Home and Conclusion! =)

It's about that time for a good recap of events that have taken place on this trip of a lifetime! Jesse Haqq Tom Duprey Luke Rennie and myself left Palmer Mass on May 19th 2010 at around 6:30PM, and since then we have traveled from Massachusetts, through Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, California, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, New York again, and then finally coming to a rest again in good old Western Mass! On June 7th at about 4:30PM we rolled back into 1400 Park St. Palmer Mass with the van intact and our spirits strong!. We will forever remember this trip, we will tell our kids about this trip, and we will tell our grand kids about this trip! When we meet together as old men we will still have the memories of this trip fresh in our minds and we will continue well into our old days, smile as we look back on the adventure that will no doubt be a highlight and a milestone of our youth!

Before I officially end this blog thanks are in order

1) Thank you to our parents and loved ones for their support and prayers!
2) Thank you to those who kept us close in prayer
3) Thank you Tim Smith for your support and prayer before we left
4) Thanks Mr. and Mrs. Duprey for the van
5) Thanks for the get out of rain free cards along the way
6) Thank you citizens of Massachusetts for officially being the most unfriendly people in the United States of America =)


Now on to the quick hits before I sign off for good.

1) Texas is just like it's portrayed in the movies, wild country with cowboys with Hugh skies!

2) Sedona Arizona is beautiful!

3) You can eat spaghetti with a spoon

4) A diet of ham sandwiches can carry you through the day

5) We are spoiled beyond belief, one day without showers and you would of thought our dog just died we were so depressed. (Well unless your Luke and then showers are not necessary)

6) I can't wait to smell a woman, I'm so sick of smelling 20 year old non showered hairy male.

7) Tom proved that you can actually eat one of those gas station burgers that come pre made and actually live to tell the story.

8) Death Valley CA is soooo barren, I didn't see a single bird or piece of wild life in that whole park!

9) Pictures don't do the Grand Canyon justice

10) Redwoods National Park and Zion National Park were my favorite parks and I highly recommend you visit them before your time on earth is complete.

11) I grew a few gray hairs on this trip from stress, but I'll take the few gray hairs for all the memories I made, pictures I took, and sights I witnessed.

12) You don't realize how much a person means to you until you don't see them for a long period of time.

13) The thing's I was most excited for upon my arrival home were a fully stocked fridge with ready to eat food, a clean shower, my own bed, and seeing the woman.

14) As Jesse pointed out yesterday, we just crossed the country and summer hast;t even officially started yet =D

15) One of my favorite memories of this trip was taking a walk in Durango Colorado with the boys at like 10PM on a cool 65 degree full moon and no clouds night. The road was completely lit up by the moon, and our campground was set in a valley so on each side of us was mountain lion and bear inhabited rocky mountain side, talk about an adventure!

15) God is great and without his blessing we would not have completed such a trip as successfully as we did! Thank you Lord!


Total Miles: A little less then 9,000
Total Number of States: 29!
Total number of National Parks 15ish (you lose track after a while0
Total Pull over count: 12 (2 were us)


Until our next adventure my friends God bless, take care, travel this world and seek God's hand in all that you do! And to Jesse Luke and Tom your my boys, no matter what may have been said or done on this trip and I will forever be thankful that I was able to take this trip with your three!

P.S GO CELTICS!! BEAT L.A.

Day 19. Niagra and Buffalo

Today we left Buffalo New York, and headed to Niagra Falls to witness the great falls. After possible our last group picture together we left Niagra Falls and hopped on 90 East towards home! As we sped down 90 East moral was high and you could tell the boys were anticipating home! We went over each of our game plans beginning with the second we walked through the door. Not surprisingly the majority of these game plans focused on hard charging and attacking the fridge and taking advantage of our own personal bathrooms =) Anyways here is a quick recap of the trip and soon to follow that will be a proper concluding post.

