Roadtrip Across the USA: Day 14, 15 (Pursuit of Happiness)

This is it. It's over.

The best two weeks of my life, thus far, has come to an end.

It was 1:45am on Sunday morning when we pulled into my parents' driveway. It took us 35 hours to get from the Grand Canyon to Spartanburg over a span of Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It is now one minute past 4 am and I am sitting here in my parents' living room writing this. I've got a lot of laundry to do tomorrow.

Now what do I do since this short journey of a lifetime is over? I'll figure that out. I always do when I come to crossroads in my life and every time in the past I've made the right decision. If I didn't I would not be who I am today.

The final two days of our road trip across the USA started off with a 2 hour relationship with the Grand Canyon. That's right. I said relationship because when you visit her and see her for the first time, you forget there are thousands of other people just like you glaring at her in awe and you just think about you in that particular moment watching her in her beauty. As your pupils absorb everything the canyon has to offer you just stop everything that you are doing, and just stare as if she is the most beautiful thing you have ever seen. That's when it becomes a relationship.

When you walk to the edge of the cliffs you start to get nervous.

Your heart beats faster.

You struggle for air.

You become scared for your life.

One slip and you will ultimately come to an end one mile down. But I like to test the limits. I like to see how far I am willing to take myself into a situation that exhilarates me and pumps adrenaline through my veins. What is the point in living if you don't take risks every now and then? The good thing about this is I survived since I am here writing this blog. The bad thing is I wish that 2 hour relationship could have lasted longer.

There is this ledge that sticks out and becomes narrower towards the point that Andrew and I went to the night before. We wanted to go back to take some good photographs since we had a lot more daylight. When we climbed down the cliffs to get to the ledge there was this blond woman whom was sitting on the edge in her own world with the canyon. She heard us coming down and got up to greet us. I didn't get her name but us three exchanged a few words in the few minutes we had on the ledge together. She is from the Netherlands and was on a road trip across the US with her family going to all the stops that we went too but in reverse order. Seeing our cameras in our hands, she kindly asked if we would like our photo taken. She did and gave us the cameras back. I started taking more photos and then began to think about how people meet, how people run into each other. A woman from the Netherlands meeting two guys from South Carolina on the ledge of the Grand Canyon one mile up. This is what traveling does best. Meeting random people in even more random spots. She took a great photo of Andrew and I by the way. We exchange a few more words and wished each other safe travels. Her next stop was San Francisco. Hope she likes it because you know my love for that city.

We saw what we could in the very little time we had with the canyon then got in the SUV and headed East. Meghan started the first trek as I was in the passenger seat. During our drive through the deserts of Arizona and New Mexico I put on my headphones, replayed the song "Awful Game" by Milosh, and went into a unique state of mind for a few hours. With my Dad's journal in my hand and finishing the last pages of his journey that he took 35 years ago, I wrote in mine. It was the longest entry that I wrote from this trip and of course those words stay with me but my mind began to bounce back and forth about what's going to happen to me when I get back. This road trip was exactly what my mind, body and soul needed desperately. Now that it has come to an end will all the negative/depressed feelings come back? Or will I have created this new outlook on my life and how I control it? Let's hope for the latter.

One of my favorite books is called "The Art of Happiness" which is written by the Dalai Lama. Hence the title, you will know what the book is about. The first paragraph of the first chapter is the greatest collaboration of words I have ever read and ever single one makes perfect sense. He writes,

"I believe that the very purpose of our life is to seek happiness. That is clear. Whether one believes in religion or not, whether one believes in this religion or that religion, we all are seeking something better in life. So, I think, the very motion of our life is towards happiness..."

I read those words over a year ago for the first time but now after all the experiences I had and memories I created on this road trip I know how to do that exactly. The trip changed me. How could it not? and of course it changed me in a very beneficial way for myself and for other people. The 2 months prior to this trip were the hardest I've ever gone through and the saddest I've ever been. The 2 weeks following those 2 months were the best of my life. Funny how they coincide with each other but everything happens for a reason. I've come to accept that and I learned how to seek happiness, my own personal happiness because of this trip. Sometimes in life you just need to step back, take a breather or two then jump right back in. It will change your perspective on everything and it will definitely rock your world. 

Now the next step in my life must be taken. 

What will it be? I don't know but let's go find out. Godspeed to myself.

