Kansas City: Rock, Chalk, Jayhawk!

Only a few times in human history has someone been excited to go to Kansas City. Laura and my trip was one of them. My roommate in college and currently in Atlanta, Tory, proudly grew up in Kansas City (Tory is also a frequent CCRT 2010 commenter). Since 2004, he's regaled me with stories of KU, the Royals, Shawnee Mission West, and of course, Harms, Nug, Brady, Dill, and Mars.

For our trip, we tried to relive the first 19 years of his life in six hours. I think we came close, sans a trip to the casino, getting in goal at Shawnee Mission West, and eating a roast beef, cheese, and jalapeño sandwich at Mr. Good-Cents. Tory thought this was achievable, giving us the advice, "you only need a night to see Kansas".

Special thanks to Ryan Harms, who put us up. Harms was one of Tory's best friends growing up. The accommodations were like Cribs: Lenexa. He had a 4-BR house with a tricked out basement, large deck, broken hot tub, tribute to KU basketball, "Harms"-engraved pool balls, multiple big screens and bars, a huge dog, a closet-full of basketball shoes, and an SUV on 22s. Nothing in this paragraph is false.

I have to admit, it was strange to see KC without Tory there as a guide. After a fun night, there's a chance I'll be back. Maybe for next year's Lenexa BBQ competition?

Here's our journey in pictures:

Kansas, the most storied basketball program in history*

Standing in front of Phog Allen Fieldhouse, the best place in the country to watch a game*

"Rock Chalk Jayhawk", the best cheer in college sports*

Entering the KU basketball museum, with multiple game-like exhibits. If for whatever reason you are driving by KU, it's definitely worth a stop.

My favorite was an announcer's booth where I got to relive Mario's miracle and "Rock Chalk Championship"

Laura's reaction time was one of the best of the day. Thankfully I beat her in the vertical jump competition.

Probably what Tory wore to school from 5th-8th grade. "The first time I ever cried was when KU was knocked out of the tournament by Utah" in the late 1990s*. That line-up was "stacked", going 7-8 deep with NBA players.

Shaq - Harm's dog that is 190 lbs and growing. It was like the dog from Sandlot, or a horse*.

The house that Tory grew up in. (I'm not joking. Thankfully nobody thought it was weird we were taking creepy pictures).

Where Tory lived his high school years.

Sneaking out the basement door to go to a party was pretty easy, but getting back in was tough, especially since my parents room was right upstairs.*

Gates is the best BBQ in Kansas City*. Unfortunately we did not see Jason Whitlock.

Kauffman Stadium, the best place to catch a game in AL Central*

The Royals finally showed a heart*, winning with a walk-off single in the 10th.

*according to Tory through our thousands of conversations over the years.

Keystone, CO

Riding the lift to the summit with our bikes!

The Keystone Village below.

The back bowl at Keystone.

At the top of Schoolmarm.

Our descent to the bottom!

The continental divide was the first time that Richard (my brother) and I saw snow when we were abouot 3 and 4. I don't remember it but the story goes that we excitedly hopped out of the car and both hit the snow. We immediately slipped, started crying and said how much we hated it and wanted to go back home to Florida!

From Vegas, we pushed onward towards the Rocky Mountains (en route, we were surprised to be passing some of our early stops from our time in Southern Utah). The main reason we chose this route back was not because of Vegas, but rather to go to the ski areas and summer vacation spots that Laura visited throughout her childhood.

As we drove into the Keystone area, it was really neat to sit next to Laura as she recounted countless memories and shared family vacation stories. Her eyes lit up as she talked about ski school, mountain hikes, Country Joel, and the specific landmarks along the highway. Throughout the two days, she kept texting and calling Richard and her parents with another story to share. I had a blast just sitting back and hearing her side of the conversation.

For our day in Keystone, we decided to ride Mountain bikes. This was probably the last "adventureous" stop of the CCRT, so as you'd expect by now, we tried something that we hadn't done before and an activity that gave us a decent chance of getting hurt.

After riding up on the gondola that Laura used to ride up to ski down the mountain, we started down on the "green" or "beginner" trail. Beginner was actually hard. We ultimately decided that the first time down the mountain should be down the dirt road since we only a helmet vs. what looked like a modern-day's knight's gear that most experienced riders wore. The "beginner" trail was too big of a contrast to our coastal rides in San Diego and San Francisco, since it felt like the bike would spin out and crash at almost every dip and turn.

The transition from the 2-foot wide trails to the full dirt road was a good decision. We enjoyed the route down, taking in the views and going at a comfortable speed while gawking at the guts of the double-black riders.

Las Vegas, NV

Tempting....

Our awesome room!

Kitty Glitter! Paige, this picture is for you and Tina!
The view of the pool and the Las Vegas strip from our room.

