Lookk at this awesome scavenger hunt we're doing!!

Asheville to Austin

May 10^th – 12^th

Asheville, NC to Austin, TX

3:00 PM EST – 8:30 AM CST

18.5 hours

The day has finally come. The day that I along, with four of my friends, embark on an 18 day and 5000 mile trip across the country. Our first day began at Will’s house as we very creatively packed more than enough food, clothes, and supplies in the car.

 This is a picture of the crew right before we embarked. I am in the top left, Bob in the top right, and then on the bottom row from left to right it goes Tristan, Will, and Nicholas.

An 18 hour long drive may seem like a death sentence, but with 5 drivers, each only driving once for 3 hours, it only felt like a short day-long prison sentence. With the drive supposed to take 17 hours according to google earth, we felt like we made considerably good time by taking 18.5 hours. Our travels took us through the likes of Atlanta, Montgomery, Mobile, New Orleans, Houston, and finally Austin, TX. We would all like to give a big shout out to Rick, a.k.a Eric Wall, Tristan’s dad for giving us a place to stay and being a great host!

After taking a short nap, we got in the car yet again and went to an amazing burger joint by the name Gourdoughs. Now this place was not your typical burger restaurant. The burger buns were unglazed doughnuts. My burger was so delicious that I wondered why I had never thought of the idea before.

The LBJ presidential library was up next. Although there were 200 middle schoolers walking around at the same time we were, the tour was still quite enjoyable.

Our dinner consisted of some of the best food that this guy has ever had. I had two slices of brisket, mac-n-cheese, and green beans. Hot digitty dog. The brisket was so tender and juicy. I left with a full belly, leftovers, and a smile on my face.

To cap off the day, we played a round of mini golf that was won by yours truly with Will and Rick in 2^nd and 3^rd respectively.

That concludes part 1 of our trip! We leave for somewhere in New Mexico or Arizona tomorrow!

Due to the low availability of Wi-Fi, I may be posting about each day many days after the actual day.

Young and Alive

"What do you want to do tonight?" asked one of my roommates, Tristan, a few Fridays ago. 

"Go to the beach?" responded another roommate, Bob. 

"Nah, that's crazy," responded the third roommate, Will, "the beach is three hours away and its already seven o'clock."

"Hey," I interjected, "we could do it."

Two hours later, the four of us were packed and piling in the car to leave for Myrtle Beach. This is the life of a 19 and 20 year olds. 

First off, I have to thank my Aunt Debbie and Uncle Lee for allowing us to stay at her beach condo for the weekend on only a 3 hour notice! Our excursion would not have been possible without them! We arrived Saturday at the early hour of 5 in the morning and at least I was up and running on the beach by 10 o'clock. Our day was well spent basking in the 70 degree sun on the beach and then relaxing on the balcony while watching some college basketball. It was a perfect way to get away from the college life for a couple of days.

The freshman and sophomore years of college are two special and interesting years of life. You're finally out of high school and able to make your own decisions, yet you're not slammed with the workload of a junior or senior. I mentioned exhibit A above, now let me mention Exhibit B below.

December 30, 11:00 AM

I am currently scrolling through the ticket listings for the orange bowl between Clemson and Oklahoma that is to played in Miami, FL on December 31 at 4 PM. Only 26 hours until kickoff and we were 11 hours and 800 miles away. Although tickets were surprisingly cheap, there was no way I could possibly make it to the game right? Wrong. Remember the early years of college rule. I first developed a plan that included myself and friend Taylor leaving in 2 hours and sleeping in the car on the way there and back. We would only be gone for a short day and a half. Mom and Dad liked the idea. It just so happened that Taylor had family near Miami that we could stay with. 

December 31, 7:00 AM - Game Day

We arrive at Taylor's relatives house, take a short 5 hour nap and make our way to Sunlife stadium. Exactly 24 hours before, the both of us were sitting at our respective houses without the slightest idea that we would be watching the orange bowl the next day. Our trip was spectacular! We witnessed Clemson win the orange bowl, watched the ball drop in downtown Miami, went fishing and explored the northern part of the Florida Keys. We ended up staying in Miami for 3 days. Again, I have to thank Taylor's relatives for entertaining us for three days on short notice. 

