Week 14 with Jordan Vance

Through 13 weeks of the trip, it has been a 3 man wrecking crew.  We tore through the east coast, stopped to see both sides of my family in the midwest, and then slowed down considerably west of the Mississippi.  One of my best friends, Jordan Vance, finished work for the season just in time for the last 2 weeks of the trip with Allen, Bub and I.  Jordan had to fly out to meet us somewhere and board the camper for 2 wild weeks.  If we had stayed on the same traveling timeline as the first 13 weeks, we would have been further along in the trip, but that would have cut out a few bad ass scenic sites for Jordan.  Do I tell Jordan to meet us in Texas, take our time through Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Tennessee or sling it around and cover a hell of a lot of ground in 2 weeks in order to see the maximum?  Well, when in doubt, sling it out.  Jordan, looks like you're flying to Los Angeles for a mad dash across to United States.  The plan from day 1 was to be home on November 22nd, two days before Thanksgiving, and we stuck to that plan all along.  

Welcome aboard 742

Jordan flew into Los Angeles on November 9th (technically the 10th since it was after midnight) and we scooped him up, introduced him to the camper and Rosa Lee (our GPS), and hit the ground running.  Due to no planning on our behalf, Jordan got in the truck and we had no idea where we were headed.  Southwestern Utah figured to be the first stop on the trip, but that happened to be about 9 hours away.  With the winter approaching, sunlight is hard to come by these days and we are certainly no early risers.  Three options arose about 5 minutes into the trip.  Remember this is 12:30 at night, Jordan had just flown across the country, and we had no idea what the next move might be.  

Option A-  Drive a few hours towards southern Utah, possibly staying near Las Vegas that night.  We would knock out the remaining 7 hours the next morning, find something to that evening, and go into Zion National Park the next day, effectively wasting a valuable day of Jordan's travels.

Option B- Drive to Vegas.  Sell the camper.  Take that money and put it on one hand of blackjack.  Hope for the best.

Option C-  Knock out all 9 hours of the drive and arrive in Zion National Park the next morning.  Once the sun comes up, hope a little of adrenaline and moving around kicks in to offset skipping a night of sleep.  This would be the best usage of time, and would start the last 2 weeks out with a bang.  

I had no interest in option A, option B seemed tempting but reckless, so that left option C.  Allen knocked out the first few hours of the drive until about 3:30 am and I took the reins from there, running on no sleep.  For the first time of the trip, someone decided to ride in the camper while we were driving.  Under no circumstances is this legal, but Allen figured he would get a few hours of sleep and report back to us a few hours later on how safe he felt back there.  Bub slept in the passenger seat, Jordan stretched out in the back and we were off.  Bub slept on and off for awhile, I wasn't sure what Allen was doing in the back, and Jordan got about an hour of sleep before the sun came up.  We slept until about noon that day before, with the possibility of something wild happening that night so I was good to go.  Pacific time is 3 hours behind east coast, so by that measure, Jordan had woken up at 7 am, flown across the country, got one hour of sleep in a 24 hour period, and had to make until the next night.  

If you have ever stayed up all night and skipped a night's sleep, you will know about 5 or 6 am is the toughest part.  Once the sun comes up, your body gets tricked and starts to wake up with a little sunlight. Lucky for me, Jordan woke up about an hour before the sun came up and we talked bs before driving through Las Vegas just as it was getting light outside.  We looked at each other about 5 minutes after passing through and just started laughing thinking about the situation.  I'm not sure he knew what he was getting himself into when he agreed to fly out and meet us for 2 weeks, but if anyone can give a spark to a group, Jordan Vance is the man.  

Fast forward about 4 hours later, and we had arrived in Zion National Park in southwest Utah at 10 am after a 9 plus hour drive.  Allen had made it out of the back of the camper after we had stopped a few hours earlier, claiming he slept very little and felt very unsafe in the camper.  You can't see the road laying down back there, and he said it was an extremely bumpy ride.  I guess they make these things to sleep in while stationary, not while going 65 mph.  

