My Cross-Country Trip

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My Cross-Country Trip

• 6.23.03-7.3.03
• Warning.. None of these pictures actually do the
  subject justice despite my outstanding, amazing,
  superb camera skills. In other words, I couldnt
  fit the world in a 3x5, youll have to see it
  with your own eyes to really appreciate whats
  out there!
• Any similarities between the ideas expressed in
  this statement and the lyrics of 3x5 by John
  Mayer, are purely coincidental

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Philly gt Pittsburgh
Although the trip began a few days before, when I
left good old Naugy, had my last CT sushi dinner
with friends, and then headed down with Lori to
Grampas house in Jersey the journey really
began that Monday when I left Vins pad in
Philadelphia, hittin the open road on 76 West..
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Pittsburgh
On my way to Cleveland I stopped to check out
Pittsburgh. Pretty cool place.. Unfortunately I
parked near PNC Park, which was closed, forcing
me to run around looking for a bathroom. Of
course there were none, so ended up making sure
to water the bushes around the park when no one
was looking. Urimysoticis became the theme of my
trip.
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Just thought this was a cool picture, despite the
profanity, and I squeezed in a Roberto Clemente
statue
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Stupid Steeler fans and their Ketchup field! The
location of that glorious victory by the Pats to
get to the Super Bowl in New Orleans. Im happy
to report that despite all of the
prognostications of doom, the Patriots have shown
up here today, and will take the field against
the Steelers. Cancel those reservations! Cancel
those reservations!! Yes Willy.. Cancel those
reservations indeed.. (ok now Ive lost everyone
that has not seen the Sports Illustrated Patriots
Super Bowl XXXVI DVD 500 times.)
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Cleveland
So then I made my way into Ohio, and up to
Cleveland. If you ever get a chance to spend a
few days in Cleveland DONT. Its a friggin
ghost town! Everyone leaves at 6 pm, and you can
see tumbleweeds and hear crickets. I felt like I
was the last man on earth.
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Cleveland did have some nice scenery, and the
Rock n Roll Hall of Fame!! (no pictures
allowed). It also had this pimp guy, who I saw on
3 totally different occasions just wandering
around with his pimp walk, in his pimpin black
suit. I saw him once the first night on the
street, then again on the street the next day,
then he was even at the library when I went to
check my email!! Finally when he asked me if I
wanted to make some quick money, I decided it was
time to run!
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Finally I got to take in my first ballgame. KC
vs. Cleveland. Ended up with great seats! And the
2nd theme of my trip came about At all the
ballparks, I always became friends with an old
man sitting near me. So for the first week all of
my social interaction came from old guys at a
ballgame.
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Sears Tower
Hot chick in Volvo
There were plenty of reminders of home!
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I made it a little late to the Cubs game, after
admiring the scenery, but ended up with 3rd row
seats!! I was sitting in a tiny seat, surrounded
by pissed off, irritable, pessimistic Cubs fans..
I felt like I was in Fenway Park!!
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It is now Thursday, as I leave Chicago and head
down to St. Louis for a Cardinals game and to
laugh at the Rams fans!
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I got to see your favorite player, and mine..
Tito Martinez, go off, belting a HR, a Double and
a Single. I also talked with Griffey for a bit.
He told me he wants to make it through the season
without any more injuries. Hes especially sure
he wont have any ankle problems. Good call
Junior!
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This is Amy.. Me and her were hanging out during
the game. She was cool, and we had a good time!
Ok.. I dont know her name, and well, we werent
really hanging out, but we talked briefly and she
did seem nice.
Ok.. So I never said a word to her, and just took
her picture from 2 rows back.. But she was hot
ok?? Get off my back!!!
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I got a quick glimpse of the famous Arch, and
then off to my hotel. I promise this is the only
time I drove at night or hit any real traffic for
that matter!! Cuz I know you worry so..
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Next stop was Kansas City.. And standing room
only seats. But it turned out to be great.. Only
5 to park, and another 7 for the ticket! Plus
this cool old biker dude was standing with me the
whole game telling me his life story and going
nuts for the Royals. Turns out Cardinals/Royals
is actually somewhat of a rivalry! Who knew?
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Then after the game, it was off to exciting
Topeka, Kansas.. Where some local thugs were
hangin a little too close to my car at the
hotel!! So I took care of them by going to
Dennys and coming back a little later when they
were gone. I showed them! Then I got a nights
sleep before my trip through the fields of Kansas
the next day. Oh maybe I did drive at night
