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My best moments - the kind that distill all the pleasure of being alive - have occurred on the back roads of America: Booming past Wyoming buttes, with the west wind shoving at the car and a huge blue sky overhead; tunneling beneath a chromatic woodland of fall oaks and maples; or winding along the California coast, with the sea stacks shimmering in the Pacific mist. Roads web this country in a labyrinth of possibilities. As a nation of road builders, we have been hacking and cajoling trails, traces, country lanes, and superhighways out of the wilderness for almost 400 years now. ...They are the thin meandering lines on the map that make you want to wander for the sheer sake of wandering.

 (K. M. Kostal, "National Geographic Guide to Scenic Highways and Byways")

My current total of US States visited:

*Road Trip August 2008* (click link for photos)
Midwest USA to beautiful Colorado/Rocky Mountain National Park

Future plans:
*Road Trip 2010*
"Northern tier" US / Canada / Pacific Northwest

*"US by Train" Trip to California*
See the US as we cross the country from the Mid-atlantic to California by Amtrak train, road trip around California 

Travelogue for:
"Cross Country Road Trip of Fun 2006"

*Note:  Album has moved to new site - click link below, you do not need a password
(click above to to see the best photos from the trip)

Before looking at just the highlight photos, I think it would be a good idea to read each day's summary (most are short, just scroll down the page and read).  Then come back here to the top, click the photo, and see the condensed photo slideshow.
Click here for Highlights

Day 1, Saturday July 15th:
For most of this first day it was just driving, driving, driving. There was some excitement somewhere in Ohio because I heard a SMACK, as a rock hits the windshield. In the lower center there was a “starburst” break, about the size of a quarter. I sort of freaked out (as we were only a few hours into the trip)! I was afraid that it could not be repaired and that our second or third day would be wasted due to having a windshield replaced completely somewhere in South Dakota... Well. At this point, we had no choice but to continue on, and try to get it repaired in the next day or two. 

Now for perspective this was my first trip into the midwestern plains so 

I was mesmerized by all those flat fields of corn all the way through Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. Field after field of corn. More corn than you knew ever existed! Flat, flat, flatness. 

But those fields at dusk, right before sunset, were pretty.  We were in Illinois at that point...

Finally, after about 13 hours of driving we ended up in Joliet, IL. I was so excited to have completed the first day.  

Day 2, Joliet, IL to Sioux Falls, SD
This was another long driving day. Illinois and Iowa are very pretty but that they felt just a bit boring at times, looking at the same (flat) scenery for miles and miles. We were on the Oregon Trail for some of the drive so it wasn't like we didn't get off the interstate for some interesting drives...

We noticed that some farmers had signs on their field that read:
“Freedom from Foreign Oil: Soy Biodiesel (or Ethanol)”. No photo of the signs though...

The big event for today was crossing the Mississippi River (of course after looking at a map it seems we happened to be at one of the smaller parts of it,  so it wasn't as mighty and awesome as I thought it would be) I was driving and could not get a good look, unfortunately. 

Later that day, we were somewhere in Iowa in the late afternoon and realized we were in the middle of  the summer 2006 HEAT WAVE.  Joe’s car had an outside temperature reading of nearly 100 degrees, and that was fun to keept track of, especially given that huge heat wave in CA. 

Day 3, De Smet, SD to Badlands, SD
We woke up at the hotel today in Sioux Falls, SD and called a auto glass repair place - and luckily and had our windshield repaired! Awesome. I was very afraid it would not be repairable. After that, we were on our way to the Laura Ingalls Wilder Homestead in De Smet, SD.  At the homestead, we noticed the 2 people who signed the guest book right before we arrived were both from PA (Collegeville and Bainbridge)!

So after the homestead, there was just more driving.  There is literally nothing on these roads except farms and ranches - and there is no shoulder to the road, hard to pull over for "pit stops", breaks, or lunch.  It is hard to imagine this if you live in the metropolitan east coast which is built up beyond belief even if you are NOT in a city... But out here, it is so different. It is exhilarating, freeing and fun - but also sometimes inconvenient to have no where to pull over, eat, or... yeah.

Today, I am getting a bit excited to see what the Badlands look like... Finally around dinner time, we arive, and I can see it far off in the distance on the left hand side of the road. It looks so beautiful yet very “surreal” - moon-scape looking! It was bizarre but very, very interesting and beautiful and it comes out of nowhere. First, there were hills and grassland, and the next thing I know, there is this wild moon scape of rock...
Day 4:  Badlands National Park to Greeley, CO
The morning was spent in the Badlands. It was very windy and hot! It was very beautiful in a weird way and I can see how it would be fun to spend some time there camping or hanging out in an RV.

