day 07 : Sept. 22, 2006 (Friday)

so our first full day in chi-town. this is / was my first time in chi-town and it was a great time. loved the museums and all the various food places. you can easily spend weeks there JUST checking out the sights and trying different places to eat.

episode 30 : holla holla holla

this is katie - www.bluedot.us/users/katie

episode 31 : mildly facinating

just random things i noticed while walking around chi-town

episode 32 : school / museum

why is it that it seems that every other large city has a better museum then seattle. went to see The Art Institute of Chicago and it was amazing. i could have spent the whole day there - i couldn't film much of the exhibits as they forbid filming in the museums.

one of the highlights (which there is no footage sadly) was when i saw a saber (sword) with a pistol attached to it! i asked an expert there to see if this was real and he stated that he was. they had come up with this way of winding up wheel - which when triggered would act like a lighter and create a spark. this would fire two shots from the saber. he joked that he didn't know if the owner was such a bad swordsman that he needed the pistol or if the pistol was so faulty that he needed the sword.

episode 33 : in search of good food.

so we spent the second half of our day looking for good food - it took a bit of time. we had hoped to get in the aquarium after but we didn't have time as the aquarium closed at 6pm. the trip to the restaurant was pretty long so i filmed random stuff along the way. enjoy.

episode 34 : siren = tornado

so there is a reason it's called the windy city - right after i got back to katie's place it started to rain hard. fyi - that's libby.

episode 35 : world famous

you can't leave chi-town until you try various foods... pizza, hotdogs and of course harold's chicken. in case your wondering - all of katie's neighbors showed up 1 min after we openned up harold's chicken.

episode 36 : heading out for the night

so we headed out to victor hotel and these are the places we saw along the way. victor's asked for a $20 cover so we went to the Dark Room instead. here's some footage of that - it's dark but still midly interesting.

and yes - that is 80's music.

place holder -

place holder need permission first

place holder -

need to get permission first

place holder -

place holder - need to get permission first

day 06 - Sept. 21, 2006 (Thursday)

after not doing much in wisconsin we enter the first city we'll be staying for a bit. which city you ask? why chi-town of course!

episode 25 : we are all special here

bloodie hell, as the title says and of course it's now been six days of driving and it's starting to make us special - and making us see things.

episode 26 : making a visit (thanks jesse)

so jesse had a lovely idea for something to do in wisconsin - so we make the trek and here's what we found. thanks jesse! you're special.

episode 27 : 3,000 + what time is it + no rum, friend done

so why did we bring pawan along? fyi - the two guys at the end wanted to borrow pawan. O_O

episode 28 : heading the chi-town

it's just a video of our drive to chi-town. did i mention this is right after a 'tour.'

episode 29 : the drive in

we make it to chi-town and this was our drive in on a beautiful day. wish the rest of our stay in chi-town was this perfect.

day 05 - Sept. 20, 2006 (Wednesday)

day five we drove through minnesota and into wisconsin in the hopes of hitting the 'Leinenkugel Brewery Tours' - but sadly due to traffic and the last tour being at 4 pm we missed it... it would not be the last thing we miss on this trip.

episode 21 : where will the jobs be farmed out to?

jesse and pawan go head to head in a battle of the century - representing their countries! it's better then the world cup!

episode 22 : ho ho ho

pawan makes a funny.

episode 23 : consumer whore

so this wasn't the largest mall i've been to (sadly) but it is the largest in the united states. not very impressive - i wouldn't check it out, except for...

episode 24 : entering wisconsin

so we entered into wisconsin in the hopes of making the Leinenkugel Brewery Tours and are reminded why it's a good idea to have multiple drivers and of course a designated driver (thanks pawan).

day 04 - Sept. 19, 2006 (Tuesday)

so at the end of day three we made it to Custer, South Dakota. we initially thought that we would lose an hour due to entering the central time zone until we checked into our motel for the night (Super 8 Motel) and the front desk guy informed us it was only 7:30 pm. so we headed over to check out the Crazy Horse Memorial which was only 4 miles away. they had a laser show... avoid the laser show at all cost! BUT do check out the Crazy Horse Memorial - it's an amazing place + story.

we went back the next day.

episode 14 : Crazy Horse Memorial

the fee for seeing the laser show was $25 / car and it allowed us to re-enter the next day. we really weren't thinking bout heading back but thought we would spend :10 min to get some better photos and then move on. when we arrived they were just starting a :20 min. introduction movie - we decided to check it out and i'm very glad i did. it's a facinating story of how this memorial came to be and how it's NOT FEDERALLY FUNDED. this was additional interesting after visiting Little Bighorn and learning more about 'Custer's Last Stand.'