Zion NP is desert-like with red rocks all over with very good off trail hiking.  It is one of the smallest national parks in the United States, but good enough to satisfy us for a few hours.  Unlike a few of the other parks, we only had plans to visit it for an afternoon before hitting the road again.  For the last 2 weeks, it was a day maximum anywhere because of the ground we had to cover to get home by November 22nd.  

We talked to a park ranger, and he gave us a good 3 mile hike to do.  I hadn't slept a wink, and everyone else was running off very little sleep, but we had enough gas in the tank to suck it up and hike.  We made the first two miles on a designated trail before coming up on a big canyon that was hikable as well, but with no trails.  We were closer to the bottom of the canyon, so it was all uphill with big rocks and trees to climb up.  It was easily doable, but there wasn't a clearly outline path to take.  A few times, one of us would see a path up and someone else would claim they saw a better way.  We would all follow who we thought was taking the best path and see what happened.  One person would climb up a set of huge boulders to get up and another would try a hillside that led upwards.  At one point, I almost got stuck and Allen and Jordan had to put their hands out below me so I could step on them just to make it down safely.  

This was definitely one of the best hikes of the trip and we took it back to the truck around 4 that afternoon to find a place to eat. (We had the 2nd best looking waitress of the trip for this meal, with a Vancouver waitress taking the prize for the trip)  Like I said, we are not early risers and in order to maximize sunlight hours, we drove at night and got close to wherever we needed to be the next day, that night. (If that makes sense.)  For example, the next day we wanted to check out Bryce Canyon National Park, so we drove about 30 minutes away that night so we could just wake up and be there the next day.  Even if that meant driving a few more hours after no sleep and a 10 hour drive. 

I continue to tell people that Southern Utah is the most underrated part of the country.  I had never heard anyone talk about Southern Utah but between Canyonlands NP, Arches NP, Zion NP, and Bryce Canyon, it is amazing.  We had done the first two in the middle of September and headed north, and our route had taken us back to southern Utah for 2 more national parks.  

Bryce Canyon is, well, a big canyon at a much higher elevation than Zion.  This being in the middle of November, they already had snow.  This wasn't going to stop us from doing a hike or enjoying the outdoors.  We got into the park about 11 am to a cool 37 degrees and partly sunny but as long as you're moving, it wasn't bad.  We set off on a 2 mile hike through the snow and ice down into a part of the canyon.  Parts of the trail were completely covered in snow.  Before setting off, we took side bets on who would be the first person to bust their ass.  2 bets on Jordan, one on me, and one for Bub.

The trail was about a 3 mile loop that had plenty of switchbacks and many good overlooks.  The hike went down into a canyon with mountains surrounding us.  We made a couple sandwiches and stopped to eat and enjoy the scenery about halfway through, trying to stay warm all at the same time.  Believe it or not, there were actually a decent amount of people out hiking like we were.  Enjoy the pictures and let it be known that no one busted their ass on the hike, although we did decide to cut out about a 1/2 mile of the hike by going straight up the side of a mountain, where Bub almost got stuck.  We ended up throwing the rope down to him in order to avoid any catastrophes.    

For the time of year and where we were in the trip, Jordan couldn't have got luckier to catch a few scenic sites.  First Zion, then Bryce Canyon, next- the Grand Canyon.  Being late in the year and taking into account the weather, we didn't have too many options of things to do.  Let's hit all the lookouts and enjoy some breaktaking views, because hiking was out of the question.  As far as looking at a single scenic sight, this tops my list for the entire trip.  You have an image in your head about what the Grand Canyon will look like and how big it might be, but this blew my image out of the water.  We drove along the north rim for 20 miles or so, stopping every few miles to enjoy each vantage point.  It was in the 30s and really windy, so viewing it was about as much as we got to do.  It sure didn't disappoint my perception of what it would be like.  

Throughout the trip, we went on 3 and 4 day stretches were we would have a stocked refrigerator.  We would cook, throw sandwiches together, whatever we could do to avoid eating out.  Other times, we would go another 4 day stretch eating out for every meal.  Jordan went to culinary school so not only did we add a hell of a member to the crew, but we added a personal chef.  Jordan cooks, Allen drives, Bub made sure we made logical decisions and guided us places, and I decided where we were going and staying each night.  Looks like all areas were covered to me.  If only someone knew how to win money at casinos.    