Roadtrip Across the USA: Day 13

Today did not start out good for me. Everybody I know now knows that I am supposed to start a temporary job with Google. Well I was supposed to receive an email about my flight information to San Francisco this Sunday but I never received that email. So this morning I called the agency before we left Vegas and they told me that Google canceled this project they wanted to do.

I was crushed. Completely taken aback. Completely heartbroken. Why? Because I seriously thought this was my big break, my chance to get out of Spartanburg. I know I can still get out of Spartanburg but its muthaf***ing Google! The biggest website on this planet. The project can still happen in the future but as of right now Google canceled it. Don't know why either.

Now I really don't want to come home from this roadtrip. This roadtrip has cleansed my mind and soul and I don't want to go back to what got it all scrambled. Don't get me wrong, I love Spartanburg and I love the people that are my life there. I love both with everything I have. Deep down I have to, not because I feel obligated to love the city but because it's been my life since I was 5 years old. But I've come to the point where I feel that Spartanburg has nothing else to offer me. I can't fully blossom in my career as a photographer there. Check Monster.com and type in 'Photographer' for Spartanburg and see what results come up. You will know exactly what I mean. I've gained everything I can from this city and now I want more.

Seeing the West Coast again made my heart skip a beat. And now that this Google thing sorta collapsed on me, what do I have to lose? I've begun to think that I will start looking for jobs out West in San Francisco or L.A. or New York. And I've even thought about asking my Godfather in Guam if I can move in with him for a few months just to get away from it all.

With this on my mind all morning it was hard to let it go and go back to enjoying the roadtrip. We left Vegas and headed back East. Made a stop at the Hoover Dam, which actually is smaller than I expected it to be. It was massive, of course, but in my mind I always pictured bigger. Hot as hell too. The desert reached 119 degrees outside. Our sunroof was too hot you couldn't place your bare skin on it for more than 3 seconds without yelling a bunch of four letter words. Driving through the Arizona mountainous desert, however, made up for the heat and was gorgeous. It really made me just stop what I was doing and daze out the window to absorb its massive beauty. We stopped at this small gas station in this small town called Seligman, Arizona, home of the birthplace of Route 66. Pretty cool. Didn't plan on stopping there and it happened to be the birthplace of America's most famous road. Got back on the road and headed to the Grand Canyon.

We got there when the sun was setting. I was getting antsy in the car because I knew I would get gorgeous shots of the Grand Canyon as the sun settled. I dashed out of the SUV as soon as we parked and gunned it. I jogged for about a half a mile and was immediately out of breath. Jogging at 8,000 feet is sorta difficult. As I ran, to my right was the Grand Canyon. No guardrails or anything to keep you from falling to your death. My first glance of it stopped me in my tracks. As I walked towards the edge I was still struggling for air but it didn't phase me as I looked at the most beautiful, massive, awe-inspiring creation by God or whatever higher power you believe in. You do not come to see the Grand Canyon, you come to experience it. You come to absorb it. You come to make it feel how small you are and how grand life is and how f***ing beautiful this world we live on is. You just have to stop and observe.

I found a ledge to take my shots, one mile up from the bottom. The air was nice and crisp. I was one minute to late to get the shots that I wanted as I ran to beat the sun. The sun had the entire sky a deep orange but when I finally got to a good spot the sky was beginning to turn dark blue and black. Still took my shots but I didn't hustle enough. The darkness took over quickly and it became dangerous to climb out onto the cliffs and ledges in the dark. We headed back to find a hotel room. We did and now the Grand Canyon waits for the sun to glisten its beauty. Come on sun. Hurry up and get here.

Roadtrip Across the USA: Day 11, 12

Hello Vegas and now goodbye Vegas.

I liked you and I disliked you.

I liked you because you are pretty at night. So colorful and vibrant. Cheap food if you find the right places (which we did a couple of times) and our hotel which rocked.

I disliked you because you are crowded, too hot (111ª F is a bit too much), we did everything we wanted to do in a day, food is extremely overpriced if you dont find the right places, and I'm not even going to start on the gambling. I set aside $50 bucks but only gambled $30 of it and lost about $14. I stopped there. Luck was not on my side.

