Pictures of the Great Trek

If you remember a while back, I wrote up a pretty long post reliving the cross-country trek that Chris and I went through on our move out to Vegas. If you haven't read that story yet, you might gain more enjoyment from these pictures if you do so first.

When I wrote that post I had completely forgotten that Chris had taken some pictures AND videos of the adventure, so what little pictures I did include in that post were just stock pics from google images. I went over to Chris' last night to hang out for a while and play some playstation, and while I was there I uploaded all of those trip pics and videos onto my photobucket account. I realize it would have made that original post much better if I had just included those pics at the time (if I had remembered they existed), but I'll just try to put them here in as close to chronological order as possible. Some are boring and some you may get a kick out of. Since I took no pictures or videos of any kind, this'll seem like its being told from Chris' point of view.

Day One

Chris takes a picture of himself shortly after starting the trip from Bowling Green, Ohio.

Chris' old Ford Contour reaches a milestone

It's not very long after the start when he apparently needs a pick-me-up

This was taken after dark, I think to show how damn rainy it was.

We reach Missouri and cross the river, the rain still unrelenting!

Day Two

We wake up on day 2 to find the bushes outside our hotel window completely frozen.

The roads start off okay, but we can tell it'll be far worse ahead.

A nice sign at the first of many truck stops we stopped at which were CLOSED DUE TO THE STORM!

We enter the wintry nightmare!

Another pic of the icy hell. That's my car up ahead. I guess I was the point person at this time.

We should NOT be on the road.

Our soon to be ice covered vehicles at the Days Inn in Joplin, Missouri. A whole day's drive and we're still in the same damn state we started in!

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SUPPLIES!!!

That's me breaking the news to my parents about our current situation.

Pizza and beer tend to keep spirits high, at least temporarily.

Chris is drinking said beer.

Rob is eating said pizza.

Day Three

It was a common practice to put the wipers in this position to keep them from freezing to the window. I personally de-iced my car about 2 times a day, mostly to try to kill an hour or two each time.

Boredom and depression start to set in as the beer supply dwindles.

This was the gas station next to our hotel (the hotel is seen in the background). It was the supplier of pizza and beer. It has an interesting name.......

......with interesting paraphernalia.

The pizza supply dwindles. Thank god the NFL playoffs kept us occupied.

Day Four

Condition critical on the beer supply. Another day in Joplin would greatly strain our saneness.

Day Five

We finally escape Joplin on day 5. I'm not sure how Chris produced this artsy pic of himself that morning, but I think it accurately shows in physical detail the current state of our mental health.

Chris happens to catch a bird-of-prey in this shot. The ice is still omnipresent.

We encounter a bright sphere in the sky that we had forgotten existed.

The farther we travel across Oklahoma, the less ice we see.

Literally hundreds of wind towers greet us as we make the first real headway in days.

On a mission from God? Uh, not exactly.

The sun goes down on day 5. At the end we would find ourselves in Grantz, New Mexico.

Day Six

The view east from Grantz. Albuquerque was about 50 minutes back that way.

We strolled along Route 66, eating lunch and waiting for Chris' brakes to be fixed. Regrettably, there are no pics of the service station with office cats, a vodka supply, and the friendliest station owner-lady in town!

After an 8 hour layover in Grantz due to Chris' car issues, we finally get on our way.

I find the Arizona landscape beautiful!

We continuously chase the sun as it sets in the west, enjoying the Arizona scenery.

It finally beats us to the horizon. We would be heading toward Flagstaff under cover of darkness.

Day Seven

We head west towards Laughlin. On the other side of those mountains would be our new home state.

We cross the Colorado River and pass through Laughlin.

We finally reach success. Around the bend reveals the Las Vegas Strip in the distance.

Continuing on 95 north, we approach downtown Vegas.

A little while later we pull into our apt. complex. Yikes, am I wearing the exact same clothes as on day 2??? It was a very, very long trip!