Day Two!

The Happenings of Day Two:

1.    Said goodbye to Indiana and hello to Illinois!

2.     Gained an extra hour of daylight as we passed through the time zone change! (does this make us successful time travelers now? I would say so, yes).

3.     Enjoyed lots of coffee and had numerous battles with Biff for the front seat!

 Goodbye Indianapolis!

 Hello Illinois!

Happiest puppy in the world...Biff!

4.     Saw (yet again) another Giant Cross on the side of the road.

5.     Stopped for lunch in Effingham, Illinois and saw a huuuge Nike warehouse along the way.

6.     Improved my map reading skills…yes, I am very proud of this!

7.     Saw the Mississippi river for the first time in our lives! (Let me just add that they were STILL working on cleaning up from the flood...roads were still closed and flooded when we got there)!

8.     Didn’t get a picture of the Missouri sign BUT I did get the St. Louis Arch which basically welcomes you into the state anyway ;)

9.     Saw the beautiful city of St. Louis (I think this was my favorite stop of the entire trip so far).

10. Took Biff for a walk through a nice little park, saw the Arch, walked down by the flooded river, and sweated profusely from the heat!

11. Sat in the shade for a while and just enjoyed the beautiful day, river, company, and extra space to stretch out too ;)

 the beautiful city of St. Louis, Missouri

 The St. Louis Arch!..you could see 

this from sooo far away!

 Alex and Biff walking through the park.

 The Arch!

 the flooded Mississippi River

 Biff enjoying the shade and looking 

out over the river (and maybe at the 

biker too) 

 water for Biff on a VERY hot day!

 cleaning up the overflow of water (I have to say,

it didn't really look like they were making much progress)

 that is an entiiiire road, flooded, STILL, from the Mississippi

and again!

12. Made our way down to Springfield, Missouri to see the World’s Largest Fork! You can read about it here. (ironically, it was planted in a bed of green lettuce-looking plants…making me crave a big crunchy salad)!

13. Walked around the charming little area of Springfield for a while.

14. Finally made our way onto Route 66! (Although most parts of the original route 66 are in pretty bad condition, so it actually runs parallel to the highway but in certain spots it’s the same road).

 such a large fork!

15. Saw countless signs to Meramec Caverns…and no, we did not give into the advertising and stop...I’m serious though, we must have seen close to 50 Billboards for Meramec Caverns…too funny)!

16. Had a blast from the past with an hour of 90’s music!

17. Entered into the state of Oklahoma as we watched the sun set (beautiful of course)!

18. Drove a few miles until we reached the town of Miami, Oklahoma (Alex loved this place! Note: sarcasm).

the perfect sunset to end the day...

19. Heard some real-deal Southern accents for the first time (so cool…I know, I am so easily amused).

20. Grabbed some dinner and a hotel room and ended the night with some Leo in Catch Me If You Can.

Miles Driven: 700-800.

Hours Driven: 12-13.

States Driven In: four.

Stops made: five.

 myself and the Biff :)

:)

And tomorrow starts days three! We’ll stop pretty early on in Catoosa, Oklahoma to see the Giant Blue Whale and then head for The Cadillac Ranch in Texas. We’ll gain another hour and we’ll enter into the desert! Keep us in your thoughts! 

Alex and I infront of the Arch!

  

Day One!

note: click on the photos to view them in a larger scale.

Day one: complete! The bottom black line is our route across the country...it looks so short on a map, but I'll tell ya, it's definitely not a short trip!

Started the day off by heading to Lewistown so Alex could say goodbye to his family. His mom made us breakfast and we talked for a while and then it was time to hit the road! It's so weird but the entire day it still all felt so unreal...like we're just going on a day trip or something. I think tomorrow it'll finally hit me.