I can't think of another time in my life that I will have the time that I do right now and also the fitness to go on spontaneous trips. College has taught me to be proactive and have an open mind. Every adventure starts with an idea. All it takes is a little planning for that idea to turn into a reality. Here's to  making the most of the next year and a half.

Yosemite Update!

Surprise surprise, we have decided to alter our trip slightly. First, to give us an extra day to explore the great country of America, we have decided to do the trip from Black Mountain to Flagstaff, AZ in two days instead of three. We plan on staying in Oklahoma City the first night and then traveling to Flagstaff the next day. This means that we will spend 14 hours in a car for the first two days instead of 9 hours a day for the first three days. 

So now that we have decided to cut out a day of driving we have chosen to use that extra to do some more driving. The major difference is that instead of driving along I 40 for a day, we plan to drive down the beautiful and scenic coast of California on HWY 1! We have also decided to leave Yosemite a day early and stay a night in San Francisco! We will then drive from San Francisco to Point Mugu state park beach campground near Los Angeles and camp on some sand! I'm kinda excited. We will then wake up the next day and drive through Los Angeles with a possible stop to go look at the Rose Bowl. After that our trip will continue and follow our original plan. 

Phew, only seven more weeks of freshman year of college and then on to Yosemite! Wish us luck!

Trip Itinerary

It has dawned on me that I asked for advice on places to stay or visit along our Yosemite trip without providing a detailed plan of our route. Well here ya go! In words and a handy dandy map!

May 13 - We plan to leave the morning of Friday, May 13 from Black Mountain and head west on I-40 until we reach Little Rock, Arkansas. I hope that we can stop at the Bass Pro Shops super store Pyramid along the way in Memphis, Tennessee. This is basically a huge pyramid with a bass pro shop, hotel, bowling alley, and all sorts of cool stuff to spend the money that we're trying to save on. Our favorite equation for the trip, College kids on a budget = Camping to save money, will be applied for our accommodations on this first night.

May 14 - We hope to wake up and leave Little Rock at, what is to the five of us, the very early morning, 8-9 AM, and drive to the Lone stare state to stay in the city of Amarillo. Again, the handy dandy college formula will be applied this night as well. A quick stop in Oklahoma City to drive around could occur on the drive.

May 15 - Following a trend that will be set for this trip, we will then wake up "very early" the next morning and begin the drive to Flagstaff, Arizona. Assuming that the five us will be exhausted, we plan on staying at a cheap hotel in Flagstaff to take our first shower of the trip and get a good nights sleep. Side note: I will be taking bets regarding how many showers each one of us will take during the trip. A good bet would be in the single digits. 

May 16 - The next day we get to sleep in and take a short one hour drive up to the south rim of the Grand Canyon! We plan on spending around 4-5 hours in the park. We might take a hike, take some pictures, see how close we can get to the edge without falling (just kidding Mom). After our moderate adventure in canyon we plan on driving to Needles, California, a town just across the Arizona-California line. Probably camp here again, will we.

May 17 - Hot Diggidy Dog! We arrive at our campground outside Yosemite today! Obviously, we will be camping this and the following five nights.

May 18-22 - YOSEMITE, YOSEMITE, YOSEMITE! Can you tell I'm excited? Open to all and any suggestions on what we should do during our five days in the park. One hike I've had my eye on is the 10 mile round trip hike to Glacier Point. We may also take a day trip to San Francisco one day. Again, anyone that has been here or knows about the area, please comment advice!

May 23 - :( We have to leave Yosemite this day. Our drive out of the park will conclude in the sin city, Las Vegas, Nevada. We are crossing our fingers that we can find a hotel that rents to under 21. If not, we'll probably resort to the ole college formula again.

May 24 - This day intrigues me. We have a relatively short drive, 6 hours, and we will be traversing Utah's scenic byway, Utah Route 12. We will also pass through Zion National Park on our way through. The scenic byway is an interesting drive in that it has canyons, rock formations, rivers, and a large elevation change. We hope to stop many times along the way to admire the beauty of the drive. To top it all off we get to camp on Route 12! 

May 25 - The most difficult drive is ahead. The drive through the rocky mountains on I-70. Hopefully all the snow will have melted so that our trip is fairly easy. A scenic detour we may take if we have the heart is Loveland Pass. If you don't know what this is, I encourage you take a look at the road and the many detailed reviews it has. Our destination for the day will be Denver, Colorado. We may camp or find a cheap hotel room depending upon our exhaustion and stench with both having equal weight.

