Last few days in Colorado, St. Patties in Chicago, Home

After the last post I met up with Matt P. we planned on getting up early for some boarding in the morning. So we didn’t go out at all. I met his roommate Alissa, and took a shower. Some of the cloths I needed for boarding were dirty so I washed them. Other than that we just hung around and watched some TV.

                We were up and out the door pretty early. If you’re late at all you get caught in traffic through the mountains. On the drive Matt got a hold of his friend Ben who decided to meet us on the mountain. We went to Beaver Creek for the day. I haven’t been here and it’s always fun to go somewhere new. It was a great day out, 40’s and sunny. The only down side was that it hasn’t snowed here for awhile so everything was iced over. We did a few runs then met up with Ben. He just got a new board and was excited to use it. We did a few runs then stopped for some lunch. They have a cool bar that has a giant umbrella as a roof. It was so nice it that the umbrella was down. After that we tried a few other areas but it was just as icy everywhere. We decided to leave to beat traffic on the way back. Turns out there was an accident on the freeway and we had to get off and go around it. When we got back home, we made some food and got ready to go out for the night. One of my favorite bars ever is 1 up. It’s an arcade bar; they have tons of old school games. They also have 40’s and giant jenga. It’s always a blast and people have always been fun. After that we went to meet Matt’s friends at another bar, but they weren’t there. So we had a few more drinks and headed home.

                The next day we both felt like shit. We just laid around all day, we tried to go to the hot tub but that was full of crap and not hot. We hung out in the rec room of his building and played pool for awhile. After that we just watched some more TV for awhile, before calling it a night.

                Monday morning matt needed to take his car in to the dealer to get his brakes looked at. So I drove with him and took him to work. After that I went back to his house and packed everything up, and drove to Breckenridge. I didn’t have much time left for boarding so I just sat in the car and watched some TV on my computer. I was going to go out to a few bars but I really wasn’t in the mood.

                In the morning I felt like crap. I was coughing up a bunch of crap and my head hurt. It really sucked because I was sitting in front of Breckenridge but just decided to take it easy and not board. So I spent another whole day sitting in the car watching movies. Finally at about 10 at night I had to do something else. So I parked in town and went to a few bars. It is spring break so I figured there would be something going on at night. But it was pretty dead the whole time.

                Wednesday I got a hold of my cousin Matt in Boulder. I planned on meeting up with him after he got out of work. I made the drive over there and waited around for a bit, watched another movie. When matt got home, he and I went fishing at a reservoir with no luck. But it was a beautiful night to be outside. Matt just got married to Stevi, but she had to fly out for work at the last minute. When we made it back home I took a much needed shower and watched a movie before bed time.

                Matt woke me up before he headed off to work. I quickly drove back to Breckenridge to meet up with Matt P and 2 of his friends from back in Milwaukee. It was another beautiful day out and the snow was actually good. Matt P and I took the chair lifts all the way up and then hiked to top. We took that all the way to the bottom. From the bottom to the top back to the bottom took an hour and a half. I finally got to do my tree runs. I love flying through the woods, and I’m glad I got a chance this year. After boarding we all went out to eat in Frisco. It was pretty sad to realize my trip was at its end. I drove back to cousin Matt's house I decided to stay one more night then start the drive to Chicago in the morning.

                I was up early again and packed up everything I had. And hit the road for the worst drive ever. Its 16 hours of nothing. 40 miles east the Denver you can’t see the mountains anymore. After that there is nothing until you hit Chicago. I finally made it around 12:30. I had a slight problem with the tolls; I had no cash on me. This also happened last year, and it made me laugh a little. Once I made it to Adams house we had a few beers and called it a night. .

                Saturday was a big day. Adam always has a nice St. Patties day party at his house. Last year it started at 9 am. With about 30 people there by 9:45. This year started off a little slower but defiantly picked up. Danny and his girlfriend made the trip down and we all had a great time drinking and joking. Around 3 we all went to get some food. From there people went out to the bars for the night. Everyone finally made it home around 9:30 at night. I wouldn’t have minded go back out the bars but everyone else seemed to be done for the night.

                Sunday I helped clean up the disaster zone. Adam works in Florida the week before and after this party, so he fly’s in Friday night and fly’s out Sunday night. We all sat around and watched some TV but all I could think about was how much I had to get done when I got home. So I made the drive home. Most people think this would be a good experience, it’s not. I could travel like this for well over a year before needed to go home. I absolutely love and it has become the thing I live for. So the drive home always sucks. On the way back Elliot, my brother, text me and I decided to stop by his work before I made it home. When I got home no one was there, so I unpacked a few things finally my dad came home. We talked for awhile and it is always good to see family again. But it just so happened that my friend Mike from Arizona is in town this weekend. So I went over to his house and hung out with him again.

