March 4th
Today is the first day of our trip, everyone was very excited. We spent the day driving around Los Angeles. Though it was a bit tiring but we were at the same time filled with happiness and energy. Kicking off the day by delicious dim sum, we spent the afternoon strolling on Santa Monica beach, and our night at the famous lighthouse cafe from the movie La la land. We could not help being surprised by what a charming city L.A is. The first day on the road trip was also full of great songs of Jay Chou and Escape plan which we sang along all the way on out trip. On Santa Monica beach, we also met three lovely dogs taking a walk with their owner, our personal favorite was Chester, which were the cutest thing ever but with a bit diva side. The warm sand, cool water by the beach and slow pace life here was so fascinating that without even noticing it, the night time has already come.
March 5th
Second day of our trip, we started it with a relaxed morning rambling on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The palm trees swaying in the air along with the fresh, cool morning air were all mixed with the unqie atmosphere of Hollywood. On the Walk of Fame, we were excited to find the name of Jackie Chan and Donald Trump, which we took pictures with. After that,we walked around the theater in which Oscar ceremony was held. With time approaching the midday, we drove to K-town in L.A for lunch in the famous kang ho dong baekjeong restaurant. Thick cut beef steak marinated in home-special sauce sizzling on the barbeque plate, Oh it could not have been more tempting. Together with the Korean spicy sauce and crisp salad, everyone was so full after lunch.
After lunch, we decided to drive around Beverly Hill so see around the most expensive neighborhood, well maintained luxury houses and expensive cars on the street. It was like a totally different world. After this short tour, we went to the Getty Museum. Riding on the free tram up to the museum on the top of the hill, we could see the view of L.A. under the clean, blue dome. The modern design of the museum with its white beautiful curve made it an artwork itself. Inside, oil paintings, sculptures together with pictures were displayed in an elegant and clean order, maximizing their beauty under the natural light in the building. In the backyard of the museum were garden filled with flowers and a delicate fountain. Sitting on the lawn, we could overlook upon the whole Los Angeles, including the busy city, floating clouds and the dark blue ocean far away. If we had enough time, it will definitely be a perfect place to spend some time talking with friends and have a lunch sandwich.
At the end of the day, we left L.A and drove to Bakersfield to prepare for our upcoming trip to Sequoia National Park.
We had dinner in a small vietnamese restaurant. With a warm and delicious bowl of pho noodle soup, all the hardship during the day seemed to have disappeared.
March 6th
Today in the sunny start, all the way north, on both sides of the road is not see the end of the farmland and orchards, the sky lazy floating a few clouds, the car is placed Zhang three songs, we with the melody, The heart has flew to the distant place. After an hour or so, the sequoia mountains have been getting closer and closer to us, the snow-capped mountains, open the road from the highway slowly into a rural road, the roadside occasionally see some rolling orange, we Could not help but get off to pick up a few.
Soon, we came to the Three River, which is the last to enter the sequoia before a small town, we are ready to eat lunch here, next to the restaurant can hear the rushing sound of water, next to the table sitting a grandfather and grandmother, In the sun quietly enjoy the food, watching them, we feel that time has slowed down. Eating burger, chatting days, laughing and joking, this little stream next to the restaurant left our best memories. After dinner, we began to enter the sequoia, before the Raiders immediately to become the immediate reality, and my heart is still very excited. A few minutes later, we came to Foothills, where is the lowest place for sequoia, the temperature is very appropriate, the roadside has a small wildflowers bloom, we finally found two hidden small trail, hands and feet, crazy shot a lot of photos The When we naive to think that sequoia is so warm, unknowingly, the temperature becomes higher and lower with the elevation of the elevation, when the road began to appear when the snow, we ushered in today's biggest challenge, chain. God knows how difficult it is difficult to install the anti-skid chain, we kneel on the ground, face close to the ground, constantly test the anti-skid chain of elastic, from heaven to the dark. The car with the anti-skid chains was squeaky and we were careful to go to the top of the mountain. The huge red cedar soon surrounded us, in front of them, we are so small, the night, we can not see the way ahead, the snow around the high as if we want to swallow. When we finally saw the wuksachi lodge road signs, could not help but screaming, and finally arrived. After a day of winding mountain road and snow, we finally arrived at the destination.
March 7th
Today we enjoyed the most tremendous sights of nature. We rent snow shoes and walked the amazing trails of Sequoia national forest. We walked among the giant sequoia trees and climbed across snowy mountains and rivers. We played in the snow and enjoyed ourselves, but were soon overwhelmed by the long distance of trails and dragged our tired feet. We completed the journey and conquered the mountains, and said goodbye to Sequoia as we drove down the mountains to get some rest.
March 8th
Today was the fifth day of our trip. After a good night of sleep, we woke up from our cozy lodge right next to the Three Rivers. We spent some time enjoying this quiet morning with sunlight and fresh air. Then, we left the giant Sequoia National Park and started heading to the Joshua tree Park. On the road to Joshua, we saw lots of orange trees and after few hours of driving, the landscape started to become wild. Five hours later, we finally arrived at the black rock campground at Joshua Tree National Park. This campsite was surrounded by many Joshua trees and with the help of our neighbor, we successfully built our tent. After the short dinner, we were very excited to start our campfire night. Under the whole sky of shining stars, we laughed, danced and enjoyed our marshmallows with chocolate.
March 9th
Today morning, we are waken up by the sunshine through the tent. We hear someone playing guitar. He is a lovely old grandpa, singing and playing the guitar in the morning. This morning, everyone in the campground is so relaxed and enjoying the time in Joshua Tree Park. The first spot we go is Hidden Valley. There is a very interesting story to tell about this place, and we make it as a video to introduce it to others. Then we go to the highest spot in Joshua Tree Park, where we can see the Mexican mountain. Then we take a short trail to look for a skull rock. We are so impressed by the stones and trees. These joshua trees have to survive in such a terrible situation, and their strength, desire to live really surprise us. Compared to Sequoia’s forest, joshua trees are strong in such a sterile environment. If Sequoia is the one which proves the history, joshua trees would be the representative of strength. In the afternoon, we drove to San Diego.
March 10th
Today’s morning we wake up so late, because we had an awesome party last night. The first thing we do in the morning is to go to beach and watch seals lying on the beach to enjoy the sunshine. We have our lunch in a theme restaurant, Godfather. All waiters are dressed exactly as what Godfather would be like in the movie. We have a fantastic italian food. Afternoon we have a volleyball match in the beach. Even though we aren’t that professional in volleyball playing, but we really enjoy playing with close friends. Today we go to Chinatown to have a native chinese food, and then we drive to airport to return the rented car and ready to go home!
We miss these days’ travel, and we really don’t want leave LA. Anyway, Boston, we come back.
Road Trip Voting
Dates:2017.4.20 - 2017.4.26
Voting Policies
1. Register a Boro account
To prevent malicious brush ticket behavior, we require every voter to use his own school email (@.edu) to register a Boro account in order to participate in voting.
2. Login everday, Vote for a team
After login, each account is allowed to vote for any ONE of the eight teams. Only ONE vote is allowed per day, but you can re-vote on the other day. (e.g. 7 votes in total are counted if you vote on 7 consecutive days.)
3. Vote and Win Travel funds
We will randomly select 10 voters to win $200’s travel funds in cash. The more you vote, the higher chance to win the rewards!
The final winning teams of the Road Trip Challenge will be decided upon both the total number of votes it gets and the total score it gets from completing the tasks
The Champion
$2,000 Cash rewards
The Runner up
$1,000 Airline Voucher