Day 18 mid west

Day 18

Let me tell you, Minnesota is a nice state, Wisconsin is a little less nice, and then you hit Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and upstate New York and they allllll look like Hadley Mass. Between Saturday morning to Saturday evening we covered a little more then 600 miles and about 12 hours of on again off again driving from Sioux Falls SD to Chesterton Indiana. On Sunday I Google churches in Chesterton and we picked the only one I could find with a working web site. What a blessing this church was to us! The church must have held about 800 worshipers and the speaker was passionate about his message and very convicting! The four of us guys left that service refreshed and renewed and ready to hit the open road with a new attitude. And that new attitude lasted all up until about a half hour into the drive when careless camper driver almost drove a little car off the road into the cement median in front of us on 90 East and out of defense for that little car a finger almost made it's way out the shot gun window =) (Rest easy Mom's the conviction took over and the shotgun window remained closed and unobstructed with fingers)

Anyways it's about 6PM EST and we just received word that west of us in Ohio a tornado has struck and seven people are dead, talk about getting a jolt of urgency and putting some weight into that gas pedal! Just like two weeks ago when the draw of the west was luring us onward like a pulled bath tub drain, now it is the draw of our own beds, personal bathrooms, and loved ones that is pressing us like a hot iron onward and through these hard miles upon miles of pavement towards our homes! We may never look at home the same way again!

Two days ago back in Sioux Falls South Dakota, as Luke and Tom hit up the city mall, Jesse and I stayed back to sit under the stars and reminisce. We both agreed that after a week or two of being home all negative memories that we carried at the moment would be faded away, and only the highlights would still be fresh in our mind. Way back in Utah Mr Craig the biker gave a quote that I believe will ring true for all four of us! He told us that night in Nevada in Zion that 10, 20 years from now one of us would be sitting in our office at work pushing papers, and our mind would immediately flash back to an awesome memory from the trip, and we would just smile with happiness. I couldn't agree more! The stories we will for ever have, the memories that will forever hold fresh in our minds, the experience and the sights that we shared with three of our best friends will never be taken from us. The sights, the sounds, the pictures, the fights, the food, base camp, the disagreements, the friendships formed and the ones forever fortified will forever be ours to cherish! it was no bed of roses but we did it! Four best friends and one dream, to cross from one ocean to the other and then back again, no one said it was going to be easy, but us four men accomplished a deed that many hope to achieve in their lifetime but for one reason or another fail. Lord I will forever be thankful for the opportunity you have blessed me with on this trip! :)

You lose track of days out here, day 15. Wyoming/South Dakota

It is official, I plan on visiting western Wyoming again very soon in my life time! A few days in Jackson Hole, Grand Tetons, Yellowstone National Park, and Cody Wyoming is such a beautiful stretch of America, it's awe inspiring to be honest! You cannot visit this part of the country and not see God's hand in the design I must admit I wish we could of spent two whole weeks in this part of the country, but as was stated above, it will be visited again.

America is really such a diverse country, so much beauty and landscape to see! I will forever be thankful for God allowing me the opportunity to take this trip! On this trip alone, I have personally met so many friendly fellow American citizens. Some that I will forever look back on with fond memories. I will leave you with this my friends and family, if the opportunity to drive across America present's itself to you, plan according, take care of lose ends, and God speed! For I tell you this, without a single doubt in my mind, if the opportunity presents it's self to cross this great country again via driving, I will have my bags packed in 15 minutes and I'll meet you in the drive way! Keep the engine warm I'm on my way =D

God Bless

Cody Wyoming is sweeet.... battle axe =)

Well normally a little town like Cody wouldn't get it's own post, but this town does! We found a little motel in the beginning of Cody and we ended up scoring our selves a little cabin! This cabin is perfect cause the weather outside isn't awesome. Anyways After chatting up a local across the street I found out where the places to hit up in town were. After walking down main street, sizing up the local male population age 16-24 and marking our territory we decided to grab dinner at this local Mexican diner pub. We ate more food tonight at dinner then we have ate the whole trip, and after eating that much of course you need to walk off that feast. So once again we bid the local population in the Mexican diner/pub/restaurant a good bye and we set off down the main drag in search of adventure.


