eSCAping Type 1

And so we start week two of our first-ever cross-country road trip adventure…

Refresh your Part I reading (& check out the new pictures I found) here!

Again, all pictures in this post are my own (or my sister’s)…

Day 7: Zion

Zion National Park is, in a word, awesome. It’s this huge, beautiful park in Utah full of breathtaking scenes.

There are three roads that take you all the way through, and you can pull over at any moment to get out and explore – no trail required.

Of course, there are hikes that lead you to some of the most iconic views in America.

My crazy ass brother-in-law proposed to my little sister on top of Angels Landing – a 1,488 ft tall rock formation in Zion with a trail leading to it that you literally have to climb by holding onto chains drilled into the rocks, where six people have died. Thanks, but no thanks.

I do highly recommend going there, but I’ll admit, it was the one time on this road trip that I felt disabled.

Like I said, you can run and climb and crawl and traverse anywhere your heart desires. And while my heart sure does desire to do all of that, my legs have other plans.

So, Bogart and I would watch from the nice, air-conditioned car as my husband explored Zion, turning into a speck on the huge, red rocks before running back to show me pictures on his phone.

He did piggy-back me down a really neat dried up riverbed (ah, the advantages of marrying a Marine), but for the most part, I enjoyed the views from the passenger’s seat.

We honestly could have spent the whole day & then some at Zion, but the Grand Canyon was only five hours away! So we drove toward Arizona, arriving at one of the natural wonders of the world to see the most beautiful sunset of my life.

Day 8: San Diego

We woke up early, ready to return to the Grand Canyon National Park … and drove 7 hours to California instead.

Because we figured seeing that big hole in the ground once lets us check that off the list, we did not find it cooler than Zion (go ahead, argue me, I stand behind that statement), and how lame would it be to say we ALMOST made it across the entire country on our road trip?

The drive itself was another experience entirely. There were miles-long expanses of literal desert, our single road, and no other cars in sight.

I had a huge fear of running out of gas and having nowhere to go and no one to help us. We never knew how far away the next gas station was. It was the third time on our road trip I was convinced we were going to die.

Alas, I’m dramatic.

We made it to California no problem and spent the evening on a dog beach in San Diego, where all three of us touched the Pacific Ocean.

Day 9: California

With absolutely no plan in mind, we drove up the coast to Laguna Beach, treated ourselves to an In-N-Out Burger, and stopped by Camp Pendleton along the way. 

Driving back down, we stayed in San Diego long enough for Cody to get a tattoo, and then, sadly, headed back east.

Day 10: Phoenix

Wednesday was spent driving through Arizona…

We also got pizza, which I do not recommend ordering in Arizona. Probably should’ve found tacos. Though I hear Cane’s Chicken is pretty good, too. Ah, next time.

We made it to Albuquerque that night, just in time to sleep in a Walmart parking lot.

Day 11: Amarillo

New Mexico is about 1,800 miles from home, and we had three days to do just that. Luckily, we were driving along Route 66, so there was plenty of gimmicky road trip things to see.

The most iconic being Cadillac Ranch in Texas. You can sort of see it from the road, but it’s worth it to trek back to get up close and personal.

It’s literally 10 Cadillacs that were buried head down in 1974 as an “art exhibit” that displays the “evolution of their tail fins.”

What makes it worth actually going there though is that visitors can spray paint these old cars, keeping the “art” brand new every 5 minutes. AND there’s this pile of leftover spray paint cans that you can use if you didn’t bring your own.

So we got to paint and take pictures and now have a great, fun memory that was only possible because of how awesome road trips are. (Have I convinced you to take one yet?)

Day 12: St. Louis

We had made it to Oklahoma the night before and drove ALL DAY to reach St Louis by dinnertime. We had Pappy’s BBQ and I would drive back to St Louis just to eat there again.

Completely satisfied, we were ready to drive all night, but got caught in a gridlock for 4.5 hours due to a bad accident.

Of course, not all unexpected events on road trips are good, but you really learn to go with the flow.

We ended up making it to Illinois that night, where, in the interest of time (because we hadn’t spent enough time in the car that day), we slept in another Walmart parking lot.

Day 13: Home

After another full day of driving, that included being pulled over in Indiana for “not signalling long enough before shifting lanes,” we made it home!

Two weeks, 6,290 miles, 15 states… We had successfully completed our first cross-country road trip.

And we’re ready to do it all again. Well, down to Key West & back next year.

 

– Find Road Trip #2’s post HERE –