#theopenrogue

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Check out our trip to Amarillo, Texas!! 

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Even though it took 3 days to upload,check out our trip to Kansas City! 

[theopenrogue]

#6. Day 2: Missouri? More like misery!!!

Day 2 began with a 6 am alarm and all three of us in good spirits, ready to take on the day. After our hearty continental breakfast consisting of burnt toast and soggy oatmeal and a good night's sleep, everyone was feeling full and focused, excited to see what the day would bring. We left Cincinnati and began the scenic drive to Louisville, Kentucky. That was hands down the most beautiful drive so far. We drove for about two hours on a two lane highway that lined the northern boarder of Kentucky. We kept talking about how much we loved Kentucky and then Shae and I did a love is an open door video so def stay tuned for that... We arrived in Louisville around 9 and saw the famous "belle of Louisville" steamboat on the Ohio river. We then made our way down the charming Main Street that is home to dozens of shops and museums. One building was more beautiful than the next and gave off that old world southern charm. (Louisville=CHARMING) We visited the Louisville Slugger museum, home of the baseball bat factory that creates hundreds of bats everyday, used by famous major league players. We did the river walk and climbed on statues of Lewis and Clark and some guy named York who was on their expedition. Good for him for having his own statue.👍🏼Louisville is also home to the Kentucky Fried Chicken Yum Center, no KFC for us though, we have to stay limber. Next we got back on the road and made a spontaneous pit stop in Santa Claus, Indiana which was definitely worth the detour. Sadly, the museum was closed, but we got to take a look into the town post office, that receives and answers thousands of letters to Santa every Christmas since the early 1900s. I'll definitely be writing a letter this year. After Santa Claus, Shae took the wheel and we travelled to St. Louis Missouri which was yet another beautiful city. We kept messing up entering the city and finding where to park to see the arch so we crossed a bridge over the Mississippi River like four times lol oops. The arch was massive and very cool, fun fact it is the biggest stainless steel structure in the world. We walked around for a little bit and at this point we were starving. We stumbled upon Midwest Live! Shoutout to Balti, sorry Midwest power plant is def better. For those of you who don't know, power plant is like a warehouse/alley full of bars and restaurants that we go to all the time at school. Midwest live is literally part of the stadium that the cardinals play at which is awesome. We ate at Cardinals Nation which looked out at the ballpark. After refueling we got back on the road and set out to Rudy's house just outside of Kansas City. The drive to KC was great other than a little traffic and some asshole in a silverado who was TEXTING while driving. (To all the parents, just want to let you know we have a STRICT no texting policy and we have been freaking out if we see anyone doing it) Kara did this drive and I slept for a little in the back seat and listened to an audiobook called The Art of Racing in the Rain which is told from the point of view of this really sophisticated dog named Enzo. I haven't gotten that far yet, but I'll let you all know when I know more about it lol. We passed the stadium the the royals play at which was beautiful because the sun was starting to set. (sun sets in the west and were driving west so it's awesome but bad for the eyes) In Kansas City we're staying with my dad's best friend in the entire world, the famous Rudy Waldner, world traveler and author of Marketing From the Trenches. Like his page on Facebook please :) just wanted to do a quick rant about Rudy... Ever since I can remember Rudy has been one of the most interesting people I have ever met. He's one of those people who you could go years without seeing and then you see him and he'd treat you like no time has passed. (Best kind of people) Through visits with him when I was young and my dad telling me stories, I've always been inspired by his free spirit and how he truly lives life to the fullest. We met him at a Thai restaurant right near his house and we had the best time catching up. Immediately Shae and Kara loved him obviously because he's awesome, and we had a great time sharing our stories and listening to him tell us about his life and adventures. After dinner we settled into his house, which is absolutely beautiful and spotless. Literally so clean and organized. (dad, maybe we should try to be a little more like Rudy lol) Every room has something interesting, whether it's authentic African bongo drums, a Tanzanian mosquito net canopy, or framed photographs from the safaris he's been on. All three of us were so genuinely happy to be here and we sat and talked about how excited we are to have made it so far and accomplished so much in just two days. A huge thank you to Rudy and his wife Sandra for being so hospitable and awesome!! Ps. Highlight of the day was finding out to my surprise, that Rudy's weenier dog Strudel is still alive and kicking...that weenier dog was my childhood so I got very emotional over that... Maybe it was the wine or the fact that I was overtired, but I almost shed a tear... Thanks for reading! Pictures, videos, and posts are on the way! Xo Jess

