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I drove the final miles across PA back to Justin's house. It was strange realizing that everything was coming to an end. I was pretty tired and feeling drowsy and everyone was quiet for the most part. Had a nice Fourth of July meal at Justin's house with his family and watched some of the Phillies game. It was so strange being home. Justin took us back to my house to get my stuff and see my Mom. I missed my family a lot so it was nice to see her. Said goodbye to Justin and figured I would never see him again...until a few days later back in Newark, where we would resume our hijinx and shenanigans. Drove back to Newark with Joe and hit the Circle. Some friends were over at my house and they welcomed back Joe and I and it was great to see them. Ended up going to some party instead of sleeping, and wound up in an inground pool at a college house. Weird.

It has been a little over a week since I have gotten home and I am just now starting to get back to normal. It was difficult adjusting back to being home at first but now I am ready for a fun summer before finishing up college in the fall. I have never had so much fun in my life and being able to share so many memories with two close friends is something that I know I am lucky to have. I saw so many parts of the country and have a much greater appreciation for the USA and how vast it is. Very grateful to Justin for planning this whole thing out and inviting me along. Also it wouldn't have been the same without Joey Boy, who was a never-ending source of amusement, laughs, and fun. Whether it was eating jambalaya and wandering all over Bourbon Street in New Orleans, being scared of mutants in the middle of nowhere in Utah, climbing mountains and canyons, being covered with mosquitoes and blisters in Wyoming, or dancing the night away at bars in Anytown, USA, I will take all the good times we had with me into the future and wherever this life leads me.

I hope everyone enjoyed keeping up with my blog and I thank you for reading. One of these days I will get around to posting the pictures. Final thought I will end with: this trip was filled with a lot of crazy experiences and fun times, but through all of the major happenings there were smaller moments that can only be described as surreal. I will never forget filtering and drinking water from springs atop canyons and mountains. After exerting yourself for hours to reach the top and then cooling off with spring water may be the best feeling in the world. I advise anyone who has the opportunity to take a trip and discover moments of your own.

Cleveland and Pittsburgh

First thing we did was head to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which was great. They do a very nice job over there. There was a really good exhibit about The Doors on the top floor. Seeing the Ramones' memorabilia and clothing was definitely the best part for me personally. After this we went to grab some food at a restaurant that charged 6 bucks for 5 onion rings which is always a ball. Then went to our friendly neighborhood Travelodge in a suburb near Cleveland. Then it was out on the town which was pretty dead but we managed to have a good time still.

Next morning left for Pittsburgh to Morgan's place. Last time I saw her she was a college kid at Grotto's and now she is a real person with a real place and a real job. I guess that will be me too in six months...geez. She has a really nice apartment and we drank wine until Joe was yacking hours later. Pittsburgh was a blur so read Justin's blog for a more detailed account. All I wanted to do was jump in a river but luckily cooler heads prevailed and I didn't. Next morning Joe entertained us with his wake-up rituals and then we got the tour of Morgan's Red Bull warehouse...which was sweet. Said goodbye and hit the PA Turnpike to go home...weird.

Chi City

The drive from Milwaukee to Chicago was supposed to be a short one, but we were wrong about that. Lots of traffic and road work made it pretty clear that the East coast was becoming closer and closer. The middle of the country is vast and empty and it was a shock to get back to all the congestion. After tormenting and being tormented by an angry parking lot attendant, Justin and I were both in DHM mode. We stayed at a hostel that was more like a hotel, very nice and clean. Checked out the Tastes of Chicago Festival on Lake Michigan which seemed OK but we were craving beer and pizza so we split pretty quickly. Funny thing about Chicago was that NO ONE knew where to find a pizza place, and Chicago is supposed to be famous for that. We asked around and everyone seemed to be either a moron or disinterested in pizza. Walked around and got frustrated and eventually settled for Chipotle, which was awesome, but not what we had in mind.

Took a quick nap at the hostel to digest and woke up feeling much better. Fun night out on the town with the fellas. Joe met up with a babe he met at Summerfest and was sad when it was time to say goodbye. We met up at a place who's name I can't recall and it was Funk Night. The DJ didn't have any records by Tower of Power which led me to doubt his funk credibility. A James Brown song came on and I jumped into a circle of babes singing and actin' a fool. The only person who was impressed was Justin. Took a cab back near the hostel and hit up a gas station where I got a microwavable burger. Sitting on the curb at 3am in downtown Chicago devouring a convenience store burger, I had hit heaven. Or so Justin said. Next morning ate breakfast with Jmo while Joe slept longer, and then it was off to Cleveland.

