty of them on our way to and from alaska, as well as at other points during the trip. we're still not entirely sure why they didn't kill us... they sure looked ready and able most of the time
buffalo, yellowstone. they've gone from threatened species to having complete run of the park. they say you're not supposed to get close to them, but it's hard not to when they surround you when you sit down to wait for old faithful. they're huge, have horns, look mean, and they supposedly can run 30 m.p.h. in other words, "look but don't touch"
something that might have been a shark, california. swimming in the ocean, you see a rather large fin pass by maybe 30-40 feet away. wouldn't you fear the worst? after re-examining the encounter, we think it might actually have been a dolphin... but nonetheless, it was creepy enough that when a fish brushed against my leg afterwards, i nearly jumped straight out of the water

and i'm probably forgetting a couple categories that dave and i had thought up, but that's ok, because it's bedtime.

coming up next... the conclusion, or summary, or whatever it should be called.but it'll be the last post on this blog, at which point i'll switch back to my old one so i can save this as a sort of journal/outline/photbook of the trip. in otherwords, this is almost done. just like the trip. and belive me... it's really weird to be done with something that epic and just be back at home now, looking for work, and back to the "normal" life. but more on that later

out like the '90s...

-noonan-

videos

2005-11-18T12:24:00.000-05:00

they're all uploaded and viewable online... and i'm not gonna lie, they're pretty worthless for the most part. sure, there's a few humorous gems in there, but the majority are probably unwatchable to the majority of the world (with the obvious exception of dave and myself, who laugh at pretty much every single one). so if you haven't seen any yet, or you have but haven't caught up with our complete collection, you can watch them online just as easy as clicking here. or not. or, whatever.

coming this weekend (sometime)... a "top five trip extravaganza." so stay tuned

all the mcdonalds in the area are giving away free coffee... i may not sleep until their promotion ends. mmm, caffeine...

one cool panorama to end the day (from crater lake national park, oregon)

-noonan-

lobsters and chiggers

2005-11-17T17:00:00.000-05:00

i realized that i've been a little behind the curve as far as posting pictures, so i'll try and remember to upload a few at the end of the post. anyhow, it feels more than a little weird to be back home, by myself, and trying to piece together the last week or so... but here we go anyways:

had a good last couple of days in florida... stayed at a campground at sebastian inlet, right on the coast. the beach there is supposed to be one of the better spots for catching waves in the state, so we were hoping to get some good last rides on our bodyboards before heading back north to our colder climates. the first day we were there (thursday of last week) there wasn't anything really for surf, so we just swam some and looked for cool shells along the beach. then friday morning we got up early to catch the tide when it was lower, and the waves were pretty good... not as great as they were out in cali, but some good rides nonetheless. spent the better part of the morning in the water, then packed up camp and headed north on I-95

we spent friday night at a wal-mart in south carolina, and then woke up saturday morning to realize that we had been attacked the past night. apparently there's these things down in florida (and most of the south, for that matter) called "chiggers," and they like to feast on human flesh. we figure we had put our tent right in a war zone, and got bit some when we were sleeping in florida, but we got absoutely savaged by the hordes of chiggers that must have lodged themselves in our sleeping bags, clothes, and van. (for more info on chiggers, click here. they're sort of disgustingly fascinating)

dave and i were both covered with bites... i probably had a couple hundred miniscule, yet incredibly itchy small red bite marks, and dave had just a bit less than me. armed with a hatred fueled by itchiness and annoyance, we decided to wage an all-out war on the vermin. as soon as we woke up and realized that we'd been turned into chigger chew-toys, we marched into wal-mart and bought all the chemicals we could find that we figured would halt them in their tracks. at this point we didn't even know who our adversary was... it wasn't until some later research that we discovered that we had fallen prey to the dreaded chiggers of the south. nonetheless, we proceeded to spray down everything that we could with raid, and sprayed ourselves down with it too to thwart any future attempts on our life

our original plan was to drive up to the outer banks of north carolina and spend a day or two there, but we modified our plans and instead crashed at a hotel in n.c. for saturday night, right off of I-95. we were itching (literally) to set off a bug-bomb in the van to take care of any chiggers that might have survived the first attack, but we needed to be out of the van for 3-4 hours while we set the spray bomb off and then waited for the chemicals to settle down and decompose. plus the thought of a shower was pretty tantalizing, as well as one last chance to live it up in a hotel. so we found one, stayed there, bombed the van, took showers, and pizza, and enjoyed not being eaten by chiggers (although we still itched)

we felt sort of worn out from that whole episode, so after some thought we decided to head back north to maine on sunday so we could wash all our clothes and bedding, and enjoy a few days of relaxation back home before dave had to drive back to ohio. so we spent all day sunday driving, and got back into wonderful maine ealry monday a.m. one big downer of the day was that i somehow lost my cellphone... which is a major "aaarrrgghhh." i think i might have left it on top of the van when we left the motel, in which case i'm pretty sure it's smashed to smithereens by now. so i was wondering where it was for part of the day, then tore apart the van looking for it (of course, didn't notice it was missing until we'd been on the road for 4-5 hours). so that was sort of hanging over my head most of the day... still is, cause they're sort of expensive to replace as well as getting one re-activated. but oh well... such is life

it felt great to be back in maine after so long away... we quaffed the ceremonial moxie upon crossing the border back into the state, and then crashed for a long and restful nights sleep. monday we pretty much hung around the house... did tons of laundry down at the laundromat, enjoyed some dunkin donuts coffee, and grilled up some steak for supper. it was real good to see the folks again... sometimes you don't really realize how much you missed someone until you see them again. tuesday we spent driving most of the day... we went up the coast, drove through acadia national park briefly, and then all the way up into lubec. at that point, we sort of brought the trip to a conclusion of sorts by having been to the westernmost and easternmost points in the u.s. that are accessible by road. not a bad accomplishment for a couple of scruffy hobos

yesterday was a little bit hectic... drove out to west rockport to visit some relatives of dave's, then stopped in at ll bean for a while before crashing back at the house for a brief nap. my allergies kicked up into hyperdrive over the weekend, so i was feeling pretty drained from that as well as some travel-intensive days over the past week. but then wednesday night was fantastic, because of the seafood smorgasbord extravaganza we had for a combined birthday/end-of-the-trip celebration. we had lobster, scallops, clams, coleslaw, blueberry pie and ice cream, and either apple cider or moxie for a beverage. it was awesome. big thanks to mom and dad for the treat... we got 2lb lobsters, which were huge! it was a fitting way to end the trip

so now it's over... we unpacked and sorted out our stuff from the van, and then dave left this morning. he's on his way back home to ohio now, and i've just been chilling around the house today, trying to unpack and sort out all of my clothes and gear. oh yeah, and trying to figure out what to do with my life. fun stuff like that

some pics from the last few days...

we took these this morning, wearing all our similar/identical t-shirts that we have. i guarantee that there is no other person in the world who has as similar a t-shirt selection as myself than dave. we call this series, "the many faces of pat and dave"...

the main course for our seafood feast: monstrous lobsters

the battleground is set for our all-out epic duel, which we played last night to conclude our ongoing gaming session of the past couple months:

some pretty fishing village on the coast... i forget which one

view from the top of cadillac mountain (in acadia national park)

west quoddy head, maine. as far east in the u.s. as you can drive. it's overcast and it was hailing out, but it's still a gorgeous spot

the blog isn't done... some more posts this weekend, including the "best of the trip" awards and a "top five" road trip summary. and maybe some reflections and thoughts on lessons learned or something deep like that... but probably not.

'it's nice to be home, but it sure feels weird'

-noonan-

the end is here

2005-11-13T10:30:00.000-05:00

well, almost...

we decided to start making our way back to maine today, instead of waiting until the middle of the week as originally planned. we got attacked by chiggers while down in florida, so we're itchy and we need to give the van and all our clothes and bedding a thorough cleaning to make sure we rid ourselves of those annoying little buggers. plus it'll be nice to be back home and have a couple of days to relax and unwind and tool around maine before dave heads back home.

so this is it...

the beginning of the end

last full day of travel, hopefully make it to maine by tonight

last night in a hotel

last pizza feast in a hotel

last alot of stuff.

but it's all good... it's been a great ride. can't have asked for a better time, or better weather or circumstances or anything. we've been really blessed by the Lord with an awesome two months that we'll remember forever, and for that we're extremely grateful

it's not over yet... but it sure is close

catch y'all on the flip side

-noonan-

going to battle

2005-11-12T22:25:00.000-05:00

so... we're in north carolina.

and we itch.

and it's all because of chiggers. and florida.

this means war...

chemical warfare, to be precise

but first, pizza and sleep. this last night in a hotel must be enjoyed to the max

florida

2005-11-10T11:44:00.000-05:00

i apologize for the long hiatus between posts... we’ve been doing some pretty hardcore traveling, interspersed with some quality visits with friends/family. here’s a rundown of the last week and change (hard to believe it’s been that long since i last got online... time sure flies by)...

