Day 16 - Trout Creek, Spokane, Seattle

We got up in Trout Creek this morning around 9:00 and left for Spokane just before 10:00. We arrived in Spokane around noon and spent an hour the Riverfront park where Jamel and Matt enjoied their Spokane Dick’s meal. At one, we met up with my friend Greg at a local pizza joint. After eating some good pizza, it was time to head home towards Seattle. We finally arrived in Seattle at 6:00. After dropping off everyone at their respective homes, I finally arrived home at 7:00. We had a fantastic trip, but it sure is nice to finally be home.

Day 15 - Bozeman, Glacier National Park, Trout Creek

We got up early this morning and left our hotel in Bozeman around 7:00 am. We started our drive though Montana towards Glacier National Park. We arrived at the western entrance of the park 5.5 hours later, around 12:30. 

 The first sight in the park was Lake MacDonald. The aqua color of the lake was stunning. We ended up eating our lunch on the lake, before departing for the rest of the park.

 We then started our accent to Logan pass. It was slow moving due to traffic from construction. However it was filled with breathtaking views of the surrounding peaks.

 We finally arrived at Logan Pass sometime around 3:00 and started towards the Hidden Lake trail. To our surprise, the trail was completely covered in snow, and the trail was marked by footprints. The slippery 1.5 mile trail in the snow had great views. The viewpoint at the end featured the frozen hidden lake below. At the view point we also came very close to a mountain goat and a marmot.

 We got back to the car around 4:30 and began our decent down the pass. Traffic was slow and we left the park en route to Trout Creek around 6:00.

We arrived in the tiny town of Trout Creek, at Jamel’s aunt’s house just before nine. We were all hungry, so we cooked up some pasta. After dinner we went down to the dock on the lake and watched the sun set as the moon rose. We then returned to the house where we watched a movie and called it a night. Tomorrow we are headed back home to Seattle. 

Day 14 - Yellowstone National Park, Bozeman

 Our day started at 7:15 this morning. We packed up our campsite at Newton Creek, and hit the road to Yellowstone (about 15 mins) at quarter to eight. Just before arriving at the park we spotted our first of many bison. It was a ways away from us, but we were still impressed by its size. We had no idea we would get up close to numerous bison throughout the day.

We entered the park just after 8:00 am. Our first destination was Yellowstone Lake. We drove along the lake, making several stops to get out and enjoy the view and snap some photos.

 The next stop on our journey was Old Faithful and the other geysers in the area. We waited for around for a half hour before Old Faithful finally erupted its 4000 to 8000 gallons of boiling water high into the air. The eruption was well worth the wait. We then walked the boardwalk for about an hour and saw numerous other geysers.

After having lunch we decided to visit both upper and lower Yellowstone Falls. On our way, we saw a large crowd gathered on the side of the road. We stopped and were thrilled to see a Black bear across the river. 

 Both the lower and upper falls were impressive, however the views of the lower falls were stunning. We visited numerous view points for each of the falls, some which included short hikes to the vistas. The canyons into which the falls descended were equally impressive, and could be compared to a smaller version of the Grand Canyon.

 After visiting the Yellowstone falls we started our drive to Tower Falls. On our way we went over a pass with an elevation of nearly 9000 feet. We stopped for some time to enjoy the scenery as well as the strongest wind we had ever felt. We eventually reached Tower falls, which was not nearly as impressive as the Yellowstone falls.

 Our final destination in Yellowstone was Mammoth Springs. The springs were almost completely dry, however the landscape was still very unique and we could only imagine the beauty of the springs when full of water.

 After visiting the springs the time was nearly 6:00. We had been in the park for 10 hours and we felt we had seen everything you could see in one day in Yellowstone. The Mammoth Springs are very close to the northern entrance of the park, so we decided to make the drive to Bozeman Montana for the night (1.5 hours). We are staying in a motel here for the night, and plan to drive to Glacier National Park tomorrow.

Day 13 - Denver, Yellowstone, Newton Creek

We left Denver around 10:00 this morning and started our long drive to Yellowstone National Park. The drive through central and northern Wyoming was beautiful, full of mountains and plains.

 We arrived at the eastern entrance of the park just after 7 pm. We talked to the ranger there and he informed us there were no open campsites within the park. So we ended up camping just outside the park in the newton Creek Campground. It was a great campground and we choose a spot right next to the river.

