Tag: audiobook

Day 9 Chicago to Cleveland

Cleveland

On Monday I set out from Chicago around 9.  The Windy City is great and I would have loved to stay longer.  I had to get going back home for the Baltimore Grand Prix and a dog in Ohio that I am going to transport to Maryland.  It was actually good to leave Chicago to get away from the ridiculous gas prices.  The most expensive in the country!  The average price seemed to be around $4.10.  Luckily I did not drive much and did not have to fillup my car in Illinois.

Driving through Ohio was fairly uneventful.  The only real events happening was stopping at tolls!  They are a killer.  I think I spent more on tolls driving through Illinois and Ohio in 1 day then I have ever in my whole life.  It must have amounted to about $20 or more for the day.  I will have to check all my receipts I got to see exactly how much.  At least Ohio's rest areas are nice.  Most are clean bathrooms and have some sort of convenience store or food court.  Overall Ohio is not bad.

For some reason today I was not up for driving much.  After about 4-5 hours of driving I got really tired.  Driving by yourself can be difficult.  I listened to Pimmsler's Speak and Read Russian tapes again trying to learn Russian.  Don't ask me how to say anything in Russian because I can't even remember much if anything that from those tapes.  To a certain extent trying to listen to make you mind think too much is not good for driving because you need to pay attention to the road.  I found Audiobooks to be the best.  So I put in “The Bourne Supremacy” by Robert Ludlum and listened to that for the majority of my driving.  There are great movies and books.  Especially listening to when you are by yourself in a car for long periods of time.

Originally I got a call from a very nice guy in Youngstown, OH named Andrew from Couchsurfing.  He said I could stay at his place, but when I was getting closer and closer to Cleveland I realized driving another 2 and half hours to Youngstown from where I was would not be safe.  Another girl from Couchsurfing, Alissa, called me back after confirming my request and said I could stay with her and her roommate in Cleveland.  I decided to go with Alissa because I was too tired at this point to drive much more.  Cleveland was only 1 hour away.

I got into Cleveland and was driving around.  Man, Cleveland feels a lot like Baltimore.  A lot of bad neighborhoods next to good neighborhoods.  A city in change with lots of new construction going up.  All it mainly geared toward gentrification, yuppies, and colleges.  When I got into Cleveland I finally meetup with Alissa's roommate David.  We started talking and were talking about where we are from.  Turns out we are both from Newton, MA.  Small world.

 

Day 4 Rocky Mountain National Park

 

Rocky Mountain National Park

On Tuesday I went to the Rocky Mountain National Park.  It was absolutely amazing!  The mountains and scenario were stunning.  I took a lot of pictures, but you had to be there to experience it.  The smells, sounds, air, creatures, and winding roads made it an unforgettable experience.

My relative, Jack, made a very good suggestion.  He said, “You should go up on Trail Ridge Road.”  This is the road that leads way up to the top of the mountain in the Park.  On the top there are deep drops and no barriers which makes the drive exhilarating.  I saw many RV's and Motorcycles going up the road.  I was just fine in my Honda Accord which was easily maneuverable on the winding road up the mountain.  The immense power of the mountains did draw power from my engine though.  I definitely felt it going up.

The best part of going to the park is just pulling over at one of the many little parking areas and exploring on foot.  There are lots of amazing places you can walk around in the Rocky Mountain National Park.  See the pictures below!

Coming back down was exciting as well.  You need to pay attention to your driving.  You can not and should not simply coast down the mountain or you could overheat your brakes.  The great thing about Hondas is their automatic drive selection.  Most automatic cars only have “D” or “L” for selecting your gearing.  Hondas have “D4” “D3” “2” “1” which seems unnecessary.  However I found going down Trail Ridge Road it was very useful to have these options.  I mostly stayed in D3 but switched sometimes between D3 and 2 when I was getting to close to cars or going to fast.  Having the option to keep the cars gears below 3 or 2 gears was useful.  Great idea Honda!

Even the drive from Greeley to Estes Park was nice.  The road leading into Estes Park was basically made right through a mountain it seems.  So when you are driving up you are just getting a small taste of what is to come.  The drive was only about 1 hour from Greeley where I was staying.  I listened to “Cover Her Face” on the way up to the Park and somewhat back down.   For some reason listening to the narrator made me very sleepy.   Don't know why that well spoken British narrator was making me tired, but he did.  It was probably the Shakespearean training.

My only wish is that I had more time to look around the Rocky Mountain National Park.   It was $20 and the pass was good for a week.  It was well worth it for the day.  I would recommend planning out more time to explore if you go up there.

I think Colorado is my new favorite state.  I hope to come back soon!