last sunday, we left colorado and cut through a corner of new mexico before crossing into texas and then oklahoma. we ran into some excitement right around the colorado/n.m. border when we ran out of gas on the highway, which of course happened right after we passed a town with plenty of gas stations (we were being picky about what price we’d fill up at). upset with our obstinate stupidity, we proceeded to try and push the van to a gas station a little over a mile away. we had a full can of gas in the van, but refused to use it until we had exhausted our abilities trying to get to the gas station on our own power. well, we pushed the van for about half a mile (part uphill) before calling it quits and sloshing some gas into the tank to make it to the station. it was an excellent cardiovascular workout, and an even greater adventurous challenge, so that made for an enjoyable time

we were hoping to get ourselves a nice steak dinner while going through texas, but by the time we were hungry that evening we couldn’t find a single open steakhouse during our entire sojurn through the upper regions of the state (armarillo area). quite disappointing. so we ended up settling for a taco bell steak sampler... we got as many things on their menu as we could that had steak in them. and we were full, and happy, and glad that we found an open place to eat in oklahoma (ooooooo-klahoma!). we spent the night at an oklahoma city wal-mart, then did some laundry at a local laundromat that had free dryers! what a deal. plus, clean clothes are always a nice thing to indulge oneself in every now and again while on the road

monday we didn’t cover a ton of distance, because we took some time to do laundry and also enjoyed a leisurely lumch at an amazing mcdonalds... they had several big-screen tv’s with different stations like espn, cnn, etc. showing. it was a cool place to hang... almost as nice as the one we saw in colorado springs that had leather couches and telephones in the booths. i’m lovin’ it... but not the food. you can only take so much mcd’s into your system before the body starts to revolt. i think i maxed out sometime in the last week or so... no more for me for awhile.

another wal-mart a little south of little rock, arkansas served for our nighttime parking needs monday night, and we also got the oil changed in the van and played some epic duels in the mcdonalds there before crashing for the night. tuesday was a full day of driving, as we headed to the southeast corner of arkansas, crossed through a sliver of louisiana, and then headed east into and north through mississippi up into memphis, tennessee where we spent the night at a campground just north of the city. nothing really exciting to report, except that we almost got lost in the campground trying to find our site and drove around for probably an hour before we finally figured out where we were supposed to go. classic

wednesday we drove north into st. louis... a pretty easy day altogether. we stopped at a burger king for breakfast (wake up with the king) and got their “meatnormous omelet sandwich.” it lived up to it’s name... very good. b.k. is a quality fast food joint, and they have a hilariously creepy ad campaign with that burger king with the oversized head. quality stuff. we stopped to see the gateway arch in st. louis, which was very impressive. we didn’t ride up in it because it seemed like it was too expensive and would take too long, but we did browse around in the very cool museum underneath the arch for awhile, then played some epic duels outside right next to the arch. and believe me, in an environment like that, it was an epic duel. spent the night at yet another wal-mart just a little east of st. louis, somewhere in illinois

thursday we drove across ilinois and indiana and into ohio, where we spent the night at cedarville. it was a pretty awesome time... we saw luke f. walking by when we pulled into campus, and ended up getting together with him, kristin, and dave’s sister kim for supper at fazoli’s. afterwards we went over to an off-campus house where a bunch of guys i know reside, and hung out there and showed our pictures and stories from the road and generally had a blast. it’s always great to get together with old friends and spend some quality time, so it was an all-around superb evening. a big thanks to gabe, isaac, mark, johnathan, jeff, and anyone else who i forgot who lives there, for letting us crash your pad for the night. your hospitality and friendship are much appreciated

dave and i actually went to chapel on friday before heading up north to his house for the weekend... it was pretty cool to be back in our old haunts, sitting in our usual seats and realizing that time goes by rather quickly but some things never really change all that much. cedarville is one of those places where you can show up after not having been there for a while and you feel that you could slide right back into the college existence no problem. it was good to be back... but even better to swing by our old familiar hardee’s in springfield for some thickburgers before driving up to cleveland. we ate there so much our senior year, that the manager actually gave us some complimentary hardee’s t-shirts at the end of the year, which we still wear with pride today

after hardee’s, we made it up to south amherst (about 40 minutes west of cleveland) where dave’s family lives and crashed their for the weekend. it was really great to spend time with his family and get to know them better... they’re a really tight-knit family, and i can see why dave is always pumped when he gets a chance to see them. dave had guard duty on saturday, so i ended up getting together with luke h. for the day. we played some flag football with some friends of his saturday morning, where i saw ben for the first time since he got back form iraq, so that was pretty sweet (even though he burned me for a touchdown once... a fact which i’m sure he will lord over me for the rest of my life). he, luke, anna and i spent the afternoon playing games and hanging out until dave rolled into town once he got off of guard duty, at which point dave and i headed into cleveland for the relient k concert at the house of blues.

the concert rocked our faces off. almost literally. dave hadn’t been to an intense show like this before, so when we were down amidst the throngs of people jamming to the music during one of the first opening acts, he wasn’t sure at first whether we’d both come out of the place alive... but we did, and had a blast. i got thrown down onto the floor at one point, and i was floundering around and trying to get back up while being stepped on and crushed by all the people... i finally worked my way back to the surface, and dave had this wide-eyed look on his face, like “what have we gotten ourselves into?!?” but when he saw the crazy grin on my face we both got right back into the groove of things. it was probably the most intense concert i’ve ever been to... so many people (the place was sold-out and jam-packed with people), and i felt like i had been run over by a dump truck at the end of the night form crashing into so many other bodies. the next day i was really stiff and sore, and i’ve still got a couple of sweet bruises from wayward elbows and hands that found their way into my ribs and back, but it was one of the most incredible concerts i’ve ever been to. the two opening bands were pretty good, and then mxpx came out and rocked out hardcore. and then relient k came out... and they were awesome. one of the best live shows i’ve seen. music was great, crowd was so into them, and it was just crazy. loved it. dave and i both got t-shirts after the show to commemorate the night, which will probably get heavy rotation in our t-shirt lineup for pretty much the rest of our lives, it was such an awesome time

sunday dave had guard duty again, so i spent the day with his family. went to church sunday morning, had lunch, and then watched football till dave got back. the browns won, which i guess is a pretty rare occasion, so dave’s brother luke was convinced it was because of my presence that they were spurred on to victory. who knows... but i was watching the game, and they won, so draw your own conclusions. went out to eat at ryan’s, which is a pretty awesome buffet restaurant that’s around in the midwest. ate steak, other tasty treats, and then won the ice-cream sundae sculpture contest (although luke has filed an official protest with the league over the judge’s voting results). good times

monday we slept in, shot off some fireworks we had picked up earlier in our travels (at boomland! in missouri) and killed a raccoon. the two events were unrelated, but both were immensely entertaining. being born and bred in maine, i haven’t had the opportunity to blow my fingers off with fireworks before, so i gave it an unsuccessful attempt... but alas, my fingers and hands remain intact. it was tons of fun, though. we waited until late monday night to shoot off a couple of big dogs we got, but the rest we fired off at various points during the day. monday evening dave and i both went over to luke and anna’s apartment, and ben came over too, so we had a grand old time of it... showed our pics from the trip, played plenty of epic duels, and feasted on pizza and soda

we hit the road again on tuesday morning and made it down to pensacola, florida by the end of the day, where we got together with one of my best friends from growing up, david b. we got some food at denny’s and hung out for awhile before we bid our adieu... too short a time, but great to see him nonetheless. crashed at a wal-mart for the night, and then drove down to orlando on wednesday where we drove through disney world and then spent the night near the coast, where we find ourselves today (thursday). we’re gonna try and hit up the beach today, but only after a quick tour of cape canaveral, which is just a stone’s throw away from where we are now. so we’ll probably stay in the area for a day or two, hopefully catch some waves and log some quality beach time, and enjoy the warm weather (sunny with a high of 75) before heading back north into the wintery wonderland of the northeast

the past week or so has been a bit different from the majority of our travels, because we’ve spent more time visiting with friends and families than seeing grand mountainous landscapes or beautiful beaches or other amazing sight. but it’s been just as amazing a time as any time period during our trip... i consider the friends that i have to be one of the single biggest blessings that God has given to me, and it’s always such a treat to be able to see them and spend some quality times reliving past moments of hilarity and also sharing what’s been going on in life as of late. to everyone i’ve seen over the past few days... the gang in cedarville, the williams family, luke and anna, ben, david, and anyone else i forgot... thanks for the friendships that never need rekindling, for your hospitality, and for all you’ve meant to me over the years. and to everyone who we haven’t gotten to see during the trip, you’re not excluded by any means... there’s just too many people scattered around the globe for us to stop by and see everybody in just one sojurn :) but yeah... i have some great friends. so thanks

oh, and i’m 24 now. now dave can’t lord his superior age over me any longer, as we’re both the same age. i almost forgot it was my birthday, but my family of course reminded me with birthday wishes and songs and stuff like that. 24 is cool, i think. it’s always been my favorite number, so now that i’m that age maybe i’m due for some stroke of good fortune or something. we’ll see

no real pictures to share from the past couple weeks... not a whole lot that’s been picture-worthy. sorry.

to the beach....

