Day 7: Jerome, Cottonwood and Sedona

Also known as the most amazing road to drive! If you love driving, and long for a road that seems to be made for a Porsche 911, then this is the road for you. Sadly we were not driving a Porsche 911 but rather a GMC Terrain. We took it easy yesterday morning and then in the afternoon decided to explore Highway 89A. I had found this route for my Mom and Dan back in September 2011. I looked on Google Maps and saw all the twists and turns and told them, “you gotta drive this road it looks amazing.” They did and were incredibly impressed. Anyone who’s known me for a while knows I love the Kancamagus Highway in New Hampshire. It’s possibly my favorite scenic road to drive, and it’s where Craig engaged to me. This route puts […]

Day 6: The Land of Sun

The sun comes up early here. 5:00 am and Craig and I were both awake. I drifted back and forth between sleep and awake, while Craig wrote lyrics. We got up and headed out to the Safeway for Starbucks and some groceries. It feels like people can tell we’re not from the area. Not sure what exactly it is, but there’s a feeling. We came back home and relaxed with my Mom and Dan. Craig napped and I worked on installing face plates and cleaning up the bathroom. I took a much needed shower that felt awesome. We lounged around some more, I got my full lazy on sitting in the living room looking out over the mountains with my feet up in a recliner. It was great. Later in the evening we took my Mom and Dan down to […]

Day 5: Arizona Here We Come

We departed Gallup, NM and quickly crossed over in Arizona. This section of I-40 was particularly flat and looking like driving across Mars, as much as one can imagine. The red rocks of New Mexico were gone, replaced with light brown rock, bleached ground, sage brush and the occasional small shrub. Craig and I switched drivers so he could sleep. I had to make time to catch up with my Mom and Dan who’d kept going. I put tunes on, kitties chilled out and I put the pedal to the floor. I cruised along doing 85mph and slowly caught up. We stopped in Flagstaff for lunch only to be surpised that it was not 11:30am like we thought but 10:30am. The nice people at Cracker Barrel worked it so we could get lunch. I really liked Flagstaff, surrounded by mountains […]

Day 4: Another Land

As we left Texas the landscape started to change dramatically, the mesas and plateaus rose from the horizon. Today’s color palette was sage, tourmaline and terracotta. As we crossed into New Mexico all we could think about was what grass would look like on Mars. Highways that go in straight lines for miles and miles. Paralleled by railroad tracks and meager fences. Our destination is Gallup, New Mexico. Later that day… We were cruising along with out issue, until my Mom had to stop short in the moving truck in front of us. When she did we had to slam on the brakes and all of the sudden the A/C died. We were hopeful it was just a temporary thing, and it came back for a few moments. But alas, the air conditioner quit again and the temperature gauge started […]

Day 3: Pushing Through

In daylight we got to fully check out our hotel which was very nice. It’s too bad we weren’t going to be staying there longer. We headed out to Denny’s and this time I opted for a healthier breakfast; egg whites, spinach, fruit and an english muffin. We decided at breakfast to drive as far as we possibly could. The great optimism was to go from St. Louis to Albuquerque, which was 1000 miles and 16 hours of driving. We hit the road and journeyed through Missouri. Having done two road trips now, Missouri takes the cake on weird bill boards, and their proliferation of Adult Superstores. I was happy to see the lack of microsurgical vasectomy reversals, child pornography destroys (which it does) and this time only a few Jesus Saves billboards. The new Missouri billboard I liked had […]

Day 2: Corn, Crosses and the Arch

We got a late start again but was optimistic about the day. The truck was handling much better. I started off the driving and later in the morning Craig and I swapped. We finally made it to Indiana and trying to make as good of time as possible. Indiana greeted us with a massive metal cross on the border, and then fields and fields of corn. The biggest cross I’ve ever seen was still to come. Craig and I couldn’t remember which state it was in when we drove through in 2004. It’s certainly unforgettable. We made it through Indianapolis and with the time crunch I was only able to send a virtual beep beep to my friend Kevin who lives there. Next up was Illinois; more corn. Lots and lots of corn. Based on the amount of corn being […]

Day 1: Pennsylvania and Death Defying Feats.

Alarms went off at 4am. We had to be in Danbury at 5am to load up the kitties and head over to Denny’s for breakfast. After a late start we hit the road at 7am. New York went by quick. Craig and I were the follow car; reporting back about any swaying issues with the trailer and acting as guides to when it was safe to switch lanes. All was going pretty well. Then we entered Pennsylvania. Where do I begin…carnage is a good start. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much road kill consistently along the side. Construction, holy crap they closed a lane every 30 minutes or so. First, drunken cone placement. They were all over, never actually on the white line. Tractor trailers kept knocking them over and sometimes they’d flip back into traffic. One proceeded […]

Road Trip Eve

I knew the day before would be crazy, and gratefully I was able to wind down at work without project craziness. I probably should have been suspicious at that point. Craig picked me up at work, we headed to Stop & Shop for some last minute travel items. Back home for pizza with my in-laws. Many thanks to them for bringing it over and taking care of our kitties while we’re gone. Just as we started packing, my Mom called to say that they were settled and ready for us. We collected ourselves and drove down to the Holiday Inn off Exit 8 to pick up their car for the next morning. We arrived around 9:30pm and the place was packed, cars parked on the grass, valet parking and blaring music. Lots of drunk old people; yes I’m calling you […]