As my summer came to a close, I figured I would right a small summary of what I had experienced on my trips. This one trip took me a grand total of 5 weeks and 9000 miles of driving. I drove for around 100 hours with no company aside from my camera and my thoughts. It was a great experience for me to go by myself however I would recommend going with a friend as well. The stories I have to tell my friends and family are incredible and I hope to journey around the country again one day. On this trip I visited 25 states in 5 weeks. I saw friends I hadn't seen in a decade, and met people I won't soon forget.

 

As my journey started I immediately hit a wall. In Durham, North Carolina, on the 8th day of my trip, I had my dirt bike stolen. While visiting an old friend I had neglected to check on my bike day after day and paid for it. I was devastated. I was planning on riding my bike all throughout Utah, maybe even camping a few nights out under the stars, but that all changed really quick. Startled and flustered I packed up my things and started my drive to South Carolina a day early. Down at Myrtle Beach, I visited a good friend and fellow MSU runner Quintin Rieser. He and his friends graciously opened up their home for me for a night as I wanted to say I drove from the Atlantic to Pacific coasts in a summer. The next day I headed back to North Carolina but this time to the mountains, in a small town called Boone. I have always had a soft spot for Boone, NC. It is, to me, considered my second home and I've always loved it up there. Now that I'm in college, I have loads of friends that go to the small school of Appalachian State University in Boone. One of those friends being Grant Rodgers. Grant and I go back as far as elementary school being competitors on the track. He let me crash at his house for a night after a long dinner of catching up with one another. After a good night's rest, I packed up my things and headed north. My destination was Troy, Ohio. I had a few friends in northern Ohio that said I can bum a bed if I needed too and I figured since I hadn't been to Ohio before, I might as well go. One night was all I needed as I was ready to leave Troy the next morning. I continued to head north until I hit Chicago. I only stayed in Chicago one night. However, it was plenty of fun as I walked around downtown Chicago until 2am, protected only by my confidence and my camera. It was an experience to have. No one was really up and the city was so bright it seemed like day time. I took some pictures and did some exploring but ultimately I figured I needed some sleep. I stayed in a hostel that night and I had never done so before so it was rather interesting. Nevertheless, I made it out of Chicago alive with nothing lost or stolen so to me it was a win win situation. 

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The next day brought out some challenges as I had one of my longest and most boring drives of the trip ahead. Straight down the boarder of Illinois and Indiana I went until I bumped into Highway 70 which took me straight into Kansas City, Missouri. There I stayed a night in a hotel room as I needed a proper shower and breakfast. Nothing exciting happened that night as it was just a city to pass through. As the next morning dawned, I realized that some of my best days were ahead of me.

 

I started my drive around 10 or so in the morning and set my sights on Colorado Springs, Colorado. The Springs as it's also known as, holds a special place in my heart as it's where I was born. Driving up to the Springs is an amazing drive. Nestled right beneath Pikes Peak, one of the tallest mountains in the Rockies. You can see Pikes Peak from miles and miles away as you approach the city. Once I got there I called my good friend, Dylan Day. He is now a sophomore at Ole Miss and it just so happened to be his birthday. He invited me to come celebrate with him and I happily agreed to join him. We had a great night and I was able to meet some great people in the Springs. The next day I wandered around visiting old stores and places that brought back so many great memories. I wound my way up to the top of Pikes Peak and found myself a little over 14,000 feet up in the cold Colorado Rockies. I was so amazed with the view that I neglected to notice that once I had reached the top, my gas tank hit empty. I freaked out for a quick minute and then started my trek down the mountain, hoping and praying that I wouldn't run out of gas. Luckily I did not but I had taken the term "running on fumes" to a whole new level. Once I exited the park and filled up on gas I was on my way again, heading north this time to Denver, Colorado. I just breezed through Denver and stopped by a camera store to get a new tripod as mine had broken in North Carolina. After a quick pit stop I headed to my next sleeping destination, Vail, Colorado. Vail has always been known for being incredible during the winter. Well, I'm here to tell you, it’s just as amazing in the summer.

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I pulled in around 10:00pm or so after and immaculate drive through the Rockies. Not really knowing what to expect, I pulled into my first hotel of the trip called the Tivoli Lodge. It's a small ski lodge at the base of the big Vail mountain resorts. My room overlooked the monstrous ski runs that seemed like they went on for miles. I unpacked a bit and decided to go grab some food, however being almost 11:00pm at that point, little was open. I had to settle for a supermarket just down the street. I picked up some sushi and a box of Cheez-Its for my drive the next day and headed back to my room. The next day I woke up and walked around for a bit. To my surprise I had stayed at the right resort at the right time of year as GoPro had come through and they were putting on what is called the GoPro Games. These "Games" as they were called, are a combination of outdoor competitions and merchandise vendors who wanted to market their products. I had a great time wandering around talking to all the vendors about their products and plans for what they want to do with their companies.  As my time wandered down in Vail, I was getting increasingly excited as I knew that some of my favorite destinations were coming up.