Overall, we did about 13 hours or driving today! Well, Alex did the driving, I just kept him company :P We stopped a few times to let Biff out, eat some food, and of course for bathroom stops...but I was definitely glad that we did...13 hours of driving can really cramp your legs up :P

I'd say I'm a pretty good road companion...well I hope so for Alex's sake. I did fall asleep once..but only for about half an hour through Ohio..I'd say that's not too shabby ;) I love car rides...there's just something about going and going and going...listening to music, talking, zoning out every now and then, and above all, just enjoying all of the cool things that you always come across. I can't believe that we have three or four more days of this! I love it.

My goal is to take pictures of all the states border signs 

that we go through..doing well so far!

Today, we drove out of PA, through Ohio, and halfway through Indiana! And let me just say, Ohio is one.long.drive. And not too much to see either...but one thing Alex and I are really enjoying is seeing everything change the further and further we go. Less mountains and flatter ground. Even just the people we've come across. It's crazy stuff and I'm really looking forward to seeing bigger changes the further out we get...especially once we get to the desert!

BUT...Ohio WAS the home of one of our planned stops! Of course this was one that Alex picked out because he's the Star Wars buff here...i've never even watched an entire movie!! Needless to say that he was prettttyyyy pumped about it ;)  But it was this really cool full size X-Wing Fighter Replica that some guy made himself and put it outside of his restaurant. 

You can read all about it here actually!

It also had all these license plates hanging up on the wall outside and I just had to take a picture because I found one that said Suds and well, one of my best friends is named Suds! So of couuuurse I had to show the world :P

We also passed Columbus, Ohio on our way into Indiana...right in the middle of rush hour. Luckily we didn't hit toooo much traffic because of that, but we did get stuck in two traffic jams because of accidents. One punch buggy had completely caught on fire...thank god it wasn't us.

Ever since living in Pittsburgh this last year, I really enjoy seeing other cities. Just to compare them and see what they're all about...I think everyone should give them a try at some point in their lives...I know that I love it at least :)

And as we passed through Indiana, we came across the one of the World's Largest Crosses! We had read about it earlier but didn't even realize that it would be riiiight there outside our window. I snapped a picture super quickly from the car so you could all see. It doesn't really do it justice, but if you look really close and compare it to the three story house that's sitting next to it, you might get a better idea as to how huge it is.

But anyway, it was a long day of driving but it definitely won't be our longest. We've made it through the slower part of our trip and tomorrow we're looking forward to stopping at more outrageous attractions for you all to see! As for now, we're settled in Indianapolis and we hope to get a good night's sleep for our drive tomorrow. Finishing up Indiana, hitting Illinois, seeing the St. Louis Arches..and soooo much more! Can't wait to keep you all posted! Keep us in your prayers please!

over and out. 

day two to come!

  

12 Hours...

Tomorrow is the day! 

I leave at 6am tomorrow for the road trip of a lifetime!

Don't forget to check in every night to see where we've been and what we've seen!

And feel free to call or text!

so. excited. 

  

This Has Gotta Be the Good Life...

What I Love Most About Summer Summed Up In The Past Three Days

Lunch and Dinner Dates with Old and New Friends!

This is my friend Brit. I started working with her at Regal two years ago and immediately knew that she would be one of the most kind-hearted people that I will ever meet in my lifetime. Seriously, this girl does not have a mean bone in her. She, Carly, and I enjoyed a nice lunch at Atlanta Bread (my favorite place to eat!) before all heading our separate ways for the day. Brit graduated from Penn State and she's now living in LA, waiting to hear if she got the permanent job from her internship. Lucky for me, she got to come back home for a week AND I'll be seeing her out in LA in just a week! On another note, also enjoyed a late night meal at Aroogas with another girl I used to work with, Alex, and a few new friends too.

Trying New Foods!

