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Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Cross-Country Trippin :)
And finally, my blog includes my most recent trip... and for some, most anticipated. The drive from home in Atlanta, GA to my new residence in Park City, UT (about 30 miles east of Salt Lake City). What follows is more of a visual/picture blog as we drove along. Hope you enjoy and be sure to check out my other entries and picture album link of the overseas trips earlier this summer :)
So to start off: My good friend, Jeff Marino and I both decided we wanted to do something different for this coming year. Something that we might not have the chance to do once we got "real jobs" in a few years -- so we both applied for and accepted jobs as ski instructors for little kids (4-6 years old) starting in December 2008 when the Deer Valley Ski Resort in Park City, Utah opens for the winter.
Jeff and I have known each other since elementary school in Atlanta (our moms were part of the "wild women" together at Wake Forest University), and he graduated this past May from Elon College at the same time I was graduating from UNC-Chapel Hill. We planned over the summer, and decided to leave in late August to go out and explore the area, as well as find second jobs for the ski season.
And so we packed the car and departed on Monday August 24th. Below is pictures of the car, and yes it is filled to the top
Jeff drove the first leg in the rain toward Alabama. Here is him raising his feet for good luck as we cross the Alabama line, and Talladega Motor Speedway - the only sight along the highway in Alabama:
From Birmingham, AL was my first driving shift, so Jeff took a break and was asleep before we even hit the Mississippi border :)
From there it was alot of open roads.... all by ourselves at some points.
We also learned some fun facts along the way... such as, Tupelo, Mississippi is the birthplace of Elvis.
More rolling green hills... then we crossed into Tennessee
We only crossed a small portion of western Tennessee, near Memphis. In Memphis we saw the FedEx HQ/Distribution Center, then crossed over the Mississippi River bridge into Arkansas.
And so we begin the LONGGGGG drive across Arkansas: ... rolling hills ... traffic jams ... which lead to detours! ... through about 60 miles of farmland and cornfields ...
... and small towns named Beebe?! The town also had a historic train station which had been turned into a tanning salon haha. Finally we crossed over the line into Oklahoma (the picture is a little fuzzy).
We drove a few hours ... beautiful clouds over the plains ... 75 mph speed limit signs ... the Arkansas river ... closing in on Tulsa.
We reached Tulsa, OK that evening - in time to have dinner with my brother Thomas. We then spent the next day touring around the Tulsa campus and resting.
Early on Wednesday morning, we departed Tulsa. Crossing the Arkansas River ... cornfields ... open roads ... We headed west, then north crossing into Kansas ...
It was so flat in Kansas that we could see both the first and last car of the train in one view, but the picture didn't exactly turn out - you can only see the middle cars:
We finally stopped in Park City - Kansas that is!
Then it was LOTS of cornfields ... and some "wind farms" ...
Finally crossing into Colorado - you can see the reflection of the dollar bills we used for all the toll booths...
We see our first hills! ... the Budweiser plant outside Denver ... rock faces which look much closer to mountains than anything else we have seen so far...
Finally we cross into Wyoming: the entrance sign is a bit fuzzy with the antenna in front of it.
We spent the night in Cheyenne, WY just a few miles over the border. The sunset was beautiful ...
Thursday morning we set out going west on Interstate 80, which would take us straight into Utah then Park City in about 7 hours.
We saw some amazing rock formations ... then lots of snow fences - they actually close the highway because of the large amounts of snow!
So the whole trip, Jeff had this "Scenic Drives of America" book that his dad had given him, and up until now none of the drives were both 1) on our way and 2) interesting looking - Talladega Speedway in Alabama does not count.
Anyway, we decided since it was a much shorter driving day that we would take the suggested scenic drive which started outside of Laramie, WY. We exited onto Highway 130 (Snowy Range Road) toward Laramie and Saratoga. It was about 15 miles to the nearest town, so needless to say we were all alone on the highway with amazing scenery all about...
We were literally the only car for miles... to prove the point I pulled what I call a "Jimmy Buffett" and drove on the wrong side of the road (don't worry - it was just long enough to get a picture - about 5 seconds!)
Along we went for several miles among the rolling hills, approaching the mountains ... then we reached the first town along the route -
Centennial - where the sign reads:
POP 100
ELEV 8060 ft
Finally, up into the mountain passes we go... we find a lake overlooked by a forest of surrounding trees ...
Jeff showing off his best mountain man pose in front of the lake
We were on "The Road to Castle Point" which peaked here at the Stone Turret at its highest point ...
The surrounding view from the top of the Stone Turret ...
More pretty views...
Then we came to our favorite hidden spot, which was absolutely stunning: Mirror Lake :)
There was another lake called Lake Marie which was hidden slightly off the path, along a gravel trail...
Then Jeff and I decided maybe we should actually be IN a few of the photos... so here is a self-portrait of me ... and one of both of us in front of Lake Marie
Finally we are headed down the mountain, back towards Interstate 80...
Let the mountains begin... the the first ad for Park City, UT
We didn't get a picture of it, but right before the Utah state line, a huge hawk swooped down into traffic - right in front of a pickup truck that was just in front of us - and picked up some sort of animal right off the road. It was awesome.
And finally.. UTAH! Across the state line ... and into the mountain passes ... past Echo Reservoir ...
Coming into the Little Cottonwood valley - where Park City is!
Off the interstate ... past the Utah Olympic Park ... and finally into downtown Park City ...