-noonan-

2005-11-09T22:22:00.000-05:00

we're in florida

it's warm

i'll finally get a real update on here tomorrow. promise.

that's all for now

a brief interlude

2005-11-02T21:30:00.000-05:00

this'll be quick since it's bedtime...

swinging through cedarville tomorrow-friday morning. give me a holler via e-mail if you know me and want to get together. and if you don't and don't, then forget i mentioned it
dave's house this weekend... getting together with luke h. on saturday, relient k concert (maybehopefullyisurehopeitworksout) saturday night, then hanging around the area until tuesday morning, when we head south for...
FLORIDA

today i ate a meatnormous omelet sandwich at b.k., and it was good. and we saw the arch in st. louis, which was even better. and that's all.

i visited my 43rd state today (missouri)... only seven more to go and i'll have completed one of my life goals. now i just need to figure out a way to drive to hawaii...

or, like, whatever

weekend update

2005-10-30T09:42:00.000-05:00

since we're getting ready to hit the road, here's a short and sweet update (reader's digest style)

yellowstone: pretty cool. lots of buffalo. had some great campfires. hot springs smell like sulphur. sulphur smells really nasty. old faithful cool but overrated. buffalo everywhere. lake, river and canyon gorgeous. did i mention that there's lots of buffalo? they think they own the road, and the park. started snowing and raining thursday, so we headed south without getting to do any real hiking in yellowstone or the grand tetons. only drove through grand teton national park. huge mountains... very pretty

colorado: mountains are beautiful. rocky mountain national park: amazing. road goes over a mountain pass 12,000 feet high. hiked deer mountain, our first climb to a peak over 10,000 ft. focus on the family felt like cedarville. saw the world premiere of "lord of the beans" (new veggie tales movie). felt out of place and too old, but enjoyed the visit anyhow. drank slushies at whits end... dave tried to order a "whit-sized" slushie. but those are only for ice cream. garden of the gods was pretty... but arches national park has the same stuff, except bigger and better. mountain range to the west overlooks colorado springs and denver... very pretty. thought about driving up pikes peak, but it would've cost 20 dollars. so that's a big negative. hotel last night, living it up with the extra hour we get because of the time change. good times. driving south through new mexico and into texas today, but laundry needs to be done first

we'll be back in ohio next weekend (dave has guard duty). might stop in cedarville either thursday or the next monday... but we'll see. stay tuned for details.

the end.

wyoming and colorado

2005-10-30T08:58:00.000-05:00

who looks scruffier... dave or the buffalo?
colorful rock formation

old faithful doing it's thing

dave the lumberjack splitting up some wood

we cut up my too-short pair of sweatpants and made them into some sweet pirate pants. it's hard to see, but i'm also wearing an eye patch over my goggles. dave's sweet hat was the bottom part of one of the legs. utilitarian to the max

mammoth hot springs (yellowstone)

lower waterfalls in the yellowstone river

rocky mountain national park

another shot, from the top of deer mountain

me wearing dave's hat, and looking retarded

balancing rock at the garden of the gods (colorado springs, colorado)

whit's end soda emporium

the imagination station (also used as an elevator)

cool looking mountain pass in rocky mt. national park

another shot of garden of the gods

they call it "grand" for a reason

2005-10-25T22:30:00.000-05:00

the grand canyon was...

-amazing
-vast
-enthralling
-beautiful
-(enter any superlative here)

dave and i were talking a little while back about how we've become a little calloused to scenic views... something has to be pretty spectacular to make us stop to take a picture or utter words of awe. but the grand canyon pretty much blew us away. it's hard to grasp, or imagine, or realize just how big and colorful and varied a (seemingly) simple gash in the ground can be. we took a ton of pictures, but not even the best shot with the best camera can duplicate the experience of being at a place like that, and letting the amazing instrument that the human eye is take in all the subtle tones and shadows and the peaks standing out in the midst of the canyon. truly amazing

we rolled into the grand canyon national park last friday afternoon, got a campsite for a couple nights, and then headed out to the rim. we walked around along the rim trail for a while amd took some pictures before staking out a good spot to watch the sunset, which was spectacular. the word on the street is that the canyon is best seen in the evening or the morning, and it's very true. it literally comes alive with color and shadow, and it's amazing to see. it's quite the sight any time of day, but when the sun is lowest in the sky is the time when the grand canyon shines the brightest

the campground was pretty nice, except for the fact that they didn't have anywhere to do dishes and the shower was about a mile hike away (literally) and it cost $1.50 for five minutes. what a ripoff. other than that though, no cause for complaint. we slept outside on the cots underneath the stars, which is par for the course when we're camping and the weather looks good. the sky was so amazingly clear, it felt like the stars were within an arms reach. the southwest u.s. is supposed to have the cleanest air in the nation, and it's easy to believe. the moon was so bright the first night that it woke me up out of a sound sleep... i thought it was the sun rising, but it was just the moon coming out late at night. so great. slept wonderful in the crisp cool air

saturday we got up early-ish, had a power breakfast of eggs and toast, and then caught a shuttle bus over to one of the trailheads for a hike into the canyon. one of the great parts about the g.c. national park is their shuttle bus service... in order to cut down on crowds, congestion and pollution, they have a fleet of natural-gas powered shuttle buses that can get you pretty much anywhere along the main part of the south rim, and all for free. it's a really cool system that's easy to utilize, and you can tell that it makes a difference both in lessening the traffic and in trying to keep air pollution (which has a huge impact on the quality of the views) to a bare minimum

we hiked down the south kabib trail to a place called 'skeleton point,' which we picked both because of it's name and the photo op it'd provide us (picture in post below), and because it looked like a manageable day hike. they say that you can't hike down to the river and back in one day. don't do it, don't even think about it, don't even try. i guess the park rangers have to rescue hundreds of individuals every year who get stranded from either exhaustion or dehydration or heatstroke, because people fail to realize that it's easier to hike downhill than uphill, so they hike waaay down into the canyon and then can't make it back out. it's so classic american-esque, too, that because they say "it can't be done" that the immediate thought that comes into people's mind is "oh yes it can, you don't know me!" fortunately dave and i managed not to be overly ambitious and plan out some crazy hike (although i plan on going back someday and hiking down to the river and back in one day, because i think that it can be done). we ended up doing a six-mile round tripper, which the map said should take 4-6 hours, but we pounded out in two and a half hours flat. we always end up turning things into a competition... if a sign says it'll take six hours, we try and cut it in half, and stuff like that

the hike was gorgeous... quite a few people on the trail, but it was pretty well-maintained so it wasn't too hard to keep up your own pace and get around people. you don't really begin to appreciate how vast the canyon is until you start to hike down into it. really amazing. we unfurled the pirate flag at skeleton point, marveled at the amount of mule poop on the trail (i guess mules are a pretty popular means of travel down and up the trail), and saw what we thought might be a california condor, which are really rare and number only in the hundreds, or it was a buzzard which are not rare at all. either way it was cool

the canyon doesn't just start at the rim, and go in a steady slope down to the river. rather, there's all these peaks and hills and ridges that tower and swirl and rise up right in the midst of the canyon. most of them have names that mirror pagan places of worship, like "temple of osiris" or "buddha shrine" and stuff like that. when you see them, especially at either dawn or dusk, you can see why... they look like temples and pyramids and spires that seem worthy only of being inhabited by a deity. and they are places of worship, in one sense... because when you see them aglow with the fire of a sunset on their peaks, you realize that there has to be someone worthy of this tribute, and you thank God for not only allowing you to see this incredible vista, but for the vivid reminders of His creative genius and love for beauty

after the hike, we lounged around for the rest of the afternoon, played a lot of epic duels (we're closing in on 40 cumulative games for the trip), and had an awesome supper of some deluxe sausages that dave got, roasted on sticks over the fire. de-licious

sunday we got up even earlier, in time to get over to the rim to catch the sunrise. i just curled up in my blanket and sat on a bench and watched the canyon for a while... eventually you see this beam of light break across the plane of the rim and pierce into the canyon, and then it just starts to slowly ignite the entire canyon. pretty marvelous... a good capper to our time there. we rolled back to the campground, packed up, got the van organized, then rolled out

we headed north into utah, and got to arches national park just in time to catch the many arches and shapes and pseudo-sculptures before sunset (just like the grand canyon, it's a park best viewed with the sun low in the sky). we did a whirlwind tour of the park, but felt like we saw almost everything worthwhile. it's really an amazing place, especially if you like looking at shapes and trying to conjure up what they remind you of. i'm a big fan of cloud-gazing, and this takes that sort of creative mental exercise to a whole new level. a really gorgeous park... if you're ever out in the southwest, make sure to fit it into your travel plans

we crashed at yet another wal-mart parking lot sunday night somewhere south of salt lake city. it's funny, because we've been in enough wal-marts all over the country by now that we've become conniseurs of a sort. the super wal-mart is our place to stay of choice, because of their always-open doors which allow us greatest flexibility for coming and going (and, almost more importantly, bathroom availability for the essentials as well as brushing teeth and washing up on occasion). i'm not a fan of wal-mart in general on principle, but they've become a familiar and friendly companion to the road warriors life

today (monday) we decided to indulge once again in our weekly hotel treat, so we're staying at a best western (and it really is the best western... we've been very impressed) in idaho falls, idaho in preparation for heading over to yellowstone tomorrow and spending a couple days there. looking forward to that in the "very much" section of the anticipation scale. been enjoying the beds, pool, hot tub, complimentary homemade cookies at the front desk, and wonderfully hot showers. it's a great place to be. i highly reccomend this establishment... the best western in idaho falls gets 3.79 stars out of four. wonderful establishment, and all for a reasonable price

now for some more epic duels (i'm hanging on to a slim two-game lead on dave in the overall series) and then another quick dip in the pool before bed. we're planning on slaughtering the complimentary breakfast tomorrow morning before heading out

eating is my second hobby...