My entire life I never wanted to visit Vegas. Nothing here interested me up until about a year ago when I learned how to play poker. My friends and I learned together and played together but we never played with real money. After my beginner experience with this I started having an interest in visiting Vegas. Now that I have seen, somewhat conquered, and experience Sin City, it will be long awhile before I come back, if I ever want to in my remaining lifetime.

We got a nice Asian themed room on the 18th floor of the Mirage. It was the cheapest we could find on the strip so we went with it. Our first night we walked up and down Las Vegas Boulevard and saw Vegas come to life as the almost unbearable sun set. The heat, even at night, felt like there was a massive hairdryer blowing hot air through the streets. At times it burned my eyes and at times I got dehydrated quickly. Later that night I gambled around $2 and ended the night with $2.23. Sweet. A profit. That was the first and last night I made more than what I gambled during my stay here. Sad, isn't it? Or just what I was expecting?

The next day we ate, strolled the strip more, ate, swam, gambled and ate. Vegas is in two parts. There is the strip on Las Vegas Boulevard that has all the massive hotels such as the MGM Grand and Caesers Palace then there is Old Vegas on Fremont Street in downtown, the place where Vegas was born. I was excited to see Old Vegas. For years I had this vision in my mind from old movies and pictures of it a night time but when I got there that image in my mind was completely destroyed. This is just me expressing my opinion but it had a different vibe there than our hotel area, I vibe I didn't care for and one main thing that completely took away from the essence of the original Las Vegas was this massive roof/screen that covered everything. It was nice when they did a light display but other than that it was nothing but advertisements up in the sky covering what made Vegas, Las Vegas. I dont know, I guess the city thought it would be a nice feature to do this but I didn't care for it nor did Whitney, Andrew, and Meghan.

And by the way, I bought an $11 milkshake. Yeah, eleven dollars. It was good but I'd say it was $6 good.

I am not a tourist, and I've never really cared for tourist spots. They are always crowded, always sell souviners (which I hate), and always have this appeal to them that doesn't make them feel like they are what they are portrayed to be. If you get what I am saying but anyways, I am a traveler and will be for the rest of my life but Vegas has nothing to offer to anybody but tourists. That's just the way I see it. It is a town for people who want to spend money, lots and lots of it. $7 for oatmeal? You can get it in Vegas. $17 for a pastrami sandwich? Come to Vegas. $3 for a bottle of Coke? Vegas Baby!

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas and the happening is your money going bye bye because it is staying in Vegas while you hop on your plane to go home.

And yes I am aware that the Grand Canyon is a tourist spot and that is where we are going next. But all you have to do is a little research to find out how to experience these spots as a traveler, not a tourist. We did our research and are going do to just that.

Roadtrip Across the USA: Day 8, 9, 10

For the past 3 days I haven't had internet and we were so busy in L.A. that I didn't have time to write my blog. But now here I am in Vegas... at the Mirage... with internet. 


Well, what can I say about L.A.? All my life I have had a bad impression of the city. It was a place I never really cared to visit as a traveler. After the past three days I made a complete 180 on my opinion on the city. 


Our first full day in L.A. was our first chill day on the trip. All we did was find the Lomography store which made me giddy, chill with our L.A. friend, do laundry (that was desperately needed), swim in the pool, eat at a Peruvian restaurant and see our friend perform on stage at a lounge in Hollywood. It was a good day, a real good day. 


Our second day was filled with all the sightseeing: Hollywood sign, walk of fame, all that mumbo jumbo. Did a hike up on Runyon Canyon which gave us a great aerial view of the city. All I can say is massive. Wow. Ate at a Brazilian restaurant then chilled in the hot tub that night. Our friend promised us that we would see a celebrity. He took us too all the places where the celebs hang out. Never saw one. :( Still had one more day left.


Our third day was a trip to San Diego. It was a real nice city that looked like it was just built. We walked along the boardwalk and out onto rocks that reached away from the coast. Doing it barefoot sucked for my feet: some rocks were jagged and seagull poop everywhere. Got some good photos though. Our goal for the day was to swim in the Pacific but it was absolutely freezing. Meghan got burnt (as usual). Our day in San Diego was somewhat short though. We headed back around 3:30, got stuck in 5 o'clock traffic which freakin rocked :) then our friend showed us his old coffee shop he used to work at and Rodeo Drive. Still promising us that we would see a celebrity, we walked into his coffee shop. No celebrities but Lindsey Lohan was there the day before. Drove down Rodeo Drive and saw a huge crowd of people outside the Louis Vittion store so our friend jumped out of the SUV, grabbed our camera and joined the crowd. We had to drove around the block because we couldn't stop anywhere so when we drove back around we found out Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were coming to the store for a party. Once again, never saw a celebrity. :( But it's all good.


