victory eggs

Rocky Mountain National Park, CO

2009-08-26T23:48:00.001-04:00

Yellowstone National Park, WY

2009-08-24T15:26:00.003-04:00

Probably my favorite place that I have visited so far. There's so much to do, and the scenery is unreal. I'm in Cody, WY right now about an hour outside of the park where I'll be attending my first rodeo! Tomorrow I'm off to Rocky Mountain National Park which I'm sure is going to be awesome. Then I'm going to start my drive back east.

Seattle, WA

2009-08-22T22:08:00.002-04:00

From the observation deck of the space needle

Redwood National Park, CA

2009-08-21T01:09:00.001-04:00

Chargers vs. Seahawks

2009-08-16T01:42:00.003-04:00

My brother, my friend Andy, and I went to the Chargers vs. Seahawks game preseason game tonight in San Diego. It was my first NFL game and it was awesome. Our seats were right on the 50 yard line! I'm not sure when I'm leaving to start my adventure home... Southern California is real nice and I've got a lot of stuff here I haven't done yet.

SoCal Sunshine

2009-08-14T16:38:00.005-04:00

I've been in California since Monday and it's beautiful. My nephew Preston is growing up so fast and my brother and sister-in-law have been great hosts. Tonight I'm leaving to go visit my friends Andy and Laura in San Diego for the weekend. At some point I should probably figure out exactly what route I'm going to take home... Anyway, here are a couple photos from the Grand Canyon which is absolutely spectacular.

Almost to CA

2009-08-07T19:37:00.002-04:00

I camped last night in Roswell, NM. It's a pretty strange town, but worth the visit if you're at all interested in UFO's or extraterrestrial life. The museum is fairly anti-climatic, but still a neat experience. I got a killer breakfast this morning for $5 thanks to the lady at the campground. Right now I'm in Gallup, NM which is halfway between Roswell and the Grand Canyon. I'll be leaving bright and early tomorrow morning to make sure that I have plenty of time to check out the canyon. I'll be camping there for the evening, then moving to Vegas Sunday morning, and finally I'll end up in California sometime Monday afternoon.

So far so good

2009-08-05T16:04:00.003-04:00

The trip has been going awesome so far. I've made it to Nashville, Memphis, and now I'm in Austin. All of the places that I've visited so far have been really cool. Tomorrow morning I leave for Roswell, then the Grand Canyon, then Vegas, then to Orange County, CA. I can't wait!

The Element Bed

2009-07-30T17:34:00.002-04:00

I have the main construction done on the bed that I'm going to sleep in during my trip cross country. I'm going to add some sort of padding tomorrow and start my journey Sunday morning. I'm so excited!

Cross country trip

2009-06-29T19:17:00.011-04:00

Planning this trip is a lot of work. I originally drive and visit cities that I have not been to yet, but I scratched that idea because #1 - driving/parking/etc in a new city is a pain and #2 - there are a ton of really beautiful national & state parks that I could stay at for a fraction of the cost while still having an awesome experience. So I've kept a few select cities that fit nicely into my itinerary, but decided that camping most of the way is going to be my main objective. I've had pretty good luck finding cheap hotels in the cities that I want to stop in so it works out well. Here is my VERY tentative plan. I hope to leave sometime in the beginning of August and take about 4 to 5 weeks on the trip.

To California:
nashville (10 hours) -- HOTEL
ouachita national forest (6 hours)
austin, tx (8 hours) -- HOTEL
roswell, nm (10 hours)
grand canyon national park (10 hours)
las vegas (4 hours) -- HOTEL
my brother's house in orange county, ca (4 hours)

To Virginia:
sequoia national park (5 hours)
yosemite national park (2 hours)
san francisco, ca (4 hours) -- HOTEL
redwood national park (6 hours)
lake tahoe (7 hours)
salt lake city, ut (8 hours)
yellowstone national park (6 hours)
theodore roosevelt national park (8 hours)
badlands national park (6 hours)
omaha, nb (7 hours)
mark twain national forest (7.5 hours)
daniel boone national forest (9 hours)
home (8 hours)

Likes & Dislikes

2009-06-19T14:37:00.003-04:00

LIKES:

german food, german beer, spanish women, sitting in a restaurant and hearing 4 different languages, the sunset in venice, towers of beer in mallorca, new cities, nice hostels, clean clothes, walking out of a club when the sun is up, chorizo, ryanair stewardesses, people who speak proper english, italian tour guides, roman runis, learning new things, spanish happy hour, good internet connections, willem's house, watching a soccer game with the right audience, willem's mom always making sure we have something to eat, willem's dad always having something intelligent to add to a conversation, the ryanair fit test, gelato, smartwool socks, nike shirts, warm showers, friendly people, menus that aren't in english.