In Bryce Canyon, around lunch time, we realized that there weren't many options to eat.  "Hey Jordan, why don't you go through the cabinets and fridge and see what you can throw together for us."  20 minutes later, Jordan had made pasta with some leftover ham and some spices we had in the cabinet with mac and cheese and few other random items.  The next night, we bought a pork tenderloin and he made an amazing sauce with some blueberry jam I had bought some time ago.  Anyone can throw something in the oven and cook meat on the stove but the thing that sets good cooks apart from random people heating up meat, like myself, is that they know how to make sauces that will go well with the food on hand.  Did I mention that Jordan was a good addition to the crew?

Prior to the Grand Canyon, we came to the realization that one of must see events was a possibility….. a Nascar Race.  Way back in May before I starting traveling, I went to the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte, Nascar's premiere event.  I swore I was going next year (and every year after) and Bub, Allen, and I all said from the start of the road trip that if we were near one, we had to go.  Lucky for us, that Sunday, the Kobalt Tools 500 was set to take place in Phoenix.  We left the Grand Canyon and headed near Phoenix the night before to catch the afternoon race the next day.  If you have never been to a race, well, it is very unusual.  The concept is to drink and tailgate and then watch cars go really fast for a few hours.  If this doesn't like fun to you, then you know what, you aren't fun.  Maybe the southerner in me is coming out in saying that, but you have to go to a race.  We brought the camper to the race, put the awning out, set up the table and chairs, and were ready to go.    

The race started at 1 pm, and we were there by 11 am to grill and drink some brews before the race started.  You have to get a few beers in before the race in order to get the full experience.  Have about 3 or 4 before it starts to loosen up a little and really get into the action.  The Phoenix crowd seemed much more high class than the die-hard Charlotte crowd but we still saw some characters here.  It was funny to look around and see an older guy with his 2 small kids at the race.  "Looks like its my weekend with the kids, better take 'em to the race, whewww!" 

We were still not shaving and looking rough now almost 14 weeks into the trip.  I wore jorts, Bub wore his denim outfit, and Jordan wore his newly purchased hat.  We represented North Carolina very well in Phoenix.  Arizona must not have the beer thing figured out, because you weren't allowed to bring alcohol inside.  You may think this is crazy, but in Charlotte, you can take a cooler with as much beer as you want into the speedway as long as it fits underneath your seat.  If you are a heavy drinker and the cooler underneath your seat won't do- you can even pay for 2 seats- one for you, and one for your cooler.  

We scalped 4 tickets to the race right outside the entrance and made it to our seats about 10 or 15 laps into the race.  It was about 70 degrees, partly sunny, in the 2nd week of November…. not too shabby.  This was one of the last races in the season, and by this point in "The Chase", Nascar's version of a postseason, the championship had come down to Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards.  Kasey Kayne ended up taking the race, with Edwards and Stewart finished 2nd and 3rd in somewhat of an anti-climatic ending.

After a 2 or 3 hour recovery period, ears still ringing, we hit the ground running again, this time heading towards Carlsbad Caverns in the middle of New Mexico.  The caverns were about 12 hours away so drove a few hours, stopped for the night, and continued on the next day, making sure we arrived before the 4 pm closing the next day.  

Carlsbad Caverns are the tallest caverns in the United States.  You go 75 feet below ground and then arrive in this huge open room at least 200 feet tall.  The government does a really good job of keeping areas like this and National Parks accessible to the public without ruining any land or elements of the wild in the process.  For Carlsbad, there were paved trails leading through the caverns with guard rails to keep idiots like us from falling off the side of the walkways into the darkness.  The caverns had massive formations of salt and limestone desposits that had formed over millions of years and formed the openings underground.  