-noonan-

(edit)- i just got a bunch more videos uploaded... check em out here if you're so inclined

canyons and arches

2005-10-24T17:35:00.000-05:00

most of the pictures are from the grand canyon and arches national park, with a few oddballs thrown in...

one of the few worthwhile pics from vegas... a drive-by shot of a psuedo-greek temple

the hoover dam at dusk...

grand canyon:

our genius plan for storing the bodyboards in the van (tied to the inside of the roof)

um... i have no explanation for this

crazy winding trail we hiked down into the canyon

just before sunset...

dave climbing a technical part of the trail:
(ok, so it's actually just clever camera placement, but it still looks cool)

flying the pirate flag at a fitting location:

yes, we are both clinically retarded.

a california condor right by the trail... one of only a few left in the entire world. either that or it's a buzzard, we're not exactly bird experts

sunrise at the grand canyon:

parting shot of the canyon:

i was kind of chilly waiting for the sunrise, and i look like a crazed navajo witch doctor:

one of the few spots where you can see the colorado river from the canyon edge

fiery furnace (arches national park)

yes, i really am that strong:

marching elephants

the famous "delicate arch"

balancing rock

that's all for now

-noonan-

cali to AZ

2005-10-21T08:19:00.000-05:00

some pics from the last few days...

dave and me, about to head to the beach to catch some waves
dave catching a wave... we call this technique "the floundering seal"

sunset on the beach

the ritziest wal-mart we've seen yet, in oceanside CA

wavemaster pat, riding out in front of a foaming giant:

tuesday we got together with my uncle bill for breakfast, at an IHOP just a couple of blcks away from our motel in costa mesa. it worked out really well, since uncle bill had to be down in that area for some business related stuff that day anyways. so we feasted on omelets, pancakes and coffee, and had a grand time of it

after we got back to the hotel and checked out, dave and i headed further down the coast towards san diego before making camp at south carlsbad state beach early in the afternoon... but only once we had picked up another bodyboard at a local surf shop, so we then each had our own. we then proceeded to frolic in the waves until supper, when we headed into town to grab a bite to eat

wednesday was pretty much spent entirely in the water. we got up, re-registered for another night at the campground, and then promptly headed straight to the beach (just a walk down some stairs, and you’re right at the waterfront. a wicked awesome spot for camping, to be sure). we took a couple breaks for food and stuff, but other than that we were pretty much in the water riding waves until just before sunset. the water was warm (mid sixties) and the waves were awesome... breaking at 3-5 feet pretty regularly, with the occasional 6-8 foot monster. it was a perfect day... had the time of our lives. at one point we saw something swimming along, maybe thirty feet away from us, that had a fin. it was more than a little creepy... but we figured it must have been a dolphin by the way it was swimming, and because some other surfers saw it and didn’t seem bothered by the sight in the least. i will say, though, that when i stepped on a fish about five minutes later, i jumped straight out of the water and screamed like a little girl. i’m a little stiff today from being such a hardcore surf addict yesterday, but it’s definitely worth it. sometimes you catch the waves... and sometimes they catch you. and when they do, they like to slam you down to the ocean floor and toss you around for a while before letting you back up for air. and that’s part of the fun of it all

yesterday (thursday) we did some laundry at the campground before packing up and heading northeast towards las vegas (vegas, baby, vegas!). it was sort of cool to drive through, but that's good enough for us. unless you're all about gambling or other indulgences of the flesh, the city is pretty lame. the buildings are cool, but even they look sort of fake and overly done-up. we had fun looking at some of the crazy buildings and signs (drive-thru weddings? good grief) but were glad to get out of the crazy traffic and self-gratifying atmosphere

after vegas, we drove over the hoover dam. we had to go through a security checkpoint first, because after all the van is rather shady looking and they wanted to make sure we weren't about to blow it up or anything. i guess we seemed innocent enough, because they let us across. it was pretty cool to see... the thing is massive, but they were doing all sorts of road construction so there wasn't any real good place to stop and get out to see the whole thing. it's a big dam though... really big

spent last night at a wal-mart in kingsman, AZ before getting up this morning and heading off for the grand canyon, where we plan on spending the next couple days

i miss the beach already...

-noonan-

a month long... still going strong

2005-10-17T20:45:00.000-05:00

today is the one-month anniversary of the beginning of the great american road trip. we celebrated by getting a "super eight" motel room in costa mesa and eating some pizza and breadsticks. the only dampening effect on the evening has been the fact that we're in room 213, there's a fake owl perched over our room door, and the shower occasionally turns on all by itself. not that we're superstitious... but the owl is slightly unnerving

we've spent the last two days rockin' our way down the cali coast. we spent friday night through sunday morning at a campground in pisomo beach, and spent some time catching waves and just hanging out in general. managed to get packed up and checked out by noon on sunday, and headed down towards santa barbara where we met up with a friend of mine from camp, marta j. (aka, 'miss jiff'). unfortunately there was only time to get together for lunch, but we hit up this place that made amazing burritos and shared some of our tales from the road. it's always nice to see a friendly and familiar face after being wandering nomads for so long. tomorrow morning we're meeting up with my uncle bill for breakfast, which should be good times as well

after tooling through santa barbara for a little while (gorgeous town, but rediculously high cost of living... as marta put it, it's home to the "newlyweds and the nearly dead") we made camp just north of l.a., but only after driving into town to get a taste of what l.a. had to offer. the plan was to drive through beverly hills and hollywood, but they proved incredibly elusive to find for whatever reason (i blame the ambiguous road signs and... gremlins). eventually, we found the hollywood walk of fame, and strolled up and down it for a little while, constantly yelling out phrases like "leeza gibbons has a star?" and so on. it was pretty funny. we didn't find or see the famous hollywood sign, because it was dark out and we didn't know where it was, so we got blizzards at dairy queen instead and then headed back to the campground. funniest part of the day was when we realized that the reason traffic wasn't bad at all was because it was sunday. we're so out of touch with things we had no idea what day it was, and were thus pleasantly surprised when traffic was reasonable if not light the whole time we were driving around

this morning we cooked up some breakfast (picture of it below... mom, you might not want to see it), then picked up a few things at wal mart and best buy before heading back into l.a. we sort of skirted around downtown since the traffic actually was present today (today being monday, as opposed to a weekend day like yesterday). drove down to the long beach area, and ended up finding a hotel just north of huntington beach where we plan on hitting up some waves tomorrow weather permitting. today's been sort of dark and rainy, so hopefully the weather will start getting more cali-like

we were planning on heading down to san diego to visit the zoo, but found out that tickets were over thirty dollars apiece. that seems slightly rediculous, and out of the conservative paramaters of our road trip budget, so we'll probably just scoot through the city before heading over to the grand canyon, and possibly a quick jaunt through the las vegas area

so i guess i own my own pub now...

michael bolton has a star?!? good heavens

this was from last week in yosemite. it got down into the lower 20's, so i was bundled up to the max:

the breakfast of champions: fried spam sandwiches and mt. dew

more videos are up online. search for "the great american road trip" (include quotation marks for best results) at video.google.com, or you can click here. i'm too lazy to put up individual links, so you'll have to do the work and filter through them, since most are pretty stupid and barely watchable. enjoy

mmmm..... pizza....

-noonan-

west coast hoppers

2005-10-15T15:20:00.000-05:00

i realize that once again it’s been a few days since i last updated, but the availability of internet service drops way down when you’re out in the boonies for a while. we’re in southern cali right now, on the coast about halfway between san fran and l.a. we just left yosemite yesterday morning after spending a couple of amazing days there. recap...

tuesday: drove through redwood national park on our way down south towards san francisco on rt. 101. the trees were amazing… reminded dave and I of the forests of endor. half expected to see ewoks swinging through the trees, and imperial scouts on speeder bikes chasing after them. we didn’t, but it was still a pretty amazing drive. we drove south to san fran, crossed into the city via the golden gate bridge, and then tooled around through the city a little bit (drove through downtown, by fishermans wharf, etc.) before heading around the bay via san jose and then back north up towards oakland before spending the night somewhere between san fran and yosemite… i don’t remember what town it was, but there was a wal mart there, so there we slept

woke up early on wednesday morning, then headed east out towards yosemite national park. instead of heading straight towards the park, we drove through the sonora pass before coming into the park at it’s eastern entrance at tioga pass. it was jaw-droppingly beautiful… crazy winding roads up steep mountains, high plateaus, redwoods lining the road at times. the sierra nevada range is an amazing place. we were well over 9,000 feet in elevation at a couple of points, but the weather was still really nice and balmy. only in california

(brief sidenote: getting the national parks season pass has proved to be a very wise investment. not only does it save us quite a bit of money over the course of the trip, but dave and i feel like v.i.p.’s of some sort, when we just show the card and they wave us in. so great)

the rest of wednesday we spent driving around the park, picking out a campsite (best part about going to parks in the off-season: amazing campsites are easily available, as well as being occasionally free), and then just lounging around the campfire into the evening. we scavenged the place for tons of deadwood, all of which was exceptionally dry and made for a couple nights of great campfires. the campground we stayed at was over 8,000 feet high in elevation, so it stayed a little cooler there than the rest of the park. it was really nice during the day wherever you were, but it dropped down into the low 20’s at night where we were sleeping

thursday was a day of some more driving, as well as some hiking. the only downside to yosemite (if there is one) is that it’s really spread out, so for us to get form where we were camping to some hiking spots we had picked out took what seemed to be forever, all going up and down (and occasionally through) mountains on crazy winding roads. so we didn’t get as much hiking done as we wanted to (only one hike up to cathedral rock from the valley, and a short jaunt to the base of bridalveil falls), but we did get to see pretty much all of the park that we could by road, including glacier point. if you’re ever in yosemite… drive to glacier point. it’s a billion-dollar view that makes it a crime to visit the park and not drive out to see (and we didn’t even get to see yosemite falls, because it dries up this late in the year). half dome is worth driving out to see just by itself... it’s probably the most impressive and unclimbable-looking mountains that i’ve seen. then we drove back to the campground, but only after a breathtakingly brisk dip in a lake to wash up. spent another night lounging around the fire, cooking grilled cheese sandwiches and chili, sipping tea by the firelight, and playing several games of epic duels. i won the first annual yosemite epic duels challenge, four games to three, but the best part was just enjoying some leisure time basking in the warmth of the flames. good times.