Our last night in L.A. was possibly my favorite night on the trip so far. We all got together at our friend's girlfriend's apartment and just chilled. Our friend played a few songs for us on his acoustic, we drank wine, threw cats around in the living room, talked, laughed and cried. This was where we were saying good-bye to our friend. Seeing his reaction made my trip to L.A. even more memorable. It showed how much it meant to him that we came to see him. He told us people always say they are going to come and visit but never do. We did. 


We all did not want to leave L.A. because we all fell in love with the city and we all never thought we would. It's funny how your opinions on certain things change after you experience it. Never judge a book by its cover. I know I will be back. To visit or live, who knows? But as we drove away from our friend that night I started tearing up. I was experiencing an epiphany and it gave me tears of joy and sadness. I can't explain it because it was the first time in my life I ever felt this way. My whole body, mind and soul just felt an overwhelming amount of sadness and happiness. This trip has made me seriously think about the soul purpose of everyone's lives, pursuit of happiness and it made me realize my pursuit. Why am I still in Spartanburg? Why am I not living where I know I will succeed? Why did I spontaneously drop my two jobs to do a temp job with Google? Why did this road trip and the circumstances of my life almost shadow exactly my Dad's road trip and the circumstances in his life 35 years ago? Life throws you curve balls all the time. Hell, sometimes it seems that is all life is are curve balls. But so far from this trip I have realized a lot about my life and its curve balls. Some things in life will always be left unanswered and they are suppose to. I do know that from this trip and the many travels I have done in my life that traveling is one of the best things for the soul.

Roadtrip Across the USA: Day 7

Last day in San Fran. I don't like saying good-byes but I will be back in a week for Google. Since we decided we were going to add San Fran to this roadtrip, I have been looking forward to driving down the Pacific Coast Highway (HWY 1).  At first the drive was alright, it wasn't what I was expecting. Scenery was ok and we drove through a few small towns here and there. But as soon as we drove through Santa Cruz and Monterey the scenery did a complete 180 degrees. The road hug the cliffs 500-700 feet above the waves and rocky bottoms below. Curves, turns and at some points no guardrails. The sun was setting as we drove down and it was indescribable. This part of the country looked untouched by humanity (except for the road that was built) and I hope it stays that way in my lifetime. I was sitting in the backseat on the far right on the side with the Pacific Ocean and the cliffs. The sun was setting behind us and it was difficult to get photographs so I turn my body around and faced the back of the SUV and snapped away. I got what I wanted :)

One bad thing about the drive was as soon as the sun set and I got my photos we wanted to hop back on the interstate for the rest of the drive to L.A. That didn't happen for a loooong time. The section of HWY 1 we were on didnt meet another road for 80 miles. So we only had one road to go, one direction to go and thankfully enough gas to get us there. But with the sharp curves and 2 lanes it the 80 miles drive took about 2 hours. Beautiful though and we don't regret it.

At 2am we got into L.A. and landed our mother-ship at our friends house. He is so excited we are here and I know the next few days are going to be so memorable.

Roadtrip Across the USA: Day 6

Today was a reminiscence of a few days back in June of 2008. I visited some of my most favorite places in the world. One in particular though. I don't know what its called but there is something surreal about this place. It starts at the top of a hill. You walk down this very narrow trail descending the hill completely surrounded by wild bushes and flowers. In the distance that you are walking towards is the Pacific Ocean. You continue walking down and the smells around just suck you into the earth. Pure nature. As soon as you reach the beach it is a short stretch of sand but to the left is a massive 200 foot cliff that engulfs you and stretches out into the ocean a good football field length. On the side is coated with massive rocks and smaller cliffs. And knowing myself and Andrew, we climb.

