time to relax and enjoy Las Vegas.

Currently we have driven 3,867.8 miles, && it was time for a break.

So we extended our stay in vegas an extra night so we didn’t have to get up at 9:00 and drive 7 hours to Sequoia. Naturally the first thing we did was order some room service for breakfast.

And then I got to hangout by the pool with my beautiful cousin Andrea and her 3 adorable little boys.

Then we decided to go to Whole Foods and get some groceries and cook dinner since we have been living on McDonalds the past few days.

After, we napped then got ready to go out to Tao in the Venetian.

Katie wanted to play the slots so naturally she picked the largest slot machine to shit down and play at.

She didn’t win.

Tomorrow we are off at 8:30 to drive 7 hours to Sequoia National Park. Back into the car for hours on end… wish us luck.

sunrise times two? Yes please.

After getting some sleep at the Knights Inn, we woke up and drove to see the Grand Canyon for the sunrise. We had to leave Willams, AZ at 2:30 to make it to the canyon for 4:30. As we drove in the dark and we got a glimpse of some reindeer! The southern rim of the Grand Canyon borders a National Forest that is home to bobcats and reindeer, just so you know because we didn’t until we ran into Rudolph.

We made it to the edge of the canyon && then it happened at 4:58, & it was amazing.

You can see the north star in the picture above and below.

After exploring for a while we decided we wanted another view of the canyon. We put the address for the SKYWALK in the GPS and was off. On the way we drove on route 66, was almost rammed by a bull and saw a sand storm.

After arriving at the Hualapai Indian Reservation, we had to drive

15 miles on an unpaved road through the grand canyon

to get to the skywalk.

Only to realize that only way to see the the canyon was to take a 2 hour bus tour from the reservation. We were crunched on time to get to vegas, so we bailed && the whole 4 hour detour to the SKYWALK was a waste. Oh, and also Gary got super dirty for driving 30 miles on unpaved road.

We left && didn’t look back on our failed attempt to see the canyon one more time. We arrived in Nevada around 14:00 and stopped to see the Hover Dam.

&& then we saw Las Vegas at last!

My amazing cousins Andrea & Brian totally set us up in the most beautiful suite in the Trump International Hotel. Who would have thought we would go from the one smiley face Extended-Stay bug infested hotel to a suite in Las Vegas in only 3 days. Thank you so much Andrea & Brian xoxo

Bath Time!!

 

Being a diva.

&& then we obviously napped for 5 hours the went out toSurrender at Encore

Hello sunrise second day in a row :)

a long road traveled, without cellphone service.

Good Morning Mesa Verda

We left the mountain at 10:30 and made our way to go see the Four Corners Monument. Taking route 160 through Colorado all the way there. We found the scenery change from green and rocky to sandy and flat.

Utah, Colorado, Arizona & New Mexico

as we headed for the next destination, we traded a sandy desert scenery for a red clay one when we crossed the border in Utah.

I fell in love with wild horses.

Our first sighting of the Grand Canyon

Somehow we ended up getting to the canyon much earlier than we expected, so we decided to check into a hotel and stay the night. We did not repeat our previous mistake of picking a hotel with with only one smiley and instead went with a nice 2 star room at the Knights Inn. We had to drive to a bordering town since all the hotels located in Coconino were booked. So we stayed in Williams, AZ which is an hour south of the Southern Rim of the Grand Canyon

As we are driving through the desert, I can’t help but notice all of the random beaten up trailers that someone calls home. Located in the middle of nowhere, with absolutely no cellphone service or any visible means of current technology, brings a life perspective that I could never image for myself. The thought that most, if not all of these people, living out in a trailer in the desert, would never have the opportunities I have had, truly makes me appreciate everything I have and realize how lucky I have been.

It seems so crazy to me, as I am writing this blog entry, what vastly different sceneries I have viewed in one day. I hadn’t slept the night before, but was able to stay awake the majority of the day. I saw a place were an ancient civilization lived in the sides of a mountain, drove into the sandy deserts of Colorado, experienced the dry clay rock formations in Monument Valley, Utah, got a glimpse of the Grand Canyon, and then ended my night in a National Forest of Colorado. I feel like I am seeing and doing so many things in such a short period, that its so hard to take it all in at once.

I have a feeling that I won’t be able to process everything I’ve seen until my adventure is over.

Tomorrow we are checking out of the Knights Inn at 2:30 to go sit on the edge of the Grand Canyon & watch the sun rise. I can’t wait to experience every minute of it.

escape to the open road.

