Sorry I haven’t updated much but since I got back to the USA I have been doing things non-blog wise. I got back in May and I have been home in Licking, Missouri. I took a flight from Medellin, Colombia to Miami, FL and got to meet up with 2Backpackers.com again. Jason and Aracely picked me up at the airport and showed me Miami beach for the afternoon, instead of me having to wait six hours alone at the airport. From there I caught a flight to St. Louis, MO where my father picked me up and drove me three hours home.
I haven’t been productive since being at home but that was kind of the point. I just wanted to come home, chill a bit and figure some things out for the coming year. One thing I wanted to do was just be home for summer for once. It’s been almost 7 years since I have been in the USA during the summer time, as I was sick of coming home during the cold winter. I had two major reasons for coming home when I did: 1) I wanted to see a baseball game! I miss it and visiting from Thanksgiving to Christmas isn’t an ideal time to catch a baseball game. 2) I wanted to go on a float trip. It’s been far to long since I have gotten into a canoe and got drunk for a day. This is something I used to do a lot when younger and it’s one of the best things to do during the summer here in the Ozarks of Missouri.
I finally got to do both! I’m still not sure what 2013 has in store for me yet. I had planned to apply for cruise ship work because it’s something I always wanted to do and see how I like it but I found out recently that I might qualify for some college money from my service time in the military. I hadn’t planned on going back to school since I got my Bachelors of Science in Business but if the money is there I would. If I go back to school though it’s going to be just for me, so I am currently looking into colleges with photography degrees as I am waiting on paper work to tell me how much money I will qualify for. This isn’t a sure deal yet but I’m waiting to see and am looking forward to it. So far, the schools I have narrowed it down to are in San Fransisco, Chicago and New York City. My top pick would be The Academy of Art in San Fransisco but it will all determine on the money and that’s a BIG “if”.
I haven’t just been sitting around home all day though! I actually traveled across the US some and seen stuff I haven’t yet. America is freaking huge but for the first time in my life I actually want to see it and when a chance came up to go explore, I went. Below is what I have been doing travel wise the last 7 months.
Note: all the photos below were taken with an iPhone 4s. I’ve been playing around with it more and more when out and have even printed some shots as big as 5×7 that came out great!
I rented a 400mm lens to shoot a rodeo in my home town
Went to Aspen, CO for two weeks to cover a food and wine event. I had some friends I made while in Colombia that live near there and they were the ones who talked me into going. Aspen is for the super rich but you don’t have to be super rich to have fun there.
After Aspen my uncle picked me up in his RV and took me out to California. We stopped in Utah at a rest stop to check things out on the RV and I found a few college kids teeing off golf balls into a canyon. I had to ask if I could have a try because it looked way to fun not to. Everyone should tee off into a huge canyon at least once in their life… you’ll feel like Tiger Woods, TRUST ME!
After staying in California for two weeks, my aunt and uncle drove me to Las Vegas to catch my flight back home. We stopped off at Whiskey Pete’s Casino, on the border of California and Nevada, to see if they still had the car Bonny & Clyde got killed in (it was riddled with bullet holes from what I heard and yes that is something worth seeing and not weird in any way). No luck though on seeing it, as I guess they had sold it… damn you Whiskey Pete!
While in Vegas I met up with Abby from the www.thejungleprincess.com and we hung out for 3 days, eating as much sushi as she would let me buy in exchange for her taking me to a show every night. I finally got to see Penn & Teller and after the show I got a pic with him. Being the dumb ass I am, he had his hair down, so I figured I’d put my down for the shot to. Totally looked like a groupie waiting for my turn but have to say Penn is cool as hell.
Me with my hair down. Yeah I know, the Jesus look is coming back in a big freaking way man!
Did a road trip to South Dakota and Wyoming with a friend for a week. Never ever would I have thought it would be cool to see Mount Rushmore but have to admit it was actually pretty cool. I found everything about the Black Hills just fascinating and would HIGHLY recommend everyone visit there at least once in their life time. There is so much more to see then just Rushmore.
Friend called me on a Wednesday, said he had off till Saturday and he wanted to get out of town for a few days. Said cool, lets got to Chicago and eat some deep dish pizza. I bought train tickets for St. Louis to Chicago and the next day we took off. Never been to Chicago before, LOVED it and it was my first train ride in the USA. Hands down my new favorite way to travel in America. No bull, cheap and free WiFi, plus a whole bar on one cart… why would anyone bother to fly after that (assuming time wasn’t a pressing issue)?
Finally seen Sue the T-rex at the The Field Museum in Chicago. She is the most intact T-rex in the world.
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