DISLIKES:

italian "beer", screaming children at airports, jamming my knees into a seat on a train/plane/bus, the euro conversion rate, rome's poor excuse of a subway system, truck stop toilet paper, prison showers, cardboard mattresses, being too tall for every bed in europe, rooms that smell like jock straps, italian cab drivers, sweating for 2 weeks straight, clothes that smell like you've sweated in them for 2 weeks straight, not getting a proper nights sleep, blisters, lack of air conditioning in countries that should have it.

Venice

2009-06-19T06:56:00.003-04:00

We arrived just in time for the to see the sun setting -- it was really beautiful. We couldn't find our bus right away because apparently their "buses" can also be boats. There are tons of cool small art galleries and lots of streets/alleys to get lost in. It was a really nice change of pace from Rome which was everything a big city should be (loud, fast paced, crazy). Now we're back at Willem's house for my last two days in Europe. I can't believe that it has been 30+ days already. I have so much more that I want to see...

Rome

2009-06-15T11:34:00.003-04:00

This is by far the most cool and interesting place that we have visited thus far. There is so much to see and do. I'm glad we're spending 6 nights here. We've toured the catacombs, the coliseum, the Vatican and a few other things so far. Tomorrow we're headed to Pompeii for the day and then we're off to Venice!

Barcelona

2009-06-09T12:29:00.004-04:00

Barcelona is HUGE! There's so much to do and you could definitely spend more time than we did there. Luckily we did get to see a lot of the city. There are a ton of museums that you can get totally lost in that I would be interested in going back to see, but we didn't have enough time to work in everything. Gaudi's architecture is awe-inspiring in person. We're in Madrid now, then Rome, Venice, and back to Germany for a couple days.

Mallorca

2009-06-04T12:47:00.004-04:00

All I can say is wow. Pictures do NOT do this place justice. The water is clear, the girls are pretty, the beer is cold. Lots of Germans come here to vacation. The only thing more awesome than a crazy German in Germany is a German on vacation, they definitely know how to party. Our hostel has a view of the beach and a sweet patio for 20 euros a night! There is also a really cool old town that we checked out this morning. Off to Barcelona tomorrow morning...

The beach

Berlin

2009-06-02T11:15:00.005-04:00

Berlin rules. We met up with Laura, Kristi, and her friend Callie. Laura is moving on with Willem and I to Spain & Italy while Krisit is returning home to the states and Callie is going to study abroad in Paris. We've had a lot of fun and seen a ton of stuff. I've also gotten to eat more currywurst and doner sandwiches than I expected, which while being tasty has also kept my food budget low!

Here are a couple of cool photos. I'm sure some are going to surface later that I will immediately regret. All in a days work...

The wall

Reichstag

Dachau

2009-05-28T11:17:00.003-04:00

Krematorium

One of the memorials

This tour had the most powerful/interesting/moving/thought provoking things I have ever seen. You can read about Nazi concentration camps all you want, but until you see it in person, and read/hear the stories of the survivors you really have no idea what these people went through. It's scary to think that this was only about 70 years ago. A definite must see if you ever get to visit here.

On a lighter note, our tour guide turned us on to a great bar that was going to be showing the champion's league final soccer game. Let's just say that watching soccer over here is totally different than watching it in the states - what a blast.

Now we're going to take it easy for a day and head to Berlin early Saturday. Then I'll start getting some more stamps in my passport!

Munich / BMW Museum

2009-05-26T12:47:00.005-04:00

Altes Rathous in Munich

The BMW Museum is awesome. I could have stayed there all day. I got a ton of good photos. It is huge and very interactive. A must stop if you ever visit Munich.

Tonight we're going to take it easy. We're going to Dachau tomorrow, and then back to Weilerbach on Thursday afternoon. Willem works Friday night, and then we leave for Berlin Saturday morning.

Weilerbach Countryside

2009-05-25T05:36:00.002-04:00

Trier

2009-05-23T14:20:00.006-04:00

Went to Trier this afternoon. It is a cool little town. They had a really cool old Roman gate there that has been there for what seems like forever. It's hard to imagine how long these places that we visit have existed. In America we think that if it has been there a couple hundred years that it is really old. That is not the case over here.

Porta Nigra

We also went to visit my old house and school in Kaiserslautern. What a great moment. I loved every minute it of it, and despite it being just an otherwise regular house and school this has been far been my favorite moment of the trip. What a great experience....