This had to have been the most driving the crew had put in since the very first week of the trip.  Jordan flew in to Los Angeles- we drove 10 hours on no sleep, stopped for a few hours in Zion NP and then drove 2 more to Bryce Canyon NP.  Throw in about 5 to the Grand Canyon, another 7 to Phoenix, plus 10 to Carlsbad Caverns plus another 8 to our next destination, Big Bend National Park in Texas.  The driving seems like a lot, but I sure couldn't figure out another way to see the country like this.  Looking back, option B- driving to Vegas, selling the camper and putting the money on one hand of blackjack- doesn't seem like that bad of idea anymore.  Thanks for reading, stay tuned for the 15th and final week of the trip in Texas.  RIP JHW3  

Week 13- Southern California

In the first week of the posting from the road trip, I posted some quotes during our first few days of traveling.  One read, "If the trip happens to abruptly end in either Las Vegas or New Orleans, I'm ok with that."  Well, I'm happy to announce that the trip did not end in Las Vegas and we were able to continue on to week 13 of the trip.  On the plate for this week, Southern California, where the sun shines all the time and it rains 3 or 4 times a year.  We stayed in Los Angeles with Allen's sister, Emily, for 4 nights right after Las Vegas, went south to Huntington Beach to stay with my mom's cousin for 2 nights and then to San Diego for 2 nights.  (November 1st through November 8th)  If you are happening to just be joining in on the reading, I am traveling around the country in an rv for 15 weeks with 2 of my best friends, Bub Hunter and Allen Bradley, attempting to keep the economy going and trying to stay out of trouble in the meantime.  If you have been following all along, thanks for reading and welcome to week 13.  If you missed week 12, check it out here.    

After departing Vegas in the late evening, we headed west to Los Angeles for a few nights.  We stopped about an hour short of the city, but got close enough to catch a noon taping of the game show, "Let's Make a Deal.", the next day.  If you aren't familiar with the show, it is somewhat similar to "The Price is Right", in that you have a chance to win prizes playing really random games.  Wayne Brady is the host of the show; you may know him from "Who's Line is it Anyway" and his famous cameo on the Dave Chappelle Show.  

A past pic, but these were basically our "costumes" for the show.  

Emily told us what we needed to do and where we needed to be by 11:30 the next day.  We showed up for the taping of the show and signed a few liability forms before waiting about an hour before doing anything.  Next, we went through a screening process where a lady went through and interviewed everyone going into the show.  She would ask people random questions while a few other people watched and took notes.  The end goal was to choose people who would be high energy and good for tv.  Emily, Allen, Bub and I made it to the interview and we all talked about the road trip and the crazy stuff we were getting into lately.  If you have ever seen the show, everyone is wearing crazy costumes, from baby costumes, to celebrity look-alikes, and even random homemade outfits.  We didn't really have much to work with so Allen went with his huge sombrero, Emily dressed up as a police woman, I went with my "Everyday I'm Shuffling t-shirt' and my football helmet/toboggan, and Bub went with his Canadian tuxedo, mustache, and American flag bandana.  

The game show then strategically placed everyone in the audience based on who they were going to pick to play.  We ended up in the first 5 or 6 rows, right by the aisle that Wayne Brady walked down.  I couldn't tell if this way good or bad for our changes to be on tv, to begin with.  Once we got in, they told us that in between taping segments, they would play music and watch on the camera who was dancing and being enthusiastic.  These people would have a better chance of getting on the show and the pre-air screening wasn't the only factor they considered.  Well, I figured, what the hell, I'm gonna jump up and down like a madman while the music is going.  There was no way I wasn't putting every bit of effort into trying to get on to this show.  I was jumping as high as I could between every segment pretty much without stopping.  

