I was always traveling since I was kid but mostly staying on the east coast until I decided to take a flight out to Kelowna B.C. to visit one my lifelong friend who was playing hockey there. For someone who has flown once, I spent my day flying 16 hours to Canada but not really being able to see much throughout that time as I’m up in the air a thousand feet. Flying can be stressful and nerve racking but nothing beats when I was in the L.A. airport getting ready to take my last flight of the day to Canada and I get one and there was only 12 seats in there and the plane was the size of a car it felt like but finally I landed in Canada.
Once getting to Canada, the first thing I was seeing is the speed limit signs, yes the signs that were saying 100 km/h. just something so little is so different. Throughout the week I got explore all over Kelowna and it was breath taking as everyway you’re driving, it always seems to be next to the lake and downtown was something just like Johnstown downtown but much more cleaned up and up to date with buildings. Most of my time in Canada was just by the water as you could go anywhere and just hang out and have a couple beers. My last day in Canada was actually Canada Day and I spent it downtown and you think America is passionate about their country, you should see these people on Canada Day. Almost anything is allowed as it seems like a parade when the city wins the championship.
We start to pack our things up to get ready for the 23 hour road trip to Colorado where my friend lives and where I’ll be living over the year. We head out at around 9PM and head to towards the boarder and for a first time crossing over the border into America, I was pretty nervous, mostly because it kind of looks weird with two 19 year American guys and my friend’s Canadian girlfriend heading in America at midnight by the time we reached the border. They did a search and said we could go on our way. As I am the worst in sleeping in cars, I started the drive off and see if I could get tired by the time we cross the border but at the same time I wanted to stay awake to see everything as our first state we were passing through was Washington and it was a lot different than I expected.
You know those scary movie scenes when it’s a small little town and it seems like its from the 1950’s? well that’s what it was and we were driving through it at 1am and for some reason the town didn’t have a single light on. At one point I honestly thought the head lights would just be pointing at some person in the road luckily we got through there quick and keep the road trip moving.
As there wasn’t much of sightseeing at first mostly because I fell asleep for a good bit after we cross till about 6am I woke up at sunrise as we crossing through in the mountains of Spokane. The fog was still sitting on top and it felt like you were in the sky driving up that high which actually made almost impossible to see. Once we stopped and got some breakfast, I decided to take over the drive for the rest of the way. As we get going for about an hour, my friend and I were playing the state game just to keep me entertained while I was driving and sadly he fell asleep. Now I’m by myself as the other two are sleeping and I try not being rude and not play music but I had to try to wake someone up because we were in Montana and after being to 46 of our 50 states, Montana will always be the number most boring, dry state ever.
Driving along the highway in Montana on hour 18 and I would much rather had this state in the beginning of the trip because I swear I drove for 6 hours straight in this state and I think I stared at the same mountain that whole time. At first I thought I was going crazy but it actually was the same mountain for 4 straight hours. That’s when I was having trouble to drive and enjoy this trip. I still took in seeing another state and enjoyed the experience even though it was one mountain the whole time, it was something different than the other states I’ve been too.
Finally, we have made it to the beautiful state of Colorado after 20 hours of driving and 3 hours of resting, we finally made it. Entering Colorado on the 4th of July, going along the highway, seeing the beautiful mountains with snow on them even though its summertime. Its overall a breathtaking state. After traveling for the past days I couldn’t wait to just lay in bed and explore the next day. When I finally wake up, we head out to the river to go cliff jumping into a river in Colorado and just hang out till the sun sets as fireworks are going off towards the mountains, making it one of the most beautiful sites you could experience. Colorado will always be a place I’d like to call home officially one day. Traveling through all these states make road trips excitable and an experience everyone should once in their life try out. I know for me, it’s an experience id take back in second and do it all over again.
Mike Heverly Digital Hockey Magazines Blog 