Döner

2009-05-22T16:14:00.006-04:00

The food here is so good. I love it. Last night I found a new favorite meal of mine, it's called Döner. Basically it's a big piece of meat roasted vertically that they slice off and throw into a very soft bread roll with your choice of toppings.

A Döner sandwich is a total lifesaver after a night on the town. A cab driver turned us on to it. So delicious... Anyway, Willem is working this evening so I took the chance to check do some reading about the rest of our destinations. Tomorrow we're going to try to wake up early and take a day trip before he has to go back to work at 7.

Männertag

2009-05-21T15:16:00.006-04:00

We went out last night in Willem's small town and watched the final UEFA cup game last night. It was a great time. I have eaten so well since I arrived. I miss German food dearly in the states. We did some driving around the town that I grew up in and I recognized a few things which is awesome. I also found out that after a few beers my German gets better. A guy asked me if I spoke German and I replied with a little - he went on to have an entire conversation with me of which I understood maybe half, but it was good none the less.

Shopping center in Kaiserslautern.

This morning we went to Heidelberg. What a beautiful place... We walked around and checked the town out. Not much else to say about that - here are a couple choice photos from the day.

I made it!

2009-05-20T04:56:00.003-04:00

The flight wasn't as bad as I thought. I couldn't sleep because the lady next to me was playing 20 questions and there were multiple baby's crying, but I'm here. I'm about to go get my cell phone, pass to get on the military base, and eat a nice German lunch which I'm sure will involve some beer I've never had before.

Party on!

The beginnings of planning a cross country trip

2009-04-21T21:14:00.000-04:00

Now that the trip to Europe is pretty much nailed down I have turned my attention to driving cross country at the beginning of August. My new favorite thing to do is sit up, drink beer, and figure out places I want to visit. I plan on having about a month to travel. I sold my car and bought a Honda Element that I'm going to build full size bed in the back of so I can camp some of the way. I had no real intentions of selling the car and put it online while saying to myself "well, if someone calls I'll sell it." Turns out the guy that I purchased it from wanted it back. It was for sale less than a week and it was gone. Now I don't have any excuses, this trip has to happen.

Right now here is the route I am thinking of taking to California:

Richmond -> Nashville (1-2 nights) -> stop in Memphis, eat lots of BBQ (maybe 1 night, may drive through) -> Little Rock (1 night camp) -> Austin (1-2 nights) -> Roswell (1 night camp with aliens) -> ________ not sure -> Grand Canyon (1 night camp) -> Las Vegas (1 night) -> California to stay with my brother/Andy for a week and a half or so.

Route back to VA:

Orange County -> San Francisco (1 night) -> Reno (1 night) -> Salt Lake City (1 night) -> Yellowstone (1 night) -> Mt. Rushmore (1 night) -> Badlands (1 night) -> Minneapolis (1 night) -> Chicago (1-2 nights, Wrigley Field) -> need a good stop between Chicago and Richmond.

There are a bunch of places that I want to see that I am leaving out, but I think this is a good start.

Final Europe itinerary

2009-04-20T16:22:00.001-04:00

Finally got all the flights booked for the trip overseas. Here's the final schedule:

May 19 - 22 I arrive and we tour my old neighborhood, school, house etc in Kaiserslautern.

May 23 - 26 München

May 27 - Dachau / BMW museum / drive to Prague (hopefully)

May 28 - Prague

May 29 - Willem works
May 30 - June 3 Berlin

June 4 - 5 Palma de Mallorca

June 6 - 7 Barcalona

June 8 - 10 Madrid

June 11 - 14 Rome

June 15 - Italy somewhere yet to be determined

June 16 - Italy somewhere yet to be determined

June 17 - 18 Venice

June 19 - Hang out Willem's - little day trips.

June 20 - Hang out Willem's - little day trips.

June 21 - Fly home

2009-03-16T12:19:00.001-04:00

Tampa was great. Wicks is a fun host and knows how to have a good time. His friends are super cool as well. We checked out a Yankees spring training game which was a lot of fun. We were three rows back on the third base side. The weather was awesome and I got a sun burn!

There is a bar in Tampa that we checked out that had 16oz pabst that they served in a brown bag. I declined the bag because 1) I'm in a bar 2) Why waste a bag? It was pretty cool none-the-less. Also, Wicks has a Chipotle within walking distance of his house. Awesome.

The plane ride home was awful considering we were up till 5 in the morning and I had to be up at 9 to make my flight. I am glad to be home; 6 days in a row of not sleeping much and partying every night was fun, but it took its toll. I probably slept like 20 hours the entire week. Only a month and a half left of school!

