First Week in Maryland - Well, it could have been worse...

A little surprise that was awaiting for me before work on Friday.

Wow... Well, they definitely put some effort into this...

Paul and I right after getting back from the
urgency care center.

It’s been awhile since I have updated. I apologize for the lateness of my updates. My first week in Maryland has definitely been an eventful one. I started work last Monday and have been mainly focusing on training and getting the right security clearances to do my work. Early on last week, I worked on getting acclimated to the humid weather and the constant thunderstorms, but by the back end of the week, I found out that there were a few other things I needed to get acclimated to…

On Friday, I was introduced to inner-city crime of a large metropolitan area. Before heading off to work, I found my car broken into. From the pulled wires and the broken steering column, it was pretty obvious they attempted to hotwire and steal the car. I am thankful for the ignition kill switch in my engine block that protects against such attempts. They gave up and ended up taking the stereo system and the GPS unit. For some reason, they took the AC front panel too. I found that kind of funny since there isn’t much you can do with that. Due to the fact they tore out the ignition system in the steering column, the car doesn’t function, but it is currently in the good hands of my insurance company’s collision repair partner in Maryland. I should have it back some time in the next few weeks. I am very thankful for my roommates who helped me contact the right people and to push my car into the garage for awhile before the tow truck came.

On Saturday, I learned that bugs can indeed carry disease. I had a few bug bites on my left hand that I noticed on Thursday. By Saturday morning, those small bug bites on Thursday, had consumed the majority of my left hand, and left red streaks on my left arm. The accelerated swelling, redness, and pain in the left hand along with the lack of proper drainage of blood in my arm prompted me to go to urgency care. I spent the evening in the care of the nice folks at Kaiser Permanente hooked up to an IV drip of antibiotics. I found the nurse’s initial reaction somewhat disconcerting though, and even more so when the doctor said that it was serious enough to put me on multiple antibiotics immediately. I am definitely glad for my roommates, especially Paul (pictured above) who has acted as my ride since I lost the use of my own car and for carting me around to all of the clinic visits (and follow-ups) I have had to go to.

Oddly enough, I am actually quite thankful through this entire experience. Things could have been a lot worse on all fronts. I took most of my equipment, tools, and possessions out of my car due to the security requirements and checks at the base I work at. I went to urgency care before things got too serious. Had I waited longer, I might have been in some real trouble. God’s protection has been apparent through this week. I am still in good spirits and I have good friends for roommates so things should be getting better. I still need to post a picture of my house too…

Very, Very Late Post -> Matt in Maryland

Finally! Jeff and I made it to Maryland...
I just wish I took more pictures when I got there...

Well, I apologize for not getting this up sooner. I finally made it to the East Coast! I have been in Maryland for the past two days or so. Jeff and I slid into Washington D.C. Sunday evening. After dropping Jeff off at his hotel, I went to my house in Hyattsville, MD to meet my roommates. It has been a lot of fun over here. I have 6 roommates in our 6-bedroom house (I share a room with one of them and I am the last guy to show up). Dan, Ken, Scott, Ryan, Paul, and Stan (the guys call him Papa Stan since he is at least 10 years older than the next eldest here) are great guys. We all work on the same base, so it will be fun to hang out with these guys.

Yesterday was my first day at work. I spent most of my time getting my security clearances and getting oriented with the facilities. Today, I received my objectives for the next 6 months or so, and met the rest of key people in my division. So far, it has been a good experience. The army research facilities are really nice! Back at my new residence, I am still getting unpacked. I hope to pick up the rest of my packages from UPS soon. I will hopefully have more pictures posted soon.

Travel Day: Indiana to Ohio

Entering Ohio - we ended up taking lots of
back roads, but we did get to see a lot of rural Ohio

Today was not really an exciting day. It was mainly a travel day that led us through the bulk of Indiana and through a good portion of Ohio. We stopped for the day in Cleveland, OH, but we really didn't see much of the city. We were pretty tired and were quite happy to see our motel. Tomorrow will be the final push. We will be in Maryland (for me, Hyattsville) and Washington D.C. (this is Jeff's final destination) by tomorrow evening. I hope to meet up with my 6 roommates over there and get briefed since I will be starting work on Monday! Tonight, I hope for lots of sleep...

A Day Visiting Chicago

Me in front of the Field Museum in Chicago

An attempt to capture a part of Chicago's skyline

Me in front of the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago

The closest I have come to a beluga whale
(I could see its blubber jiggling!)

Soldier Field in Millenium Park
(I parked my car underneath it!)

