Good to be back!

Beautiful sunset as we rolled into town. Unhooked the trailer then went and enjoyed a couple cold ones with great friends at the brew pub! Feels so great to be back in Jackson. Looking forward to some powpow and apres tomorrow!!

Excited to sleep and love our awesome set up- thanks Pete and Barb!! Can't wait for breakfast tomorrow with Hanna, Callie, Brantley and Madeline!

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JACKSON!!!!!!

We made it!

Heading to the pub to catch up with Pete, Barb, Chappy and Emily & Luis!!!

Happy Leap Day!

5 miles to Jackson. Slow going from Pinedale as we hit a bunch of snow.

Winter never arrived in Mass but it's definitely here in WY!

Today is Wednesday and I’m sad I’m not heading to Coogan’s for karaoke night with the American Personnel crew. Luckily I have the memories to look back on: Rob walking in, taking a shot of Dr. Mc Gillicuddy’s  and jumping on stage to sing Johnny Cash, Greta getting numbers from the twin bartenders, creepy guys hitting on Veronica and handing out their business cards as she heads to the stage to sing Janice Joplin, and Manny KILLIN it with the most amazing rendition of I Want it That Way by the Backstreet Boys I have ever seen! Good times and great memories!

I am equally sad I will not be playing soccer tonight with Green Death, the best group of random people I have ever had the pleasure to play with. Who would have thought a group of 4 couples randomly assigned to a team could come together, bonded and been so dominate? I think out of the 6 seasons we played together we were the champions 4 times, could have been more seasons and more championships too, hard to keep track of all those wins. That time was extra special to me too because even though Ed hadn’t played soccer since he was 8, he offered to play with me and it as so much fun. It was amazing seeing how much he improved in such a short time and was handy having a “meathead” football player to take out players on the other team, male or female it didn’t matter.

Pinedale

Shout out to Jordo as we stroll through his hometown!

 We have 66 miles to go! Fingers crossed for clear roads!

Eat our dust Laramie!

This was our visibility for parts of the drive this morning!!

What we were trying to avoid. 

Everyone looked ok in the truck!

Windy!

This is the only time during our trip the dogs didn't sleep! 

They could tell something was up! Smart little doggies!

Good news is that is behind us and the roads and conditions are looking better ahead of us! 

On a positive note, we were able to fill up for $2.99 this morning which was great! 

On a not so positive note, our 4WD light will not go off now even though we believe we turned it off.

 Hard tellin not knowin! 

Shout out to the hubster!

The drive from Cheyenne to Laramie last night was the scariest stretch of the trip so far. The temp dropped to 12, it was windy, icy and the pass was steep. Ed did such a great job driving slow and keeping all of us safe! We took a vote and Brody and I voted Ed the MVP of the trip for his excellent driving last night. Reegen of course voted for himself and feels he’s done the best job barking at cows, horses, protecting us from the Papa John’s delivery man and anyone else who walked by our hotel room! Either way Ed got 2 votes so he is officially the MVP of the trip and we are so appreciative of his patience and attention to safety. Even though he did set the alarm an hour early this morning because our phones are not changing with the time zones, I will let him keep his title! THANKS BABE FOR ALL YOU DO! I LOVE YOU!!

We are learning so much on this trip! While I was able to teach Ed the perfect scoop of a peanut buster parfait (a little more vanilla than fudge but a good amount of both, you don’t want one to overpower the other, and at least one peanut) he taught me the art of drafting behind trucks, the “3 second rule” (I shouldn’t pass an object the truck in front of me passed for at least 3 seconds) and let me know it’s actually not a race- what dude? Playing leap frog with the semis- I would get them on the straight-aways but they would always pass me on the hills. Drives me crazy!

Mom's not crazy after all!

Monday night mom called to let me know there was a tornado warning in Nebraska on Tuesday. Of course I didn’t think that would really happen but we looked into the weather and our route and figured we’d be fine. Considering all the tornadoes that touched down yesterday in the states we drove through, we are feeling very fortunate and watched over. Apparently yesterday was the first time a tornado has touched down in NE in February since they started tracking weather- that is so crazy and of course it happened on the day we drove through the state! We haven’t heard any details of the tornadoes yet but our thoughts and prayers are with those who were affected. 

Laramie, where the wind always blows

We are on our final leg to Jackson today. It is another very windy day so we are taking it slow. 

We just passed this truck, looks like the wind got it!

WYOMING!!!

We just made it! No cars in sight and gas is $2.99, paradise!

We missed the sign but wanted to make sure everyone could see its beauty so I found this one online!

Home is where the heart is!!

448 miles driven across the state of Nebraska today, man it's a sneaky large state! While there were tornado warnings in NE today we seemed to time the drive up perfectly and avoided the really bad weather. We were hit with some crazy strong wind and periods of heavy rain but overall it was just fine. 

Our high temp today was in NE at 54 and since then it has been dropping pretty fast the further west we get. We are currently at 20 degrees with a total drop of 34 degrees today. 