So they taped about 7 or 8 people playing crazy games and winning random prizes with 5 minutes or so in between segments.  A few times they even went back and taped a segment again, whether it be their version of Vanna White (The good looking chick on Wheel of Fortune who turns the letters) showing the prize, or anything Wayne Brady or the announcer guy messed up.  I wish I could write about my crazy experience of being on a game show and winning something or at least being entertaining on tv, but none of us were chosen.  It definitely wasn't from my lack of enthusiasm, because my legs were sore for the next 2 days from jumping up and down.  Our explanation for why we weren't picked?  A combination of not having an outrageous costumes, (there were a few unusual ones in the crowd….. a guy was chosen who was dressed as a baby outfit with his girlfriend, and another girl had a colorful homemade outfit) and the fact that Allen, Bub and I were not very camera friendly.  Through 12 weeks, no one had shaved and I'm not sure we were the people they wanted to show on television.  We didn't make it on the show, but I had a damn good time.  Check it off the hypothetical bucket list.  (There were two tapings of the show that day, but it will either be on tv March 30th or April 20th on CBS.  Like I said, we were in the first few rows and I know you will be able to see us.)

We spent our 3 days in Los Angeles doing plenty of driving around the city, checking out all the nice cars and famous places that you hear about in Los Angeles.  Emily lives in a nice part of Los Angeles (with her awesome dog, Becker, who is small and fluffy and loves nothing more than doing circles when he gets excited) and we were actually able to park the truck and the camper on the streets in 2 hour parking spots.  The spots were supposedly only checked from 8 am to 6 pm so as long as we did something with it during the day and moved it before 10 am in the morning, I thought we were golden.  Since southern California is warm pretty much year-round, Bub was able to sleep in the camper both nights on the streets of Los Angeles.  Didn't expect that in LA, huh?

Safest place in LA, all the street lights in one area

Emily let us take her car two separate afternoons to drive around and check out the city.  One afternoon we made it up to the hills of the city with some overlooks of downtown, and the next day we attempted with no luck to find the Playboy Mansion. Our drive took us though Beverley Hills and then to Rodeo Dr., where we stumbled across a Bugati.  A Bugati happens to be a million dollar car with over 1,000 horsepower.  If you don't like cars much, maybe you wouldn't appreciate it, but this car will take your breath away.  It is a 2 door sports car and a million bucks seems to be a little steep for a car that only sits 2 people but hey, if I was a billionaire, I would probably have one.

View from the Hills

Bugati 

China Theater

Speaking of cool cars, we found a car museum to go through on one of our days in Los Angeles.  It had all kinds of exotic cars ranging from Ferraris to Rolls Royce, to another Bugati and some of the very first cars ever built.  You name it, it was there.  We had the camper attached to the truck while going to the museum and the only available parking spot was at least a quarter mile away.  I'll be damned if a minute into our walk into the museum, it starts to pour on us.  This qualifies as the first time we have been stuck in the rain on the trip and it happened to be in southern California, you know, where it rains 3 or 4 times a year.  At least the cars were cool. 

Batmobile from the old movies

The Green Hornet Car

Another Bugati

I have spoken many times about seeing a city during the day, and seeing what it had to offer at night.  Well, luckily for us, Emily works at a nightclub.  She deals more with the stuff going on during the day, so she was free to hang out with us at night.  Speaking of free, Emily definitely hooked us up, as we got bottle service at a table with her and her friends for the whole night.  She told us that the minimum amount to spend for a table was $1,000 for the night.  Well that seems outrageous, but if you are rich and famous, then screw it, right?  Bub talked with the lead singer of the All-American Rejects while we were there, and Emily said Paul Pierce had been there earlier that week.  The place was pretty legit.  Not to mention, the bouncer at the club is the guy from Forgetting Sarah Marshall who talks about going scuba diving with the turtles.  Davon, or better known as Big D, has been in multiple comedies over the past few years is a good friend of Emily's and ended up eating Chinese food with us after we left for the night.  I have never eaten a meal with a guy I've seen in a movie, but this guy was as cool as they come.  I told him I was thinking about getting the shrimp lo mien at the Chinese place.  "Nah man, you don't want the shrimp, it's nasty.  Get the chicken lo mien, it's way better."  I stayed the hell away from that shrimp.

The crew with Big D.