episode 15 : Mount Rushmoore

we had to - it was 20 miles away from the Crazy Horse Memorial and it's one of those things you HAVE TO DO - it's a check... like going on a road trip. so why was this not as impressive - well after learning that Mount Rushmoore's four heads is the size of Crazy Horse Memorial's head - it kinda puts things in perspective when it comes to size. trust me - check out Crazy Horse Memorial if you get the chance, it's very educational, inspirational and promising.

episode 16 : dino park

so after Mount Rushmoore we decided to trek it through South Dakota taking I-90 and seeing as many silly things as possible. this was the first. it was on the way, right on I-90 so we figured why not. i'm very glad we did - i kinda expected something like this for a 'road trip' and was glad we got to experience it. it was just random silly things scattered all around. sweet.

episode 17 : Wall Drug Store

come on - how can you not heard of Wall Drug. it's famous! i first heard bout it from a friend who grew up in the mid west when i was in college. i had never heard of Wall Drug before then. he then explained bout how you could see these billboards all up and down I-90, then my professor explained that Wall Drug was one of the first to actually use billboards in that manor to attract customers.

they were the first to have multiple billboards along the way to attract interest from salesmen / vactioners to stop by - and it worked! after which everyone else started copying them.

episode 18 : Pioneer Auto Museum

so we saw billboards for this place and it was along the way. we figured - why not. we entered and the guy started the music up, honked the horn of the front counter and then stated it would be $8.50 / per person. i was hesitant... i wanted to work on editing my video - but pawan wanted to check it out... and i'm super glad he was.

this place turned out to be a collection of various things - just super random things... from cars, to buttons, to old dentistry equipment, to bikes - just random stuff. it was great. FYI - the guy (i'm guessing the owner) is a character who was super nice.

episode 19 : Corn Palace

yet another random spot that was along I-90. the billboards looked more impressive, but it was something we had to check out. we spent all of 5 min. out of all the places we saw today this was the least interesting.

episode 20 : what's my name?

so we ended by stopping for the nite at Austin, Minnesota (again at Super 8 Motel). we went to a fast food joint (Hardees) for food and a bet was made.... (i'm a sucker for bets)

day 03 - Sept. 18, 2006 (Monday)

so day three was all bout making up lost time or rather just getting set up for the next day. after being delayed in Cooke City, Montana we headed back through Yellowstone National Park to get back onto I-90 and continue our cross country trip.

needless to say it was a bit of driving with no real stops to speak of. total miles for this day - oh bout 592 miles. we did make one small stop at Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument... but i was not impressed and it upset me a bit so i didn't add it into my episodes.

episode 12 : overview

so this is us heading back to Yellowstone National Park - it's an overview of what transpired the day before.

episode 13 : go go go go go!

so as i stated previously - we were just trying to make up distance due to the 'delay' so i mostly had footage of road shots. here's a compilation of those shots.

day 02 - Sept. 17, 2006 (Sunday)

so we started out second day in Great Falls, Montana. we had a lot planned for this day, only to find that our planning was a wee bit off. we didn't take into consideration actual driving time + weather conditions + time spent on random stuff.

it also didn't help that our alarm clock at the hotel we stayed at (Super 8 Motel) broke. but it turned out to be a great day - and ended kinda scary like.

episode 05 : casinos - always a good addition

yes, they really did have casinos everywhere. not kidding - had we spent more time in Great Falls, Montana i woulda spent it capturing all the various combinations of businesses and casinos. it was pretty darn funny - although when we actually checked it out it was basically a machine or two of video poker or such. but they called it a 'casino' thus they had so many all around.

episode 06 : destination yellowstone

so from Great Falls, Montana to Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming is about 270 miles - so needless to say we were very goofy killing time. here's a bit of what transpired on that drive. and yes - we really are that childish.

episode 07 : omg what's that smell

so this was our first official stop in Yellowstone National Park - we entered from the North Entrance off Gardiner, Montana. basically we decided to do the loop so our first stop was the Mammoth Hot Springs - which really smells due to the sulfer. i have more footage then shown - but didn't want to bore people with it.

