(now with pictures! )
So, as many know, for the last spring break of my life, my friend Matt and I are driving out to Bend, OR. You may ask why, I say why not. Matt is looking to practice here and subsequently has business to do with that, and I am coming with to get out of Omaha, spend some time with good company, get in some good training, and just see the country. Between the two of us, with flights and brining with our bikes to train, it was a lot of $$$$ with us still being students. I figured I won't get the time to take an huge road trip like this in a really long time. You get to see a lot and experience so much more that you normally don't when you are in a plane.
Things are going great. Matt and I have made it to our final destination: Bend, OR. With all things said and done, it has been a really, really, really long time in the car, but we have seen our fair share of US via the good 'ol great American road trip. So, here I sit at Ka'va coffee in Bend, OR., enjoying the sunshine while sipping a latte and Matt is off at his interview. Life is pretty darn good. A little recap on what has happened, and what is yet to come.
Day 1: Saturday, 1 March
The night before we left, I received a phone call from some friends trying to red eye themselves from Madison, WI to Breckenridge, CO. Needless to say, I told them to stop in Omaha, spend the night at my place, and make their lives easier. At the very least, I told them to stop in and pick up some coffee and/ or some of the multitudes of Red Bull that I tend to keep on hand. They luckily chose the former, and stopped in and spent the night. It was great to see some of my Mad-town buddies, even if it was just for a short while. So, they left in the morning, I got a nice spin in on the trainer, packed up the car, then picked up Matt to hit the road. Drove the 'beautiful' drive across I-80 to head to Boulder to see and stay with Maria, Dave, Katelyn, and Keli. The highlight was the rising temperatures across the entire trip and the sweet truck stops along the way. It was 81 deg F in Ogalala, NE. Incredible. We honestly thought that my thermometer in the car was broken until we went outside!
Day 2: Sunday, 2 March
Went to bed with warm weather and dreams of riding in the mountains the next day, woke up to our bikes covered with snow on top of my car.
Wind and snow advisories took an attempt to Nordic ski out of the question, and so the elements took us to the CU rec center with Maria. For real.
We biked, ran, I did some core work. Inside. During spring break. haahah. I guess it is one of those times that you need to count your losses, and realize that there is nothing you can do but to make your own fun with the situation. Oh well.
We later checked out some of the shops on Pearl St in Boulder, and later had some drinks with Katrina from school, her friend Lauryn, and ragbrai buddy and Boulder resident, Mark. Great to sit and chat. Later got some dinner at 'The Med' Mediterranean restaurant in Boulder. The food was absolutely incredible. They had the most amazing bacon wrapped dates, mussels, and I ordered at pizza with duck confit, and roasted figs. Awesome food, but there was a catch, I got to enjoy it again, many times. Later that night, I found myself vomiting over a dozen times. The likely culprit: the meal that we had just enjoyed. This lead to a sleepless night, a febrile state, and some pretty horrible dehydration over the next days.
Day 3: Monday, 3 March
I was still vomiting in the morning, and got ready between trips to the porcelain god. I was just trying to keep water down, which wasn't working. Matt got in a nice ride in the mountains before we headed out. We left town with an empty yogurt tub in the car just in case, and headed in the direction of Salt Lake City. Matt drove like a champ across the hellish snow and wind in Wyoming, while I curled up in a ball in the passenger seat. The best analogy, is to that of the snow planet Hoth from Star Wars. Residents of Wyoming: I hereby compare your home to the hellish conditions only seen in science fiction and the resemelance is striking. See if you can tell which one is which.
Unfortunately, Matt's state deteriorated as we got closer and closer to Salt Lake City. We met up with classmate Nic and Heather for some dinner. Unfotunately, Matt and I were both meerly poking at our food at the awesome joint of Cafe Rio (the rumors are true, it is like Chipotle, but better!). I knew something was very very wrong when Matt didn't chow down Mexican food- unfortunately, the wrath of our meal the night before had started to take its toll on him. We spent the night with the Egberts and their beautiful home at the foot of the mountains in Salt Lake City, and Matt was now the one up all night in the bathroom. I think he counted five trips during the sleepless, febrile, night.
Day 4: Tuesday, 4 March
I was finally feeling better in the morning, and was the one who got to drive today while Matt was curled up in the passenger seat. Headed out in the morning with the final stretch of our trip ahead of us. Headed up into Idaho, which neither of us have been to. Some of it looked like the drive from Fargo to Grand Forks, ND (if you haven't done it- it is flat, flat, flat, with nothing except some agriculture and scrubby bushes), some of it was really pretty with rolling, snow covered mountains. Stopped in Boise, ID for some dinner at Taco Del Mar- both of our first 'real meals' in a really long time, and I got in a little run in, which actually felt really great considering how the past few days have gone. We finally crossed the border into Oregon, which on the far eastern side looked remarkably like driving through small towns in Iowa (for a minute I thought that we were driving into Cresco, IA) except for the fact that you don't pump your own gas. :) After a while, we were driving through beautiful, winding mountains while the sun was falling behind them, and finally got into Bend to spend the night at Matt's friends beautiful home.
Day 5: Wednesday, 5 March
We're both feeling better, and woke up to finally see the beauty that we have been driving through yesterday, which is absolutely spectacular. I am taking some time to soak up the scenery and catch up on life, and Matt is off to his interview. Getting in a ride in later, and enjoying the rest of the day with what this town has to offer. Should be good.
1 comment:
That sounds like a great trip so far ... though the gut-wrenching vomiting seems like a downer.
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