LOL WISCONSIN

So we've made it here to Sparta, Wisconsin, and I've got to say, its pretty wide open and full of cows. I guess they call it America's Dairy Land for a reason. There's not much to do here, but we did pass some cool looking amusement parks along the way.

Now that you know where I'm at, I figure I'll tell you a bit about the drive today because that's pretty much all we did. First things first, OHIO SUCKS. Sorry to all you people who live in Ohio, but I'm sure even you would agree. Every city we went into seemed to be pretty dirty, worn out looking, and just overall seemed to be dying. And even the townsfolk we had talks with commented on it that way, too! And after we managed to figure out how to get back onto I-90 (took us a good half hour of driving around until we finally got some help from a local, just to find out we were going the wrong way...), we were greeted by some gross weather followed by some terrible weather. Neither Mike or myself have ever been out to the midwest before, and all our weather knowledge of the area is based on watching one too many episodes of Storm Chasers, so when the weather began to take a turn for the worse,(you know, torrential downpour and lightning with swirling clouds of dust all around us), we automatically assumed the worst and jumped to the conclusion that a tornado was going to form right on top of us.

Looking back at the footage, its kind of a funny situation: you can tell we were freaking out a bit as our little red Ford Focus was being blown all over the road and brutally assaulted by the rain to a point where visibility was practically 0% except for the split seconds when the windshield wipers were clearing the glass, thinking that these could be our last moments here on this planet. Its ridiculous to have thought that, we know. Turns out it was just a really, really nasty storm. But hey, if we did die, at least it would've been in HD, right?

So that just made Ohio suck even worse for us. Sorry Ohio, I dont think I'll be back anytime soon.

Anyways, after that whole big hullabaloo we headed into Indiana, and then Illinois. The weather still hadn't made up its mind about what it wanted to do, so Chicago was pretty gross looking in all the shots I took thanks to the off and on rain and super hazy clouds. Even still, the Sears Tower was a sight to behold despite the conditions.

After Chicago, I took over driving and it was smooth sailing into Wisconsin all the way to Sparta, which is apparently the bicycling capital of the America/world? (One or the other...) Here's the progress update for today:



It's pretty crazy thinking about just how far we've come over the course of just two days of driving. We also have been filming more and more so we can have plenty of footage for post-production. We've come to the conclusion that we can't have enough footage for cutaways and we're working on getting some interviews. I just can't wait until we get to Yellowstone so we can actually stay put for a few days and do some exploring and get some other shots as opposed to just all road all the time.

LONG POST IS LONG GOODNIGHT

First Post! Interbuttz on the Go!

So this is my first blog here, and guess what? Thanks to the power of technology, I'm doing it on the road here in Cleveland, OH just because I can.

For those of you who don't already know, I have embarked on a HUGE 7 week, 10,000 mile cross-country road trip. Accompanying me is my very good friend, Mike Galvez, and together we're taking on the country, making short movies about our experiences and various other themes along the way. We are camping for the vast majority of this trip at about 14 National Parks, (including Yellowstone, Olympic, Redwood, Death Valley, Joshua Tree, Grand Canyon, Arches, Rocky Mountain, Carlsbad Caverns, and Smokey Mountain, to name a handful). We will also be staying with a few friends and family at certain points to save on some money. Needless to say, this is easily the biggest undertaking of both of our lives.

We started this morning from Worcester, MA at, ohhhhh about 4am was when I think we woke up. We were on the road by about 5am, and thanks to the magical powers of coffee, we have been driving ever since.

The most interesting part about this trip is that I will almost always have internet available to me thanks to my phone doubling as a portable modem. This will allow spur of the moment updates at anytime, anywhere. Having this capability is absolutely fascinating. I can continually do research while on the road, upload footage to this and other blogs, and keep on top of my web class, all without breaking a sweat or missing a beat.

So for my first order of business, I'm making a rule for this blog: I can only post while on the road. More rules will come as I think of them, but for now, that seems like a good start. I'll also upload a map every day we travel as a progress update.

As of right now, we've traveled about 10.5 hours and are practically at our first destination, Sandusky, OH. Here's our progress so far (click for a closer look):




So we should be at Sandusky withing the hour, and then we'll set up camp and mosey around, cook some dinner, be nosey, but most importantly, get some freakin' sleep!

Until next time...