Aunt Jane, Jeff, and I at Aunt Jane's house
in Indiana

I spent Friday, June 13, 2008 in Chicago and checking out the waterfront. In the very small area I spent the entire day, I was able to only get a flavor of the city. I had the opportunity to visit a couple of the really big attractions in the city, but not nearly enough to really get a good feel. I guess that's all you can do in a day trip. The traffic in the city was not as bad as I had expected it to be. It was moving at the very least.

I had a chance to go to the Field Museum and the Shedd Aquarium within Millenium Park on the Chicago waterfront (Lake Michigan). I didn't even have the chance to see everything in both of those places. I did my best at the very least to see the big things in those great venues before wandering around outside to see the park and some of the city. It was definitely a lot of fun, and next time I am in Chicago, I hope to see more of the city.

After our day trip, Jeff and I returned to his Aunt's house where we were treated to our first home-cooked meal in a week. It was a wonderful dinner and we had a chance to talk for awhile. We were both very thankful for her hospitality. It was my first time in Indiana and my first time in hot and humid weather, but it was definitely a wonderful visit!

Travel Day: South Dakota to Indiana

Entering Minnesota

Entering Iowa

While in Iowa, we saw first hand, the devastation of the
flooding in Cedar Rapids, IA (we went right through it)

First time crossing the Mississippi River for me...

Entering Illinois

Entering Indiana

Sorry for the delay in entries. This is a make-up entry for Thursday, June 12, 2008. Jeff and I ended up spending the entire day trying to reach Crown Point, IN where Jeff’s aunt, Jane, was awaiting us. It was a long day of travel, but we were able to get from Sioux Falls, SD to Crown Point, IN safely through Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois. This is the largest number of states I have been in within a single day (5). We did lots of driving...

It was sobering to see the flooding in Iowa first hand. Jeff and I ended up stopping for lunch in a town in Iowa where the waters had just receded. Everyone had placed water damaged furniture, carpet, and belongings on the curb to be scrapped. Sandbags were still in place in a lot of places and people were intently watching the weather reports in the restaurants. We inadvertently also went through Cedar Rapids, IA, and a good portion of the inner city was under water. The interstate was still open, but it was one of the few raised roads in the region. Many emergency vehicles were racing in the far left lane.

We were glad to arrive in Crown Point, IN and meet up with Jeff's Aunt Jane. We had a great time with her as she showed us the downtown area of town where a local classic car event was taking place. We also had the chance to try out some of the great food in one of the popular restaurants there (a great place called Chicago's).

2-Day Blogging Hole

I just wanted to mention that there will be a two-day hole in my journal entries starting today. I will be staying with my roommate's aunt tonight and tomorrow night so we will be unable to access internet for awhile. I will be updating again after that though.

The Badlands: More South Dakota

Picture taken from one of the many viewpoints

Me at Burns Basin Overlook in Badlands National Park

A few crazy prairie dogs in one of the many
fields in Badlands National Park

Jeff and I in front of the main visitor center

We just had to see the what all the hype was about:
Wall Drug - Biggest tourist drug store in South Dakota

These are just some of the many billboards I saw
on the way to the town of Wall for Wall Drug

We traveled about 370 miles today across the great state of South Dakota, dropping by Badlands National Park and the city of Wall along the way. We lost another hour as we entered U.S. Central Time in the middle of South Dakota. The drive itself wasn’t too bad since the speed limits were high and the land was relatively flat (most of the hills were fairly gradual through most of I-90). Thank goodness for loud music and caffeine.

Badlands National Park was one of the most scenic places I have ever been too. The views were very grandiose. The sheer size of the valleys and rock formations is very hard to describe. The pictures above speak for themselves (well, I don’t think they can do the real thing justice). It was fun to see the fossil center as well when we were in the park. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to get a hike in, but we were able to drive through much of the park. We also had the chance to view some wildlife including entire areas of prairie dogs.

Along the way to Badlands National Park, we noticed at least 50 billboards along the way advertising a particular drug store called Wall Drug. This is probably the most interesting marketing strategy I have seen. The billboards started at least 25 miles out from the town of Wall (where the store is located) and they were spaced about every ½ mile apart. By the time we reached the town of Wall, we just had to see this drug store. When we got to Wall Drug, we found out that it was actually more of a mall than a drug store, but it still had a lot of neat things inside, including many historical items and images of South Dakota. It was definitely a tourist place and we got sucked in by their advertising powerhouse billboards… It was a fun start for the day before we headed off to the Badlands.

Jeff and I are currently in Sioux Falls, SD, preparing for tomorrow’s jump across multiple states (South Dakota to Minnesota to Iowa to Illinois). We are hoping to be around the Chicago area by tomorrow evening. It will definitely be a long drive tomorrow…

South Dakota

Entering my first battlefield national monument...

Being at this monument caused me to pause for a moment

The national cemetery reminded me of the
sacrifice that some made for this country.

