Well, my long vacation is now only two weeks away. I've decided to leave on Thursday evening instead of Friday and return on Memorial Day instead of Sunday, so there have been a few slight changes since I wrote about my plans a few blogs ago. The route is still the same, but now instead of doing the whole trip by myself, my friend Tim is flying into Newark, NJ on the 7th day of the vacation and he will be going with me the rest of the way! LOOK OUT EAST COAST, HERE COMES TROUBLE!!!

 For those of you who never read the past blog about my upcoming vacation, let me fill you in. Below is my updated vacation schedule to give you an idea of how it's going to go:

I'm home!!! For those of you who have not been following my blog over the past few months, I have just returned from probably the most adventurous vacation that I will ever get to experience!!! I'm not really sure how I can best present everything to you because there is just so much to tell and so many pictures to show!!! I have decided that I am going to break up the blog into three different segments of the vacation. I truly feel like I was on three seperate trips also. The first four days were completely by myself, and I LOVED IT! Some may think that is crazy, but going on a trip alone is the ultimate rush of freedom and independence. The next two days were spend in New York and New Jersey with my friend Jason. Then finally, the last six days were spent with Tim. I will be writing about my vacation in three seperate blogs that are seperated as such.

Before I begin, here is a brief summary of the milestones that were reached on the vacation:

• DAYS ON VACATION: 12
• MILES TRAVELED:  3,122
• HOURS SPENT IN THE CAR: Approx. 47 hrs
• NUMBER OF STATES VISITED: 15
• NUMBER OF STATE CAPITALS VISITED:  4
• NUMBER OF COUNTRIES VISITED: 2
• TANKS OF GAS: 9
• NUMBER OF PICTURES TAKEN:  2,638
• HOURS OF VIDEO TAKEN:  Approx. 7 hrs

MY VACATION:    PART 1

   I left Hammond, IN around 4:00pm on Thursday, May 18, 2006 heading for Columbus, OH. The drive is about a five hour drive, and half of it is familiar territory. I've driven to Indianapolis so many times that I think now I can do it blind folded. The drive was really smooth and there was no rain or traffic. I got to Columbus about 10:00pm (they are an hour ahead) and I immediately went downtown to take my night pictures. I found a good spot along a river and was able to capture the whole skyline with the light reflecting on the water. After I finished, I headed to my hotel on the north side of the city and went to bed for the night.

  The next day, I woke up and was headed towards Washington DC by 11:00am. Again, the drive was smooth, but it was pretty overcast and gloomy, but didn't rain! I stopped in Pittsburgh for a bit and took some skyline shots from the top of Mount Washington. After I got the shots I wanted, I began heading east again. I made a stop on Shanksville, PA and saw the temporary memorial at the crash site of United 93, the fourth plane that was hijacked on September 11th. Needless to say, the crash site was a very sobering place to be. Soon there will be a national park built on in and around the area of the site covering nearly 2200 acres of land. I spent a half hour or so there, then headed for Washington. I got to my hotel in Virginia, just outside of Washington DC, around 8:00pm and just stayed in the hotel. I was tired!!! I had a full day ahead of me the next day, so I wanted to make sure I was plenty rested up!

  I woke up in the morning and took the subway to Washington, DC. I had arranged for a tour of the White House months before and went on the tour at 11:00am. Unfortunately, I was not allowed to bring in any camera equipment so I do not have pictures from inside. After the tour, I took the subway back to the hotel, got my equipment, then headed back again. I walked around Washington DC for the entire day taking pictures of all the monuments and memorials. After I took all of my day shots, I sat on the steps of Capital Hill until it got dark, then I went and took all of the night photos. I finished around 11:00pm and headed back to the hotel and went to bed.

  I woke up the next morning and checked out of the hotel around 10:00am and went to Arlington Cemetary before I headed north. I saw the gravesites of John F. Kennedy and his wife as well as the gravesite for Robert F. Kennedy. I stayed about 45 minutes, then headed north to Baltimore.

  Baltimore was a quick stop. I wasn't too impressed with the city. Much of it was dirty and run down, lots of buildings with bars over the doors and broken windows. I made a stop at Johns Hopkins University where my cousin Johnny played baseball and took pictures of the baseball field for him. After that, I scooted right out of Baltimore and headed for Philadelphia.

  I got to Philadelphia about an hour after leaving Baltimore. I didn't spend much time in the city, but I saw and did the things that I wanted to for the short hour and a half I was there. I saw Independence Hall and The Liberty Bell. I also took a walk down Market Street, which is filled with touristy shops and small restaurants and I got myself an authentic Philly Cheesesteak sandwich. I bought a few t-shirts and gifts, then headed for Atlantic City. I got to Atlantic City around 8:00pm and stayed at Resorts Hotel and Casino on the Boardwalk. Atlantic City's boardwalk was pretty cool, but just three blocks away was the ghetto!!! It was nice to be on the beach though. Shells litter the beach everywhere. You can't take a step without crushing them! The next morning after I got up and ready, I went and collected shells and took a walk down the beach. On the walk, I came across some interesting ocean life, unfortunately is wasn't still alive. I did see a stingray and a two foot long shark that were washed up on the shore. I hung out in Atlantic City until around 4:00pm, then headed up to northern New Jersey to meet up with my friend Jason.

TO BE CONTINUED...

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