Days 1 & 2

Day 1 - Southampton, PA -> Niagara Falls, NY ->Buffalo, NY

Our epic adventure kicked off from Southampton, PA at 5:23am to Niagara Falls. Despite getting only 3 hours of sleep, the 7 hours drive went by very easily because we were so amped up for the adventure to begin. FUN FACT: Niagara Falls is NOT in Niagara, NY. To make things worse, we couldn’t actually find the Falls on the GPS and had to follow the river downstream until we found it. The falls themselves were very cool and very much worth the trip.

Then we went to Buffalo, NY, a surprisingly cool city, to meet our first CoushSurfing.com host. Nina was very cool and showed us incredible hospitality. We hung out in the “hipster” area of Buffalo and visited book stores and coffee shops. We were exhausted and went to bed early that night, eager for the next days adventure.

Day 2 – Buffalo, NY - > Erie, PA -> thru Ohio - > Michigan quick -> -> thru Ohio -> thru Indiana - > Chicago, IL

We woke up the next morning and Nina made us a wonderful breakfast and even gave us an accordion lesson! Then we set off for Chicago. We made a quick stop in Erie, PA to pee in a Great Lake. Then, continuing West, we considered stopping for lunch in Toledo (the gem of Ohio) but then decided against it. Instead we traveled to Michigan for lunch. We got off the highway and ate lunch on the side of the road next to a wheat farm. You could literally hear the wheat blowing in the blustery Michigan wind.

We continued West and began getting weary from so much driving. Although we didn’t know it at the time, the GPS failed to take time zones into account when calculating arrival time and we had to drive an “extra” hour. Then we got caught in Chicago rush hour traffic. We had been driving since before all the rush hour commuters even went to work. Needless to say it was a frustrating half hour. Finally we reached Chicago after an 11 hour drive.

Travis’ close family friends were kind enough to host us and they made a fantastic chicken parm dinner. Then we went to bed looking forward to a very exciting Day 3 in Chi-Town.

               

How much does a polar bear weigh???

...ENOUGH TO BREAK THE ICE!!!

Greetings citizens!!! Your reading our 1st blog post! Here we'll break the ice and hoepfully get through that awkward get-to-know-you stage as quickly as we can.

Who are the “Ramblin’ Men”?

John and Travis are two devastatingly handsome gentleman who just graduated from the prestigious Penn State University after spending 3 years as roommates. Taking their bromance to stratospheric heights, the guys are embarking on a truly epic road trip adventure.

Their adventure is set begin at sunrise on Monday, June 27^th 2011. For a planned 35 days, the boys will travel in a gigantic 7000 mile loop around the better part of the United States of A’murica.

Why?

Because we’ve spent the last 22 years in a totally conventional and sheltered existence. We want to break as far away from such nonsense as possible, while we still can, before we are inevitably sucked into that absurd, freedom-eating, black hole known by many as “the workforce” or “adulthood”...DUH!

Where are you jagaloons going exactly?

Southampton, PA > Niagara Falls/Buffalo > Chicago > Sioux Falls, SD (just to sleep), Mt.Rushmore/Badlands NP/Black Hills, SD > Yellowstone NP > Grand Teton NP > Bonneville Salt Flats > Arches NP > Bryce Canyon NP/Zion NP > Grand Canyon (North  Rim) > Albequerque, NM (to sleep) > Dallas > Austin > New Orleans > Atlanta > Southern Shores, NC (Leven family vacation – full week) > Southampton, PA

Where are you sleeping?

At family members houses and at campsites occasionally, but most of the time with random people we met on the internet! (Every mother’s worst nightmare)

So wait a sec....you guys are gonna travel 7000 miles in 35 days and stay with random people you found on the internet? Are you guys @!#*^&$% crazy???

Yes.

How did you come up with such a stupid name for your blog?

ram·ble

verb \ˈram-bəl\

1.     to stroll about freely from place to place, as for relaxation, with no particular direction

2.     a leisurely excursion for pleasure; to explore idly

ramble + men aka us = Ramblin’ Men = brilliant!!!

Why should I follow you morons?

1.    While you are sitting in your 10x10 cubicle, getting bent over by the “man”, you can live out your adventurous side vicariously through us. We’ll use this blog as a place to document all the crazy shenanigans that will inevitably go down on a trip of this magnitude. Well share with you all those super awesome things you wish you could be doing instead of sitting in that mundane cubicle of yours.

2.    We’re staying with random people we met on the internet! Some of them might be axe murderers. That sounds like a fun blog to follow!

3.    We have almost no money! We may resort to doing unspeakable things to survive!

4.    We have a kickass route and you can help us decide what things to do and where to go!

5.    Because all the cool kids are doing it, and you’re a sucker for conformity.

Well kids, that's all for now! T-minus 4 days 'til take off!!!!