After the Badlands, there was a bit of an adventure into the middle of nowhere - i.e. Western Nebraska. The sandhills of Nebraska... There really is a whole lot of space in the middle of America! (When we reached the east coast again, we realized just how dense everything is, it simply amazed us that off of every interstate exit there were actual “services” and hotels. Even when it appears you are in the middle of nowhere in the East, this does NOT compare to places like South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, etc).

Today was the day of the famous road that would take us all the way from northern Nebraska to Southern Nebraska: State Route 61 (not to be confused with Highway 61).

Along this road were 4 towns, each with a population of about 4 - seriously. Only 2 towns had gas stations. For 4 hours, we did not see anything except rolling hills of sagebrush and ranches. A rancher waved to us as we passed by! Men were dressed like cowboys (because they ARE in fact real life cowboys) Joe was worried that his shorts and sandals look would not be “manly” enough for the locals (ie: would be too "metro"), and he regretted his decision NOT to wear his sneakers, because everyone else was in big cowboy boots.

One radio station announcer sang their theme song/jingle: “this is 96.5 AND 106.1!” Two radio stations in one! In the middle of nowhere! Radio ads were for farm equipment. There was no cell signal for FOUR hours. There was no shoulder to pull over. There were no other roads.

So, finally we found civilization in a town: Ogallala, Nebraska. The town was odd, but we really had to use the restrooms in an Arby’s. The Arby’s employees working there were by far the strangest looking bunch of people we’ve come across so far. Normally I wouldn't say this about any place, but it was just *so* strange there. It did seem that we were literally in the middle of nowhere in the sandhills of Nebraska. Not recommended.

Ah, now we found I-78 and were headed into Colorado. This interstate was as bumpy and bad as that road is in Pennsylvania. We thought we had mistakenly been transported home! There was nothing much to see on this road either.

We stopped in Greeley, CO for the night. Of note, the woman running the desk at the Sleep Inn was the nicest and most normal hotel employee we met on the trip.

Day 5: Rocky Mountain National Park
This was one of the nicest, most beautiful days of the trip (because there was no HEAT WAVE and it was a NORMAL temperature). Rocky Mountain park was just beautiful.  But, I am getting ahead of myself.

We left Greeley and traveled west on Highway 34. We could see the Rockies far off in the distance… This was one of the most exciting drives of the trip, just for the simple fact that I could see these beautiful mountains off in the distance and everything was lovely - there is something very beautiful about the mountains and the towns that are nestled next to them and in them. So, the drive was very nice, and we have some great video of driving through the foothills.

Rocky Mountain park is beautiful and we didn't even see most of it. The peaks and the trees and the valleys and everything - is just so amazing, for lack of a better word. We drove up halfway on Trail Ridge Drive, to the Tundra Level (tree line?). At this vista point and at several others along the way, we had breath taking views.  

It rained later after lunch, so we took a nap in the car at the visitor's center while it rained. It did stop, but the threatening clouds still lingered overhead and we could hear thunder. We decided to try a very short hike (1/2 mile) around one of the lakes (we picked a short one in case it started to thunderstorm badly and we needed to get back to the car). Just as we finished, sure enough, it started to rain and thunder. After that, we drove on to Lyons, CO were we had a very nice dinner in town with my Uncle, who lives in Denver, CO. Thanks again Uncle Gary for that nice treat.

We drove then another 2 hours up to Cheyenne, WY.

Day 6: Cheyenne, WY to Jackson, WY (The day I call “Big Sky”):
This was only a driving day. We traveled a good portion of the way straight across Wyoming on I-80, and then we turned to head up north on 191 to Jackson. It was a pretty drive, one of only other ones that really, really stick out in my mind (besides Rocky Mt day). I remember how unbelievable it was to experience “big sky”. It is hard to describe but I will try: there are no trees so you can see for miles and miles and miles, AND there are completely wide open spaces beyond imagine (ranches and oil fields); these two things coupled with our higher altitude than in the east - this makes the sky and clouds look very low and very big - it is just this huge expanse set before you because your view is unencumbered. Thus, “big sky”. 


Anyway the other parts of the drive included many straight roads, and pretty buttes. As we approached Jackson, my memory fades a bit because it was a long drive and we were both REALLY hungry. We however then did decide to go right through town to Grand Teton Nat’l Park, to get a view of the mountains in the late, late afternoon/early evening. Then, we drove back into town and settled in for our stay in Jackson! 