We escaped the Extended-Stay Deluxe, Austin by 7:30. Unable to shower or use any of the amenities of the room, due to the bug coverage, we used baby wipes to clean up and bottled water to brush our teeth. After such a horrible sleeping experience we lucked out and had the most amazing breakfast for $3 each at this cute little breakfast shop in Austin.

After breakfast at Carrob's we made our way down to 6th street.

& then we drove an hour to the Alamo.

After seeing the Alamo we headed Mesa Verda, which took us the entire night to drive to. We didn’t arrive to Colorado until 5:45. We drove on one lane highways that

stretched hundreds & hundreds of miles before seeing any sign a civilization.

We drove through New Mexico, which was very much the same long lonely stretches of roads, and in the middle of the night drove on the scariest road I’ve ever driven on. I saw the stars like I’ve never seen them before, so unbelievably bright that a picture couldn’t even show how beautiful it was. And finally arrived to see the sunrise at Mesa Verda. He’s some of the things we saw on the way.

If anyone could please tell me what Extended means. It’s shown in the upper left corner where my 3G is supposed to be

swamp boats & bugs in the bath tub.

We somberly left New Orleans but ecstatically drove to Marrero, LA to the Barataria Swamp. I was pretty much jumping in my seat and couldn’t stop grinning while en-route for our airboat tour.

While on the way, Katie & I, decided to ghost ride the whip while stuck in traffic. 

& then we finally made it on to the boat.

The pictures really don’t do the swamp justice & how beautiful it really is.

& then there was Larry, the baby alligator.

After we left Larry & the swamp, we made our way to Texas. We drove 9 hours straight to Austin.

& ended up here, at the Extended-Stay Deluxe Austin around 1:30….

There was bugs on the floor, there was bugs on the walls and there was bugs all in the bath tub.
Oh, and also under katies pillow. The three of us slept on top of the covers and had a 3-way spoon. Needless to say,

NEVER stay at a place that recieced only one smiley face

on travilocity’s website, no matter how much money your saving.

&& lets go explore the streets of Bourbon

Yesterday we explored the streets of New Orleans.

Got luncha on the water, had some local brews, and obviously went to a Voodoo Shop.

The voodoo, who-do-what-you-dont-dare-do

&& We also made a stop into

the oldest bar in the country, called Lafittes Blacksmith Shop Bar

which opened in 1776 and has remained open ever since.

Then, we went out onto Bourbon Street for round II, which ended us up at The Cat’s Meow all night singing karaoke.

Oh and some Lutherans tried to save all the sinners on Bourbon.

myself included.

23 hours later,

We left Philadelphia at 20:00 and drove to Washington D.C. && had to pit stop for an hour since the rain was so bad. We arrived to deserted streets at 00:20 and set off in search of the White House. Found it, couldn’t take a picture since it was so dark, decided to leave && then drive all the way to New Orleans,

through 5 states, stopping for gas 5 times && driving for 19 hours,

&& arrived at 19:25 on Friday, July 20th.

Checked in to the Holiday Inn, rested for a bit, then went down to Bourbon Street.

Our bags are packed, and here we go!

It’s 20:21 and we’re off!

The car is completely packed without any space to spare and we are in route to Washington D.C. We aren’t in the most ideal energized state, but nothing can get our excitement and anticipation to settle down. And this time tomorrow we’ll be in New Orleans!!!!!

Our path is set

Our path is set for our footsteps to follow. I cannot believe we leave in a couple of days!

So much left to do, so little time.

I added a picture our itinerary that I wrote down in my sketchbook journal. If anyone has any suggestions of where else to go or anything you can think of please let me know!

the map is finished.

31 stops, 158 hours driving, 8,419 miles & 26 states.

 

                So for those of you who don’t know, Briana Arocho,

                Katie Possage && myself are taking a cross country

                 road trip for 23 days. We are leaving on Thursday,

               July 19th and will be returning Sunday, August 11th. 

 

 How we came up with the route for our trip was simple. We got the map, researched places we wanted to go, then rated them on how badly we wanted to see each place and finally connected the dots. As you can see below, is our super corny map legend. Our “non-negotiables” were places we would not agree to miss, “high-priority” are places we really wanted to see and “low-priority” are places we could live without. Oh and of course christian gray gets his own color & priority level.

So this time next week Thursday July 19th at 8:00 we’ll be in Gary, the blue 4 door honda civic, beginning our pretty awesome adventure.