 Within minutes of arriving we saw two moose just across the river from our site. We then went to dinner at a nearby lodge before deciding to call it a night. We could only fit a two person tent on the plane with us to DC, so Jack and I slept in the tent, while matt and Jamel slept in the car. Tomorrow we are planning on spending the whole day visiting Yellowstone.

Video Footage From New Orleans

Day 12 - Boulder, Denver

Jamel, Matt and I started our day around 9:30 by going to Starbucks for Wi-Fi and breakfast. Afterwards we drove just down the road to start our hike. The hike started in an open meadow before eventually climbing into the trees. We climbed for over an hour before we finally reached the peak. There were great views of Boulder along the way, and the view at the top did not disappoint. After spending some time at the peak we headed down the mountain, and reached the car in less than an hour.

We then went back to Boulder Creek where we met up with Jack, Campbell and friends. Jamel, Matt and Jack jumped off the bridge into the rapids and said it was quite exhilarating. After getting lunch at Qdoba and taking it back to the creek, we then returned to Campbell’s house where we relaxed until we left to visit Jacks friends in Denver.

The drive to Denver was probably the scariest drive of our lives. We got caught in an unreal downpour and thunderstorm. There were flashes of lightning every few seconds along with flash flooding and terrible visibility due to the heaviest rain any of us have ever seen. This lasted for about a half hour of the drive. Thankfully we made it to Jack’s friends house safely after a very slow and carful drive. We spent the night there in Denver and will head to Yellowstone national park tomorrow.

Day 11 - Boulder

We got up this morning and all went to a local bagel shop for breakfast. After breakfast we decided we wanted to tour Boulder. The first place we went was the University of Colorado campus. It was a very nice campus in a great location, right at the base of the mountains. We walked around campus for a while including visiting the basketball and football stadiums.

After visiting campus we took a drive up into the mountains and got some great views of Boulder and CU below. On the way home, we stopped at the raging Boulder Creek which was at an all time high. This was probably due to the recent weather here as today was a stormy day with thunderstorms and showers with a high around 80. But to us, this cool clean air and rain feels amazing.

We then watched the Homerun Derby with Campbell and some friends before going out to meet with some other friends later on. We eventually returned home and plan on visiting Denver tomorrow in our last day before leaving for Yellowstone.

Day 10 - Dallas(Colleyville), Boulder

We said goodbye to David and Colleyville this morning around 8:15, and started out on the long road ahead to Boulder. We made the whole trip with only 3 stops. We arrived in Boulder at jacks friend’s house, Campbell, at 8:30 pm mountain time. We finished our 800 mile plus journey in about 13 hours. The drive was pretty boring as there is nothing between Dallas and Boulder. However Boulder is a beautiful town and we are excited to be here for three nights.

After eating at a local burger joint in Boulder, we went to a small gathering at Sam’s house, who is the brother of musical artist 30h3!. We stayed there most of the night before returning to Campbell’s house to sleep.

Day 9 - New Orleans, Dallas(Colleyville)

We got up this morning, packed our stuff and got ready to hit the road for the long drive to Colleyville, Texas (just northeast of Dallas). Before we hit the highway we stopped at Whole Foods to get food for our long journey.  We eventually hit the road for good just after 10:00. Just before we got to Dallas we hit a new high temperature for the trip, as the car temperature read 104 degrees.

We arrived in Colleyville, Texas as David’s house at 6:30. He had an incredible house that included a pool and a home theatre. David then treated us to a barbeque dinner from a local joint. It was just the Texas barbeque we were looking for, as the ribs, chicken, brisket, potato salad and coleslaw were all amazing.

After dinner we played some two on two on the basketball court. We were all drenched in sweat after playing in the heat, so we decided it was time to jump in the pool. We spent a while hanging out in the pool and on the trampoline. We also met Matt, who lived next door, and he joined us for the rest of the night. After the pool we went inside and decided to watch Transformers 2 in the home theatre. The sound and the huge screen were amazing even though the movie wasn’t. After the movie we all decided that we wanted to sleep in the theatre as it resembled a cave. 

 David was a great host and we had a great time in our short stay in Colleyville. It was a perfect stop for us and had everything we could have wanted. Tomorrow we will drive all the way to Boulder, which is about a 14 hour drive. We decided to cut out our trip to Texas Tech in favor of a long drive and an extra day in Colorado.

