Paducah Rain Storm Video!

Here is the link for the footage I shot of the Paducah rainstorm that gave us so much trouble: Here

Now going to bed, long day tomorrow!!!

EBS

--

Eric Shealy
Clemson University 
Environmental Horticulture
ebsheal@g.clemson.edu
greeneryisforme@gmail.com

Pictures! And We Made it to Wyoming!!

Hello all, again!!

Here are some links to my facebook pictures for those of you who don't have FB:  

St. Louis: Here

Pics from the Road (these are random and I will try to caption them all, at least the ones that aren't self explanatory: Here

We ended up in Wyoming today- LOL I am saying it like I didn't think we would make it- and I have to say that this state is beautiful in every direction!!  Sagebrush fields have to be some of the prettiest things in this country, and some people think that they are just land that could be used for something else.  Why can't land just be land?  I will never understand the massive need to develop something even though no one will use it.  The good thing about Wyoming is that no one wants to develop it, because it is so wild and desolate!  And I for one am thankful for it!! 

The downside to the whole was the wind that we drove through, and yes it was worse that the wind we encountered coming through NE!!  It was bad, so bad that the gov't had erected wind barriers to break up the gusts all along I-80 and Hwy. 287 in WY.

But we are here in Dubois, WY, which is an awesome place if you ever get a chance to visit.  The people are nice, and the KOA here is one of the best I have ever seen, very clean and kept up.  (The showers are tiled, this is a big deal in case you are wondering!)  We are staying in a cabin tonight, because when we got here it started to snow/sleet!!!  We were going to rough it in the car, but we found out that we could pay 20 buccks more for the heated cabin, and have a place to charge our electronics.  

SO, in short, I will be owning a summer property in WY sometime in the future, so make your plans now to visit me in the solitude!  

We will be headed to Grand Teton National Park tomorrow, and weather channel says it will be our only clear day :(.  I wish that it could be 75 degrees and sunny, but I guess I am gonna have to settle for 56 and slightly snowy.....

Talk to y'all soon (that is if I have Internet!), 

EBS

We are in the Plains, the windy, windy Plains!

THIS IS A DAY OLD POST- no internet in Gothenburg, NE

Hello again, this time from Gothenburg, NE!

Sorry about the mix up yesterday telling y'all that I was going to be in Denver. Apparently the GPS had other ideas!

So I uploaded some pics to my facebook page for those of you that have that, but if not here is the public link to the album. I couldn't post on here because we had to run after we ate lunch to able to get here at 6:30 tonight.

I just have to say one thing- Nebraska is flat, very flat, and the roads are straight and unimaginative......needless to say the ride today was BORING- well except for the great scenery and the 75 MPH speed limit!!

But, let me start with last night-

We stopped at a KOA outside of St. Louis and there was an interstate in back of us, and a train about 100 ft beside us. SO, needless to say that I got no sleep between the squealing brakes of the train and the horn. And another thing, this campsite was next to the Mississippi river and there were boats sounding all night letting the port know that they were coming up the river. Other than that, really nice showers, you can check out anytime you want, and we the camp host was nice.

We got in the car and headed into St. Louis to see the Gateway Arch, and then we left that crazy city for more open terrain. When we got into outer Missouri, Iowa, and Nebraska, we knew we going into flat land. Corn fields were everywhere, along with cow pasture and some horses.

We decided to go to a nicer camp tonight that actually costs less than the KOA that we were originally going to be at- the only downside is that there is no internet! So this post with be uploaded late, sorry :(.

I am now sitting at our campsite listening to a train off in the distance (THANK YOU JESUS) and watching three colts play in a field next to us, life is great folks!

See you tomorrow, hopefully!

EBS

--
Eric Shealy
Clemson University
Environmental Horticulture
ebsheal@g.clemson.edu
greeneryisforme@gmail.com

Made it to St. Louis: The Gateway to the West

Hello all,

After much fun, toil, and rain (OMG the rain), we have made it to St. Louis, MO!!! Our trip here has been filled with laughter, surprises, and quite frankly a lot of freaking out!

So let me begin with our morning- We packed up the car and left the apartment at around 7:30am (SPECIAL MESSAGE FOR DIXIE DAMREL- Saw you coming into Clemson this morning!! I was going to call, but I figured the traffic that centered around that apartment fire was going to wear on you, and you had no time to talk to me!).

So, we did what any Southerner would have for breakfast, BOJANGLES! And after that we left, feeling bloated and grease filled all the way down the road.....

We had a very uneventful trip until we hit Knoxville, with tons of traffic and some congestion. Next it was on to Nashville, and I was driving at this point, because we stopped and ate a Zaxby's somewhere in TN. So, Eric does not handle cities that well, but thank goodness Nashville interstates don't run through the city! I completed it with relative ease!