It was high tide so climbing the rocks and cliffs that jutted out into the ocean was somewhat difficult. When you climb all the way out with no land around you but the rocks you are standing on and the 200 foot cliff in the sky, there is this rock arch that is absolutely beautiful. The waves crash constantly towards you spraying mist into the air; in the distance you can see the Golden Gate and San Fran. Its quiet. I love it. And of course I went there today, showing Andrew. On the way back was more difficult than getting there. In the end I had both my shoes absolutely soaked and cut my thumb wide open and bleed pretty badly. It was all for San Fran :)

After, we stopped a few more places that I visited 2 years ago and showed them around. It was a lot of hiking, climbing, sweating, bleeding, and photo taking.

The rest of the day included eating at an amazing diner called Mel's (ever seen American Graffeti), watching sea lions grunt, climbing streets and listening to Lady Gaga. Today was one of the best days of the trip.

And also, we saw the entrance to Skywalker Ranch. Emoks roaming the woods. :)

Roadtrip Across the USA: Day 5

21 hours of driving through mountains, then valleys, then canyons, then mountains again, then flat lands, then deserts, then mountains, then into San Francisco. It was a beautiful drive but a difficult one for all of us. A majority of the drive was through the night which made it worse. Jake and I did the night shifts. He went first than I. I got on the wheel at 3:30am somewhere in the middle of Nevada and drove till 12pm when we arrived here in San Fran.

But as some of you many know, this is where I left part of my heart and soul 2 years ago when I first visited this place. I saw our hotel from 2 years ago, ate at Cafe Mason like we did 2 years ago and saw alot of the same places and things that we did 2 years ago. And it felt like I never left the city. It felt like it was yesterday two years ago.

I navigated myself and the rest of us around the city no problem. We searched for a hotel with decent rates and found one about a mile from the other hotel I stayed at 2 years ago, even on the same street. Walked around Union Square and Chinatown and also ran from camera shop to camera shop (literally, I ran) to find a new or used Nikon D-SLR at a decent price. I found one and plan on selling it as soon as the trip is over and get mine fixed but everybody knows that my pictures from this trip mean more to me than anything. Photography and traveling are my passion and for my camera to break on the biggest travel of my life so far...yeah...it was heartbreaking. So I forked over the money I did not want to spend to be able to continue on with my passions.

God, I love you San Francisco.

Roadtrip Across the USA: Day 3 and 4

For the past 2 days I have not had internet because on Day 3 the friend we were staying with kicked us out. That's right. We got kicked out. Why? I have no idea. Nor does Jake, or Whitney, or Andrew or even Meghan. We were completely baffled. So that night we had to pack our stuff and get out of Denver. We drove 2 hours south to a small town called Canon City, Colorado. We had a train ride through a gorge booked there the next day so we decided to crash there. But earlier in the day we experienced some of the most fun we have ever had in our lives. We white water rafted down the Cache le Poudre in Fort Collins. Our guide was named Nate and he knew what to do in every situation. For instance, we pinned our raft against a rock in the rapids not once but twice and this has never happened to Nate before in his raft guiding career. We popped his cherry on that one as he said himself. And plus he said that our raft was the most fun ride he has had all year. That's how we roll. But how we pin our raft against a rock twice in one trip is beyond me, even Nate.

One the first pin, everybody bailed except me. I managed to hang on with Nate as a rope was thrown to use to tug our raft back to safe waters. The second time all of us survived by climbing onto the massive rock right smack in the middle of the river. We moved the raft to the other side of the rock and hopped back in and continued rafting. It was one of the best experiences of my life. Words can't describe how giddy myself and Andrew were when these instances happened.

Later on that day, we drove through the Rocky Mountain National Park. One word: EPIC. Seeing the Rockies at 12,000 feet high makes me feel absolutely minuscule in this world. It was land untouched. It's the way the rest of this world should be. If I could stay there for the rest of my life I would have because I would wake up with the best view I've seen in the entire world. I would need an oxygen mask though because it started to get difficult to breath at that altitude.

After that, we got kicked out, my camera died for good and then we packed and headed south not knowing where we were going to sleep. We found a decent motel owned by a nice Russian family. The wife was sweet even at 11pm when we rung her doorbell for a room. As for my camera: Whit let me borrow hers until we get to San Fran so I can buy a new or used one. I can not believe my camera died. Of all trips in my life.