Alex took Carly and I to an Indian restaurant downtown the other night, called the Delhi Kabab House. It was deeeelicious! I didn't think I would be a big fan of Indian food after Suds brought some to lunch a few years ago...but this was bangin! It was called Chicken Tikka (my spelling may be wayyy off) and although it was a little spicy, the cool cucumber and carrots with it was the perfect combination.  Afterwards, we were still feeling a little hungry so we stopped into Pulumbo's Pizza and had the AMAZING Pittsburgher Pizza. If you haven't tried it yet, I suggest you get your butt riight down there and order a slice immediately. You won't be sorry ;)

Walking Across The Walking Bridge at Sunset

Do I really need to explain this one? I think the pictures are explanation enough. I love the city when it's starting to get dark out...it makes me miss Pittsburgh even more than I normally do! It was really cool passing all the families on the bridge, and looking out to see the boat crossing the river too. It was just simply a beautiful sight. 

Completely Spur of the Moment Decisions to go to the Batting Cage!

While we were downtown, after deciding to go over the walking bridge and stop by City Island...we saw this old man batting away at the batting cages, and with a little persuasion, Alex got both Carly and I to hit a few balls with him. Now I don't mean to braaagggg or anything, but I was on fire! ;) Buttt..I was also in the slowest cage so I guess I can't be toooo cocky :P  It was a lot of fun! I always remember my dad and brothers hitting balls there but I don't ever remember doing it myself. It was pretty funny to all take turns watching each other do something that all of us were definitely nottt pro's at :P

Having My Very Own Cheering Section While Up At Bat!

So while I showed off my killer batting skills at City Island, Carly and Alex thought it would be funny to play the typical "parent roles"...Carly got to be the overly supportive parent who only screams out words of encouragement and takes billions of pictures, and Alex got to be the way too intense parent who only yells out things like "YOU'RE DOING IT ALL WRONG! BEND YOUR KNEES! YOU'RE BETTER THAN THIS!!" It was all really really hilarious actually. I wish everyone could hang out with the two of them together, they crack me up like no other. But anywayyyy, while all of this was going on, we attracted a small group of older men and women who decided to cheer me on...it was pretty cool actually..and I won't lie, I felt awesome.

More Spur of the Moment Decisions...to play in the arcade!

Now, I don't know about you, but I never really take the time to go to arcades and play games. But of course after hitting the batting cages, we had to hit the arcade. Blew some money on tokens and just had a really fun time being the only people in there playing all the games that we wanted to play. I would also like to note that I totally have not lost my basketball skills...yes I did indeed beat Alex. booya! And now I would also like to point out that Carly is indeed the arcade champ!..that girl sure can play some skee ball! We all won some tickets, combined them together, and although we only could each get a lollipop, I'd like to think that we made the guys nights that were working there...we were definitely a sight to see!

Spending Time with my Best Friend and my Boyfriend at the Same Time.

I can't stress how blessed I am to have such amazing people in my life. Alex and Carly got to know each other by working at the Regal, and well that's just made my life that much easier when it comes to hanging out! :P Like I said, these two together can make me laugh like no other. They're both my best friends, really. They know me in and out and being with them both just ensures that I am the happiest person in the world. Who else would enjoy the most random nights in the world with me like these two? It was sort of our "Carly says Goodbye to Alex!" night...I'm gonna miss nights like this the most for sure once summer is over. 

Sunny Days at the Pool with my Best Friends!

It's awesome having friends with pools. Especially when you can walk to their house! Spending days laying out by the pool, swimming, listening to music, and making strawberry smoothies is definitely one of my favorite past times. Nothing beats it really, and that's all there is to say about that ;)

Taking Goofy Pictures on PhotoBooth!

Simple, yes. But incredibly hilarious when it all comes down to it. There's nothing better than laughing your brains out about being...well, immature. Everyone needs to be that way sometimes :)

Other Things That I've Loved Lately:

1. sleepovers with the BFFs!

2. hilarious Conan episodes.

3. cuddling with the best dog everrrr, Trey :)

4. watching Big Fish, one of my favorite movies of all time.

5. coffee and bagels in the morning. 

6. riding around with the top down on my car with Carly!

7. late night talks with Steph over a bag of Twizzlers.