With that out of the way, we went on to a small piece of Kentucky, which included Paducah. This is where it happened- one of the most hellacious rain storms I have ever been in! We had to pull over twice to the side of the interstate, which almost everyone had to do, and then it began to drop hail! We were both praying that it wouldn't be bigger than dime size and not dent the car! It was really scary, but I secretly loved it. I really love seeing lightning, and if you have been out here you know that you can see the whole lightning bolt- no trees or elevation changes to screw with the view! So. I saw my branching lightning and heard the thunder- but what I couldn't deal with was not being able to see a darn thing- I am driving, people, and the rain was COMING down (could have sworn I saw a cat or dog)!

So Josh freaked out about not having control over the car, so I willingly relinquished it and switched seats.

We drove the rest of the way to Paducah, where we stole Internet from a Holiday Inn Express (they have really fast Internet), and found this KOA (Kampground of America) that we are at right now. Only thing is that they won't let me upload my picture files because they are too big- ya know cause I have my fancy dancy camera and all! Oh well, I guess I will just have to steal some internet from another hotel somewhere- so I hope to see you then!

In the mean time- keep us in your prayers!

Traveling into St. Louis proper tomorrow and see the Gateway Arch- then on to Kansas City! And Denver the next day!

I hope y'all have fun readin' this thing, because I am dying out here with the bugs and the 95% humidity in St. Louis!

Hopefully will be writing tomorrow!

- EBS

--
Eric Shealy
Clemson University
Environmental Horticulture
ebsheal@g.clemson.edu
greeneryisforme@gmail.com

The Exodus from the South!

Hello again!

I can't believe that the day has finally arrived! Yes! We are leaving tomorrow for the Grand Tetons, but we are going to take our time in getting there. We are leaving about 3 days early after all!

So, while I am sitting here typing away to you all, my roommate, Josh, is driving back from Clinton, SC(met his mom there) with the camera battery charger that he forgot back home. Yeah that pretty much describes our day.......except for BAKED ALASKA!!!!

If you folks from this part of the world have never had this wonderful dessert, you have not imbibed a small piece of heaven that God left on the Earth! Needless to say, we went up to Josh's grandparents house today to have a lovely meal with his family- some might deem it "The Last Supper", but that was hardly the case (and shame on you if you don't think that I can't cook out in the wilderness!)

It was actually surprise Baked Alaska, which is the best Baked Alaska of them all because you weren't expecting to get such a gracious gift! Josh's grandmother had been secretly slaving away all of TWO days to make this for us! Just amazing! She is an artist, and her canvas is meringue!

OK enough about that deliciousness,

So we will be leaving a little before 8 in the morning to avoid the traffic dash to work, and I believe that we are heading up to I-26 and then on to I-40. (I just can't wait until we meet that road called I-don'tknowwherethehellIam) I am giving this trip an open mind, and I hope to experience different parts of our American culture- I will be sure to tell you about the real winners out there as I encounter them....

SO, I will not be posting tomorrow morning, mostly because I will probably be wetting my pants with excitement and running on no sleep, but wasn't that most of college anyway?

Sorry for all the Biblical references in this post, been praying a lot lately for safety, and I hope that you are sending then up for us too!!

See you guys on the internet! (probably from a Days Inn somewhere in western Tennesee or Arkansas, lol)

- EBS

PS- My e-mail addresses are below if any of you want to ask questions or stuff like that!

--
Eric Shealy
Clemson University
Environmental Horticulture
ebsheal@g.clemson.edu
greeneryisforme@gmail.com

A head's up

Hello All!

You are probably wondering why you have just received an e-mail saying that a blog post was available for you to read. Well As you know, Josh and I are taking our loooong road trip in June, and these blog posts will be a way that y'all can keep up with us. I have put ten people's names (that's the amount that blogger would allow) on an e-mail list to receive e-mails each time the blog is updated. I wouldn't worry too much about there being an incessant amount of mail in your inbox from me, because I won't have internet access all too much. I am hoping that I get a good 15 posts out of this trip, but we'll see!

So to all of you who are looking at this and didn't get an e-mail from blogger about my new post, please be aware that I will e-mail you whenever I post anew! Yes I will do this, but only because I like you, haha!!

So here goes-

We will be starting our trip on May 28, 2010, leaving from Clemson, SC at an undetermined time. We are coming back up here because Josh's grandparents would like to see him one more time- wow, that made it sound like he is going to meet his doom on the trip, which has been suggested I am sure.

So kiddos, I am sure I will be posting the night before we leave, telling you how scared I am to be doing this as well as how excited I am to see our country! I swear it feels like a Ken Burns moment! (if you don't know who that is, please google now)

I will surely keep you as informed as I possibly can, and please don't get mad at me if I don't post every second! There will be pictures and possibly videos of some awesome things- as well as me waking up in the morning catching the sunrise, those will be great videos/pictures.....

Until next Wed.,

ES

--
Eric Shealy
Clemson University
Environmental Horticulture
ebsheal@g.clemson.edu
greeneryisforme@gmail.com