Well for what happened on Day 4, we woke up, did the train ride through a gorge which was really relaxing. As soon as that ended we packed our luggage for a 21 hours drive through the West to the Pacific coast. I must say the landscape between the Rockies and California is amazing. There is always something to look at and you never get bored. Mountains, valleys, canyons, deserts, grasslands, farmlands, ect. I loved it. We all took turns driving into the night and morning. I started driving from 3:30am to 1pm when we arrived in San Francisco. We just drove across the entire country. I can't believe we did that. I can't believe I had the chance to do this in my life. All I have is a :) on my face.

Roadtrip Across the USA: Day 2

Denver freakin rocks. That's all I have to say. Cleanest air I've ever breathed. No humidity. Dogs everywhere. Love it.

They day started with an amazing breakfast at a place called Snooze. I had a black bean patty topped with minced beef, poached eggs, and hollandaise sauce. We all at the table took a bite of everyones food. Whitney took (stole?) the coffee mug. She loved it so much she asked the waiter if they were for sell. They didn't but the waiter said that if she had a big enough bag... lol. Nuff said.

Walked to a lot of shops in downtown and saw a 40 foot blue bear peering into a glass building. After Denver, we rode to a small mountain town called Golden. It is home of Coors and the School for Mining. Very small town surrounded by the beginnings of the Rocky Mountains. We were in search of driving up one of them to get a birdseye view of the town and Denver but the road was shut off due to the 4th of July. :( But! We did drive down the highway that leads from Denver to Boulder through the mountains and that was one of the coolest scenic routes I've ever taken. I wish the Appalachian Mountains looked like this. Awe-inspiring. Mountain hills covered in rocks and trees and the road followed a river that didn't have any railings to stop cars from falling in. At one stop, across the river we saw something on the hill. I zoomed in with my camera lens and snap a few shots. After looking at them it looks like a crushed car that fell down the side of the mountain. Feel bad for that guy :( It started pouring rain and then hail the size of nickels. We drove to a small town called Black Hawk. This was "The Hills Have Eyes" kinda town, topped with lightening, darkness, and pouring rain = freaky. Now we are home to prepare to white water raft tomorrow. Meghan is going to get sick. I can already predict it :) haha

Roadtrip Across the USA: Day 1

30 hour drive. 8 states. We are finally, FINALLY in Denver. What a freakin drive though. 

Andrew started first. Drove for about 9 hours. We hit bumper to bumper traffic on I-40 in Tenn. for a while. Not bad for me cause I was asleep preparing myself for my turn at the wheel. We stopped somewhere in the middle of Kentucky and I took over. It was 4:30am and the sun was coming up. Weird. But pretty to say nonetheless. Drove through Illinois, and Missouri.  The big silver Arch was pretty and bigger than I imagined. I had my camera out to take a few photos, while driving across a bridge over the Mississippi River but I had no shoulder space on the road so no pics :( This area looked like South Carolina. I was sorta disappointed because I wanted to see something different but as soon as we hit Kansas it was exactly what I was looking for. 

Kansas impressed me very much. The eastern part of the state looked like Ireland. It was green upon green valleys and hills. After about 200 miles of driving we drove past massive, and I mean massive windmills that were numbered in the hundreds. They were just sporadically placed out in the valleys with no uniform to them. It's about time America decided to jump on this European technological bandwagon. We stopped and of course I took some photos. After we hit the road again I fell asleep for about 100 miles and when I woke up Kansas was exactly how I've always pictured it: the flattest land I have ever seen that was coated with wheat/corn/whatever vegetable field you wanna call it. We stopped at a gas station and the entire area smelled like a zoo. Don't know why and didn't care; we were almost on the Kansas/Colorado border. 

Now, as soon as we crossed into Colorado, the sun was setting and the clouds above were of epic proportions. Absolutely gourgous. Where I was sitting in the SUV was the most difficult place to sit and take a good photo of the clouds so I waited for the clouds to pass over the sun. When it did, I asked Whitney to pull over and it was one of the most gorgous natural things I have ever seen in my life. This was a good first impression for me from Colorado. I will have photos up in a few weeks of what I saw (sorry for the long delay but I want to take my precious time and effort into these photos so good things comes to those who wait.) But I must saw Colorado, so far, has such beautiful landscape. We haven't hit the Rockies just yet but we are right next door. Now for sleep because every single one of us needs it desperately.

P.S. I hit a bird in Colorado. He had the entire open sky to fly and he choose to cross over the interstate right in front of me. I felt bad :( Already killing the wildlife here.