                So that’s the trip. I had an amazing time and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I’m glad I went out to the east coast and loved meeting all the people I did. But I have no burning desire to go back out that way. I wouldn’t turn it down but the west is the place for me. I met a lot of awesome people and have some great opportunities in front of me for this year. And I plan of taking full advantage of all of them. This summer is going to very important and I am excited for the future. I am going to be turning my last 2 adventures into a book for cheep travel. And the plan for next winter is Australia and New Zeeland. So I hope you all enjoyed reading about my trip and I will see you all again next year. 

65 night’s total

29 nights in someone’s house, or hotel

34 nights in a car

1 night on the beach

1 unknown night in New Orleans.

 Surprisingly this year was 13,000 miles again

 boarding at beaver creek

 view from the top of breckenridge

 going down whale tail run

 beautiful day in chicago

Met up with Justin and Emily, Zion National Park, Rifle Falls, Cross Country Ski

                The morning after the last post I felt great and decided to do the yoga again. After getting my ass kicked and sweating a gallon, I had to fix my tire problem. I went to the first place and they told me that they couldn’t fix the tire. There was a cut in the side tread and it would be too dangerous to patch. They didn’t sell used tires and I couldn’t afford to buy a new one. I found a place that did and they threw one on for me. When that was taken care of I drove up to LA. I got in touch with my cousin Justin, who just moved out there to live with his fiancée Emily. I stayed with them for a few days last year.  Justin left WI to move out here the same day I started my trip. On the way to LA he picked up a dog and is taking a lot of time to train her. We hung out for awhile and soon Emily came home from work. They are getting married in a castle in Germany and having a reception in Wisconsin, and LA. So they defiantly have some planning to do. I was only going to stay for a few hours but a few beers later I just stayed the night.

                In the morning I headed out for UT. I drove through Vegas but really didn’t want to go alone to that. So I made it to St. George UT. I was sad leaving the heat and sun, but it had to happen sometime. The whole area is beautiful and I didn’t want to drive through it at night. So I picked up a few things at the grocery store and watched movies the rest of the night.

                I started the drive north and saw several signs for Zion National Park. It wasn’t the park I planned on going to, but I figured I would check it out. This turned out to be, what I consider, the most beautiful place in America. You drive alongside a river that snakes up the cannon. On both sides are mountains of every color of stone you could imagine. Red, orange, yellow, green, black, purple, white, brown, grey. I talked to the visitor center; it’s always great to find someone who really knows the park. The guy I talked to worked here for 22 years. I told him what I was looking for and the time I had. He picked an amazing hike for me that took me up to one end of the cannon, called observation point. It was an 8 mile hike with some parts where the trail from frozen over. I was glad I always bring crimp-ons when I’m hiking in winter. After the hike I drove around the rest of the park seeing this amazing place. After the park I continued north. I drove a ways and pulled over to call it a night at a hotel in Richmond UT.

                Sense I was at a hotel I figured I would see what’s for breakfast. I always love my free breakfasts. I was going to check out a national forest but it just didn’t seem like what I was looking for, and I would drive through part of it. So I spent the whole day driving east through the beautiful Colorado landscape. I saw a sign for Rifle Falls. I forgot who told me about this place but it rang a bell, I think it was one of my lovely aunts. So I drove over and I was really surprised by the whole place. Of course there was going to be a water fall, but there was actually 3 falls that lead down into a nice trout stream. But my favorite part was all the caves. There were lots of caves that you could crawl into and look around. The deepest one was probably 50 feet or so. But it was great and a lot of fun. When I was done there I made it to Edwards CO. It was starting to get dark and this is what I consider the “base” of the mountains on the west side. It seemed like a nice little mountain town, Lots of shops and restaurants. I found a nice hotel with an outdoor hot tub and pool, and soaked for a while. I really didn’t have anything else to do for the night, and I didn’t feel like hanging out at a bar. While I was soaking I talked to a guy who lives in the Denver area. He suggested to me that I try cross country skiing. Its things like this that I wouldn’t think of by myself. He told me a great place to check out with pretty cheap equipment rentals and lessons. After that I just watched some more movies for the rest of the night. I finally watched Transformers 3; this was slightly funny to me.

