For entertainment purposes, I’m posting a trip write-up I wrote for a college marketing class term paper when I was a senior at Cal Poly Pomona in 2001. The professor thought I should get it published. The trip took place from August 15th, 2001 thru September 5th, 2001 if my memory serves me correct. Until now it has gone unpublished so here goes excerpted from the paper:
I got to go on a three-week road trip with the purpose of taking my cousin’s stuff to the University of Iowa and helping him move in so he could start medical school. The trip started out with five of us and grew to a party as large as eight in Des Moines. The only plans etched in stone at the beginning were to be in Iowa City within five days and do sightseeing along the way and sightsee after we arrive for four more days before attending the white coat ceremony at the university. We ended up burning in 124 degree weather in Vegas, taking pictures at the start of the Green River, getting glared at for our ethnicity in Grand Junction, getting lost in Denver, walking through a prairie in Lincoln, and having two young punks set the fire alarm off on us when we were alone in the capital of Iowa on a Sunday afternoon; before we even arrived in Iowa City. Once in Iowa City, we moved my cousin’s stuff into this medical frat house.
Two days later we took off for St. Louis. I decided we would drive on the Mississippi River Scenic Byway to get there, and it turned out to be one of the most scenic drives I have seen in this country. Hannibal; the hometown of Mark Twain, Clarksville (Anyone heard the song Last Train to Clarksville?), the Mississippi River, you name it straight out of the American history books was all for us to view while whizzing by in the Explorer. All those damn bugs make so much noise especially in that area. I remember going for a “bathroom” break in the brush in this viewpoint area high above the Mississippi River Valley nervously guarding my well you know what from bug attacks. When we got to St. Louis it was extremely humid; our comfort level was comparable to our experience in Vegas. The Arch was great though and so was the museum. The next day we went to Kansas City and hung out. The lightning that night was incredible. However, our experience down South was rather uncomfortable at best due to our 3,000 mile pilgrimage to arrive there. Kansas City also happened to be the most run-down piece of urban waste I have ever seen in my life, more so than L.A. which I never thought possible in my lifetime. The historic jazz district was just str8 out ghetto. We were overjoyed to leave for Iowa City. We met up with the rest of the party in Des Moines and then headed for Iowa City once again. We had the white coat ceremony the next day, and then abruptly took off for Chicago for two and a half days. I loved Chicago. The words, “Chicago’s my kind of town.” from Frank Sinatra rings true for me too. We took the tram tour, got poured on by heavy humid rains with no umbrellas, waited forever for deep dish pizza at the Original Geno’s East, and paid $9 for a non-view from the top of a Sears Tower covered in heavy clouds during the first day.
On the third day in Chicago, we saw the saw more of the popular parts of the city before we took off for Iowa City for the third time. I love these college towns. Lincoln was cool; we walked onto the Cornhusker football field, and watched their marching band practice. Then ate downtown where all the bars show re-runs from the previous year’s Nebraska games. Iowa City was just something else though. Frats, sororities and people wandering all over the city all night long partying. The campus is the city and vice versa. Bars, businesses, campus buildings, and residential all intertwined. I wish I had considered other schools prior to choosing Cal Poly after spending five days in Iowa City. Upon our arrival, we picked up our camping equipment from my cousin’s place and then spent the night in the city before driving to Omaha the next day to take my aunt and uncle to the airport in the afternoon. I became a spoiled kid and then ordered a 12 oz. Filet Mignon for under $20 at my Uncle’s expense before he took off for home. It was funny to me because I rarely eat steak, and have not had it for months prior to Omaha, but I wanted to see what the hype behind Midwestern corn-fed beef was all about. No difference in my opinion other than slick product and brand management… Afterwards we went to the airport and the most unbelievable thing happened. I didn’t know that I had my camping knife in my pocket, so I went through the airport security and all that and even putting the knife through the x-ray machine and they even stopped it to look at it and gave it back to me. I even offered to let them hold it until I came back, but they just let me go with it. To think I could have slit everyone’s throat with that sharp eight-inch knife and crashed the plane into government property. Geez. Negligent security like that is why those stupid people were able to get away with that shit.
