Well It has been a while since I last wrote but here is the low down of my travels so far.....Lots of driving!!! So far I have drove about 2200 miles across the US from Hickory, NC to Terry, MT. Soooo before I got the chance to head out on the open road for my trip on July 6th, I decided to take a ride down to the store for a Cheerwine or Soda (only in NC by the way) and my transmission decided to crap out on me... UGH! What timing right? Well I did manage to find an auto mechanic to rebuild it. $1,400.00 was the Bill!!! wow. Not what I was expecting but I had to have it done.
The auto shop came through just in time for me to be able to take off from Hickory, NC and start my trip. Of course, I was very worried about driving it 3000 miles without driving around town a little but, I figured that this is a road trip... aren't they supposed to be full of surprises? Well I have good news to report about the transmission, it is just great!
I left out early on July 6th and took I-40 West towards Asheville, NC and if you want to see a beautiful sight in the NC mountains... drive early in the morning and watch the sunrise over the fog that has settled between the mountain peaks! By the time I had reached exit 90 the fog was starting to be visible and when I reached Black Mountain the clouds were holding to the valley floors.
I crossed into Tennessee through the Tunnel on I-40 W and was jammin out. I have to say that I beep the horn on my Explorer every time I pass through a tunnel or pass by a sign that designated crossing into a new state. My mom started me doing that so I have continued to do so all the way to Washington. I get a few weird looks from people who are right beside me when I do it. Hahaha... they either slow down or speed up and give me that go to hell look. I think its funny!
My next stop is In St. Louis, MO where I stayed over night with a fellow classmate. We went out and had some shark meat and a beer or two. I had a pretty good time but I still hate the cities. So I left from there and headed to my grandparents house in KS. I stayed there for about 10 days and went fishing and did a lot of eating. I mean a lot of eating. I spent time with my aunt and uncle and all my cousins. I had so much fun. Shooting Skeet or Blue rocks with the family is always fun! I have to say that Wendy is really good at shooting and fishing. Wendy and I took out the canoe and fished in a near by pond for bass and caught some Monksters! We grilled em up and had a feast. From Kansas I left out on the Pony Express or Hwy 36 and then cut through Nebraska to South Dakota. I am not knocking the Mid west but all I saw was farm land and a shit ton of bugs once I reached SD.
So I hit up the Badlands of SD and it was beautiful and very very very hot. It was July when I went through. I got to see the park and you know I thought it was going to be a bit different once I got there but, It was bumper to bumper traffic through the park. I honestly will probably never go back to a National Park again just because of the way they are set up. I think that you should be able to appreciate nature from a more non commercial way. Maybe see the park for how it is instead of paving a two lane highway through it, just so you don't have to get out of your car to see how magical the place really is. But, enough of that.
I drove from my Grandparents house in NE Kansas to near Miles City Montana in 17 hours straight. Thanks 5 hr energy. What the crap is in that stuff??? I was still wired when I made it to my destination. Once I reached Montana. I stayed with some really good friends and hung out there for about a week. I got to see some really cool thunderstorms and lightning storms there. The sunsets are to die for! Then I went to a ghost town where I fell in love with the setting. House is facing the west to see the sunsets from the front porch and total peace and quiet. All I could hear was the wind pushing the prairie grasses around in circles, small birds and insects making their usual noises. But what I noticed the most is how wonderful it is to not hear a single car or vehicle or horn or anything from the modern world. I felt like I was the last person on earth... and I felt really privileged to be able to have that feeling and to know there are places in the world that you can have that feeling. I felt joy and a sense of relaxation and also peace within.
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