Milwaukee's Best

We spent two nights in Milwaukee because we were a day ahead of schedule on the way home. Checked into our beautiful Days Inn room and headed out to Summerfest, which is a ten-day music festival in the city. Saw Jack's Mannequin play, but couldn't actually see them. Joe and Justin had a wild night and fell asleep really early. Next morning we planned on going to a brewery tour early, but Justin decided to relax all day in his bed until four. Missing the opportunity of a lifetime, Joe and I instead opted to walk to a local Irish pub called Mo's (no relation to Jmo) and had lunch. Salads and beers, how manly. Hit the Miller brewery tour at 4:45 and ended up getting a few free beers. Then we ate at mediocre restaurant and headed back to Summerfest to see Matisyahu. This was a disappointing, as his first two songs were rockin' but after that he slowed it down and didn't play the hits. We left before the set was over and went downtown to check the bars out. Being midweek, not much was going on but we enjoyed watching Joe kick it to babes. Always a good source of entertainment that guy is. Milwaukee was a fun place but was also a blur.

Highlight of Milwaukee: Guy in van pulls up alongside Joe and I to ask for directions. At the time, Joe was in need of a bathroom very badly, and could only respond with "Sorry, I gotta pee!" and sprinted away.

Water skiing in Wisconsin (and more, less important things)

One of the many highlights of the trip. Stayed with some family friends of Jmo's and they had a nice house on Lake Bear Trap and Larry and Marcia (our hosts) had a ski boat. Got to get out on the water for the first time in years and I immediately was brought back to my teenage years. Justin told me that I looked like I had switched into a different mode (and him being a man of many modes, he would know). I was in heaven. Joe was up first to try his hand at water skiing, and my man was able to get up pretty easily, which is the hardest part. Once riding on the water though, he gave us some laughs by wiping out. Justin was able to get up with no problem, but being a semi-professional downhill skiier, he suffered from snow-to-water confusion. I couldn't believe that both of them got up so quickly though, because back when we had a boat, my Dad and I saw many a friend get dragged on their faces dozens of times before suceeding. I was feeling pretty sore when I was done but it was a soreness I have missed. Nothing beats an aching back, groin, and biceps after a good run on the H20. Dudes, we will go water skiing again, that is a promise.

Side note - the life jacket I was using was made for children, very tight, and didn't even reach my belly button, so the beer gut I have developed was pushing out the bottom and sides and made me look like the dough boy. Justin was kind enough to edit the the pictures in photoshop though so I can still look cool!!

Afterwards we played some extreme bocce ball, ate a tasty meal, and played some poker. I scored my first and only gambling victory of the trip, winning ten bucks, and brought my net loss down to only $9,990 (just kidding, Mom).

Joe fell asleep first of course, and Justin had been running on a half hour of sleep in the last 36 hours, so I watched a movie while my boys snored the night away. Justin never made it to the bed. Next morning Larry showed us a nearby state park that was once a glacial river and now has some very interesting geological features, including a 200-ft deep river, rock formations, and bore holls from ancient gravel swirls.

Great stop, and we are all very grateful for the good time we had there. Thank you to Larry and Marcia for entertaining us and taking care of us!

...And so began the longest day of my life

The next "day" was a blur, as we drove over 800 miles, from Sheridan, Wyoming to Minneapolis. We made several stops along the way:

• Devil's Tower: This was awesome. A wild sight rising from the ground where everything else is flat. Pictures can do it more justice than my words. Even better was the prairie dog town at the base of it. Hundreds of them were just chilling on top of their holes, barking like crazy and looking at us. We were able to get close to some of them. Also saw a black widow spider in the field. I was wearing flip-flops, who knows how many more of them were out there ready to chomp me?
• Mount Rushmore: It was cool seeing it, but not as impressive as I had thought it would be. The faces were kind of small compared to the rest of the mountain. It is still nuts that they were able to make the faces look so detailed, and so long ago.
• Badlands Nat'l Park: Driving through the nothingness that is South Dakota, and then seeing this place is mind-boggling. It's name describes it perfectly, this area was bad. Cliffs, canyons, boulders, rocks, and towers everywhere. We were there for sunset and it was perfect.

I took the wheel at this point as the sun was going down and drove across flat monotonous landscape into the early morning. The sun set around 8:30 but you could see brightness in the west until 11:00 at night due to the lack of civilization and flatness. At 3 am we stopped off for "dinner" and then Wild Man Justin took over and drove us clear to Minneapolis. I have no idea how he did this, and I woke up around 7:30 feeling like garbage. Fell asleep again and woke up an hour later at the Mall of America. From the middle of nowhere to a gigantic metropolitan mall in a matter of hours was a cool experience. After a couple hours at the mall, we made our way farther East to Amery, Wisconsin, to a house on Lake Bear Trap where some family friends of Justin's were to host us and show us a great time.

Wyoming

Drove through Yellowstone and checked out the sights. We needed to make good time so we didn't get out too much, but got an idea of how cool a place it is. Justin once again got into DHM mode when RV's were driving obnoxiously slow all over the place. Saw some buffalo and got out to get some pictures with them...awesome. From there our plan was to drive as long as we could and then find a hotel.

Ended up in the greatest city on Earth....Sheridan, Wyoming. This place had nowhere to eat after dinnertime except a Wendy's, which we devoured. There was a bar filled with dudes in camo softball jerseys. I felt right at home.

Back at the hotel, Joe passed out like always, and we decided to put ice all over him. Of course, my man didn't wake up because he sleeps like a log.