Day 7: Yellowstone
Alright, ignoring the Buffalo incident which I will tell you in a few moments, this was by far the best park (well, this one and Yosemite are tied)... and this was by far my favorite day, tied with the central CA coast day. Yellowstone is amazing: Yellowstone has mountains, rivers, waterfalls, canyons, trees, AND last but not least of course - the geological excitement like thermal hot springs, geysers. Basically it has anything and everything you would want to see in nature- it is all here, it is all encompassed in this amazing part of the United States. We took a hike to an "off the beaten path" waterfall, and took the "hard route" at the fork in the trail, and were literally rock climbing up the side of the mountain before we realized our mistake. Turned around a bit, found the "easy" path and got to a cute little waterfall. The real treat however, was on the drive out of the park at dusk – the rolling fields and trees and mountains were cast in this amazing golden glow from the sun setting. The colors were like nothing I’ve ever experienced before.

 Then, the Buffalo incident. It has to be told in person but basically it involved me driving us out of the park, when I see a HUGE buffalo coming towards our car, on the road in our lane! It was basically making a beeline for us (albeit slowly), in our lane of traffic. However, there were a TON of cars coming towards us from their lane on the other side, and no one from the other lane was stopping far enough back for us to swing around the buffalo- so we just sit there as it walks right towards us (I had this vision of it just climbing on top of the car), and then FINALLY, it veers off slightly when it arrives at our car, and then walked past me, on the drivers side, about 2 inches from the car. It is a story I must tell in person for full effect, though. That huge buffalo head went right past my drivers side window! 

Day 8: Grand Teton and Jackson Hole
The next morning, we just didn't have it in us to drive another 2+ hours into Yellowstone and do the upper loop, so we went to Grand Teton National park and tried to do a hike (6 miles!). At mile 2,  some kind hiker told us he had just scared off a bear up ahead but “he didn’t think it was coming back”. Ooook. Time to turn around! We did get a good bit of exercise before we turned around, given that this was a mountain, and so was all up hill. So we then did a drive up to Signal Mountain to the overlook of the tetons and valley areas. It was a nice drive and overlook.

So after our mountain view drive, we decided to head back to Jackson for the afternoon and explore the town. We had a nice time walking around town and going into the cute shops. We found great t-shirts – it was the only place that had interesting, original and funny t-shirts. We then went to a whole foods grocery store where a customer was dressed in a full Super Woman costume(middle of summer, mind you). We bought our dinner and headed back to the hotel room to eat and go to bed early – the next day was a looooooong driving day across Idaho and Nevada. (We finally admitted to ourselves we should have gone all the way across Idaho - which was cumbersome to do with the way the roads were layed out, but we should have done that... and then should have went into Oregon and gone down into Northern CA - but we instead picked to swing down into Nevada. Oh well, next time, during Road Trip 2010!).

Day 9: Idaho and Nevada (to Reno):
First, let me just say my least favorite place was… RENO.

So, all we did today was drive, drive drive. Idaho was actually very pretty. So was Nevada-  the desert and the mountains, and I was feeling pretty good until stupid Reno. It was just not a good experience. Onward to California!!!

Day 10: Reno to Napa Valley to Merced (making our way towards Yosemite):
Today was Wine Country "driving-tour" day! Let me just say that the first part of I-80 in California after leaving Reno was just an awful, awful road. Way worse than here in PA! Finally we passed Sacramento area and were on our way to Napa Valley. After getting a bit lost with the directions, we found ourselves on the correct road (Highway 29). We then went back on the "Silverado Trail" which was very pretty. However, I think I was expecting a bird’s eye view and we probably should have figured out how to go up one of the hillsides or mountains for a view, but it was HOT and we were tired (it was 108 when we ate lunch).

Onward we went to Merced, CA, which was simply a good stopping point for the day – we arrived about 6 or 7pm as I recall, and it was 118 outside! Our air conditioner could not even cool off the room! We did our thing as far as dinner and such and I don’t even remember how I survived in a room that was near 100 degrees but I did...

Day 11:
Ok, YOSEMITE today! However, we needed an oil change, so off we went to the Merced Jiffy Lube. They overfilled the oil and we were blowing out huuuuuuge amounts of blue/white smoke from the back of the car, as Joe mistakenly got on the FREEWAY instead of taking the side street! So we finally get off, took the first right turn off the exit to get back to Jiffy Lube, except this right turn is a loop right back ON The freeway! We are still billowing massive amounts of smoke and we both are freaking out. We FINALLY get off the freeway at the same exit, drive a while, get lost, find a gas station, check out his engine, don’t see anything wrong and assume it MUST be Jiffy Lube’s fault. It was. They drained the oil, cleaned it up, etc. 