We made it! Late Thursday afternoon :) This is my car after washing it TWICE along the way
Our apartment - 1096 (the Lower Level), with stairs down to the main streets on the left
And that is the end of this trip. I am planning to add pictures of downtown Park City, our weekend trip to Las Vegas, and my marathon this weekend in Logan, UT.
So to start off: My good friend, Jeff Marino and I both decided we wanted to do something different for this coming year. Something that we might not have the chance to do once we got "real jobs" in a few years -- so we both applied for and accepted jobs as ski instructors for little kids (4-6 years old) starting in December 2008 when the Deer Valley Ski Resort in Park City, Utah opens for the winter.
Jeff and I have known each other since elementary school in Atlanta (our moms were part of the "wild women" together at Wake Forest University), and he graduated this past May from Elon College at the same time I was graduating from UNC-Chapel Hill. We planned over the summer, and decided to leave in late August to go out and explore the area, as well as find second jobs for the ski season.
And so we packed the car and departed on Monday August 24th. Below is pictures of the car, and yes it is filled to the top
Jeff drove the first leg in the rain toward Alabama. Here is him raising his feet for good luck as we cross the Alabama line, and Talladega Motor Speedway - the only sight along the highway in Alabama:
From Birmingham, AL was my first driving shift, so Jeff took a break and was asleep before we even hit the Mississippi border :)
From there it was alot of open roads.... all by ourselves at some points.
We also learned some fun facts along the way... such as, Tupelo, Mississippi is the birthplace of Elvis.
More rolling green hills... then we crossed into Tennessee
We only crossed a small portion of western Tennessee, near Memphis. In Memphis we saw the FedEx HQ/Distribution Center, then crossed over the Mississippi River bridge into Arkansas.
And so we begin the LONGGGGG drive across Arkansas: ... rolling hills ... traffic jams ... which lead to detours! ... through about 60 miles of farmland and cornfields ...
... and small towns named Beebe?! The town also had a historic train station which had been turned into a tanning salon haha. Finally we crossed over the line into Oklahoma (the picture is a little fuzzy).
We drove a few hours ... beautiful clouds over the plains ... 75 mph speed limit signs ... the Arkansas river ... closing in on Tulsa.
We reached Tulsa, OK that evening - in time to have dinner with my brother Thomas. We then spent the next day touring around the Tulsa campus and resting.
Early on Wednesday morning, we departed Tulsa. Crossing the Arkansas River ... cornfields ... open roads ... We headed west, then north crossing into Kansas ...
It was so flat in Kansas that we could see both the first and last car of the train in one view, but the picture didn't exactly turn out - you can only see the middle cars:
We finally stopped in Park City - Kansas that is!
Then it was LOTS of cornfields ... and some "wind farms" ...
Finally crossing into Colorado - you can see the reflection of the dollar bills we used for all the toll booths...
We see our first hills! ... the Budweiser plant outside Denver ... rock faces which look much closer to mountains than anything else we have seen so far...
Finally we cross into Wyoming: the entrance sign is a bit fuzzy with the antenna in front of it.
We spent the night in Cheyenne, WY just a few miles over the border. The sunset was beautiful ...
Thursday morning we set out going west on Interstate 80, which would take us straight into Utah then Park City in about 7 hours.
We saw some amazing rock formations ... then lots of snow fences - they actually close the highway because of the large amounts of snow!
So the whole trip, Jeff had this "Scenic Drives of America" book that his dad had given him, and up until now none of the drives were both 1) on our way and 2) interesting looking - Talladega Speedway in Alabama does not count.
Anyway, we decided since it was a much shorter driving day that we would take the suggested scenic drive which started outside of Laramie, WY. We exited onto Highway 130 (Snowy Range Road) toward Laramie and Saratoga. It was about 15 miles to the nearest town, so needless to say we were all alone on the highway with amazing scenery all about...
We were literally the only car for miles... to prove the point I pulled what I call a "Jimmy Buffett" and drove on the wrong side of the road (don't worry - it was just long enough to get a picture - about 5 seconds!)
Along we went for several miles among the rolling hills, approaching the mountains ... then we reached the first town along the route -
Centennial - where the sign reads:
POP 100
ELEV 8060 ft
Finally, up into the mountain passes we go... we find a lake overlooked by a forest of surrounding trees ...
Jeff showing off his best mountain man pose in front of the lake
We were on "The Road to Castle Point" which peaked here at the Stone Turret at its highest point ...
The surrounding view from the top of the Stone Turret ...
More pretty views...
Then we came to our favorite hidden spot, which was absolutely stunning: Mirror Lake :)
There was another lake called Lake Marie which was hidden slightly off the path, along a gravel trail...
Then Jeff and I decided maybe we should actually be IN a few of the photos... so here is a self-portrait of me ... and one of both of us in front of Lake Marie
Finally we are headed down the mountain, back towards Interstate 80...
Let the mountains begin... the the first ad for Park City, UT
We didn't get a picture of it, but right before the Utah state line, a huge hawk swooped down into traffic - right in front of a pickup truck that was just in front of us - and picked up some sort of animal right off the road. It was awesome.
And finally.. UTAH! Across the state line ... and into the mountain passes ... past Echo Reservoir ...
Coming into the Little Cottonwood valley - where Park City is!
Off the interstate ... past the Utah Olympic Park ... and finally into downtown Park City ...
We made it! Late Thursday afternoon :) This is my car after washing it TWICE along the way
Our apartment - 1096 (the Lower Level), with stairs down to the main streets on the left
And that is the end of this trip. I am planning to add pictures of downtown Park City, our weekend trip to Las Vegas, and my marathon this weekend in Logan, UT.
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