yesterday, which i guess would be friday, we broke camp early and then headed to sequoia national park. i was impressed by the redwoods when we were driving through them... but the sequoias take first prize in “king of all trees” competition, hands down. they’re the largest living things on the entire planet, which is pretty amazing. we saw the general sherman tree, which on top of being the largest single living thing in the world is also the only living monument to a person. pretty dang amazing. it’s hard to grasp just how big a sequoia is until you stand right up next to one, and realize that the tree has been alive for probably a couple thousand of years, and is so much older and larger and (it feels like) wiser and smarter than you. sequoias are nearly impervious to anything nature throws their way: forest fires (they actually help the tree!), insects, disease, you name it. they’ve seen the worst the world has to throw their way, and they’re still standing impossibly strong and tall

after driving through sequoia n.p. we booked it for the coast, and eventually made it to a campground in pisomo beach, where we spent last night (and plan on spending tonight). then today (saturday), we got up after a long and restful nights sleep and then set off in search of a surf shop. eventually (after winding through three towns and getting caught in traffic detoured because of a silly parade) we found a shop, got ourselves a good body board, and headed for the beach. water was cold... but the waves were gnarly. totally wicked time. what a blast

now we’re getting ready for a supper of clam chowder and tuna fish sandwiches... we’re going crazy on the seafood in honor of being on the coast. one of these days we’ll actually stop somewhere and get some real seafood, but it was a bit pricey around here so we’re sticking to some tried and true staples of our diet

california is gorgeous, in case i somehow forgot to mention that somehow. quite the amazing state (even if some of the people living in it are pretty wacko)

back to the beach...

-noonan-

(new pictures below... i'll upload more videos when i have the time. right now supper is the main agenda)

pictures from cali

2005-10-15T15:18:00.000-05:00

half dome and halfwit

(pictures aren't in any chronological order, fyi... just a bunch from the past week or so)

showing off the general sherman tree:

largest living thing in the world (those specks at the bottom are people)

the pinecones were huge... and i was hungry (as usual)

a lake in yosemite... site of a freezing, but refreshing swim

me eating again; this time a triple-decker peanut-butter and cracker special

this road was crazy steep. crazy

roads go this high?

a drive-thru redwood experience (the minotaur fit... barely)

golden gate bridge at night

willie mays statue outside pac bell park... he looks like some sort of deity

another shot of the bridge

dave after chopping down a redwood (not really, but he could)

crater lake... forgot to put any pics up from when we were there earlier this week

the west coast

2005-10-11T08:30:00.000-05:00

sorry it’s been so long since i last posted (almost a week), but we’ve been too busy enjoying ourselves. here’s a brief synopsis of our last week:

last Friday, we drove down to madras, OR to spend the weekend with our former roommate jesse. central oregon looked a lot different than i had thought it would, as it looked more like montana or wyoming than the lush and fertile landscape i thought it would be. jesse was saying that people usually think all of oregon looks like the coast does, where they get lots of rainfall, because that’s where the majority of the population lives, but the majority of the land in the state actually gets hardly any rain at all. anyhow, it was really gorgeous where he lives, because you can see the mountains (the cascade range) off to your west, rising above the hills and the plains jesse grilled up some steaks for us friday night, which was our first real home-cooked meal since we had left home. needless to say, they were very much enjoyed. the rest of the weekend we pretty much hung out at his place (he lives at the culver fire station, as part of a work/study sort of thing) and ate peanuts, watched some movies, and played epic duels. we unfortunately got there just in time on friday afternoon to catch the last few outs of the red sox loss, which was a pretty heartbreaking way to start the weekend, but imanaged to recover from that episode enough to thoroughly enjoy the rest of our stay

Saturday evening we went to see a movie with jesse, his mom and his younger brother. since dave, jesse and myself are all huge wallace and grommit fans, it was incredibly fortuitous that “the curse of the were-rabbit” came out that very weekend. so jesse wore his shirt, and dave borrowed his tie, and i just looked like my usual idiotic self, as the picture below will attest to:

it was a smashing good time. hilarious movie

we spent Sunday going to church, hanging out, eating some more peanuts, and going to church again for a “missions supper,” where they served foods that were from all the different countries that the missionaries their church supported were from. it was a really cool idea, with tons of different (and delicious) foods for consumption. got a good nights sleep sunday night, then headed out early Monday morning for crater lake national park.

it was a beautiful day, and an even more beautiful park. if you haven’t already seen it, it’s a must-visit kind of place. here’s a couple of panoramic shots that dave took and we pasted together on the computer:

(and, i can't get the picture to post, because it's a weird size. sorry.)

right now we’re in southern oregon, at a campground right on the californian border. the coastline scenery has been amazing, and we can’t wait to get a little further south when it’ll be decently warm enough to go swimming. plans for the next couple days include the following:

-redwood forest national park
-san francisco
-sequoia national park
-death valley (maybe)
-L.A., hollywood, etc.
-san diego zoo (we’ve heard it’s a must-see)
-las vegas (maybe)
-grand canyon (definitely)

and, of course, that'll all probably change. so who knows

VIDEOS: we've been taking a bunch of short video clips all during the trip, and i've got them almost all posted online for your viewing enjoyment. don't expect high quality, and most of the humor will be lost on people not currently touring the country in the minotaur, but they're there nontheless. here's how to see them: go to video.google.com and search for "the great american road trip" (make sure to include the quotation marks, or else a bunch of other random stuff will come up too). then click on the picture, and it should play.

that’s all for now… time to hit the road. on to california! later on

-noonan-

i love the u.s.a.

2005-10-05T18:53:00.000-05:00

brief update of the past couple days:

on sunday, we hiked in kenai fjords national park up to the harding icefield (largest in the u.s.). it was a gorgeous day, and a pretty grueling hike but we managed to make it up and down in a little over four hours (which made us feel good, since ths sign at the bottom said it should take 6-8 hours to hike). afterwards we headed back towards anchorage, stopping only for a dip in kenai lake to wash up. it was freezing cold, but quite refreshing. when we got to anchorage, we picked up some supplies (food and stuff) for the drive back to the lower 48, and then hit up taco bell for a huge feast to the tune of twenty eight dollars. we were amazingly hungry, so we ate an amazing amount of food. it was great. we spent the night in a parking lot in palmer, which is probably about 35 miles northeast of anchorage. then we crashed for a couple hours of sleep before beginning the long drive back south

the next couple days (monday and tuesday) were long, filled with little or no sleep, and quite depressing. we left monday morning a little after one in the morning after a couple hours of rest, drove the entire length of the alaskan highway to dawson's creek before we crashed for another two hours of sleep. we then woke up and drove the rest of the way back to the u.s., until we got to a hotel in bellingham, washington, where we've been resting and relaxing since about 10 or so last night.

those were two dark days that i'd like to forget... too much driving, too little sleep. i'm going to pretend that they didn't exist and not speak of them

we got a flat tire right before we got into the u.s., but didn't notice it until we were at customs and the crossing guard pointed it out. we got it changed ok, and then got a new tire at wal-mart today, but it was like canada was trying to stick it to us one last time. figures

now we're catching up on some rest and sleep, watching some tv, eating pizza, and getting ready to head out tomorrow morning. we're heading out to the western part of the state (spokane area), where we'll pop into idaho before spending the night somewhere around there. then friday, we're heading down into oregon, where we'll spend the weekend visiting with jesse (former college roommate of dave and mine). should be fun

the van, after driving through the nasty, dirty roads of the canucks:

dave asleep in the van. how cute

videos coming soon.

(go red sox)

back in the states

2005-10-04T22:00:00.000-05:00

-that's harding icefield in the background, the largest icefield in the u.s. (and source of exit glacier, among many others). great capstone hike to our alaskan adventure-

we're back in the lower 48, after...

two days

2300 miles

44 hours on the road

way too little sleep

crazy ninja elk of the yukon

we're in washington, i think, but i don't know where. some town close to the border with a hotel with showers and sheets. and i'm too tired to think, or even type. so maybe i'll do those tomorrow

suffice it to say i'm glad i won't have to drive through canada again anytime soon. maybe ever

hooray for sleep

life on the kenai

2005-10-01T13:28:00.000-05:00

view of the sunset from our campsite

me getting the fire started (with my smoke-retarding goggles on)

turnagain arm (going from anchorage down to the kenai peninsula)

yesterday we drove down to homer from anchorage. the weather was gorgeous, and so were the views. the day was sort of hum-drum, with nothing real exciting happening, until we stopped by the beach in anchor point (westernmost point in the u.s. accessible by road). i saw a truck drive right down onto the beach, and i uttered the nearly fatal words, "hey dave look, we can drive down there!" well yes you can drive down there, but getting back up onto the road turned out to be a bit of an adventure, with the steep incline and loose rocks and sand all adding up to trouble. but after a few tries, and an encouraging conversation with superman, we managed to get it back up onto high ground. whew

we were looking for a place to make camp for the evening, when we managed to discover a campsite near anchor point that was absolutely, amazingly beautiful. the campsites are right on the edge of this bluff overlooking the ocean, and there's walkways right down to the beach. and best of all, we had the place to ourselves. so we made a roaring campfire, made some tuna-cheese melt sandwiches and heated up some beans, and then lounged around the fire sipping 'country peach passion' tea until we hit the hay. we woke up this morning, started the fire up again, and had some oatmeal and steaming cups of mocha (instant coffee + hot chocolate mix = mmmm)

right now we're lounging in a laundromat (that also offers hot showers!!! yes!), waiting for our clothes to finish drying and utilizing the wifi access. we'll probably head back to our campsite tonight, and then maybe do some hiking tomorrow if the weather holds out. we're sort of chilling today, not doing any driving or hiking or anything, just catching up on laundry and rest and stuff like that. plus, any day which includes a hot shower is bound to be excellent

i just saw that the yankees clinched the a.l. east... and now i feel like vomiting. please win tomorrow, dear red sox. please. pretty please

alaska appetizer

2005-09-30T13:53:00.000-05:00

some pics from the last few days...