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My drive north towards Jackson Hole, Wyoming started on a chilled Friday morning. I took my sweet time on the drive up to the Grand Tetons as I weaved my way through the Colorado high country. On the way I stared at, what looked like, mountains in the distance for hours. I ended up driving next to the Tetons for most of my drive north. I pulled into Jackson Hole as the sun was setting so I was able to get some incredible pictures on my way in. The lighting was perfect, especially up against the mountains. The Tetons dwarfed any cities that were beneath it as their shadows stretched for miles. That night I drove through a neighboring town of Moose to an old establishment called Mormon Row. Its abandoned now but it's a photographer’s heaven. There were no clouds and no moon so the stars were unbelievable. They lit up the Tetons like a flashlight with the milky way streaming through the center of the sky. I met some other photographers who had driven from Alabama in one day just to catch the night sky. I stayed for a couple of hours trying to get some shots but nothing was working out for me so I just decided to watch the sky. After a long night of shooting I decided to pack it all up and head back to the resort in Jackson Hole. I was staying in the Teton Lodge at the base of the mountains. I woke up ready for day 2 in Jackson Hole. The weather was cloudy but that didn't matter to me as I was in one of my favorite cities in the states. I wandered around downtown for a bit looking for cool shops to visit while I was in town. Once the sun started to set I headed back into Moose where I was trying to find some cool animals to photograph. I ended up following an elk for 45 minutes doing nothing but photographing him. He would stop and I'd shoot then he'd keep going as if he knew he was being photographed. My best shot of my whole trip was of him. The next morning I headed for Montana.

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After a few days in Jackson Hole, I decided to head up north to Butte, Montana for the night. I went through a bunch of small towns on the way to Butte that reminded me of western Colorado. As I pulled into Butte at 8:30 it was still bright as could be out. I walked around a bit before finding a place to eat. I stopped at a bar and grille that was actually in an old bank. The food was good and the view was awesome. I left around 9:45 and it was still light out so I walked around a bit. It got dark around 10:30 that night so I stayed out for a bit shooting the city. I stayed in a Holliday Inn and woke up the next morning and immediately hit the road towards Kalispell, Montana.

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In Kalispell I met a very cool girl named Jael Johnson. She's a singer songwriter out of Kalispell who has an amazing voice. We ate dinner and she showed me some cool spots to shoot photography. We went to Whitefish Lake and shot the stars while she previewed her new album for me with my guitar. A cop showed up but we showed him what we were doing and he let us stay for a bit. The next day I woke up and went fishing thanks to friendly people at Bass Pro Shops. They gave me the scoop and put me in some great fishing holes. I didn't catch much but the scenery was incredible. Just walking up and down that river was worth the drive for me. I came back went to bed early and woke up to snow in July on the ground. Never thought I would have seen it for myself. But after exploring Kalispell and Whitefish I decided to head straight south towards Boise.

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My trip to Boise didn't go as planned. I arrived in Boise, Idaho late after a long drive through the Idaho national parks. I pulled in right about midnight just to find out that all the hotels in a 200 mile radius were booked up for no apparent reason. The best answer I got from someone was it was a Tuesday in Boise. So I kept driving. I got pulled over twice, talked my way out of both tickets, and after 18 hours of driving I pulled off in the middle of the desert in Nevada close to Winnemucca. I slept in the car that night got up and kept driving till I reached Reno, Nevada, home away from home.

 

I pulled in very early, I think 10 in the morning and went straight to see some friends. First it was the Colt's. They are like a second family to me and I can't express how thankful I am for them. Next it was Haeli Paris, Isanne Vetter and Matt Paulsen. We went to the driving range that night at the Grand Sierra Resort and hit golf balls till we got kicked out. We all went back to the park in Saddlehorn where we just hung out for a bit before we all split off. Isanne and I went to make mac and cheese at her house then I went back to the Colt's where I was staying for a few days. I would wake up and go hang with Matt Paulsen and the lifeguard crew up at Lake Tahoe at San Harbor for weeks. I spent two weeks as an unofficial lifeguard there. We would camp in the state park and wake up before work and hit the stands. I spent about a week in Reno/Tahoe seeing friends I hadn't seen in a decade. It felt like home and makes me wish I had never left. The end was near, Morgan Hill, California was just 4 hours away.

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It had been 5 weeks, 9000 miles and almost 100 hours of driving but finally I made it home to California. The stories I had to tell my family were incredible. The people I met along the way were nothing short of miraculous. I'll never forget the trip for as long as I live. I visited 25 states and every single state amazed me on a different level. From the wildlife in Wyoming to the lakes in Montana to the mountains of North Carolina, everything was different and I'm so blessed to have seen it all in a summer.