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#5. Day 1

Hello everyone! As you can see, we have successfully made it through day one smoothly, tornado run in and all :) special thanks to Shae who did a great job driving the first leg of the journey. Our first stop was Lancaster, PA where we had good times with even better people!!!! (Shout out to EJ our 80 year old buggy driver and the horse that was either named Luke or Sally…) were still wondering what EJ stands for…. And if the horse’s name was like of Sally…Anyway, Amish people have always fascinated me because it’s literally like they decided to freeze time and refuse any form of progress, isolating themselves entirely from the rest of society. EJ told us that his family has been in Lancaster for 8 generations. It is insane to think about how much has changed in my family in 8 generations and how Amish people literally just stay the same. They don’t go anywhere, they don’t do anything. The kids just ride around on their little bike scooter things looking miserable. Idk man, whatever floats your boat. Anyway, after our buggy ride we bought some fresh produce!!! Very nice!! Next I drove through most of Pennsylvania, which is underratedly a HUGE state. That drive was pretty cool, very interesting landscapes… We drove through a bunch of mountains, like through tunnels. Pretty sure they were the Blue Ridge Mountains. At some points we would see signs warning us that the next exit was the last food or fuel for 80 miles… So that was kinda scary. Once we got to West Virginia, our wild card driver took the wheel. Kara defied the odds and was most definitely the MVD (most valuable driver) of the day. About 40 minutes outside Columbus, Shae got a tornado warning notification and started freaking out, almost as bad as the time we made her sit on the end on the jaws ride lol. Obviously at first, I was making fun of her for panicking, but within minutes even I freaked out a little bit. The car was swaying with the wind and it was too dark and rainy to see anything, but the hazard lights of the car in front of us and the occasional giant lightning bolt…. Kara stayed calm and handled the situation beautifully, by slowly driving us to take shelter in a TGI Fridays where I apologized to Shae for making fun of her and we ate appetizers until the storm passed. We ended our journey in Cincinnati, which was ight. Not too much going on there other than a Reds game and Nick Jonas filming a movie (only know that b/c Shae) Overall I’d say day one was definitely a success. More pictures and videos are on your way! Thanks for reading!! xo Jess

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24 days #birkenstocks #dreams #theopenrogue #roguepics

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#2. JESS

Ever since before I can remember, time has been my biggest fear. I’ve always been afraid of the years going by too fast and not being able to do all the things that I want to do at the point in my life that I want to do them. We constantly hear about people who say they're going to do things, but what does it mean if they never really do them? A few months ago, while I was wrestling with all of these ideas in my head, I asked myself a simple question, what makes me happy? I’m pretty sure most people can agree that the ultimate goal in life is happiness and the mystery of life which has yet to be figured out is how do you get there? So I made a list, and promised myself from that day forward I was going to live my life with those things in mind and the goal of pursuing my hopes, dreams, and passions.

#1. Travel “We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.” -Robyn Yong There is nothing more exhilarating than going somewhere I’ve never been, doing things I’ve never done, and seeing things I’ve never seen. This trip takes all of that to a new level. Over the course of three weeks we will see 700 miles of America,driving through 22 states, and countless cities. The ultimate travel experience.

#2. Friends & Family “A journey is best measured in friends rather than miles.” -Tim Cahill This trip would not have been possible without Shae and Kara being crazy enough to do it with me. Lucky for me, they are two of the smartest, funniest,and most amazing people I have ever met and there is no one else that I’d rather take this journey with.