denali, tallest mountain in north america (and third largest in the world, when measured from base to peak)

sweet picture of the two mountaineers from the top of mt. margaret:

the dark lord of the sith looks down from on high:

mountains everywhere...

dave going down a crazily steep descent (it doesn't look too bad here, but trust me, it was pretty insanely steep)

dave in the batmobile (with plywood wings)

(sorry, re-posting this not because i'm vain but because i needed to host it somewhere on this site...)

ok that's all. bye.

from denali to the kenai

2005-09-30T13:30:00.000-05:00

wow… where to begin? the past couple days have been a truly amazing and epic adventure, like i’ve never experienced before. we drove down to denali national park from fairbanks on tuesday, only to find that the majority of the park was shut down for the season. this wasn’t nearly as bad as it sounds, though… in fact quite the opposite. when we checked in with the lone remaining rangers on duty, we found out that we could (1. drive further into the park than you normally could (2. hike in any section that we wanted, and (3. not have to pay a single penny to do anything at all. b-e-a-utiful. we had to watch a “bear safety video” and do some assorted paperwork before we could get our backpacking permit, but then we were good to go

the beautiful thing (well, one of the many beautiful things) about denali is that it’s true wilderness. aside from the road that goes into and through some of the park, there’s not a single trail in the entire park. 9,000+ square miles of unspoiled wilderness, waiting to be explored. and since it was the off-season, it turned out that dave and i were the only hikers in the entire park while we were there. that’s mind-blowingly awesome. there were still some tourists who’d drive in along the road from time to time, but other than that the place was empty

they break the park up into sections, so that when you register to go hiking they can control how many people are in one area at a time (not a problem this time of the year… we could choose to go anywhere, being the only hikers), as well as to ensure that they have a general idea of where you’ll be in case you turn up missing (or a bear eats you, or something like that). they’re pretty serious about bear safety, even to the point of issuing bear-resistant containers to store all your food in (you’re required to use them), but as a result they haven’t had a single bear-related casualty in the entire history of the park

we drove as far in along the park road as we could on tuesday, just to get a feel for the terrain and see what we could see. we didn’t see a single bear or moose the whole time we were there, which was a tad disappointing but not too difficult to deal with. we hiked for a couple hours that afternoon, just up and then along a spur of on of the mountains. we then headed back to our campsite located by the entrance to the park (the only one still open, albeit without any facilities) and feasted on grilled cheese sandwiches and beans. delicious

then came wednesday, which was simply amazing. no other way to put it. we hiked up to the top of mt. margaret, which is a little over 5,000 ft and was snow-covered (which was really cool). we felt like hard-core mountaineers (and looked like it too, as the pictures will attest). the real fun came when we started to drop over the other side of the ridge. we tried to follow a stream bed down, but it got too icy and waaay too steep far too fast, and we ended up sort of trapped against a pretty steep rock face with our only option to climb up it, then circle along the edge of the rim until we found a less steep way down. somehow we made it up and across, despite some close calls. it was a pretty exhilarating bit of climbing, with crazy drops all around us and only one way to get out of it. we finally made it down from the ridge to a river that ran through the mountain range, and then followed it out until we hit the road and then hiked back to where we had left the van. all told, we figured we hiked around twelve miles during the 7 hours and change we were out there. it’s hard to describe just how crazy and awesome the whole adventure was, with the combination of absolute wilderness isolation combined with rugged climbing and some orienteering. a truly incredible day to be alive.

we decided to head back to fairbanks for the night, mostly because we were pretty hungry (starved would be a better term to describe our state of affairs) and we were looking forward to some taco bell. it started to snow pretty heavy on our way back north so the driving was slow, but we made it and enjoyed a remarkable pseudo-mexican feast. we set a new duo record for most food consumed at taco bell ($21.75 worth of tacos, burritos, chalupas, quesadillas, and taco salad), which was a perfect capstone to a perfect day

the plan for yesterday (thursday, i think?) was to head north up to the arctic circle, but when we got about 35 miles north of fairbanks the road got so slick with ice that we decided to turn tail and head south to anchorage instead. dave and i are both so amazingly grateful for the break in weather we had that allowed us to hike in denali… the weather can be pretty sketchy in that area this time of year (they warned us that if we got snowed in, they don’t plow the roads in the park or anything so we’d be on our own) but we had window of a couple of days that was absolutely perfect for hiking. God sure is good

made it down to anchorage early last evening, and enjoyed some clam chowder while sitting on a curb at some roadside pullout. we felt and looked like a couple of hobos (dave especially). the highlight of the day was the fact that i managed to coax the minotaur (our valiant steed of a van) over the 25 m.p.g. fuel efficiency barrier, which was cause for much joy and rejoicing (especially by me). spent the night in another parking lot after not being able to find an open campground in the nearby vicinity, and getting ready to head south into the kenai peninsula for a day or two to do some sightseeing and possibly some more hiking, as long as it doesn’t start raining. it’s quite a bit warmer here than it was in fairbanks… when we left yesterday, it was only 30 degrees or so, but it warmed up to the high 50’s by the time we hit anchorage. so hopefully our good fortune with weather will hold up long enough to let us enjoy our time in alaska to the max before we head back to the lower 48

right now we're in homer, which is on the southwestern tip of the kenai peninsula. it's a gorgeous town, with a long spit that goes out into the bay that's filled with businesses and the like. now we're headed back north to the soldotna area, where we're planning on finding a campground for the evening and roasting some hot dogs over a roaring fire. should be good times. tomorrow, if the weather stays nice, the plan is to head south again to seward, and maybe hike up to see exit glacier, which is part of the harding icefield (largest icefield in the u.s.). i think we'll try and get some laundry done and maybe treat ourselves to a shower in the next day or two, also

that's all for now...

-noonan-

montana/canada/alaska

2005-09-27T19:29:00.000-05:00

a few pictures from the past couple days:

wind-powered generators in montana:

hayfeld in alberta:

the rocky mountains (banff national park)

world's biggest tp arsenal (outhouse in banff national park)

sunrise on a mountain north of dawson's creek:

fully functional campsite... in a parking lot:

sunrise in either the yukon or alaska:

living in a picture book...

-noonan-

our canadian adventure

2005-09-26T18:00:00.000-05:00

a brief recap of our past few days of travel…

friday evening
crossing the canadian border turned into a minor adventure… the crossing guards (i like to call them that instead of ‘border patrol’) thought we looked suspicious (“hmm, no alcohol, tobacco or firearms? they must be lying”), so we got the third degree at the customs office. we went from one counter to another, then back to another one, with different questions from each person. it ended with the van getting a thorough search by not one, or even two, but three customs officials, all eagerly hoping to bust us for something. their hopes went unfounded, though, as they were forced to let us across the border, despite our decidedly suspicious and uncouth appearance. we spent the night in a provincial park just north of lethbridge, alberta. it was a gorgeous place right on a lake, but it was freezing cold and we couldn’t get a fire started, so we cooked up some hot dogs over the coleman stove instead and called it good. the best part was that since it’s not prime tourist season, the park office was closed so we didn’t have to pay a fee for the overnight. rock on

saturday
headed north through calgary, and after an unplanned tour through the city because of a missed exit we made our way northwest to banff national park. i was pretty irate that they charged us 16 dollars to pass through the park, especially when at first it didn’t appear to be much more than a narrow winding road through dense forests, but it turned out to be a spectacularly beautiful drive worth every penny. i’ll throw up some pictures later on when i get a chance, but even the best ones don’t do the scenery justice. so pretty. we stopped for the night in fort st. john after finally joining up with the alaska highway in dawson creek. at this point in the journey, both dave and i were jonesing for a shower and a bed located outside of the van, but we sucked it up and crashed in the van for another night, consoling ourselves with the thought of treating ourselves to a hotel with sheets and showers once we reached fairbanks. we were tired and cold and didn’t even feel like leaving the confines of the van to put together anything for supper, so we ate a cold hotdog on bread, and some mustard, cheese, and milk. and, believe it or not, we were cracking up the whole time and laughing about how rediculous we must look and seem to anyone who would be seeing or hearing about our current state of affairs. it was a merry meal. the biggest highlight of the day was the fact that i set three trip records for driving: best mileage, furthest distance traveled between fill-ups, and longest distance traveled before the low fuel light went on. it was an epic leg of the journey, let me tell you what. now dave is going to be consumed with angst until he can reclaim the records that used to be his