We are currently 6 miles from the WY border! Wyoming is such a special place for us, we can't wait to get there!! There are currently only 3 other cars in sight on I-80 right now (and we can see about 3 miles), gotta love it!

 

One of the many reasons we love WY so much is because its where we met! 

This picture was taken the first night we met- and its dated, love it!

Just like Boston its not the location but the people who make it special. While some of our friends are no longer in Jackson we are so excited to see those who still are. 

We are so fortunate to have great friends like Pete and Barb who offered their place for us to stay. Can't wait to celebrate their wedding with them!

 I also have plans for breakfast on Thursday morning with my GVOG ladies!!! And Emily and I are firming up details for a ladies lunch- so excited!!

The plan is to ski on Thursday and it looks like we should get some fresh powder so the timing is perfect!! Hopefully the powder pig can hold off until we get there or else it'll be an interesting drive tomorrow.

 

  We are currently trying to figure out how we can eat at all of our favorite Jackson restaurants in just a couple days! 

We have been craving this stuff for 2 years!!!

If anyone can do it, its definitely us!

First stop... toss up between Pica's and Bon Appe Thai I think, but that could change!

 So much to eat and so little time!

Big Western Sky

Check out this beautiful Nebraskan sunset!!

We officially completed half of our 3200 mile journey! 

Looks about right, AO!

 

Scene's from Nebraska

Prove it

Rainbow after the storm

It feels like you're running at an incredible rate, Harry!

Literally seeing thousands of the birds in big, migratory flocks, mostly snow geese it looks like. Pretty cool

Ridin dirty

Some rain outside Lincoln but not too bad. The fast, reckless driver has taken over for the slow, careful driver so we are making better, white-knuckled time. Makin it to Laramie lookin pretty doable.

Tornado Free

Just got a weather update from Spencer and we are feeling lucky that we seemed to just miss some pretty big storms. We did have a few moments of heavy rain however we just jumped on I-80 W in Lincoln, NE and seem to be west of the weather. Looks like snow ahead of us in WY but coast is clear for now.

Hostess with the Mostess

I hate that I haven't seen Kelsey since my wedding 2.5 years ago! She did such a great job with the Irish wedding blessing reading and although she did not attempt the Irish brogue she promised the night before, it was a hilarious moment once she started as I didn't know what was going to come out of her mouth!

She was an amazing host and prepared a delicious homemade meal for us consisting of baked ziti, veggies and garlic bread. Even though we had only been on the road for 2 days at the time, it seemed like such a treat to have a house to stay in and a warm meal to eat.

She also left me some pretty awesome notes and even had the Bachelor all queued up for me- how did she know?!         

Luckily Ruby was the sweetest little lady and Brody had no reason to display his dominance. By the morning they were best buddies!

Thanks Kelsey for your hospitality! Glad I get to see you in 2 months and we don't have to wait another 2 years! If only I could shove all of my friends into my u-haul trailer... why am I just now thinking of this?

                                    

Capital of the "Show me State"

We pulled out of Jefferson City, MO at 7am this morning.

Nice view of the Capital building with the pink sky and river below. 

Here's a little tidbit for ya: Jefferson City, Missouri, the state's capital, was named for Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States. 

Also, rent is pretty cheap in Jefferson City. You can get a great 2 bedroom place starting around $500/month. Even makes Oregon's rentals sound expensive....

Follower MVP

Looks like French Farmgirl is our number 1 follower and she is leading the pack with 4 posts! Close second is Spencer Morgan with 3. Sylvesters, where are you?

Procrasti-awesome

Pretty amazing we were able to get all the way to MO before we needed to call Bub with a car question.

The dipstick was dry but there didn't appear to be a leak, unless this rotator cuff below is not supposed to be wet? Hard tellin not knowin.
We just realized we must not have an oil light in this car or the bulb must be out because we were never notified of the zero oil in the tank, silly little details.
On a better note, the check engine light that has been on since we bought the car, but were told it simply had a "glitch", actually turned off somewhere in PA so we are golden!

 In all seriousness there doesn't seem to be an oil leak and now our dipstick is showing plenty of oil!

We are down a headlight but hoping to take care that in Jackson. 

Why do something today that you can put off until tomorrow right? Ed has adopted this motto with respect to changing his clothes. Don't worry, he has showered everyday but he's sticking with the lucky Bruins sweatshirt for the duration of the trip.

A few photos of MO

No hands gas. Figure it out Mass.

Peanut butter snack for the inmates.

  Arch to the West!

Trip by the Numbers

Hawks pointed out by bird-nerd Ed: 20
Planes identified as hawks: 1
Cheapest gas we've seen: $3.39 in MO
Sour gummy worms consumed: 38
Cops spotted in the speed trap state of Illinois: 7
Times we've heard "Higher Love" by Whitney Huston and not Steve Winwood: 2
Attempted pictures of state signs missed: 3 out of 8 (NY, OH, MO)
Gas station stops: 9
Turns missed prompting yelling at stupid tomtom: 4 (Ed-4, J-0)
Highest temp: 54 in MO
Horses barked at by dogs: 2
Meals consisting of nothing other than ice cream: 2
Hours gained: 1
Times passed by angry Fungwah bus drivers: 6
Times we've almost ran out of gas: 2
State borders crossed: 7
Miles down:1370

No sign of Gene Hackman in Indiana but we found Erin

Definitely a highlight of the trip so far, seeing our good friend Erin in Indy for a quick coffee and catching up. This time seeing her was under much better circumstances, as 2 years ago we went and crashed with her after our transmission blew in Northern Indiana. Still showed us a great time though.