Originally, our itinerary took us on a much more boring route back East through Phoenix, Amaraillo, TX, and Memphis, TN. That did not seem like a good way to end the trip, so we went back to the drawing board to get a more exciting route through Las Vegas, Breckenridge, and Kansas City (yes, Kansas City is exciting because I've heard about places since 2004 when I met Tory. Much, much more on that in future posts). So on an early Friday morning, we set out to Las Vegas to spend an afternoon at a Vegas pool party.

Laura and I were some of the only people in the world who weren't excited to get to Las Vegas. On my previous trips to Vegas, the plane ride in is one of the most unique plane rides around. Everyone is pumped up to go on a vacation to escape reality and is in a party mood, unlike the normal malaise of a domestic flight.

On this trip to Vegas, Laura and I were getting back to reality. Our trip was almost over and we were heading back East. We realize that our reality isn't normal, since we still have a two week vacation before going home and then moving to Boston, but it was still a sobering reality staring us in the face that we were no longer zig-zagging across national parks, the Pacific Ocean, or the Rocky Mountains.

The ride to Vegas was pretty surreal, and something that is hard to capture on a plane ride in. The drive is through some of the most desolate desert we've encountered on the trip. Turning to the CD player, we realized that we were missing one essential song from the CCRT soundtrack: Viva Las Vegas! Even without the music, there was some excitement in seeing the strip rise out of the desert, seemingly out of nowhere. If Las Vegas wasn't there, nothing would be there.

When we got within city limits, we went to areas away from the strip that I've never been to since I've never had a car while there. First up once downtown Vegas, where the original casinos first sat. I know now why I hadn't been in my previous trips. While they might have had $2 black-jack, if I'm going to Vegas I don't want to feel like I'm at the Micosoukee on Alligator Alley.

After downtown Vegas, we made a quick stop at the "Little Wedding Chapel". We decided on Plan A after much deliberation, and then drove by the "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign.

From there, we drove to Hard Rock, our hotel. We used priceline.com to "name our price" once again. (Quick endorsement - this has been great for the trip and is also clutch for finding rooms in hotel-rich areas like Vegas, ATL, etc. By using the "name-your-price" feature, I'm basically able to narrow down which hotel I'm bidding for. In Vegas, I knew I was bidding on the Hard Rock, and got a room for $85/night, when they were selling for $300 at the desk.)

After checking in, the girl at the front desk made a mistake and accidentally gave us a suite. It was awesome and probably bigger than our apartment in Boston next year. It's layout was exactly what I would imagine a rock star partying in. The first room was huge, but only had a big sofa and bar in the corner, with another room with the bed/bathroom. The windows overlooked the pool and the strip. It was an awesome room for Laura and me, and would be the ideal room for a bachelor(ette) party as well.

We tried to make the most of Vegas, and went down to the Hard Rock pool for some people watching. It didn't disappoint. After dinner and a little gambling, we called it a night early as we had a long, 12-hour drive to Colorado the next morning.

We survived Vegas, and even stayed a little longer than planned the next morning to fill out a lease application for an apartment in Boston (yes, we found an apartment. It's awesome. Right in between HBS and Harvard Square, a 3-level townhouse with a private backyard. We're so excited).

A thousand thanks!

Dan and Molly,
We have shared so many good times with you and look forward to the many more that are sure to come. We appreciate everything you did for us on our trip. From putting a roof over our heads, feeding us, giving us tips for things to do and restaurants to eat at, and most of all introducing us to "Just Dance"! We are so thankful to have you in our life and can't wait until you come visit Boston.

Other pictures from San Diego

Our las sunset in San Diego was beautiful!

Jeremy enjoying mini doughnuts just miniutes after we watched them being made. Delicious!

Eating tamales and empanadas as we browsed around. Everything here was SO good.

Sampling twenty different types of hummus at the "hummus tent" at the Ocean Beach Farmer's Market.

This is the same statue that is oustside of the Harn Museum of Art in Gainesville, Florida.

Point Loma- overlooking San Diego Bay

California water activities

We braved the cold waters of the Pacific to catch some waves in Pacific Beach. We rented boards and wet suits and spent two hours hanging ten, laughing and trying to look like we knew what we were doing. It was so much fun and we each managed to get a few good rides.

Catching the white water!

Concentration.......Balance...

....Success!!!

We also got a "Groupoun" for snorkeling in La Jolla cove. According to our guide it was the roughest he had ever seen the waters in the bay. Needless to say the visibility was less than stellar due to the waves, but we did get to swim with sea lions. We were about 10 feet from a rock where 30 sea lions were sitting. As the waves came in they would jump off the rock and swim under and around us. They are very playful animals and it was amazing to share in enjoying their natural environment. This was an experience neither of us will forget! (sorry no picutres, we forgot our underwater disposal)