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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jlaxsalinas@robertmorris.edu

  The next morning, Wednesday, May 24, I picked up Tim at the airport in Newark, NJ around 10:15. He got off the plane, walked outside the airport, and I was waiting in the parking lot. We headed north past NYC into Connecticut and Rhode Island. We stopped for a few hours in Rhode Island, saw the URI campus a bit, and hung out with some fishermen catching squid in the ocean. I, of course, went on my own adventure and found a few starfish in the water. After a while, we left and headed up to Boston.

  We got to Boston around 7:30pm, checked into our hotel, got ready, and left to Cheers. From the outside, Cheers looks exactly like it did on TV, but the inside is different. It was pretty small and not a lot of people were there, and NOBODY KNEW MY NAME!!! After we left Cheers, we walked to Boston Commons and just went sight seeing. We got a little lost walking in Boston, but eventually we found our hotel.

  The next day, we got up and went to Fenway Park for a tour at 12:00pm. The tour lasted about an hour and was a lot of fun! After that, we took the Freedom Trail which takes you past all of the famous landmarks of Boston, including the cemetaries where John Hancock, Samuel Adams, Mother Goose, and other notables are. Also, we went to where the Boston Massacre occured. Later that day, we went to a Boston Red Sox vs Tampa Bay Devil Rays game. Sox won! After the game, we left Boston and drove to Scarborough, Maine and stayed the night.

  When we got to our hotel in Maine, we discovered that it wasn't really a hotel! It was someone's house! And we were getting there at 1:30am!!! The tiny town we were in was completely dead and the front door was left unlocked for us. On the counter was an envelope with my name on it and a key to the bedroom upstairs. WEIRD!!! Me and Tim laughed the whole way up and tried to keep as quite as we could walking up the 120 year old creeky staircase!

  The next morning we drove to Portland, Maine and had lobster. We left Maine and drove down US 2 for about 300 miles through Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and into upper New York. We stayed in Lake Placid New York and got there about 11:00pm. It was a little rainy and foggy and the drive was a little nerve-racking. We left in the morning and headed for Canada.

  We crossed the Canadian border around 1:00pm and headed towards Toronto and Niagara Falls. We passed through Toronto and got to the Falls around 7:00pm. We walked to the falls and Clifton Hill, saw a lot of the attractions, the falls at night, went to some gift shops, and went back to the motel.

  The next morning, we drove back to Toronto to go to the Blue Jays vs White Sox game at the Skydome. The Sox won and after the game, we left and headed for Windsor, Canada. We got to Windsor around 7:30pm, checked into the hotel, went and took night pictures of the Detroit skyline, the went out for the night barhopping. The bars there were pretty cool, especially if you like clubbing. We couldn't get into any clubs because Tim was wearing cargo shorts and they refused to let him in. How retarded! We went to three or four bars and drank and socialized, then went to the Casino. Tim lost $20 and I broke even. Then we went back and went to bed.

  The next morning, we crossed the border back to the U.S. and went into Detroit to see the Tigers vs Yankees game. The Yankees won and I got to see Randy Johnson pitch! He threw a 6 inning no hitter, so the game was pretty exciting. After the game, we headed home. We caught a little bit of rain as we got close to the Indiana border, but we made it home in about 4 hours. Everything went well and smoothly and I had the time of my life!!!

Send Feedback To:

jlaxsalinas@robertmorris.edu