I plotted my road trip of havoc

[lordofduct]

In the last year I drove across the country several times. It was one hell of a time with all kinds of bizarre things happening.

Cougars, sleeping on edges of cliffs in Montana, driving an Indian women 5 hours home from the mountains to Tacoma, working in LA, rafting down the Farmington River, sliding down glacier creeks on the sides of mountains, riding a make shift boat from dumpsters on the Mississippi River, and much much more.

From 7/2007 to 7/2008 I drove around 18,000 to 20,000 miles around the country... you should see my car, I think she hates me now.



Red and Pink - my trip to LA for work
Blue - my trip around the country with Adny and Ed
Purply - my trip to Massachusettes/New York/Connecticut





... and who said I didn't know how to spend my money wisely.





so where have you guys been in the last year?

[Flak Beard]

so where have you guys been in the last year?

In March I spent a couple weeks in Japan, hanging out in Tokyo and visiting a friend in Hiroshima. I got to see Akihabara and did lots of drinking and sight-seeing.

That's pretty crazy you spent all that time on the road! I wish I would of done traveling like that when I was younger.

[lordofduct]

How old are you? And man I'd love to travel over to Asia over traversing America.

Though I need to say, I have heard a lot of people say that America is just more of the same no matter where you are. And I beg to differ, the whole place is WAY different each place you go. Yeah there is another McDonald's and AppleBees, but hey they have those in Thailand as well... so you can't count that.

[Flak Beard]

How old are you? And man I'd love to travel over to Asia over traversing America.

Though I need to say, I have heard a lot of people say that America is just more of the same no matter where you are. And I beg to differ, the whole place is WAY different each place you go. Yeah there is another McDonald's and AppleBees, but hey they have those in Thailand as well... so you can't count that.

Well I guess I'm really not that old, as I'll be 28 here in a couple months. I've just settled into a job, marriage and house, so traveling like that wouldn't be possible.

[Ack]

As I was finishing up college last year, the only major trip that I went on was to spend a week in New York City. It was my second time to go, but I did stuff I hadn't done in the past, so it was pretty cool.

After that, I worked up some money to get into grad school and moved, so again...no money for a trip. I'd like to go see a few countries once I finish, but we'll have to see how it all turns out.

Sounds like you had fun on your trip.

[Mozgus]

Cougars, sleeping on edges of cliffs in Montana, driving an Indian women 5 hours home from the mountains to Tacoma, working in LA, rafting down the Farmington River, sliding down glacier creeks on the sides of mountains, riding a make shift boat from dumpsters on the Mississippi River, and much much more.

Is it abnormal for me to find all of this completely unappealing, or is that the joke?

[xraydash]

Wow! That's a whole lot of driving. But what an amazing opportunity to check out all of those different parts of the country. I'm definitely jealous.

We spent a week in South Carolina last fall, mainly on Edisto Island on the Atlantic Ocean. It was beautiful and we saw all kinds of amazing wildlife including dolphins off the shore, freshly hatched sea turtles making their way across the beach to the ocean, and osprey diving straight down into a river to catch fish.

This summer we drove to Michigan for our yearly visit. We grew up there so it's never particularly exciting. We were able to break away from the fams and spend some time in the northwestern part of the lower peninsula on Lake Michigan. Very peaceful and just as beautiful as the ocean.

[aaron]

did you spend any time in indy while you were here? i like getting people's opinions of my city.

super cool you made this trip, i wish i had the opportunity to travel more.

[lordofduct]

Cougars, sleeping on edges of cliffs in Montana, driving an Indian women 5 hours home from the mountains to Tacoma, working in LA, rafting down the Farmington River, sliding down glacier creeks on the sides of mountains, riding a make shift boat from dumpsters on the Mississippi River, and much much more.

Is it abnormal for me to find all of this completely unappealing, or is that the joke?

Yep, I made the joke all for you Moz... all for you.

Actually Moz, I think we just lead completely different kinds of lives, but then again I believe we've discussed this at length many times. I like seeing and doing very odd things, that is all. Videogames are just a very small part of my life.

did you spend any time in indy while you were here? i like getting people's opinions of my city.

super cool you made this trip, i wish i had the opportunity to travel more.

Well the trip which brought me through Indianapolis (I'm assuming that is what you mean by Indy) ended abruptly just after Chicago. Note how we go to chicago and then back track. Well we went back to ride on that boat made out of dumpsters. It was actually an entire fleet of dumpsters with a ton of hippy's on it.

To be specific it was the "Miss Rockaway Armada"... http://www.missrockaway.org/

My friend Robyn was on the trip and they were in Iowa at the time. We got a hold of her and she invited us onto their boat. It was awkward to say the least, and Adny and I got very annoyed with the whole predicament. Personally I'm not really a big fan of the "hippie" lifestyle. I am friends with a lot of "art fags", but the hippie is just to much for me. Though I admit some of the art fags I hang with are hippies, I've just known them so long that I hardly notice it with them (e.g. Robyn).

Anyways, Adny and I were so aggrivated by the time spent with the "armada" that we decided to press the pedal to the metal and get the hell home. We didn't spend a lot of time in Indianapolis as a result.

...

I have on the other hand been there several times in the past. I come from a family of truck drivers (hence my total desire to drive around the country), and basically grew up inside of a Peterbilt stinger with a 10 car high rail. I've spent time in every major city this side of the Mississippi. My opinion of cities though is built on an attitude of:

work
people's driving capabilities
how dirty I get while there
how horrible the streets are
and the homeless

As for your city, you don't drive like complete utter assholes (visit LA or Atlanta... they are assholes), Chicago and New York have filthier air... so that's a plus! The "nicer parts" of your city are relatively easy to get around with out to many obstacles (low hanging trees or bridges), and the homeless... what ones I've seen... seem legitemately homeless.

So thumbs up in my book... but hey, my opinion isn't a very exciting read now is it?

[Haoie]

With increasing fuel costs, will this be stopping anytime soon? Hmm.