 Allegedly there's a baby in there, but I think Reegen has gained more weight recently. Thanks Erin, see you in two months to celebrate the wedding.

Another border

"Here comes the missouri border sign, I'll take a picture"

Uh, guess we go through Illinois? alright then

Buckeye State

Ohio, where the last thing worth painting a barn side for happened 9 years ago!

 (Bicentennial 1803-2003)

We all slept well last night! Reegen and Brody were glad to have an entire queen bed to themselves. The verdict is still out if Reegen kicked Brody off the bed in the middle of the night so the little princess could have the entire bed to himself while Brody slept on the ground. Hard tellin' not knowin'.

We were caught red handed by the video cameras sneaking the dogs in. It was a risk we were willing to take last night at 11:30pm. 

Check out this morning went a little something like this.
"Lets see, did you have dogs?"
Ed: "Nope."
"Our video cameras showed you walking in with dogs."
Ed: "Uh ..."
Begin staring contest.
Ed: "Yes, we had dogs. You guys run a tight ship."

In the end it was an extra $25.
Nice little reminder that honesty is the best policy.

Next stop, Indianapolis for some coffee with Erin Chapman!!

Day 1 in the books!

790 miles down, 7 more to the hotel and we can wrap up day 1.

Long day, all 4 of us are tired but looking forward to our coffee break with Erin Chapman in Indianapolis tomorrow morning and visiting/crashing with Kelsey Zarkowski in Jefferson City, MO. Hoping for a quick stop in St. Louis to check out the arch to the West, since that's where we're going, but we shall see. 

I'm leaving you with my favorite photo from yesterday. Apparently the dogs were exhausted from all the packing they did, ha! How precious are the 3 men in my life?! 

Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers for a safe journey.

Guilty

Guess which mutt climbed through the dog barrier and ate a bagel while we were in the gas station and which one stayed in the back?

Deja vu

You'd think we would've learned not to push our luck with getting low on gas before filling up the first cross-country trip. Guess not

Nittany Lion country

J killing it in PSU gear (sorry Spencer)

Fast fact: new PSU head coach and former Pats O-Coordinator Bill O'Brien is from... Dorchester, MA!

Edit: J wanted to clarify that she is NOT a #1 fan of Jerry Sandusky.

Three borders down, a bunch to go

It's 2:17pm and we've gone 337 miles, 443 to go. Unfortunately we can't go as fast as we'd like due to the trailer but its sunny and the roads are clear so hard to complain.Passed through CT, NY, (oops, missed the sign) and now in PA.

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The Radio Saga

We found it fitting "Dirty Water" by the Standells was playing as we started the trip out of Boston this morning. Started the trip on a high note remembering all the good times in Boston and the times we've heard that song- sox games, Bruins Stanley Cup parade, bars...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5apEctKwiD8

That was followed by "I"m going to Jackson" by Johnny Cash which is also perfect because we will be spending a couple days in Jackson, WY doing some skiing and visiting our friends. Can't wait!!

After that we decided to pop in the CD Polly made for us into our fancy 6 disc changer. Apparently today is the first time since we bought our car 3 months ago that we tried to use the fancy thing because we didn't know it was broken! Go figure. You know us, we are all about the details! Who the heck needs to have 6 CDs in at once anyway? Ridiculous its even an option. Luckily Bub gave us (and installed) a Sirius player so I called Sirius and activated it to later find out this model doesn't broadcast a frequency through the radio like our old version! Oh details, details. It seemed as if we were SOL, but nope! Miraculously our "fancy" CD player also has an old school tape deck and we just happened to have an old school tape to ipod converter (again, thanks to Bub) in the car so we were able to connect the device to the radio and are now jammin' out to some great beats!!

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Along Came Polly

Oops, forgot the Polly Walnuts photo!

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On the road

 We finally hit the road!!! In true Sylvester style our 7am departure turned into a 7:45am departure, not too bad considering.

 Shout out to Alex Popp for showing up at 6:30am with coffee, bagels and drinks for our trip. Words can't express how great of a friend he has been to both of us over the years and we look forward to continuing our friendship in OR! He already promised a rafting visit and of all the people who've said they will visit, I know he actually will. See you at your wedding in Oct!

I really blew it this morning and didn't get a photo as we were leaving Boston, either of the city, the cathedral of Boston (Fenway), or the 5-story billboard of Brady in Uggs! We decided it wasn't worth a u-turn and I'm trying to get better at documenting things. Here's some photos of the ride so far!

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