episode 08 : no title

this episode doesn't have a title cause i don't wanna give it alway - it's very short. it's basically only :26 seconds. the actual footage was 4-5 min. long, but figured people didn't wanna see all that, and (i thought) it was funnier this way. fyi - this was our second stop in Yellowstone National Park - if you haven't guessed already.

episode 09 : artist point

so nothing really funny about this video - it's just a shot of Artist Point. it was amazing. pawan (who has been to Yellowstone before) stated we had to check out Artist Point - he didn't say why, he didn't want to give it alway. we said sure - it's along the way and we drove. when we got there and finally got to see it, it was breath taking.

the video really doesn't do it justice. if you ever get a chance check out Artist Point as well as the drive to Montana. it's beautiful country.

episode 10 : boo boo and more

so after checkinng out Artist Ponit we kept on driving - here are a compilation of some nature shots. not too many, but these i found to be our highlight. fyi - these animals are just amazing to look at in person, it makes you humble and scared as you know you're the visitor to their home and if they want they can literally KILLLLL YOU!

*no animals / people were harmed during the filming of this episode.

episode 11 : the longest drive

so we tried to take US 212 to get back onto I-90, but nature had other ideas. we really were freaking out during this point. we really didn't know what the shit we were gonna do... it was a very very good thing that we had a laptop and Microsoft's Streets and Trips - it's a GPS software which comes with a GPS tracking device to tell you where you're at and where all the various things are.... such as a town that's only 3 blocks long in the middle of nowhere.

day 01 - Sept. 16, 2006 (Saturday)

we started our road trip on september 16th of 2006 at 5am. i was working til friday and only had friday night to pack - added to this the excitement of going on a road trip i couldn't sleep. i finally ended up trying to go to bed and falling asleep around 3am - that's why my eyes are so puffy in episode 01.

day one took us from seattle, washington to great falls idaho. total miles - 794 miles.

episode 01 : introduction

i've had an idea of this sequence for many days and i finally got to shoot it. the original idea was much longer with additional scenes, but once i shot it and tried to edit it in i found it didn't work - so i ended up shortening it and this is the final cut.

episode 02 : our first sunrise / our first gas stop

so needless to say after the inital sequence of shots i was super tired. jesse drove first / pawan was in shotgun and i was in the back - so i decided to take a nap. BUT i wanted to capture our first sun-rise on our road trip so i kept waking up every few min. to capture some footage. when it came it was super bright as it rose in front of us.

episode 03 : our first touristy stuff

so these are the first few stops on our road trip - it isn't very exciting as we quickly passed through idaho. we basically stopped for 2 things. one was the mission - and the idaho visitors center. not very exciting i know - but on a lighter note i did have a lovely chat with an 79 year old gentleman in Post Falls, Idaho. we stopped to get post cards and when waiting to pay this old guys says to me...

old guy : How you doing?
me : Great. How you doing?
old guy : Great. Today's my best day every. I'm gonna hit on girls all day.
me : (laughing) You and me both.
old guy : Boy I hope it rains.
me : Has it not rained much here?
old guy : No not much, where you from?
me : We're from Seattle.
old guy : What do you do there?
me : I'm a designer - mostly web stuff. What do you do?
old guy : I sit on my ass all day.
me : Really. How old are ya?
old guy : I'm 79.
me : Wow, you look great for 79. Well it was nice talking to you.

episode 04 : paradise

so we drove and entered Montana, i have to say montana is a beautiful state with some amazing views. along the way on I-90 we decided to stop for lunch. we just stopped - we figured why not. it was the coolest decision we made - mainly cause what i thought was just some random eatery was actually a 'town' called Paradise. it has a population of 300. the video shows the 'downtown' of Paradise, Montana and all it has to offer.

after having lunch here we continued on to Great Falls, Montana.

basics

i've always wanted to go on a cross country road trip. this is the year that i do it with my two buddies jesse vasquez and pawan kalkirajan.

sung park
http://www.bluedot.us/users/sung
http://seattletonewyork.blogspot.com/

jesse vasquez
http://www.bluedot.us/users/jester
http://illinijester.blogspot.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/19165004@N00/

pawan kalkirajan
http://www.bluedot.us/users/youknowwho


i've decided to record my progress on our road trip using the Aiptek MPVR 6MP MPEG4 Digital Camcorder with 4x Digital Zoom. that's a really fancy way of saying - a $135.94 digital camcorder.


the trip is from seattle, washington to new york city, new york - taking mostly I-90. we left on september 16, 2006 and plan to leave new york on october 1st, 2006.