So after two weeks on the road, it was reduced to my other cousin Herbert and myself for the remainder of the trip back home. We planned to camp the next day in the Black Hills, so we stopped off for lunch at “World Famous” Wall Drug in South Dakota. Didn’t try the buffalo burgers, but the place was funny; it seemed like all the waitresses were mail-order Russian brides or something because they were hot as hell, but they all spoke Russian. If I was in town a little longer, I would've started some major flirting, just kidding, I know what you’re thinking; Richard is full of it. The rest of the compound was filled with Russian people too. We camped in Custer State Park that night near Mt. Rushmore and took pictures the next morning. We saw Crazy Horse afterwards and left for Yellowstone.
We took about ten hours to get to Yellowstone due to heavy construction past Cody, as if we weren’t burned out from the road already. We got lucky and got a site at the largest campground. Our best friend for the day was this huge bison grazing in the camp. Little did I know that I was soon headed for the shock of my life. We planned to wake up before dawn so we could capture silhouetted photographs of Old Faithful, but then I woke up to sub-freezing weather with only a light jacket on and a sleeping mat and bag which kept sliding down the hill so I couldn’t keep them on at night. I quickly grabbed my sweatshirt and beanie, but it was too late, I thought I was feeling the affects of frostbite on my hands and nose. (Probably grossly over-reacting. Though it was close to 90 degrees the day before so cut me some slack.) It took about four hours of walking around the Old Faithful area to thaw out.
It was our lucky day however; we saw hundreds of bison in Hayden Valley alongside the road to the canyon and stopped to take pictures for a while. We then went to Yellowstone Falls for the second time, first being the night before, then went to Tower Falls where I walked to the bottom via the steep trail. About halfway down I started doubting my ability to make it back up being 8,000 feet elevation and rather steep.
The next morning, we decided camp at the Grand Teton, located directly south of Yellowstone. When we got there, we set up camp, but we were extremely disappointed in the weather and the dry environment of the season. Apparently, the Yellowstone region had a severe drought this year. We set up camp and then drove around and took less than stellar pictures due to the overcast weather. We were so tired at that point that we decided to close up camp and head for Salt Lake City. It was a nice drive to see the Snake River through all the canyons in Wyoming and Idaho, but we were just too road-weary to enjoy the scenery anymore. We decided to spend the night in a hotel because we planned to camp at Zion National Park for two more days afterward.
The next morning, the Explorer was dead; we thought we were stranded after 8,000 miles of driving with another 1,000 to go until AAA fixed it for us. Fortunately, we got to take pictures of the Mormon Temple, the State Capital, and the Lake before we took off. Salt Lake was interesting because I stepped on the sand, and sank about eight inches with one step before I realized I needed to get out before I get submerged in muck. Not only that, the place smelled worse than if cow manure were burning like exhaust in a sulphuric geyser in Yellowstone. If Salt Lake smelled that bad due to the salt content, I am ready to send my own financed relief package to the people who live near the Dead Sea because I am sure that is worse. The sickest part is that some of that crap is still on my shoes right now.
Once we got to Zion, we experienced 100 degree weather and the Labor Day crowd, and found out only tour buses are allowed into the park, so we decided to just drive through the main road through the park and head home instead of camping there. After about three weeks of five to ten hour driving days, what is a 14 hour drive home like from Salt Lake City? Our minds were reduced to a state of mush induced by the 9,000 miles of constant rolling motion inside of a battering ram for farm insects rolling on loose gravel. So basically, we woke up one morning in Yellowstone, and back home in Southern California a day later. After spending three weeks in the Plains, it was a real eye-opener and great experience. I realize there is more out there than I had imagined and life does not have to be stressful. People out in the Plains seem to be so easy going and live a more slow-paced life than we do in urban-suburban settings. Even more soothing, is the thought that I only spent $200 on this trip. Hell, I’m ready for another road trip already. Different places though…
Labels: Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, personal, South Dakota, travel, Utah, Wyoming