                I slept pretty good and headed out. I drove to the Frisco Nordic Center and rented the equipment I needed. I signed up for a lesson at 2 and decided to try it out a little before then. I have never been one to think lessons are needed, more of a just do it kind of guy. But I have realized that they always help a lot, even if it’s just a few good pointers. I was the only one signed up for the lesson so it was one on one. The guy, Rob, was a great instructor and I was able to pick it up very quickly. Rob was pretty impressed and had me try several things that he didn’t usually show beginners. It was a lot of fun and I’m always glad to learn something new. If the mountain conditions suck one day I think I’m going to go back and try skate skiing. When the lesson when the lesson was over I practiced a few more things and then hit the road to Denver. I’m meeting up with my friend Matt P out here. He was on the snowboard trip last year and a month after the trip moved out here.  

 these were the pics from torrey pines state park

 beautiful beach, from 50 cliffs to the ocean

 it was windy through Nevada

 South west UT

 Zion

 nice view

 observation point

 rifle falls

 some of the caves

cross country skiing for the day

Last Night in New Orleans, Drive to Tempe, AZ, Mikes House, San Diego with Adam

                I know it’s been awhile sense the last post. Life has finally started to calm down somewhat. I will be able to keep up on it better from now on. I finally have a few hours to go through the last week.

                After the last entry I headed back to bourbon for the final night of Mardi Gras. I parked in the same place and grabbed a few beers. I walked around Bourbon for awhile. It was a ton of fun again but some of the other nights were better. Right at 12 the cops roll down Bourbon st. you don’t have to leave but it really kills the mood and most people do. First they sent a fire truck down, followed by about 5 squad cars. Then about 30 cops on horseback with 70 on foot behind that. Last but not lease another 5 squad cars. I walked around for a little while after that but people were really clearing out quick. I headed back to car and called it a night.

                I was up pretty early and I had to get on the road. I sign up for couchsurfer web site and one person was looking for a ride out west. I offered but they never got back to me, so I took off. It was a cool drive to go through the bayou. All the freeways are built on stilts, but it was easy to see how huge waves devastated this area. I didn’t really see any damage from the hurricane but lots of things are built on or near water. I drove over to Houston and drove around the downtown area for a little while, just to get a feel of the city. But I had a ton of driving ahead of me and headed out again. The drive up to Dallas was pretty plain. I have a friend’s uncle, Jim, that lives there and I got a hold of him. Turns out he had to fly out for work the night before and wasn’t sure if he was able to get a flight back that night. When I got into Dallas I picked up a few things at the store and cleaned out the car. Jim couldn’t make it back that night so I headed west. It was dark when I was leaving the city, and it looked like a great place. Lots of things lit up and art scattered through the city. I do wish I had another weekend in here to check out more of TX but it didn’t work out. So the rest of the drive was in the dark, so I drove until about 12:30 and called it a night.

                The next morning I was on the road again. I drove through a lot of oil fields and it actually smelled like oil. I was driving through a serious wind storm, I had to get gas at one point and it was in the middle of nowhere. They said the wind was 70 mph, and coming right at me for the drive. My car usually goes at 2500 rmp at 70 miles per hour. With the wind it was at 4000 going 70. It was a little scary passing semi trucks. It was crazy to watch them getting blown around the road. It was a really flat drive until I entered the Mountain Time zone. Then it all changed and made me smile. After everything I experienced and all the fun I had, I realized the west is the place for me. The rolling mountains with the light brown rock and sand. And the vivid green from whatever it able to grow. At some point I was driving right on the border of Mexico. I stopped at a place in Las Cruces for some southern BBQ. I ordered some ribs. They had great flavor but I was expecting fall off the bone juicy. It was great to get some food, all mine was spoiled at this point. I made it up to Tempe AZ around 8 pm. I stopped and picked up a pizza for dinner then meet up with my friend from high school, and the last trip, Mike. Mike lives in a great apartment overlooking a lake. It about 2 blocks from the main bar strip and everything about it is nice. He lives with his roommate Brent. I also met me him last year and stayed with him over Halloween. I was looking to go out to the bars but mike had to work early and I was fine with taking a break. I took a shower and we joked around a bit before it was off to bed.

                Friday morning I was up pretty early and helped out by cleaning the place. They are pretty busy with school and work and I am always glad to help out. I brought in everything I needed from the car, and finally did some laundry. After that Brent and I went to the gym. We didn’t think I needed an ID but I did. So I had to head back and grab it. We met up with another good friend of mine, Brenden. Mike and Brenden lived together last year, so he knows all about my trip. It was great to see him again. After that we headed home. Mike was home soon after that and there was a pretty fun night planed. Some friends of Mike were getting free bottle service at a bar and everyone was invited. People always come over to mikes to drink before going to the bar, because of how close it is. Another guy from Brookfield, Ian came over with his friend Logan. It’s always good to see friends. We all headed to the bar and turns out there was a flaw in the plan and things didn’t work out with the free bottle. So mike and I headed to a different bar to hang out and catch up. Everyone else caught up later and mike ended up heading home early. I hung out with Brent for the rest of the night and had a blast.