I found Oregon! I definitely had to show Oregon
representation at the Mt. Rushmore gateway.

Mt. Rushmore: It always seemed larger in the postcards
Still very impressive though!

I found this sign pretty funny considering that
the trail was very short and very paved...

I was sad to leave Montana behind, but I guess I have to keep moving eastward. Today, Jeff and I spent most of the day driving to South Dakota, going through Montana and Wyoming to get there. Along the way though, we made a few stops and tried to make use of my National Park/Forest pass as much as possible.

Our first stop of the day was in Crow country (Crow Indian Reservation). We ended up checking out the Battlefield of Little Bighorn National Monument (location of Custer’s Last Stand). It was a very interesting sight to see. There was a museum and a historical center there on sight, but what made the sight very profound was to see the actual locations where both Lakota warriors and U.S. 7th Cavalrymen fell (there were markers indicating where they died). On top of that, there was a U.S. National Cemetery located just a few hundred feet from the historical center, with U.S. soldiers from Montana and Wyoming laid to rest there from wars spanning from the Civil War to the latest conflicts.

Our final destination was Keystone, SD, which happens to be really close to Mt. Rushmore National Monument. Jeff and I decided to spend the late afternoon and early evening exploring the monument and the adjacent Black Hills National Forest. It was definitely an interesting sight to see and it was kind of neat to learn how it was made from the visitor’s center there. The funniest thing I saw over there was the warning sign at the head of a boardwalk loop around visitor’s area. It cautioned walkers that the trail was “strenuous”. The entire short path (less than one mile!) was either paved or decked. There were no major inclines or declines either. I thought it was pretty funny considering that “strenuous” level trails in Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks usually involve tens of miles with multi-thousand feet elevation changes and are typically hard to find due to the snow covering them.

Tomorrow, Jeff and I will be leaving Keystone and will be heading towards Sioux Falls, SD. We will be stopping by Badlands National Park on the way over and hopefully we will be able to spend some time exploring that park as well. A quick note about Keystone, SD: It is more like a small theme park than a small town. There are tons of tourists running around the boardwalk area (understandable due to its proximity to Mt. Rushmore, but still…) and the stores look like they came out of Disneyland. I just found this funny coming from National Parks and Monuments where commercialization was kept to a minimum or was not as prominent. Anyways, it was still a lot of fun.

More Yellowstone, snow, and cowboys

Picture I took of Old Faithful as it started erupting

Me over at West Thumb Geysers and Hotsprings
(Yellowstone Lake can be seen in background)

Lake Yellowstone Hotel Entrance
(This place has a very nice looking dining room)

Across from the Lake Yellowstone Hotel is... Lake Yellowstone

I found this pretty ironic, although understandable
(fishing on Fishing Bridge was banned due to depletion of trout stocks here)

The road conditions in the east passes were...
Well, at least there wasn't very much ice on the road

Cody, rodeo capital of the world according to its rodeo stadium

I started out the day with eating breakfast standing next to my car. The dining room at West Yellowstone where I was staying was packed! Jeff Briggs and I left for Yellowstone National Park entering the west entrance to go see Old Faithful, the West Thumb Geysers, Lake Yellowstone, and the Fishing Bridge. It was a pretty fun day. The weather was actually clear at the geyser and lake areas! There wasn't much rain like yesterday.

Old Faithful was a bit late today, but that was okay since it gave us some time to wander around and look at the lodge. We ended up hiking around most of the West Thumb Geysers before heading to Lake Yellowstone to check out the historic hotel over there. Massive potholes in the road ended up causing us some troubles though. One especially deep one took out one of my tires. When we arrived at Fishing Bridge, I noticed that one of my tire's sidewalls was about to rupture. Thankfully, there was a service station in Fishing Bridge, so I was able to purchase a replacement tire there before it could blow out on me while we went through the passes. It was definitely snowing on the way out of the park since we were going through the mountains. Thankfully, it stopped as we got into the lower elevations.

We left the park through the east gateway and headed towards Cody, WY. There were some pretty interesting things to see in that town. Lots of cowboy stuff and lots of rodeo stuff (I think it is considered the world's rodeo capital or something like that). We were initially planning on staying here, but a couple days ago, due to roads being blocked, I moved my plans from Cody, WY to Billings, MT. The roads ended up opening yesterday, but I still am glad that I made the move to Billings. My good friend and teammate, Brian, is from Billings, so I ended up going to his dad's restaurant over there. I met his family there and ended up having some of the best, true 12-hour mesquite-wood-smoked BBQ I ever had. If you are ever in Billings, MT, you must try CJ's Bar and Grill, very nice place with really good food and really nice people!