May 26 - If the previous days drive was the most difficult, then this days drive will be the easiest, yet at the same time the hardest. One word, Kansas. The quote, "I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore", will be happily used once we cross the border into Missouri. Our destination for the day will be Columbia, Missouri to most likely camp.

May 27 - We've hit the end of our great and glorious trip. This day is quite simple. Go home. "Sweet Caroline", and "Carolina in My Mind" will be blasting out the windows throughout the drive. The Carolina's have been and always will be my home.

Well, this concludes our trip. Thoughts? Comments? Questions? I'd love to hear them! We would love some input on places to eat along the way! We have the major planning done, but still have to do some minor planning regarding food and packing.

Pray for good weather!

Road Trip!!!

If reading about five, 19 and 20 year olds driving across the country to go camping in Yosemite National Park interests you, then be on the lookout starting in May! I along with four of my friends will be traveling near 6,000 miles for two weeks starting early on May 13th, only hours after our last exams. We will be traversing through the likes of Amarillo, Flagstaff, the Grand canyon, Las Vegas, and many others.

Any suggestions on good places to eat or things do along the way are most definitely welcomed! I plan on creating a blog post each day sometime in the afternoon detailing the events of the day.

Here's to not obsessing over this trip too much!

Why Exam Week is the Best Thing for a College Freshman

I had an idea pop into my head this past week. I should let you know that I am in the midst of exam week here at UNCC. Here's my idea. Exam week is the best thing that can happen to any freshman college student. Exam week can help the student that has studied hard all semester and is sure to get straight A's, while also being able to help the student that has slacked off during the semester and is uncertain what his/her final grade is going to be. Let me explain.

I'll start off with the extremely studious student. Everyone knows or has known someone like this. I can think of a few off the top of my head. They are the type of student that stays up late most every night of the semester doing homework or studying. They study when they get bored and when they don't have to. This is the student that does the reading, not the night before class, but the week before class, and then also the night before class. This student emails the teacher for extra help even they are the one that need it the least. You probably never see this student because they are usually at the library, but you won't be able to find them because they are always on the top floor where nobody goes. This is the type of person you want to get put with in a group project if you arent interested in doing any work and getting a good grade. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a little bit, but I'm thinking of extremes here. There are many students out there that have many of these qualities. 

Then I will take the exact opposite of the student above. This is the student you literally see everywhere. You see them at every sporting event, every social event, every time you go to eat, no matter which one of the twenty you have to choose between. This student doesn't do the reading the night before class, and they also don't do it the week before class. They just don't do it. This person might email the teacher the night before the exam and ask if they can have a study guide for the exam. This student has a billion best friends. So many, that you wonder if they ever get any school work done. This student never says no if asked to go out and do something. This is the type of person that you don't want to be put in a group with if you expect each member to do equal work. Again, I am exaggerating, but there are many people out there that have quite a few of these traits. 

So how can exams week help both of these students. Simple, so they can be like the other. The studious student has become too studious and needs to know that everything will be okay if they arent studying 24/7. Exam week should be so easy for them that they should realize that they can cut back on their studying during the week. Since exam week is so easy, it should also send a signal to them to not be so stressed out during the semester because nothing is ever going to be as stressful as exam week is. Exam week should be there to show the studious student that they can actually find out what fun things a college campus has to offer. These students should learn that breaking out of their shell is an okay thing to do. 

The slacker students should get a wake up call from exams week. This is probably the hardest week of their lives. Only getting a few hours of sleep not per night, but in the whole week, should show them that if they had studied during the semester, exam week would not be a living hell. They will probably see the extreme studious students celebrating over their 101 on their exam that had a max score of 100 and think that if they had just studied one more night per week, they too might be getting not a ridiculous 101, but an A or B. Exam week should be there for these freshman students to show them that if they don't get it together, their college career may have a limited time left in it. 

The slacker students should strive to be more like the studious students, while the extreme student should strive to be more like a slacker. The latter sounds crazy, but college is not just about studying, it's about making connections and getting to know people. The slackers are doing a very good job at this, but arent developing the academic skills to further them in life. 

If you were wondering, I fall somewhere in between the slacker and the extremely studious student, but think of myself to be closer to the side of the studious student. This week has shown me that studying course material over a longer period of time will leave more time for large projects and papers due at the end of the semester.