Welp! It is official, Chris and I have taken the journey across the United States to move from Western Pennsylvania to good ol' Sin City.
The journey was quite long, and a bit boring at times. We've driven through Ohio and Indiana loads of times so those were nothing new, not that the drive through there those states is exciting by any means to begin with. But, we did stop at Notre Dame so I could see the famous stadium where Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger was carried off the field.
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Coach Frank Leahy
1908 - 1973 |
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Coach Lou Holtz
1986-1998 |
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Coach Knute Rockne
1918 - 1930 |
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Coach Dan Devine
1975 - 1980
(coach of Rudy Ruettiger) |
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Coach Ara Parseghian
1964 - 1974 |
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| Chris with our kitten, Artemis, on the adventure of her lifetime. She's got more miles on her than a wild cat. |
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| Beautiful drive through the campus |
My aunt actually the real Rudy, not the actor that played him in the movie (although I would not mind meeting Sean Astin) at an educational conference once, so that was probably pretty awesome for her.
Illinois is boring flatland and full of terrible drivers. End of story.
We got to visit Chris's old roommate and best friend, and his girlfriend, in Iowa where they took us to eat at a hole in the wall dive called
Tic Toc. This place was actually really awesome, the environment was extremely welcoming and friendly. It was full of sports memorabilia (kind of like the average Applebee's restaurant) but this place wasn't the typical chain restaurant. They were even nice enough to serve us after they normally stop serving people for the night. Chris had a Reuben and I had a delicious taco salad the size of Texas. Definite go to place if you are in the Cedar Rapids area of Iowa.
Much to my dismay, I did not get to visit the
future birthplace of James T. Kirk to bask in the glory of my nerd-dom. I'll just have to go back to Iowa someday just for that.
Apparently they're living the good life in Nebraska. But I have nothing exciting to report. We didn't really stop anywhere because we were making a trip from Cedar Rapids to Denver and got a late start.
Lucky for me, my lovely cousin stayed awake to welcome Chris and I to Denver at 10:30pm when she had to get up for work at 5:00am the next day. We got to bond with her and her gigantor puppy dogs.
Colorado was beautiful and mountainous. We stopped a couple of times in the mountains, once at an apparent tourist hiking place called
Hanging Lake. It's a beautiful stop and apparently there is a slightly strenuous one mile hike up to the actual waterfall. We didn't get to do the entire hike, but were able to bring Artemis along the initial hike up to the trail. She had a splendid time hiding in the tall grass and chasing bees. Plus there was a sign noting that "No dogs are allowed on the trail," everyone passing by just giggled and said "Well, it didn't say anything about cats."
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| Rolling in the grass. |
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| "What do you want?" |
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| Time for a drink! |
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| Cute little kitty harness. |
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| Didn't get to the waterfall, but the view was still stunning! |
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| More miles under the kitten's belt! |
Utah was probably one of my favorite states that I have been to now. I thought Colorado was absolutely beautiful, but what bothered me was the fact that we were literally driving in and through the mountains, absolutely surrounded by them, whereas in Utah, we were able to see the mountains in the distance and drive through them. We weren't just surrounded by rock.
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| Looking over the valley. |
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| It was just a little bit windy. |
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| On his way down to run hills back up for a mid-journey workout. |
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| Beautiful scenery. |
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| Hop on down! |
And alas, after a grueling journey packed front to back, floor to ceiling in a Dodge Challenger with a kitten, we made it to Vegas!
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| Welcome to Nevada! |
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| Fremont Street Experience! Way better than the Strip. |
That's all for this journey across the country! I have learned that, although I very much love my kitten, I think the trip would've been full of some more epic adventures had she not been in the mix. But, at least we're allowed to have her at my new apartment and with that she is basking in the glory of the sunshine through the window day after day.
Expect more to come with my new city to explore, having to fly home for a wedding in a month, and off to Disneyland in two months to celebrate Nevada Day! (Yeah, I didn't believe it existed either.)
Until next time,
"Adventure is out there." Go find it!
The One and Only,
Carly K.