On Saturday afternoon, after grabbing lunch in Los Angeles, we headed south to Huntington Beach.  My mom's cousin Harva lives there and had been talking back forth with my mom about us coming to stay with her for a night or two.  This all sounded great, except for the fact that I had never meet Harva before.  She sound excited for us to come, it was a chance to meet a new relative, and it fit right into our schedule, so why not, let's give it a try.  We arrived around 8 o'clock on that Saturday evening, and Harva and her husband Frank were two of the nicest people in the world.  They took the 3 of us in like we were their kids, and an hour into our visit, Harva had already made ice cream for us.  During our visit, Harva and Frank not only let us take over their living room to watch football on Sunday afternoon, but let us do all of our laundry, (at this point, only 2 and half weeks remained, and after doing laundry, I had enough clean underwear to last the rest of the trip, which meant I had no intentions of doing laundry again until I got home.) borrow their car while the truck had an oil change, took us out to dinner once and cooked for us one.  Talk about getting the ultimate package when you first meet someone.  I would have been fine with sleeping in the camper outside of their house.  (Actually, Allen did sleep in there both nights.  It is really dark inside the camper to his credit.)  

On a totally random note, Bub's family lived in Huntington Beach for a short time when Bub was younger.  His parent's gave him the address so we plugged it into the gps, and set out to find it.  Once we arrived, we snapped a picture of Bub in front of his house, and then decided it was best to leave before someone called the police claiming that three homeless guys were taking pictures in their neighborhood.  We ate lunch at a diner on the pier in Huntington Beach, and then checked out the city a little before going out to eat with Harva and Frank at a southern-style restaurant.  I am not a sweet tea drinker (don't fall out of your chairs you sweet tea addicts, that stuff is garbage) but Allen and Bub hadn't had sweet tea in awhile and claimed this was some of the best they had drank in awhile.  We all had some sort of bbq with a few southern sides, baked beans, mac and cheese, sweet potato fries, and all the good fix-ins.    

Bub's old house

The three of us with Frank and Harva with their two dogs.  

We hit the road shortly after to stay in San Diego for 2 nights before the legend of 742, Mr. Jordan Dale Vance, joined us for the last 2 weeks of the trip.  Jordan, like Allen and Bub, is a old high school friend who did all he could to join us for the longest time possible.  Jordan works at a restaurant in Little Switzerland, a little mountain town about 30 minutes north of Marion.  This is a seasonal restaurant that closes the first week of November, enough time for him to spend 2 weeks with us.  He was due to fly in to Los Angeles in 2 nights, so let's head on down to San Diego, retrace our steps back to Los Angeles, and keep this train rolling.  

San Diego is known for its great weather, its laid back lifestyle opposed to Los Angeles, and well I'm not sure what else to be honest, but hey, that's why we came to check it out.  We arrived late in the evening at the coolest campground of the trip.  This place had multiple restaurants, a beach access area to the ocean, an arcade, an ice cream shop, and a 24 hour security guard to top things off.  In the massive, 1000 page campground book that my mom gave me before we left on the trip, this campground has advertising on the entire back cover of the book.  We have looked at this picture at least 500 times so far, and now it was finally time for a stay at this magical place.  

The 3 amigos (trademark: Bub) set off decently early the next morning to check out the San Diego Zoo, the best zoo in the United States in terms of the number of different species.  This may seem like a bit of a childish thing to do for 3 dudes in their 20s, but I am a kid at heart and truly enjoyed every bit of it.  Most of you have been to a zoo before, so enjoy the pics. 

On Monday, we set off to check out the city of San Diego.  When you go to scenic sites, you go to enjoy the views and nature itself.  In a city you 

A)  Find things to do from past experiences in the city 

B)  Go on recommendations of any family, friends, residents of the city, or in extreme cases, homeless people.

C)  Type things to do in (insert whatever city you are in) into Google and go from there

D)  Drive around and see if anything catches the eye

So I have spent an afternoon in San Diego when my sister, Rachel, lived in southern California and we did a segway tour of San Diego.  (We were those people for a day, but it was pretty fun to be honest.)  This time around, we left the camper at the best campground in the United States and roamed around San Diego for a little while.  We caught a quick glimpse of Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres, drove through the supposed historic district of San Diego, and eventually settled on a battleship tour.  (Right near the harbor where UNC and Michigan St. played a week later.)  

