Road Trip Across the Country

I had the opportunity to drive across the country from Pennsylvania to Oregon in a large Dodge Durango.  Of coarse I had to raid my parents house and completely fill the truck with stuff.  Jeff and I hit the road on Monday March 23 at about 5 p.m. with a mission to get to Colorado State University by Wednesday morning, less than two days later.  The Campus Rail Jam tour had a stop there and I really wanted to participate in the event.  The drive out there was long and tiring.  We really couldn't stop to sleep for two reasons.   First, there wasn't enough time.  Second there was no room in the truck to lay down.  We had a chance to catch a few hours in and there, but overall it was a straight long drive to Ft. Collins.  I showed up about two hours past registration, but the guys putting on the event were cool enough to let me compete.  The girl vibe there was great.  I had a chance to meet Amanda Poindexter and Charlotte Trundle, both really great girls.  The comp was a success, I took first place and walked away with $100.  The next stop was going to be Salt Lake City.  We headed north and went west on I 80 until about two hours later we hit a block in the road because of weather.  Jeff was a strong person for being able to drive through the storm, but it was crazy, gnarly.  We had to turn around and figure out a plan for the day.  We decided to head back south and try to make it to Breckenridge for the night so we could visit a good friend Aaron Thompson and have a warm place to sleep.  Thankfully, we made it there safely and had a wonderful night of comfortable sleep.  The next day Aaron showed us around and took us on some sweet runs.  On our way out we had to stop at smoke shack tucked away.  I'm sorry locals, but it is too cool not to mention.  The shack was so well built and not appropriate for people with a fear of heights.  

The next day we started back on the road with Salt Lake as our destination.  We got there and spent our time with Steve Pierce and Sam Driver.  Many pow turns were created at Brighton and in the back country.  I had a great time.  I also had a chance to catch up with my friend Abby Johnson. 

Once we left Utah we started to head towards Spokane, Washington but stopped in a small town called  Mcall in Idaho.  Jeff and I spent a night in a nice resort and had a wonderful opportunity to relax and catch up on some chill time after being on the road for so long.  We enjoyed a good home cooked dinner and a few cocktails, but we had to get to bed early to get on the road early the next morning.  The drive to Spokane was long because of snowy road conditions, but thankfully I made it to Spokane in time again to compete at the next stop of the Campus Rail Jam tour.  This stop was at Gonzaga State University.  I'm so glad I got to compete at this event.  Mt. Hood local Becky was there and I had a chance to meet a girl named Kendra that is from Canada.   The competition was a lot of fun and I walked away with first place again and some cash to put gas in the truck.  We took off after the competition and drove till we made it home to catch an amazing night of sleep, in our own beds.