                Saturday we spent the day down by the pool. Brenden came over and it was great to hang out with everyone for awhile. When the sun left the pool area I went to the store and picked up some real food for the week! It was so nice to be able to buy things like salad and chicken and tortellini. When I got home I cook some things up and stuffed my face. Everything tasted amazing. Mike Brent and I hung around the house most of the night; we all hit it pretty hard the night before. We watched a few movies and finally decided to go out for a few drinks. We went to a couple bars and ran into some of mikes friends. I hung out with them for a bit and there was supposed to be an after party but that fell through too.

                In the morning mike and I woke up around 9:30. I made sandwiches and mike had to run to a friend’s house to pick up some snowboarding gear. After that we headed out right away and drove up to Flagstaff, AZ. It’s a really beautiful drive with a lot of change in scenery. We made it snow bowl AZ. We were supposed to meet up with Brenden and a few of his friends but they left really early and headed home soon after we made it there. Mike hasn’t boarded in like 7 years so he was a little rusty, but did fine.  We got a few good hours in and had a good time. It was about 49 degrees out and I was worried about it being slushy, but the snow was great. It’s a really fun mountain with a lot of options for riding. Mike had pretty big blow to his shoulder and he was sore for a few days. The ride home was great, the sun was going down and it illuminated the reddish stone everywhere. When we made it back I made some food and watched some TV before calling it a night.

                Monday I cleaned up a little around the house, did all the laundry from snowboarding. Then I tried to get some keys made for mikes apartment. They were restricted keys so no one could make them. Mike wanted some extra keys to give to close friends, so he doesn’t have to go down and get them every time they come over. After that fail I started thinking about the end of my trip. Which is most likely st patties day in Chicago. So I need cloths for that. I hit up a good will and found some things that should work. I take my drinking holidays very seriously. Soon after mike came home. Last year we made some amazing chicken wings and it seemed like a good thing to repeat. So we ran to the store and picked some things up. We picked up a 24 pack of corona too. Too bad we accidently grabbed the 7 ounce bottles. It looks weird drinking a beer that small. We cooked up dinner and hit the hot tub.

                Tuesday Brent and I hiked Camelback Mountain. I hikes this last year with mike and forgot my camera. It’s a great hike and a lot of fun. It’s a lot of boulder climbing. When we made it to the top I was actually able to take a picture to Mike and Brent’s apartment. We couldn’t tell on the camera but back home we found it. On the way down a girl fell on the rocks and hit her head pretty hard. We asked if she needed some help but her friend acted like a bitch and was really weird about it. Brent has had a few knee surgeries and heading down was pretty tough. After that we stopped at subway for some sandwiches. Right when we got home mike showed up. Tonight is mikes bowling league and he invited me to come with. I couldn’t bowl but I got to met some of the strange creepy old men he bowls with. They were a blast and pretty funny. One guy used to work with mike; he has also been to every state except 5. I asked if he could live anywhere where it would be. He said if money wasn’t a problem he would pick Del Mar, CA. it’s just north of San Diego and that’s where Adam and I were last year. After mikes tournament we actually got a play a game. My wrist was not liking it and it really sucked, I stuck with a good wrist. But I’m glad we got to play one game together. Mike doesn’t have a lot of free time so it was great to hang out together and chat about things. Once home I ate some food and hit the couch.

                This day I woke up later than usual. I ran to the store and bought all the food for the road. I cooked up some of the food, spaghetti with ground turkey, and brown rice with 3 or 4 kinds of beans.  Later that night mike had a some friend over for a poker night. I lost a few times and had to buy back in but I had a good time. People slowly came and went. Mike ended up winning the whole thing.