Well the only place in town we could find was this little clothing store.. littttleee did we know that this store SOLD BATTLE AXES FOR $29.99! So after Luke made a new friend ;) Tom walked out of this store welding a full size battle axe =D.. Anyways less then two minutes after leaving the "Wyoming Gift Shop" two cars filled with the whole Cody Female Population rolled by and both complimented Toms battle axe.... you want to stroke a 20 year old ego's, you have not one, but TWO cars of 20 year old females complement his newly purchased full size battle axe! =D And right behind them was the only police car in Cody, so Tom went from feeling on top of the world to sweating off his dinner in about 30 seconds tops!

Anyways we are all watching America's funnest home video and then heading to bed, so until tomorrow Cody Wyoming you better be ready cause Tom Duprey is readyyy for you!!



BTW P.S. The pull over count stands at 10 now.... we were pulled over in YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK BY A PARK RANGER, because our vans front light is out... Thankfully nothing came of this besides a friendly have a nice day and get it fixed!

Day 14 folks =) Beautifullll Western Wyoming

Yesterday we crossed the very boring state of Idaho and slept over night right on the Idaho Wyoming state line. Today we passed over a mountain range into Wyoming and spending 2 hours in Wyoming has been more entertaining then a whole day in Idaho. Shortly into Wyoming we entered the beautiful city of Jackson Hole Wyoming, every building was one to two stories and made out of wood logs, no skyscrapers in this city, it is a place I plan on visiting again!

Anyways after Jackson Hole we passed into Grand Teton National Park which was breathtaking and no picture could do this awesome mountain range justice! As you stood in awe of these giant mountain peaks covered with snow and a heavy cloud cover, you can't help but see God's hand in the creation of these peaks! We had a possible bear sighting shortly after entering the park, but like any witty bear, this creature did not cross pass the tree line into the field so a full sighting was impossible.

We spent a good part of the morning and early afternoon in the Grand Teton National Park and explored some possible hiking routes, but a wise man advised us that unless we were in top shape and had the right equipment, he didn't recommend such an endeavor. After spending to little time in this great piece of country, we ventured on towards famous Yellowstone National Park! It has been a life long dream of mine to set foot in this awesome national park, I wish the weather wasn't so forbidding. As I type this it's about 1PM and the temperature is not any higher then 40 degrees, with a very heavy overcast of dark clouds an a light mist falling, the idea of camping in this weather is not on the top of our to do list today. The quartet of guys is looking forward to what adventure this national park may hold for us today! =)

P.S. After touring the park the wild life count stands at about all 3,000 living wild bison, a herd of elk, five mountain goats (rams?) And a grizzly bear sighting by Jesse as we were leaving the park but by the time we turning our shaggin wagon around Yogi had lumbered off into the woods and the idea of chasing after yogi for a photo shoot didn't seem like the brightest idea at the time =)

Day 11? Northern Cal and Oregon

Well today is memorial day and I realized today that I missed my sister marching in the memorial day parade and a family BBQ. Well thankfully my mom hooked me up with some action photo's of her marching and my sister gave me the run down of the family get together. Anyways Crater Lake Oregon was pretty cool, we hit about six feet of snow though! This snow was so high that it drifted up to the roof line of a lodge at Crator Lake National Park which Jesse and Tom soon climbed and sledded off this roof down the drifts using their jeans as the sled haha. I wouldn't say Crater Lake was our favorite stop but since we were in the area it was worth stopping by to see.

Anyways today we are rolling through the middle of Oregon and heading into Idaho, Oregon is kind of cloudy and misty rain 24/7. This weather can be really depressing let me tell you my friend! Yesterday as we began our day we met some traveling cow hoof cutting guys from Washington state at our cheap motel we were staying at. It was a pretty interesting conversation which began with one of the guys asking me if I wanted to celebrate memorial day and smoke a blunt with him =). I sadly decline the offer and thanked him for his California hospitality =)

I hear back home the weather is an absolute scorcher heat wise, and here we are on the opposite coast chillin in six feet of snow. How do you pass the time on a trip like this, well we have had music, books, good conversation, the always great topic of woman, the great topic of woman, the interesting topic of woman.... Yeah that's a great way to pass the time on this kind of road trip.

Anyways right now we are barreling east across Oregon, it's a pretty dead place out here, some cows, some sheep, Maybe a few farmers mixed in between. Other then the main city of Portland I don't believe theirs a total of 5,000 people living in the state of Oregon outside of the city of Portland.