Tomorrow, I will be heading to Keystone, SD. We will be staying just inside the Mt. Rushmore National Monument area. It should be fun. I will see if I can also see the Battlefield of Little Big Horn National Monument. My neighbor recommended that I go check that out, so I definitely will try.

Buffaloes, Snow, and Yellowstone

North gateway into Yellowstone National Park

Mammoth Hot Springs in the upper basin section

Jeff and I in Norris Geyser Basin
(picture taken by Ron and Meg from LaGrande, OR)

Picture I took up at Artist Point
Overlooks the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and Lower Falls

These two guys held up traffic for at least 5 minutes

This is the line of cars due to the two guys above

Today, Jeff and I set out for Yellowstone National Park from Bozeman, MT. After a biscuits and gravy breakfast, we entered the park through the north entrance from the town of Gardiner. We were able to see a lot of north and west sections of the park including Mammoth Hotsprings, Norris Geyser Basin, and the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone (we also visited the visitor centers in those areas as well). There was also some pretty interesting hot springs we found just off the sides of some of the roads. We had a chance to get out and hike around each of these great areas for a decent amount of time before heading out of the park in the evening to West Yellowstone (actually in Montana, not Wyoming).

We definitely had some pretty interesting weather in the park. I see why most visitors come in July and August. It was either raining or snowing for most of the time we were there. Thank goodness I am an Oregononian. It didn't feel too cold at all too. I noticed that the majority of the people in the park at that time were mainly from the western states (a lot of Washington, Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, and Utah license plates). Very few were from elsewhere. I guess only those used to the cold and wet were willing to brave the weather. I found it somewhat of a coincidence though that the first people I talked to there were also Oregonians (from LaGrande!). It is a small world!

This is the second time I have visited the park, so I was able to see some of the changes that have occurred in about a decade or so. A lot of things were similar (like the high prices in the cafeterias and shops), and some things have changed (Mammoth's hot springs are not really hot springs anymore, and are more like hot ground spots that used to have water in them). I did a lot of driving in the park today. I spent a lot of time dodging potholes and cars stopping in the middle of the road to look at the bison sitting on the side of the roads. It was a lot of fun and tomorrow, I hope to see the rest of the park including Old Faithful and Yellowstone Lake.

On another note, due to heavy snow and a few avalanches, the two eastern routes in and out of the park are now closed, and I had to change my plans a bit. Initially I was hoping to go through Wyoming to get to South Dakota (to continue my journey to Maryland), but I due to the closures, I decided I would go through Montana instead. This is good, since I will be able to check out Billings, MT, where my teammate Brian is from. I hear the restaurant that his dad part-owns has some pretty good eats! I will find out tomorrow.

Glacier National Park and Montana

Heading into Glacier National Park

Jeff and I at Lake McDonald

Lake McDonald Lodge

At the tip of Rocky Point overlooking the lake

Some scenery off of Highway 83 en route to Bozeman, MT

Additional scenery found off of Highway 83 en route to Bozeman, MT

Jeff and I started the day off around 8AM with Super 8 coffee and muffins. After that, we headed off to Glacier National Park where we spent the day looking around the Lodge at Lake McDonald, hiking around Rocky Point, checking out the visitor centers and hanging out by Lake McDonald itself. We would have liked to have gone to the visitor center at Logan Pass, but the "Going to the Sun Highway" was closed due to snow in the passes. It was still a lot of fun. After lunch at Lake McDonald Lodge, we headed out towards Bozeman, MT.

One of my teammates at Oregon State from Montana (thanks Brian!) gave me some good advice about which routes to take. Taking Highway 83 was probably one of the nicest, most scenic drives I have ever done. Brian also recommended one of the local restaurants on the way to Bozeman. Sir Scott's Oasis Steakhouse located in Manhattan, MT had some of the largest portions I have seen in awhile. The finger steaks (essentially a 20 oz. steak cut into strips and deep-fried) were extremely good (could not finish and will have it for breakfast tomorrow). By tomorrow morning, I will hopefully be on my way to Wyoming and passing through Yellowstone National Park.

Day 1 - Out of Oregon

Well, I spent my last day in Oregon for the next several months. Today, my roommate, Jeff Briggs, and I made it through Eastern Oregon, Eastern Washington, Idaho and Northern Montana. We finally reached our first destination of White Fish, MT. Only 12 hours in the car today! Not too bad. We ended up driving with a few cars for a long distance on the way, and we referred to them as travel buddies. There was a truck with a couch in the back that we ended up following (or being followed by) for about 100 miles! We ended up naming it the "couch truck".

The drive was very scenic, but we also saw a lot of rain for much of the way. It actually snowed a few times while we were in the passes going through Idaho and Montana. I am very thankful for a safe trip over (thank you for your prayers!). I actually had a good time on the road. We definitely saw some very interesting things on the way over in Idaho and Montana.