                Mike was causing an avalanche in the freezer and I was up right when he was heading to work. I decided to hike camel back again for the fun of it. It was the first time I hiked it by myself and I timed myself. Every time I’m there I see people actually running up and down the trail. I was able to keep a quick hiking pace with one break. I took my time on the way down so I could take some pictures. Right when I got home from that Brent was heading to the gym. I decided to join. Brent and Brenden work out just about every day, usually in the gym. I haven’t done shit for the last month and a half other then walk around cities. We spent an hour just working on triceps, and then played some basketball. After the gym we headed home, made some great food, and got ready for the night. It was my last night in town and this time I really wasn’t sure they next time I’ll be out here. So it was really great to get a chance to go out with the bars with mike, Brent, and Brenden. All of us really done get a chance to go out together. We met Brenden, his sister, and roommate at a bar. It seemed kinda weak so we decided to head to mill. The sister and roommate headed home for the night. The rest of us went back to the apartment and had a few drinks before walking to mill. We went to several bars and enjoyed typical bar antics. As we were walking back into the apt complex Brent and I met some very strange people. He stayed up for awhile joking around before calling it a night.

                I was up surprisingly early and had to pack everything up. My arms hurt incredibly badly. I think I actually did damage to my muscles. It was off to San Diego for me. Mike woke me up to say bye. Brent was still sleeping but it was great to be able to spend time there again. It’s always a little oasis for me. This was a rough drive. I was really exhausted and it was a 6 hour drive. It was an interesting drive. It went through some mountain areas, some sand dunes, and all the greenery of the San Diego area. I picked up Adam at 3:30 and we headed to the La Jolla and walked around on the beach. It’s a very hilly area and it seems like every house had an incredible view. It was a beautiful beach inside a cove. After that we drove into the city part of La Jolla. We were looking for a bar overlooking the water to grab a drink at. We ended up finding a really cool spot with a small beach surrounded by steeps rocks. There were also tons of bird’s and seals lying around. Really cool to see. We ended up finding a really nice roof top bar with an amazing Margareta. Next we headed to the hotel to check in. after a quick hot tub session we got a cab down to Gaslamp. It’s the main bar, restaurant, shopping area. We found a nice place to grab a burger and a few drinks. Last time Adam and I were out here we never actually made it to the bars. So we did some bar hopping and got a pretty good feel for the area. It was a ton of fun and I was glad we took a cab because we were throwing a few back. When we made it back to the hotel they let us go in the hot tub for a while before heading off to bed.

                Saturday morning was a rough start. It’s always seems like a great idea to go in a hot tub after the bar, but it really dehydrates the shit out of you. So it makes the morning worse. But we found a place that had a good breakfast for $2.99. We walked around the old town area; it’s a really neat place in the middle of the city. After breakfast Adam and I drove to Torrey Pines for a day of hiking. We hiked it last time but we were pretty rushed. I was really glad to get to hike it again and take time with it. It’s such a beautiful place with tons of different plants and land features. After a few hours of that we grabbed a pizza and some beer at pizza pit. Last year that had the best beer I ever tasted in my life. It’s called the Hasselhoff. I was really sad they didn’t have it this time. The pizza was great and the beer was good, just not as good as last time. Adam and I debated on heading to the beach but it was defiantly nap time. We went back to the hotel and passed out for a few hours. When we got up we went to meet up with some of Adams friends from college. Erin and Karima. We went over to Erin's place and all hung out for awhile. They all had a ton of catching up to do. I always love hearing people swap stories. We all went out to eat at a pretty nice place. While we were out Karima got a pretty bad head ache and had to get dropped off after dinner. By then it was pretty late and we decided to just hang out at Erin's for a bit. We headed back to the hotel and called it a night

                Today Adam and I packed up and started heading to the beach. When we were almost there we decided to have brunch with Erin and Karima. So we headed to the Gaslamp area and had a great meal. We were in a slight rush and had to take off right away after eating. We went to mission beach, where we signed up for surf lessons. After leaving the restaurant someone let us know that I had a flat tire. We were able to get to a gas station right up the street and fill it up. Thankfully it holds air pretty well. I will have to get it looked at before taking off. Then we were off for the lesson. Too bad parking was a bitch and took me about 20 more minutes. O well we still had a good time surfing. I was surprised to be able to get up on a wave a few times. The instructor helps out with the timing and it worked out really well with 2 people. There were dolphins swimming and jumping around not too far away, maybe 250-300 yards away. A really great experience. Right after the lessons Adam had to catch his flight. So we rushed over there and said out good byes. I’m so glad things worked out and we were both able to have fun out here again. After that I got a hold of Karima, she’s a yoga instructor and I have been interested in trying it out. She was teaching a class tonight and I was looking for something to do. So I typed up the first part of this and then headed to the class. It was a hot yoga class, and that shit is hard! I think I did ok but just getting all the positions correct is difficult, much less trying to work out in a sauna. I was glad I did it and if I go tomorrow I get a free class. I was really surprised how much energy you get after you’re done. I’ll see if I make it.