#3. Learning “People never learn anything by being told, they have to find out for themselves.” -Paulo Coelho Throughout this trip we will not only learn about all of the different places that we’re visiting, but we will learn about what truly matters to us. This trip gives us the opportunity to expand our minds beyond the scope of a class or a textbook, to be introspective, and to learn about ourselves in a way that we have never before.

#4. Organization “A place for everything and everything in its place.”-Benjamin Franklin Not to get all type A on you guys, but being organized is one of the best feelings, whether it’s my room being clean or just having all of my thoughts together. With a special thanks to our padfolios (weird little leather folder things that we got from the Women’s Leadership Conference lol,) and countless hours of meetings over FaceTime, every last detail of this trip is accounted for.

#5. Adventure “20 years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you dint do than by the ones that you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” -Mark Twain So I guess how it goes in our case is take your foot off the break, drive out of East Williston, and feel the wind out your car window? lol, but for real, I believe that life is all about taking chances. This trip is going to be a hell of an adventure and we’ll face plenty of bumps in the road, but I’m certain that this adventure is worth it.

Driving cross country is not only something that has always been a dream of mine, but it is one of few things that combines everything on my list. It’s so much more than just a trip...it’s a learning experience... an adventure...it’s three weeks of seldom showers and breaking in our birkenstocks... It’s unforgettable memories that will last a life time. With less than three weeks left until departure, it’s unbelievable to think about how soon this dream is becoming a reality and I can’t wait to share it with all of you. 

See you on the Open Rogue ;)

- Jess

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#1. Kara

With only a month left until the we get on the road, I thought it would be appropriate to explain the origins of The Open Rogue and our reasoning behind this journey. Over the past month or so, we have been meticulously planning a trip to drive cross country and back.  Jess, one who is always looking for adventure, was the first one to come up with the idea (and then she obviously had to tell Shae about her insane idea). Shae was all for it and was excited to go on a trip not like any other. Obviously at this point, the trip was only an idea- an idea that couldn’t become a plan until it was realistic. Realistically, they both knew that their parents wouldn’t let them travel across the country if it was only them two. The two needed a third, or a fourth, and that’s where they found me. I’m always pretty much down for an adventure, which is why I took a great interest in listening to Jess as she told me all about the ideas she had for this possible trip. In the back of mind, all I could think about how perfect this trip would be for me considering how frustrated I was about the fact that I’m not able to study abroad. I truly needed an adventure; an experience that I will remember for the rest of my life.  

At this point in the planning process, we are completely booked.  This trip, which originated as just a thought passing through Jess’s ingenious mind, is now very, very real. It is wild to think at in just a month, the three of us will be on the road and living out this adventure. I feel like this is kinda strange to say, but I’m really proud of us for pulling this together in the time span that we had. We’ve spent the past month non-stop planning this trip, and it’s safe to say that we haven’t gotten into any arguments or tiffs. Judging by how our personalities work together, I doubt we’ll have any issues on the road. With all that being said, this experience would not be the same without Shae or Jess by my side. I’m so lucky to have found them in college and I truly look forward to the 3 weeks that I get to spend with them on the road.

There’s a common phrase that gets thrown around a lot, “Life begins at the edge of your comfort zone”.  I feel like I hear this phrase, or similar versions of it, at least once a week in college. College is the time where we learn what we want to do with the rest of our lives. I’m bringing this up because I truly believe that this trip will help us in finding what we really want to do with our time here on Earth. This trip is not just an excuse to get out of a job or to avoid responsibilities back at home, but rather an experience that will teach us lessons that we can’t get from a textbook or an internship. This experience will give us time to think. This experience will give us time to learn (in my case, learn how to drive). This experience will give us time to understand.  This time away from our normal routines and responsibilities will allow us to realize what matters most to us. This time is what I’m most excited for & I can’t wait to bring you all along to experience it with us.

Well, that’s my train of thought for now. Sorry this got really corny.

-Kara

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