My very good friend Logan worked as a bartender in a lodge in Alaska for the summer. About four days before his last day of the summer, I flew up there.
I got picked up at the airport and immediately went to a bar...since they don't close till 5 am there....when I was tired...and NOT sober...everyone just kept saying "Welcome to Alaska!"
I spent the next four days living here....
We camped here and it was amazing....however, the one thing I wanted to do on this trip was fish....sooooo....
AWESOME!
This is Logan and his fish...but when telling the story at the bar later that night....
"Man that fish was THIS BIG!"
The next two weeks were spent driving from Cooper Landing, AK (on the Kenai Peninsula) to Austin, TX....the drive actually takes about four days if you drive straight there...we didn't!
My first glacier! The first day we drove from Cooper Landing to Copper Creek, AK and stayed at another one of the Princess Lodges (where he worked) since we had been camping awhile and were just gonna do LOTS more...our first night on the road...
The next day we made it into the Yukon territory in Canada.
We found a random Forestry Reserve....pretty sure you are NOT supposed to camp there....
However, if there had not been a SCHEDULED blackout that night, we could have gotten gas and left town....THEIR bad! Oh well....the sunrise the next morning was worth it all....
On the road somewhere in British Columbia the next day.....
BEAR!!!! Sorry for the water spots...but I was NOT getting out of the car to take that picture!
We made it out of Canada after just a few days...we spent the one night in Washington at my cousin Andy's apt outside of Seattle and then headed into Oregon....now I don't know about you, but I knew there was a coastline there...but I had no idea....
The next night we camped in our very first legitimate camp site....for the record our first night in Oregon we tried...but they were all full....so we found a river with a waterfall.....and hey....no one asked us to leave....anyway...so this night we consecrated our camping extravaganza with s'mores....
This is Logan with about four "Puerto Rican" mallows (I say mallows in reference to the greatest baseball movie of all time...Sandlot) in his mouth....he wouldn't eat the first couple because they were too Cuban....if you don't get where we were going with this....it is probably for the best!
One of our MANY campfires....of which I never had to make a single one....thanks Logie!
One of our camping nights in Oregon had us camping with some girls from Portland that we met and shared our illegal campsite with....they were awesome and taught us a new drinking game....it's basically repeating odd phrases in a certain order....MUCH harder than it sounds...but let me just say....One Red Hen Double Duck Double Drink!
The next day we hit northern California....but let me take this time to introduce you to the two other members of our traveling crew....Scratchy (won by Logan bowling in Anchorage)....and Gladys....(Gladys is my parent's GPS system that my dad let me take with us....we had to check in every day....so my dad could hear Gladys' voice!)...
The coastline in California is of course beautiful....but we went a little more inland than that....why? Because I was DYING to see the Redwoods!!!
Once we got into central California, Logan couldn't stand it anymore....he had spent the summer in the cold in Alaska and needed to go to the "beacher"....so we bought some strawberries from a roadside vendor and some champagne and celebrated the warmth on the beach for a day!
We spotted this beach and fell in love....it was kinda a hike down there...but that meant that all day there were only three or four people there other than us!
Remember that hike I told you about....guess who got to haul that cooler in the background down there....AND back up....NOT this girl!
BUT IT WAS SOOOO WORTH IT!
Logan decided to jump rope with the sea weed....
Drinking our champagne out of our plastic cups....classy....and MAN was that water cold!
As the sun set on our beach....we hit the road....
We were headed for southern Cali for a night with more of my cousins....however, Big Sur happened....
We ended up at an Irish Pub for dinner....it was a really cool brew pub with actual Irish people and TONS of beer....we had some burgers and the random hippie lady at the table next to me took my onions and tomatoes....WEIRD! She freaked Logan out so he took his food and left me there to deal with her....GOOD friend!
We ended up stuck there for the night...NO GAS! So, we camped again.....
It should have been good sleep, but THIS guy wanted to get up WAY earlier than we did....
At this point, we sadly left the coast and headed inland....right into the wine country....
And from the wine country into the desert.....
Now this is where the trip got....well....detoured....
Coming into Nevada under the sunset you see above, we saw a sign for Las Vegas....and the conversation went something like this...
Logan: "Ever been to Vegas?"
Amy: "Yeah, I went on my 21st birthday....it's kinda awesome....you?"
Logan: "No....how far away is it?"
Amy: "About an hour, why?"
Logan: "Well, we don't have time to stay or anything, but it would be kinda fun to drive down the strip at night and see the lights."
Amy: "For sure! And we are so close it would be stupid not to at least see it!"
Logan: "It's a shame we can't stay there though....we are gonna have to find a place to camp anyway....but I'm sure the hotels are ridiculously expensive!"
Amy: "Actually it is Wednesday...we could probably find one pretty cheap."
You see where this is going?? So basically, the sun went down on the desert....
The picture of the sun coming up on Vegas from our hotel room...and we are NOT early risers.....
Over the course of the next three days....(after deciding that the first few days of class are TOTALLY useless anyway)
We walked along the strand after our "nap" that morning....
The water show at the Belagio....
Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill Restaurant....mmmmmm........
Logan chillaxin....
Then I made the mistake of asking him what he was looking at....
It's a good thing I have a sense of humor...
So we shopped...with alcohol...I LOVE VEGAS....
Risky Business....
A night out on the town....the before shot....
Note the machette scar....you REALLY don't want to know that story....
At dinner that night we met a random Australian...her name is Liz....and she played with us!=
We got dressed up for a club....however, we ended up at all night bowling....it's right up our alley....OK YEAH...it is a bad joke...I know....
And the AFTER picture....this was taken at about 10 am the next morning...I think we look good after all that!
After sleeping it off, we hit the road one last time....over the next 24 hours, we drove from Las Vegas, NV to Austin, TX....
However, we did it via the Hoover Dam....
Then the Grand Canyon.....
And then FINALLY....
Our EPIC trip had ended....I can't wait for the next one!