again, oops!
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Open Weigh Station! (inside joke)
Mountains!
Ok so about 5 minutes into my drive to Denver, I
was bored.. So I stopped in the home town of Bob
Dole! Russell, Kansas! And had lunch at the
Russell Inn, with Jed Bobby Sue who told me
about the big fireworks show coming up at the
county fair to celebrate the harvest!! Yee-haw!
Then finally.. Finally.. Finally!! Mountains!!
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Saturday evening I arrived in Boulder. My friend
Leah (who lives in Denver) was up in the
mountains, so I had to find my own fun in
Boulder. The waiter/bartender dude at Applebees
gave me advice on where to go out, and then said
his girlfriend was having friends over, so I
should stop by.. But Im shy, so I decided to
stay in and watch a movie, then get an early
start in the mountains
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Yaaa.. Thatd happen! So needless to say, I ended
up hanging all night with strangers at a party in
Boulder. We had a great time!!
Paul McCartney!
Dude from Applebees, saw him for all of 5 minutes
the whole party
I know theres a hotel jacuzzi around here
somewhere!?!
Oh.. There it is..
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Sunday.. I headed into the Boulder Foothills
(mountains to us New Englanders)
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For instance.. Buffalo Bills grave!!
Rocky Mountain hiiiigghhh Coloradooooo.. Easy
there Johnny Denver. On Monday I met up with Leah
and we did some site-seeing.
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We decided to check out Golden, Colorado the home
of the Coors Brewery. Leah told me that Coors is
evil cuz they ruin the local environment, so we
went to a local brewery instead. I never knew
beer could be evil?!? It was one of many
eye-opening lessons I learned on my journey..
Nice Local brewery.. With man in fermentation
tank for flavor I think?
Evil Coors..
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Hey.. Dont I have a CD by some band that played
here at Red Rocks once?? Dan Mathers Band or
something? I dunno.. But it looks cool!!
And shes buyyyiiinnggg.. A stairway to
heaavveeennn
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Next up was a visit to Coors Field to see the
Rockies play. We bought the cheap seats and had a
great time, and eventually we moved closer..
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Tuesday morning it was off into the Rockies..
From 5200 feet up to almost 10,000 feet above sea
level, and everywhere in between. So in other
words, there wasnt much to see and it was just
the most boring ride of the trip. Uh.. Ya right,
I think I stopped every 2 minutes to take a
picture. So I didnt go out of my way to get
these shots, they were just along the way as I
drove.
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Colorado River
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On my way to Wally-World with Aunt Edna strapped
to the roof, I stopped to see the worlds biggest
ball of twine, and oh ya, the Four Corners
Monument
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Remember my statement in the beginning?.. Totally
applies here. You gotta see it, cuz you really
cant see the depth and size just by looking at a
picture.
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Sunset at
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Yes.. I actually got up early, and saw the
sunrise at the Canyon. (thats me in the top-left
picture, contemplating the meaning of life and
when me and Amy Miller are actually going to hang
out.)
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Finally.. After I figured out what lifes all
about, I began the last leg of my trip on
Thursday, July 3rd headed towards LA LA land.
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Theres the Ocean!!
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Ahh Its a rough life here in Hermosa. Things
are going well now that Im here. Steph and I are
looking for 3 bedroom places for her, myself,
Jeff. We dont have any money, so we might have
to find a cheap place, but itll all work out in
the end. Now if I can just find a volleyball
partner
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Deep thoughts.. By Jack Handy
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One thing kids like is to be tricked. For
instance, I was going to take my little nephew to
Disneyland, but instead I drove him to an old
burned-out warehouse. "Oh, no," I said.
"Disneyland burned down." He cried and cried, but
I think that deep down, he thought it was a
pretty good joke. I started to drive over to the
real Disneyland, but it was getting pretty late.
Maybe in order to understand mankind, we have to
look at the word itself "Mankind". Basically,
it's made up of two separate words - "mank" and
"ind". What do these words mean ? It's a mystery,
and that's why so is mankind.
It takes a big man to cry, but it takes a bigger
man to laugh at that man.
Probably the saddest thing you'll ever see is a
mosquito sucking on a mummy. Forget it, little
friend.
To me, it's a good idea to always carry two sacks
of something when you walk around. That way, if
anybody says, "Hey, can you give me a hand?" you
can say, "Sorry, got these sacks."
If a kid asks where rain comes from, I think a
cute thing to tell him is "God is crying." And if
he asks why God is crying, another cute thing to
tell him is "Probably because of something you
did."