This, however, killed 2 ½ hours or something like that, so we were VERY late getting to Yosemite. I was a little upset. 

As you can imagine (or not) parking in Yosemite in the early afternoon was  a nightmare and we only got parking by mere luck and thankfully it worked out. We did a few hikes we had planned (hiked to Lower Yosemite Falls), then around dinner time, called it a day to go back to the hotel and do laundry. Yes, I did laundry in Yosemite, so exciting! 

Day 12:
The next day in Yosemite, we drove up to Glacier Point in order to have good views of the granite rocks/mountains/and Half Dome. The vast expanse of the granite formations and mountains just amazed me to no end. I could have looked at it all day, except, like all our time in California, it was SO hot (approx 100 degrees at 11am), so it was hard to stay outside for any length of time. But, looking out over all that really makes you feel so empowered. I thought it would make me feel insignificant, me being so small, everything else being so big and massive but the beauty there, the vastness of nature, really makes you realize a lot of things.

Anyway, we drove back down to the valley and did a very nice hike to Bridalveil Falls. Then, trying to escape the heat, went to the gift shops and the Ansel Adams Gallery. It was a very nice treat to see his photographs and be in the air conditioning! We then decided to do a 2 mile hike to “Mirror Lake”, even though it was 110+ outside. However, once we got to the trailhead, I finally noticed that “Mirror Lake” only existed in the Spring (?), so that whole plan fell through. I forget what we did after that, but Yosemite was great all around – my words are “Grand” and “Majestic".

Day 13: Yosemite/Oakhurst, CA to Monterey, CA
This was mostly just a driving day, and the first day we slept in, I believe. We just took our time today making our way to the coast to Monterey, CA. When we got there, we were greeted with 60 degree weather, and I did not realize this is sort of the norm there even in summer (I guess they average in the high 60s?). The beach was very pretty there – this stop was planned so I could see a sunset over the Pacific, but it was completely and utterly overcast and it was raining a bit, so seeing a pacific sunset never happened on this trip.
Day 14: The Central CA Coastal Drive, Highway 1, Monterey to Pasadena:

The day started out cool and extremely cloudy and foggy. This was not the weather I wanted for the coastal drive. The clouds were low and hugging the coast and cliffs, making visibility poor. We went to Andrew Molera State Park and walked all the way to the beach, where we were promised a beached whale to see, but could not find it (I don’t know how you miss a whale, we figured it must have washed back out to sea?).

After that adventure, we continued on to the Big Sur area, which is the area that is pretty famous for the cliffs and ocean views. Finally, finally it begins to clear up, and blue sky emerges, while some clouds still hung around the cliffs. This made for some pretty photos. However, driving on the side of cliffs, with nothing between you and the ocean/beach below is a wild experience. Also, the switchbacks were so tight that most said 15 mph. I got car sick by the end of this, and was so glad when it did end and we were on straight, sea level roads. And, by time we got to the end of the curvy/cliff part it was very sunny and pretty. We drove near/through Santa Barbara (got stuck in an hour’s worth of traffic on “the 101”), but it was pretty and I’m glad I got to see this part – the beaches down there look AMAZING.

Then we made our way to LA freeway traffic, on a Friday around 6pm… It was not as bad as I feared, but I was still pretty nervous, simply because we just had NO IDEA where we were going. Joe was driving and says now that he was never nervous... but I was just not feeling too well - and was all too happy to get to the hotel and OFF the freeway. It was a fun experience looking back but I was pretty nervous. Traffic was going an AVERAGE of 90-100mph (a lot seemed to be going faster, ha), and there were about 8 lanes on each side and lots of huge interchanges.

*Update: now that I live in DC, I see that pretty much LA has nothing on the ring of hell that is the Beltway

Day 15: Pasadena to Palm Springs/Joshua Tree
Well I figured, why the heck not just make our stopping point Palm Springs since it is close to Joshua Tree National Park. We can say we were there, since everyone talks about it and soo… off we went. Palm Springs was kind of not what we imagined or pictured – kind of a ghost town on Saturday afternoon when we arrived. So, we went straight away to Joshua Tree and were, well, pretty let down (shame on me for not researching this one more thoroughly, oh well). It’s just a bunch of desert and these plants called trees. And NO SHADE AT ALL. I’m sure it is amazing to just camp there, or to go there at sunset (I can imagine the colors), but the way our day worked out we were NOT there at sunset.. 