On this legendary segway tour, I saw the USS Midway (a docked WW2 battleship) but didn't get to check it out that day.  Second time around, let's check it out.  The battleship hasn't been in use since World War 2 and has since been turned into a tourist attraction.  On the top deck, there were all sorts of planes and jets used during the war.  Each station throughout the tour had an short audio tour you could listen to through the free head sets they gave out at the beginning of the tour.  We went through the whole ship seeing the intricacies and how it functioned as a whole.  It is like a city on water, and they had to have enough supplies and accommodations for all the crew on board.  What do you need to stay somewhere for an extended period of time?  Everyone has to have a place to sleep, enough food to feed everyone as well as a place to eat, and somewhere for the crew to shower and what not.  

The living quarters for the crew consisted of endless amounts of bunks in very tight spaces.  Move up to the captain's quarters, and they had their own room with a small living room and a bathroom to themselves or only sharing with one or two other people.  We moved through the mess hall and the kitchen, wondering what damage hundreds of hungry men could do to the meals.  We went up to the communication room in the 1940s, which today has been replaced with satellites, phones and upgraded methods of communication.  Up next, there was a tour of the control room, getting an actual account from a volunteer who was on board a ship very similar to this during the war.  He gave a very detailed account of what it was like during the war on board the ship and the methods used to guide the ship and how they communicated with the Navy and the rest of the military during the war.  

The USS Midway

Old School GPS

The whole experience was pretty fascinating, because I had never been on board a battleship, especially one used during World War 2.  By the time the tour was over, it was already dark, and time to go pick up the camper and head towards Los Angeles to pick the legend of Jordan Vance.  We had a few house guests during the road trip (Kaysee and Sarah, Tab and our new friend Spotacus the dog) but none for longer than a few nights.  Time to add another member of the crew, and a good one at that.  If anyone could come right in and blend in with the 3 of us, it was Jordan Vance.  We left around 7 o'clock, with about a 2 hour drive to Los Angeles ahead of us.  His flight wasn't supposed to come in until midnight, so that left roughly 3 hours to kill.  Well, from my past experience in southern California visiting Rachel, let's just say that I happened to know there was a casino on the way.  

This would end up being the last casino stop on the trip, because by the time Jordan joined us, it was a mad dash across the country to see as much as possible.  After Las Vegas, I had basically broke even through 13 weeks.  On a quick tangent, let me explain gambling in California.  It is actually illegal for the casino itself to deal with the money coming and going from the players, so a 3rd party sits in the corner at the table and either takes your money and pays out your winnings.  This is a separate person from the person dealing the cards in blackjack.  The crazy loop holes in the laws these days.  I mean, you can gamble online through foreign countries, the lottery is legal, and people can completely wreck the United States (cough, cough, Wall Street) so why not make gambling legal throughout the United States and let the rest of us have fun.  Oh wait a minute, that sounds like a good idea and all, but most people just lose all their money at the casino.  Ok, scratch that idea, let's continue to outlaw casinos in most places.  

I went in for a first stint, stayed about an hour or so and walked away up a little bit.  It was enough to cover a tank of gas and a place to stay for the night, but we still had some time to kill before picking up Jordan.  In retrospect, I had an opportunity to walk away the whole trip up a few hundred bucks, which in going to casinos in 13 different cities, this is a pretty solid accomplishment.  Well, needless to say, I walked back in and tried to sling it around.  This was not a good idea, I lost all my winnings and then the money I started with.  I should have got into the truck and drove away, but what's the fun in that. 

 "When in doubt, sling it out."  

The casinos ended up being a true battle on the trip, and I ended up a little below even for the whole trip.  My record ended up 5 wins, 5 losses, and 3 ties for the cities, with the money amount in losses outweighing the money in the wins, leading to a negative number overall for the trip.  Stay tuned for the last 2 weeks of the trip, and thanks to anyone who is following my travels across the world.  Dad, thanks for making all the traveling possible.