sunday
woke up at six to get an early start, and started trucking on the alaska highway, which would be our world for the next two days. we flirted with thoughts of putting together a marathon day and making it all the way to fairbanks in one push, but decided it’d be smart not to go crazy with a 20+ hour day of driving and spend the night in whitehorse, yukon territory. we saw so much wildlife that day of driving… a bear, moose, caribou, deer, buffalo, mountain sheep, and a dog. it was like a wildlife safari. it’s amazing how empty the land is in the yukon… there’s less than 30,000 people in the entire territory, and you drive through mile after countless mile of unspoiled wilderness as far as the eye can see. it’s an amazing feeling to be out in what feels like the middle of nowehere, and then look out your window and realize that you can actually see the middle of nowhere. absolutely gorgeous territory. had a delicious lunch of tune fish sandwiches to break up our steady diet of granola bars, which helped to soothe the pain that the gas prices in canada cause. the cheapest we’ve filled up for was .98 cents a liter, and the worst was about 1.25, i think, which translates to around $4 a gallon american. ouch. hopefully prices will ease up a bit once we hit alaska, but in the meantime were still sticking to our strict pact of spending as little money in canada as we can, to the point of calculating exactly how much gas it will take us to make it across the border to a gas station in the u.s. so we won’t have to buy any more gas than is necessary. now that’s sticking it to the man

monday
had a good night sleep in whitehorse... we camped out in a big shopping center parking lot, and tossed around the football and then the frisbee for a little while to get the blood flowing. we couldn't have asked for better weather so far, with the daytime temps still in the fifties and nights dropping down to around freezing. cooked up supper on the coleman stove (fried egg sandwiches), then called it an early night so we could get going early monday morning. we did have a couple of people stop by while we were getting supper ready and plead some hard-luck cases in hopes of some cash donations (we were soft-hearted and handed out some spare change). it was worth it just to hear some hard-core authentic canadian accents. rolled out of bed right into the driver seat early monday morning, and started booking it for alaska. we realized that we had slightly over-estimated our range on the gas we had and thought we might run out of gas before reaching a gas station in alaska, but fortunately a couple turned up earlier than expected so it was all good. crossed back into alaska without any hassle, and are now reclining in leisure in a hotel in fairbanks. we treated ourselves to pizza for supper, which is almost all gone by now (two large pizzas are no match for two hungry men). it's kind of cool to be able to watch prime-time tv like monday night football at a more reasonable hour, due to the four-hour time difference between alaska and the east coast. the drive up here has been gorgeous... i'd like to describe it but i can't. really. and pictures can only give you a hint of just how beautiful the scenery is. our first week has been so awesome, and we haven't even tapped into the best part of our agenda

coming up this week:

camping and hiking in denali national park
touring anchorage and the surrounding area
explore the kenai peninsula
kodiak island?
insert other cool stuff here

glad to be back in the states...

-noonan-

mt rushmore and the wild west

2005-09-23T14:35:00.000-05:00

3 PM

we’re driving on backroads in montana right now… where the speed limit is 70 mph. how great is that. once you hit south dakota, it’s 75 on the highways the rest of the way, which is pretty awesome. you can tell why they call this “big sky country,” because you feel like you can see forever in every direction. it’s not flat at all, just rolling hills with nothing but scrubby pines dotting the landscape. we’ve seen more deer and antelope on or near the road so far than other vehicles. you really feel like you’re in an entirely different world, outside of what you typically associate with the united states. but it’s absolutely gorgeous, and you get the feel that you’re seeing the same landscape that the settlers did when they first crossed this area a couple hundred years ago, and the native americans who lived here for many years before. it’s a really cool feeling. we’re planning on tanking up on gas and food before we cross into canada, so that we’ll only have to buy gas (and as little of that as possible) while we’re traveling through that expensively socialistic (and rather large) country. we’ll be going into a communications blackout while we’re travling through canada so as to not give away our position to enemy fighters, so here’s a bunch of picture from the last couple days to whet your appetite until we resume contact in alaska...

greatest.billboard.ever.

really cool tunnel through the rock:

the walkway leading up to the monument, with all the state flags:

dave and his friends:

the little-known "fifth head of rushmore"

dave showing his love for the ohio flag:

when you see a fake bull standing around, you can't resist a golden photo op like this:

me and borglum, bff:

crazy horse, in progress (and seen for free, cause we're sneaky and cheap)

there was this huge pile of old lawnmowers beside the road in rapid city, so of course... dave needed his picture with them. one of my favorite pictures:

commence communications blackout...

-noonan-

three days down

2005-09-22T20:35:00.000-05:00

9 PM

I’ll probably end up saying this about pretty much every day during our epic endeavor… but today was wicked awesome. we started it off with an oil change at the wal-mart supercenter where we spent last night (great nights sleep, except for getting woken up once or twice by the raging prairie winds rocking the van), as well as a quick breakfast at burger king. the guy at wal-mart who did the work on the van (by the name of jose) made for an amusing encounter. he came out to take a look at it to see what kind of oil it’d need and stuff like that, and he asked dave why he painted it black. dave replied with the obvious answer, that he wanted to make a minivan look tougher. jose thought for a second, and said “it looks like that one van… what show was that from…” (dave and i both had our fingers crossed, willing him to come up with the right answer) “oh yeah, the van from the A-team.” yessss. our day was made. and that was pretty much our only excitement that morning, but it was more than enough for us. oh, plus jose recommended that we get the air filter changed, which we thought might be kind of extraneous, but when he opened the compartment to show us there was like tons of dirt and junk everywhere. so, he made his point, and it got changed

we made our way across most of south dakota this morning and afternoon, all the while being constantly assaulted by billboards for some place called “wall drug.” it sounded and looked lame… and when we finally got there, it was. so we made fun of it and yelled stuff at the town while in the car, and kept on booking. if you’re ever traveling through south dakota on I-90, don’t bother stopping to see wall drug. not worth it

we thought we were getting a great deal on gas by filling up last night for $2.53 a gallon for premium… until we realized it had that blasted ethanol in it, which seems to cut down on our gas mileage by a discernible margin. stupid environmentally friendly additives. anyhow, south dakota is a really beautiful state, especially the western parts of it once you get into the badlands and the black hills

stopped for supper in rapid city at a hardee’s, and of course we both wore our hardees t-shirts. we got some compliments from the workers there, especially when dave said that we didn’t actually work at a hardees but were just really big fans. good times… great burgers. then we stopped in at best buy to get an adaptor for the stereo so we could have a direct line in from my computer or ipod, instead of using an fm modulator. and it work, and sounds really sweet, so that’s nice. gotta keep the good tunes playing

then we went to mt rushmore… and whoa. it’s amazing. we took a bunch of pictures that i’ll post when i get a chance, but none of them really do the monument itself justice, let alone the gorgeous setting where you find it. that part of south dakota is absolutely gorgeous. so if you haven’t ever visited it… you should. really. like, right now

drove over to visit the crazy horse memorial too, which is actually a carving in progress… but it would have cost twenty four dollars to get in, so that was pretty rediclously expensive. when the guy at the gate told us that, dave was like “ok then… i guess we’ll come back later tonight.” later tonight? makes no sense… which is why it was hilarious

that’s all for now… planning on spending the night in sheridan, wyoming, and then making our way north into canada tomorrow, and then onward and northward to alaska!

having the time of a lifetime…

-noonan-

pictures

2005-09-22T09:52:00.000-05:00

dave posing by the van, with his hideous vin diesel goggles he bought to serve as sunglasses:

me, a.k.a. 'lord vader:'

the van (we named it "the minatour") in all it's glory:

interior shot of the van:

largest gift shop in the north (or, in michigan)... we bought postcards here. a momentous occasion:

a castle in the white mountains:

that's all for now. spent a night in the luxurious accomodations of the wal-mart parking lot in worthington, minnesota, got an oil change and some breakfast, and now we're headed west to mt. rushmore. tally ho

-noonan-

ethanol is our enemy

2005-09-21T22:49:00.000-05:00

10 AM: aside from a scrape on my back, the sleeping situation last night was really ideal. i just didn’t lay down flat enough when i was sliding into my berth, so i caught my back right on the corner of dave’s bunk above me. but i was man enough not to let it interfere with my sleep, which was otherwise excellent. woke up around eight, washed up in the McD’s bathroom across the street from where we were parked (at the holiday inn), then ate a steak egg and cheese bagel and drank some oj. the oj was good… the bagel was not. anyhow, we got rolling around nine this morning, and right now we’re cruising across the u.p. of michigan on route 2, eventually making our way across wisconsin and into minnesota. we’re slightly ahead of our trip schedule and we’re driving right alongside lake michigan for a while, so we’re going to stop for a dip in the lake in the next couple hours once it warms up a bit more outside. it’s an absolutely gorgeous day right now, superb conditions for a road trip.

2 PM

just getting back on the road after a dip in lake michigan. the water was nice and refreshing, especially since we took advantage of the bathing opportunity and lathered up. even if you’re not doing anything that gets you sweaty or dirty while you’re traveling, you still feel like you build up a layer of grime after a while. so it always makes good sense to wash up whenever the situation presents itself. we’re about to cross into wisconsin in the next hour or so… not planning on making any stops outside of needing gas or going to the bathroom until we crash for the evening, probably somewhere in southern MN. i’m due to take over driving once we next stop for gas… we have this schedule going where we alternate filling up the tank, and then whoever pays for the gas gets to drive with that supply. we both really enjoy driving, so this ensures that we won’t have any bitterly jealous rivalries or power plays going on for control of the wheel. it’s a blast getting to hang out with dave again, with the witty banter and scathing insults that flow back and forth constantly, as well as just being around another guy who loves to do crazy stuff, have fun, and loves God. good times indeed. barring any further momentous developments… i’m out.