2009-03-12T21:03:00.000-04:00

I survived Las Vegas. It was totally crazy, and I have some stories that are most likely best shared over a couple of beers rather than on a blog. So catch me when I've got a good buzz and you'll probably hear some stuff that you won't believe. One rather tame thing that stands out was eating at Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill. I'd been to the original restaurant in New York, but this experience was way better. Every course was awesome and our waitress ruled. The margaritas were to die for...

I probably only slept a total of 10 hours in the 3 days I was there. I didn't win big, but it was definitely a good time and was worth the trip.

I flew into Tampa last night to visit Wicks. His place is really nice and is within walking distance to a lot of the local bars. The weather here is amazing and we walked around town to check out the local places and have a few beers. Tampa is totally different than anywhere else I have ever been. It's just a whole new vibe and feel. This afternoon Wicks suprised me and said we were going on a tour of the Yuengling brewery that was down here. They only have three breweries and this is the biggest. The tour was awesome and they had two beers available for sampling that they don't sell in stores.

After the tour he took me to this German bar/restaurant/biergarten. I got some food that I hadn't had in forever and bought a bunch of chocolate, ketchup, and other little things that they sold in their market that I haven't seen since I moved stateside when I was 16 years ago. We were greeted by this at entrance of the bar:

I'm sure tonight will get wild. I'm really enjoying this final spring break. I needed to get out of Richmond (who doesn't) and this has been perfect so far.

Snow day

2009-03-01T20:09:00.000-05:00

I have a pretty important paper due tomorrow, and it's snowing outside. Instead of writing it I'm betting that they will close school, and I'm drinking a beer. If they don't close I'll probably be screwed, but it's really coming down out there. This means I'll get a two week extension on the paper because the class is only once a week, and next week is spring break.

Anyway, I've been thinking about if I can really pull this cross country trip off after Europe. I'd have to sell my car before I go and pick up something more suitable to drive thousands of miles. The economy is in the crapper, and the market for classic BMW's isn't exactly great. Ideally I would get something that got good gas mileage and would be comfortable for the long haul. Being able to sleep in the back would be a plus as well. There is a guy who built a slick bed setup in the back of a Honda Element that I read about. It's pretty simple and looks legit.

If I can somehow pull this off here is a list of cities that I would like to check out. Naturally, this list is not exhaustive:

Nashville, Memphis, Austin, Tampa (WICKS!), New Orleans, Austin, San Antonio, Phoenix, Chicago, San Diego (EDMONDSON!), San Francisco, Orange County (TOMMY/JOHNA/PRESTON!), Portland, Seattle, Chicago, Denver, Benton (EVERYONE), Charleston, Savannah, Las Vegas, Philadelphia.

There are probably a bunch more that I'm not thinking of off the top of my head. In conclusion, everyone hope for lots and lots of snow or I'm really in trouble tomorrow!

Gearing up

2009-02-25T08:44:00.000-05:00

My laptop bit the dust, and I was really counting on having it for the upcoming trips. Turns out a new logic board is like $400 so I figured I'd use to time to "upgrade." Luckily I just got my tax return which was a lot more than I was expecting. I started looking into my options and settled on a Samsung NC10 and upgraded it to 2 gigs of ram. It got killer reviews, is super portable, and had all the features I was looking for at under $500. It will be here Friday, I'm stoked. My camera is still nowhere to be found which makes me think it's buried with the rest of my possessions in my storage unit. I'm going to have to excavate it before Vegas. Oh, I also scored a set of spring training tickets to see the Yankees play while I'm in Tampa. I can't wait!

The plan

2009-02-22T19:54:00.000-05:00

This is going to be mainly for me to share pictures and stories with family and friends while I'm over in Europe, but I figured I would start a little early since I'm heading to Las Vegas and Tampa for spring break. There might be a few blog worthy moments in those two places :). The plan right now involves Europe for 31 days, coming home to head to Pennsylvania for the 4th of July, and then hopefully spending a month or so driving cross country if the funds permit. That is the good news. The bad news is the logic board in my laptop is completely screwed, and I can't find my digital camera.

So far the trip to Europe involves Willem and I doing to following:

Visiting my old house, school, and neighborhood in Kaiserslautern, Germany.

Going to Berlin for a couple days.

Flying to Rome for couple days.

Then Venice, and hopefully Pisa.

Fly back home to Willem's house to do laundry/relax for a day.

Fly to Ibiza, Spain - it's supposed to be the most ridiculous party city.

Then Barcelona.

Then Madrid.

Back to Willem's house for day trips to Munich, Dachau, the BMW museum, Prague, and maybe Belgium for good beers.

31 days seems like a lot of time, but there is just so much to do. I want to spend enough time in every city to get a feel for it and not just be able to say "I went there." I really want to soak it all in.