So, while at Joshua tree, we hiked through some rock like formations where I was somewhat  inexplicably afraid of running into snakes, and then we went to the overlook of the desert areas. I should have been more concerned with grizzlies in Yellowstone, but no, I was concerned about snakes.

Tthe evening was spent taking a niiiice long nap, our first of the trip! Then, we ordered in from California Pizza Kitchen (new to us - don't have that here) and the pasta dishes were good. Next, we swam at the hotel pool which was very nice in the evening under the stars and palm trees! It was warm but not hot. Very nice time in Palm Springs...

Day 16: Palm Springs to Flagstaff, AZ
This was just a driving, driving, driving day. Got to see the desert in southern CA and southwestern AZ, drove around the Phoenix area, saw the saguaro cactus, and drove through national forests in Central AZ. 

Day 17: Grand Canyon to Lake Powell/Page, AZ
The day did not start off well, we were set back about 2 hours. When we finally arrived in the Grand Canyon, we only had about 45 minutes walk along Rim Trail, and then the thunderstorms and steady rain moved in for the rest of the afternoon. This rain literally hung right over the south and east canyon. It did not move. Not only did it rain, but visibility was incredibly poor. We did what we could with the day (luckily both of us had been here before), and then we just couldn't wait any longer for the rain to clear and had to leave in order to make it to Page, AZ before dark.

Day 18: Page, AZ to Zion, UT
Our first activity of the day was a tour of the slot canyons. These were very pretty and interesting, but not overly amazing. What they are: petrified sand dunes that have had spaces carved out of them by rain and wind (erosion). Then, sunlight filters in and pretty oranges and reds can be seen at certain angles.

After the slot canyons, in the afternoon we took a boat tour on Lake Powell (ie: Glen Canyon, which is mostly underwater because of the dam). It was a 3 hour tour, which was about 1 hour too long (I could have been satisfied with a 2 hour tour). The lake is a beautiful color, simply amazing.

Then, we started our drive up to Zion National Park in UT, where we would stay the evening and tour the next day. We drove up and through what is called “Grand Staircase National Monument”. Very beautiful scenery!

When we started our drive into Zion to get to our hotel, I was pleasantly surprised at the beautiful surroundings. I had no idea Zion would be so grand and beautiful! The setting sun cast beautiful light and shadows on the mammoth rock towers/canyons in the park. Our hotel / our room had the nicest setting/view of the huge rock formations.


Day 19: Zion National Park to Bryce Canyon National Park:
Zion was very beautiful. We did two short hikes, one to a waterfall/emerald pools, and one to “weeping rock”, which is a big boulder that emits water (something to do with sand and it being compressed and the water seeping out). Most of the longer hikes involved immense heights and sheer drop offs, and I couldn’t do that, so we did another short hike in the valley and got lunch. Then it clouded over and began to rain, so we called it a day a couple hours early and headed to Bryce.

Arriving in Bryce was… interesting. It was literally in the middle of nowhere, which I was not expecting (all national parks we had been to had some sort of civilized town associated with them). We made the best of it after dinner and went into the park and saw the sunset over the "hoodoos", and then went to get some ice cream and also visited the gift shop. We were not overly impressed with the hoodoo rock formations, however.

Day 20: Bryce to Arches/Moab, UT:
We spent about 1 hour in Bryce this morning, and just were not that interested. I had planned a full day until 4pm, but we radically altered our plans after not taking a liking to Bryce. I will say it had one of the nicest visitor center displays and I found it interesting there.

We arrived in Arches very early, which allowed us to do some hiking to the main arches in the evening (it was VERY hot though) and then we got a nice dinner at Moab Brewery.

Day 21: Arches to Santa Fe (ended being Santa Rosa, NM):
Ah, yes, we needed an adventure! First, this was just a driving day - just trying to make our way east now, now that all the major, accessible National Parks had been seen. Also, the point of today was a "Scenic" drive in New Mexico. I had read in several places that Highway 64 in northern New Mexico was a scenic drive. So, we drove down to this from Utah, and well, it wasn’t all that scenic, honestly, we gave it a try for about 3-4 hours. We then decided instead of continuing on it to Taos, NM, we would go down to Santa Fe. Ok, good plan – except it was a looooong day and we got stuck on this 2 lane highway that seemed to NEVER end, had no towns or any type of civilization on it, and it was getting dark. 