11:30 pm: we just ran out of gas on I-90 just a mile from the exit where we were planning on crashing for the night. how great is that. and it was all because of…. ETHANOL (at least, that’s our theory). but it’s all good. now for supper and bed

rolling on…

-noonan-

the beginning

2005-09-20T22:55:00.000-05:00

3pm

so, it’s finally begun. we’re on the road, headed off into the wild blue yonder, and loving every minute of it. we got the van all packed up this morning to our satisfaction, after eliminating some various items that we decided were of little use when valued against their weight and space consumption. the van’s pretty full, but still comfortable, with room enough to sleep in the bunks in the back. it’s a genius design that dave came up with, allowing us to both sleep in the van and still stow a good amount of gear. we’re packing fairly light in the clothes and food departments, but have plenty of camping and other sorts of gear. dave brought along a full-sized axe, in case we need to cut some trees down for whatever reason. we also have a five-gallon can filled with gas, in case we need an extra fuel boost for any reason. those are just two prime examples to show that we’re prepared to the max for whatever gets thrown our way

two items of note that occurred before we crossed the border that i should mention: we saw this group of kids waiting for the school bus along rt. 302 in maine, and they were so impressed by the van that they started waving and pumping their fists up and down. so dave tooted the horn to appease their wishes. we also quaffed the traditional and requisite cans of moxie upon leaving maine, and i offered up my usual toast to the great state i’m from, asking for protection while traveling and for a safe return to my home. the whole event was duly recorded on video, and makes for a very touching show

we crossed into canada without any major hassle, and immediately upon entering the country started watching canadian bacon. dave hadn’t seen it before, so it was especially great to watch it and laugh almost uncontrollably. if you haven’t seen it, it’s about a plot by the americans to stage a confrontation with canada in order to create a ratings boost for the president, but one sherriff (john candy) stationed in buffalo decides to take matters into his own hands and launches a strike against the canucks all on his own, with predictably hilarious results. great movie.

now we’re somewhere in ontario… i know we’ve left quebec because the signs are now in english and french, as opposed to just french. seriously… how messed up is it to have two official languages? can’t you decide on just one for ease of use and communication? i guess that’s canada for you

12:30 am we filled up with gas in vermont just before crossing into canada, knowing that gas would be more expensive there (due to their highly-taxed socialistic existence), and also filled up the jerry can (five gallons worth) with gas in case we needed it for an emergency. we filled up again somewhere in quebec, i don’t speak french so I have no idea where it was. their signs are all messed up there. anyhow, we kept on trucking through the province, hoping to be bale to make it back into the states (at sault ste marie) before we stopped for the night. we don’t trust those canucks any more than we have to. so as we were getting closer to michigan, dave was trying to figure out whether we had the 18 or 20 gallon gas tank in this van… and we figured that the only way to find out would be to run it dry, and then fill it up soon after. then we’d have a good idea of our effective range, so we’d be more sure not to get stranded in the future by knowing exactly how big the tank was and how many miles to the gallon we were getting for fuel efficiency. the “low gas” light came on when we were still about seventy five miles away from the border… so we looked at each other, and dave was like, “we’re going for it.” we didn’t want to have to spend any more money in canada than was absolutely necessary, so our plan was to try and make it into the states against all hope, but if we failed and ran out before re-entering then we’d simply slosh some gas from the jerry can into the tank, and have more than enough to cross the border. the needle was just sitting on E for close to an hour, but it was also a bald-faced liar, because we made it back into the states with about a gallon to spare (dave decided we have the 20-gallon tank, since we put a little over 19 in)

our border crossing wasn’t without a small dose of hilarity… we pulled into the wrong lane (going, as we later realized, into oncoming traffic) and then had to pull out and turn around on a small, two-lane bridge… it was a classic 8-point turn, since the van is long and has the world’s worst turning radius. and of course, the late-night, deserted bridge suddenly became alive with traffic, all being held up by our attempt to turn around and head back into america. i was dying laughing. then we get to customs, and the guard was like “so… were you coming from?” dave replied with the obvious answer: canada. the guard wasn’t to be deceived, however, as he pointed out that he had seen us turning around on the bridge (sidenote: the entrance was horribly marked, so we have little blame to absolve for our traffic patter faux pas) so we must be coming from the states. whatever. we tried to explain what happened, but culdn’t make him understand that we had in fact come from canada, so he sent a couple of nice men to inspect our car and make sure we were’mt drug runners. ithink he though the van looked suspicious… on which point i’m forced to agree with him. it’s a decidely shady-looking ride, but it’s also the perfect road trip-mobile

so a couple customs officials interrogated us (actually, just asked some questions and looked at our ID’s and inspected dave’s shaving kit), and let us go. because, of course, we’re squeaky clean. they were asking us if we had anything from this long list of contrabrand materials (alcohol, firearms, tobacco, fruit from canada) and iwas like, “all we have for fruit is some applesauce in little packets… but it’s from this side of the border.” they decided to let that slide. nice guys

so we then decided to find a place to eat and then sleep, since all we’d eaten all day was granola bars. we’re trying to live on a $10-a-day budget for food per person (just cause we can), so we’re eating as cheap as possible. we had been talking about how great it would be if we could find a taco bell once we crossed into the states, so we drove around through ault ste marie looking for one, but seemingly to no avail. but, just as we were about to head back to the highway, i gave dave bad directions and he took a bad turn… but lo and behold, there was a taco bell! it was the hand of providence, nothing less. so we ate and were full, then spent the night in a holiday inn parking lot. i’m tired. the end.

Day 1 stats…

beginning mileage: 60960

ending mileage: 61847

trip start time: 7:30 am

trip end time: 12:30 am (wed.)

the end.

Travel Schedule: Week 1

2005-09-19T18:25:00.000-05:00

Tuesday: leave from westbrook, ME early morning. quaff ceremonial can of moxie upon leaving the state via rt. 302, then travel across and through the white mountains in new hampshire, up through vermont on I-91, and into canada. we'll start heading west once we hit montreal, then drive through ottowa (the capital of canada! how exciting.... or, not) and as far west as we can get that day along trans-canada highway 17, probably stopping somewhere in the area of sudbury, ontario

Wednesday: cross back into the u.s. at saul ste marie, MI, then traverse the upper peninsula into wisconsin. stop to eat some cheese and milk a cow (kidding... about the cow, that is), and then cross into minnesota and spend the night somewhere west of minneapolis (hopefully)

Thursday: drive west to south dakota, realize how boring most of the midwest is, until we visit mt. rushmore and the crazy horse memorial. send night in rapid city area.

Friday: northward ho! west on I-90, then north on I-15 up into canada. probably stop for the day around lethbridge, alberta, but maybe as far as calgary

Saturday: north to dawson's creek, via the icefields pkwy (rt. 93). goes right through the rocky mountains... should be a gorgeous drive

Sunday: take the alaska highway up to whitehorse, yukon territory

Monday: keep on truckin' on the alaska highway into... now here's a coincidence... alaska! end day's drive in fairbanks.

(this schedule can and probably will change. we could end up in russia, for all i know, if we take a wrong turn or two)

dave should be getting here in the next couple hours, at which point we'll pack all my stuff into the van and call it a night. we're planning on setting sail early tomorrow morning, full day of driving ahead. i'm not sure i'll be able to sleep, i'm so incredibly pumped for this epic endeavor

Happy Birthday, Mom! (she's the big 5-0. and she's amazing and i love her lots)

today was national talk like a pirate day... did you do your part?

-noonan-

(edit: i had to put the 'word verification' thing into the comment section, cause i've been getting lots of comment spam. sorry if it's a hassle, but at least i won't have to read about someone's great deal on antique furniture or amazing software they want me to buy anymore. at least, i hope not)

Road Trip Central

2005-09-18T17:00:00.000-05:00

here's a tenative outline of what you can expect to find here:

daily journal entries. i'll be keeping a travel log and typing up summaries of our activities most every day... but i'll only be able to post them when we can hook up with some wifi access en route. so look past the first post on the page, because several days worth may have been uploaded (and, if i remember to change the heading, correctly dated to boot) at once
pictures. dave has a digital camera, and he's pretty good at remembering to take pictures (unlike myself). so we'll try and post some of the better ones up as we go for your viewing pleasure
input/feedback. we're winging most of the trip, with only a very roughly outlined plan/itinerary to go by, so if you have any ideas or suggestions of places to see or go that you think might be of interest to us, by all means leave a comment, send me an e-mail (sherpa.noonan@gmail.com) or give me a call on the cell. also, if you know of (or can provide) free or inexpensive housing anywhere in the vicinity of our travels, that's valuable info as well. most nights we plan on camping out and sleeping in the van, but a couch to crash on and an indoors shower are always welcome when they're available
tenative itinerary. this sort of goes with the section above: i'll try and give our possible routes/destinations for the upcoming week (assuming i have a clue), so you can give feedback as far as places to go/stay/see. chances are that we'll end up being thousands of miles away from where we said we might be, but in case we're not it'd give you an idea of where suggestions would be most valuable

all that being said... i have no idea how well this blogging is going to work while on the road, so don't expect too much. i'll do the best i can, but i'm not gonna kill myself to update this a.s.a.p. our main priority is having the time of our lives on the road, seeing as much of the U.S.A. (and some of canada) that we can, and not dying. probably in about that priority order, too.

anyhow, stay tuned for more, whenever it comes. maybe soon.... maybe not

-noonan-

the main idea

2005-09-17T19:30:00.000-05:00

my friend dave and i are driving up to alaska, and spending a week or so there before returning to the lower 48. then we'll be visiting various and sundry points of interest all across our great country, but especially on or near the west coast and the southern borders, areas neither of us have visited before. we'll be hitting up national parks, scenic drives, points and cities of interest, and anything else that happens to catch our eye along the way. we'll be gone at least a month, probably more, without a care or concern to hold us back

two friends, one van, one great country to explore... let the good times roll