Day 8 - New Orleans

We all slept great last night, and got up around 10:00 this morning. We made our way to the local Starbucks for breakfast, and spent a while on our computers before deciding it was time to get some real food for lunch. We went to Adams deli, a local deli and grocery store for po’boys. The sandwiches were great, and just what we craved for, big, cheap, and tasty.

During the morning we had also made reservations for a swamp tour at 2:45. So we left for the tour around 1:30. After an hour drive we arrived in the bayou, at the location of the tour. The tour lasted about two hours, as we cruised through the swamp in our boat full of about 20 other tourists. Our tour guide was great, he told us about the ecology of the area as well as its history. Unfortunately we did not see any 13 foot gators like we had hoped, but we did see two smaller 6 foot gators on the tour. We also saw other swamp wildlife including a raccoon, some blue herons and jumping fish. We were all glad we took the tour, as it put us in the middle of the swamp and its environment just as we had hoped.

We then returned to Zeta Psi where we spent some time hanging out with the 5 or so brothers at the house. After a few hours at the house we headed down to The Boot and got pizza. It seemed to be the place to be for a collage kid on a Friday evening, as it was packed with local students. After spending some time there, we decided to head down to the French Quarter for the rest of the night. We took the long trolley ride down, and when we got there the streets were even more crowded than the night before. However the novelty of the area had somewhat worn off for us. We didn’t stay long in the French quarter and eventually took the trolley 

back and called it a night.

Day 7 - Atlanta, New Orleans

We started our journey from Atlanta to New Orleans just after 9:00 eastern time. We travelled through Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi and finally new Louisiana and arrived at Zeta Psi at Tulane around 4:00 central time. We met a few of the brothers who gave us good information on what to do and where to eat for the rest of the day. We started out by touring the Tulane campus. We were all impressed by the campus as it was surprisingly beautiful. After touring campus we walked back to the house where we cooled off and relaxed to prepare for the night to come.

We ended up leaving around 5:30 for the French Quarter. There was a trolley a few blocks away that runs to Bourbon Street and back, so we jumped on it and headed towards downtown. The trolley was slow, but it got us to where we wanted to be.

 We walked along Bourbon Street and even at 6:30 there was already a lot of energy in the streets. The only place we could compare it to was Las Vegas. We went to eat at the Gumbo Shop which was recommended to us by the guys at zeta psi. It did not disappoint as we enjoyed our jambalaya, gumbo, red beans and rice. After eating, we went and walked down by the Mississippi river where we watched steam and tug boats float down the river. We then returned to Bourbon Street where we enjoyed the rest of the night listening to jazz and the blues in the festive atmosphere of New Orleans, before taking the trolley back home around 11:00

Day 6 - Atlanta

We started our day today by visiting Lenox Square in Atlanta, a popular mall in the area. After spending some time at the mall and eating lunch we decided to visit Piedmont Park. We walked around the park and found a nice spot to sit and rest, I even took a short nap in the grass. Afterwards we decided to drive to the Bankhead neighborhood of Atlanta. We later learned that it was the neighborhood with the highest crime rate in all of Georgia. Driving through the Bankhead neighborhood was an eye opening experience for all of us, and made us realize how fortunate we really are.

We then returned to delta sig at Georgia Tech for a short while before heading to the Braves game at Turner field. We got to the stadium around 5:00, two hours before first pitch. We spent that time exploring the stadium. We also ran into an usher named Roger who made our nigh at the ballpark. It turns out that he graduated from the University of Washington in 1976, and played football for four seasons there. He told us all about the history of the Braves and Turner Field, and we could tell he was very passionate about the game. He also told us to come back to his section (just above the Braves dugout) a few innings into the game. After getting Georgia dogs (hot dog with coleslaw and sweet onions) in the stadium, we made our way to our seats in center field for the first pitch. We stayed in center field for two innings before we went to visit Roger again. 

When we came back he had seats for us in the 23^rd row above the dugout. These were great seats compared to center field. We thanked roger profusely. It was obvious that he enjoyed talking with us and sharing the history of the Braves with us, but we enjoyed soaking in his knowledge just as much. And as Jack stated “he was one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met”. The braves won the game 9-1, behind solid pitching from Jair Jurrjens and home runs from Chipper Jones and Dan Uggla. We then returned to delta sig for the night. We have our longest drive of the trip so far tomorrow, to New Orleans which should take us around 8 hours.