Cross Country
2007

19 Days - 24 States - 8215.3 Miles

Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Mexico, California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania

Travel Log

Maryland to Oklahoma

July 27th - 29th

We got off to a good start on our cross country road trip on Friday afternoon and, despite a few backups, made our way across the panhandle of Maryland and down through West Virginia before banking over to Kentucky and getting south of Louisville before calling it a night. We woke up yesterday morning and did a quick tour of Mammoth Cave, then did a drive-by of Graceland, and ended up at Jeff's in Little Rock for the night. This morning we went to the Clinton library for brunch, took a tour there and then headed west to Oklahoma City where we are staying tonight. Tomorrow, we're off towards Amarillo.

Oklahoma to The Four Corners

July 30th - 31st

We started off Monday in Oklahoma City, taking a tour of the Myriad Botanical Gardens before going to visit the memorial for the bombing in 1995. We left town around lunch and headed west, stopping first in Elk City to see the National Route 66 Museum, then in Sayre to see the RS&K Railroad Museum (in this guy's garage), through the town of Texola (population 12), and finally to Amarillo before calling it a night. This morning we went to the Amarillo Cattle Auction and then to the Cadillac Ranch just outside of town. We spent most of the day driving through New Mexico, stopped at the Route 66 Diner in Santa Rosa and the Dancing Eagle Casino just past Albuquerque. We've called it a night here at the Ute Mountain Casino near Cortez, Colorado, right near the Four Corners, where we are starting tomorrow.

The Four Corners to San Francisco

August 1st - 4th

We woke up Wednesday just barely in Colorado and then headed to just barely in Utah for breakfast before visiting the Four Corners and spending time just barely in Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico all at the same time. From there, we banked west and got to the southern rim of the Grand Canyon before leading south through Phoenix to see an old friend of my mom's, a former colleague of Alvin's, and a former colleague of mine, making Phoenix the first city where we spent more than a day. We left there first thing Friday morning and made our last push west towards San Diego, stopping along the way just past Yuma to have lunch in Mexico. After a late dinner in California with an ex of Alvin's, we headed north, taking time to drive down Hollywood Boulevard, en route to a ranch in Thousand Oaks to meet up with an old friend of mine. Saturday morning, we pushed off north and drove up the Pacific Coast Highway, touring the Hearst Castle and driving through Carmel and Monterey before pulling into San Francisco late last night.

San Francisco to Yellowstone

August 5th - 9th

We woke up Sunday morning in San Francisco, had brunch and rode the cable cars before heading out to my cousin's near Oakland. First thing Monday, we went a bit out of our way to West Sacramento to the western terminus of Route 50, having grown up seeing a sign in Ocean City declaring "Sacramento, CA 3073" at the other end. We then cut back to the coast to see the redwoods and took the car through a living redwood, replicating a picture my dad took as a child on a cross-country trip in 1956. We wound our way up the coast, dutifully getting an oil change in Eugene before cruising into Seattle on Wednesday afternoon. We went up the Space Needle and toured Pike Place market before meeting up with Alvin's old roommate. This morning we had breakfast with a former colleague of Alvin's and then turned east, marking the start of our drive home. We stopped for a late lunch in Coeur D'Alene in Idaho then barreled through the mountains of Montana to get to Bozeman for the night. Yellowstone awaits us tomorrow.

Yellowstone to Iowa

August 10th - 12th

We woke up in Friday morning in Bozeman, MT and stumbled into what must be the only lesbian-owned cafe in the region. After a late breakfast, we headed south into the northern entrance of Yellowstone National Park. Our stops in the park included Mammoth Springs and Old Faithful, and we left the park around dusk out of the eastern exit, driving late into the night to Buffalo, WY. We made several quick stops Saturday, to Deadwood, SD to see the graves of Buffalo Bill and Calamity Jane, to Mount Rushmore just down the road, and to Wall, SD to see the Badlands National Park and the world famous Wall Drug Store. All of this was in the midst of the annual motorcycle rally in Sturgis, SD, so the roads have been lined with Harleys. We set out from Wall this morning and began our push home, stopping for lunch in Albert Lea, MN, then turning south for Des Moines for the night.

Iowa to Maryland

August 13th - 14th

We woke up just north of Des Moines, IA on Monday, in Ames, home of the Republican Straw Poll just a day earlier but empty when we arrived. We drove through the small town of Elkhart, which was founded by my relatives in 1902, and then went to West Des Moines to visit with my dad's father's mother's sister's daughter. From there, we started our drive home in earnest, stopping for the night in Indianapolis. In the morning, we took a tour of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, including a trip around the track in a small bus with a cranky driver. We stopped for dinner in Ohio and then drove through West Virginia, then Pennsylvania, then West Virginia again, and finally back into Maryland, arriving home around 10 to a dog who was very excited to see us, and to a bed we were very excited to see.