Finally, finally around 9pm, we get to Santa Fe! Hooray! There were several mishaps with finding the 'hotel area', but we found it… only to find out every hotel in the city was booked solid for the night. Now, granted, it was a weekend night, I believe, but Santa Fe is a bigger city, but every place we called was booked. We called 8-10 hotels, and even the Marriott, which was not in our price range. 


Santa Fe was the first civilized place we had been in the last 5 or so hours.  It was nearing 10pm and I really needed to use the bathroom, plus we hadn’t eaten since lunch time, so we were not a happy bunch. luckily there was an IHOP right near us, so in there we pulled for a late night dinner of pancakes and omelettes, and the realization that we were going to HAVE to drive another TWO HOURS east to the nearest town – Santa Rosa. This involved a pitch black drive on a two lane highway through literally the middle of nowhere. It was so dark it was suffocating. I have never been in a darker place than where we were on this highway. So, this is what is like WITHOUT light pollution of any kind!

FINALLY the interstate, but I could not keep my eyes open and I don’t know how Joe kept driving. Finally, 12:30am, and we get to Santa Rosa. 

Day 22: Santa Rosa, NM to Dallas, TX
Another driving day: Texas, at least northern/western Texas, is REALLY flat! The day had no real point, except we were attempting to get to Dallas in time for Joe to get to see the end of a major computer game convention that people from his company were attending.  We arrived in good time - what with the hour lost due to time zone changes and other glitches. The Hilton was really really ridiculous (in a good way). But – we could NOT get into the convention! Apparently, registration had ended... oh well. So, all the way to Dallas… but, hey, we were at a Hilton! Ok, so yeah, more money that we would like to spend for the room and their indoor pool was horrible,  and their outdoor pool seemed to be a mile away (they had a whole “complex” of buildings). So, no pool and no convention. We ordered Dominos to the Hilton and called it a night – we were satisfied in that we could say we were in Texas.
Day 23: Dallas, TX to West Memphis, AR
Well… today was just another driving day (like the first 3-4 days of the trip, the last 5 were just driving more or less). To break up the monotony, we headed north to Oklahoma City for an hour or two and went to the bomb memorial. It was about 110 outside, which made the experience uncomfortable and annoying, so we only were outside for about 20 minutes.

After that, it was pretty much just drive, drive drive, all the way across OK and Arkansas. Got to West Memphis around 8pm. Today was kind of a bummer of a day.

Arkansas looks a lot like Pennsylvania and this made us sad (sad to be going home). Rolling hills, farms, forests, etc.


Day 24: Memphis, TN to Pigeon Forge, TN
After Joe decided he did not want to take a northern detour to the Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, KY, we decided to spend the morning in Memphis at the Civil Rights Museum (at the hotel where Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot).  That was a good choice.  It was powerful and I am so glad I went.

Then, we drove across Tennessee. I drove through Knoxville. We ended up in an interesting place outside Great Smoky Mountain National Park called Pigeon Forge, which by the way, is a dry town. Just in case you need to know. This town, plus Gatlinburg which is right next to it, look like a cross between the entertainment of Ocean City, NJ and the tackiness of Atlantic City, but without the beach or boardwalk! It was… strange. There was no reason for the existence of such a place! Also, everyone is very nice and says “y’all” all the time

Day 25: Great Smoky Mt. National Park to Christiansburg, VA
Today we left Pigeon Forge for the Great Smokies… It was beautiful there, but very crowded. We could not do the one major hike we wanted to do because the trail head parking was completely full, all the spots along the road for a good mile were taken. We were not going to do a hike to GET to the hike. The park overall was okay, of course just a lot of mountains.  We didn't get to some of the historical stuff/areas which I was bummed about - but I’m glad we went for the vistas, because those mountains are VERY pretty and very interesting with all the mist/evaporation giving them their “smoky” look.

After leaving the park and getting somewhat lost trying to find the interstate, we headed up into Virginia. We ate dinner in Bristol, TN and then stayed the night in Christiansburg, VA. Tonight was the LAST NIGHT on the road. I was happy to not have to get another hotel room for another night, but I was very very sad it was ending.

Day 26:
I was really sad this morning. Joe said he is not sad, but changed his  when we were on the PA turnpike. We had nothing left to do. No national parks to visit, no new adventures on the road, no new sights or smells or sounds or anything! It’s done. The adventures were over. We were in familiar territory. There are no pictures from today except of Joe’s car. That is how sad/exhausted I was. I didn’t even want pictures to document coming home or being home.


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