"The Roadtrip of Justice"

June 15, 2012 was the start of one of the most epic treks across the country that four college students have ever embarked on. These four young adventurers were changed for life, and without a doubt got to know each other a lot better. Me, Brita, Steve, and Andy have now seen the country.

In front of the Mississippi river

I was driving home from college for the Summer so I asked some friends if they wanted to come with me and these wonderful three came along for the adventure (in addition to reasons of their own). We started from Provo, Utah with Apex, NC as our destination.

Day 1: We made it to Grand Island, Nebraska. Here are some pictures of the adventure, including the states we went through.

1 down, 6 to go!

Look at the difference between the two signs. 

Now, to say the least, I was not excited about going through Nebraska. As a kid we had driven through it and all I remembered was a straight road with corn on each side for hours...and a random college in the middle of nowhere. All of us were...well...dreading the drive through that neck of the fields. However, we were all pleasantly surprised that it wasn't too bad, it was actually a lot prettier than the part of Wyoming we drove through. Way to beat the odds Nebraska!

Day 2: Destination Nauvoo, Illinois where Brita had to depart...which is still a sore subject for us. Here are some pictures for that day and some photos of Nauvoo. BTW Nauvoo is a historic site for our church where the Saints settled around the 1840's and made a thriving city out of a swamp. 

We also went through Iowa, but a torrential rainstorm stopped
us from documenting the occasion

There were so many windmills

My great great great etc...uncle's gun shop
Browning guns

The Nauvoo Temple

Day 3: After trying to recover the loss of Brita in Nauvoo me, Andy, and Steve headed to my sister's farm outside of Nashville TN. 

The trusty three

St. Louis!

Yes, we were gettin' to the South!

Day 4: We decided to take a day break from the open road and spend some time with my sister and brother-in-law on their farm in rural Tennessee. It was now our one and only goal to immerse Steve and Andy into southern culture, starting off by visiting a Civil War site in Franklin, TN. We then went and walked around downtown Nashville and ate at one of the best bbq places in the nation, followed by a relaxing evening (including shooting guns) on my sister's farm. 

Shots from the Battle of Franklin

Yes, the street is called Honky Tonk row 

The country music capital of the world-Nashville, TN

The farm

Day 5: North Carolina!! 

We made it!

We made a pit stop at my old stompin' grounds aka Asheville, NC. We walked around downtown, caught up with an old friend for lunch, and took in all the eclecticness that is Asheville. The next couple of days were filled with NC culture: we visited UNC Chapel Hill and Duke University, basked in the glory of North Carolina basketball glory, toured the historical downtown Apex, ate Chick-Fil-A, and we even went to the Apex Pig Pickin'! 

UNC Chapel Hill 

You can't see it very well, but this may or may not have been
a fulfillment of Steve's wildest dreams-being in Cameron Indoor
Stadium. 

Downtown Apex, dressed in our UNC attire

After reviewing our "Roadtrip of Justice" (compliments to Brita for the epic name), I propose that it was a success. We crossed the country, sang a lot of songs, sang all of those songs a lot of times, bonded with each other, saw the history of our country, witnessed the landscape change from the desert beauty of the west to the immaculate forest of the east, and how could I forget, we visited Little America! I highly recommend roadtripping across the US of A, you will not be disappointed!