What a day

The snow continued throughout the night and morning in Flagstaff. All roads for 100 miles in every direction were closed. Luckily we were stuck in the hotel and not in our car somewhere. Bogey loved jumping, running, digging and playing in the snow, we think he was hoping we were stuck in Flagstaff for a little longer. There was nothing that we could do besides camp out in our hotel room and delay housekeeping from kicking us out. The interstate finally re-opened at 2:30 pm, so we dug the car out and packed it up. Since we had such a late start we decided to make a reservation in the greater LA area, rather than drive all the way to San Luis Obispo.

As expected the first 100 miles of the drive were extremely snowy and slippery, in our opinion it was questionable whether the interstate should have been open. As we made our way to lower elevations the driving conditions dramatically improved. Within 2.5 hours we went from the snow-pocalypse of Arizona to the dry and sun-filled Mojave Desert, it was the most radical change of scenery we had ever witnessed in a single car ride. As the desert ended so did I-40. We were hoping for some sort of sign signifying the end of the interstate that we had successfully driven 2400+ miles of over the past 5 days, instead all lanes anti-climatically merged into I-15 (boring). Soon after, Jodi was introduced to the traffic and driving along Southern California Freeways.

We made it to our Hotel around 8:00. Bogey was less than pleased that his snowy paradise was replaced by the cement jungle of Southern California. But seriously, it was not easy to find a place where he was comfortable to do his business. Tomorrow will be the last leg of our trip to Berkeley. For obvious reasons we plan to drive up the coast for most of the day. Although we cancelled our reservation in San Luis Obispo we still have to stop by the hotel as our landlord shipped the keys to our apartment there.

We apologize that you all will have to wait a day or so before we are able to post any more pictures. For some reason our hotel doesn't have free wireless, but what can you expect from a hourly-rate room in Compton.

(Same Post - Just with Pictures added, we will post the events of 12/31/10 tomorrow morning)

Snowed in

We made our shortest drive today (322 miles)

from Albuquerque NM to Flagstaff AZ. Jodi had

the foresight to look at the weather report, which read "blizzard conditions" for northern New Mexico and Arizona. For safety reasons we decided that we needed to get to Flagstaff as soon as possible, and because of this we were unable to do any sightseeing in Albuquerque this morning. However, on the way to Flagstaff (before the snow hit the fan) we made a stop at the Petrified Forest National Park. To our surprise the drive through the park was amazingly scenic, but like my Cousin Brad said there's a reason why the land in the parks has been set aside.

The entire drive was extremely windy today, keeping the car in between the lines was hard work. We were amused of all of the tumble weeds rolling across the interstate throughout the drive. The heavy snow didn't begin until we were about 10 miles outside of Flagstaff. When we pulled into Flagstaff we quickly realized we would be stuck in the hotel for the rest of the day/night. There was 8-12" of snow on the ground and the roads already with another 10" or so on the way; but don't worry Tim made sure we were prepared by picking up two 6-packs before we even checked in at the Hotel. Luckily there are plenty of restaurants, gas stations and stores within walking distance of the hotel, so we have everything we need except for an opportunity to explore Flagstaff, Sedona and the Grand Canyon.

We are hoping we're able to get out of here and make the planned trip to the California coast tomorrow, but for now we're sipping on the 6-packs and making the most of being snowed in.

We are to the point now that we need to post the rest of the pictures of our journey in an album, to see these photos visit this link: http://picasaweb.google.com/TimMillerDPT

Long and Flat (that's what She said)

We have entered the Wild West and thankfully put the Plains behind us today. The only bit of sightseeing we did today (besides the drive) was a stop at The Oklahoma City National Memorial at the sight of the 1995 Federal Building bombing.

We were both amazed at the vast amount of nothingness and amused by the sky touching the horizon in every direction, as well as the various wind-farms. I-40 is desolate throughout the Plains and for those without a hybrid you should fill your gas tank as often as possible. We made our lone stop today in Amarillo, Texas. For those who are Man v. Food fans, no we didn't do the 72 oz steak challenge at The Big Texan. Jodi was amazed to see absolutely nothing along the interstate until we reached a town. Even then, the businesses were simply lined next to each other, parallel to the interstate. This included Amarillo! She thinks Burlington is bigger than Amarillo...

To our surprise the landscape immediately changed as soon as we crossed the New Mexico border, making the drive much more interesting. It was cool to see the Mesas that we have only read about. We arrived in Albuquerque as the sun was setting behind the mountains, which was a beautiful site to see. We knew we had reached civilization again when we saw all the city lights of Albuquerque.

We decided that since we were in New Mexico, we needed to experience some authentic Mexican cuisine. So we ventured to Papa Nachos for tacos and some spicy salsa and it was delicious.

Tomorrow we head to Flagstaff, AZ. It should be a shorter drive than we have experienced thus far. Perhaps a visit to the Grand Canyon is in store....

Sunny skies and dry roads

It was smooth sailing all the way to Oklahoma City today, we are well into our journey through the Great Plains. It didn't take long for us to decide that the "Great" describes the size only.

Bogey (and Tim) began the day with a jog through the campus of Vanderbilt University. Then we drove through downtown Nashville before we headed toward Oklahoma City. We first stopped in Memphis to see the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel and then to drive by Graceland. Other than these two sites, Memphis, TN leaves a lot to be desired.

We continued on, over the Mississippi River and into Arkansas and the beginning of The Great Plains...nothing but flat driving for the next 6 hours. We ended today's trip in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma after a long day of driving. Of course, Bogey was ready to run after he slept the entire trip.

Off to Albuquerque, NM tomorrow and thankfully the end of The Great Plains.

And we're off (to a very snowy start)

Day 1 of the cross country drive was much snowier and slower than expected, but we made the 486 mile drive to Nashville safely. The snow was very pretty, but it made traveling interesting. We were unable to drive faster than 20mph for about an hour while driving over the mountains near the NC/TN border (yes that picture of the road is of the interstate - we're not sure where the plows were).

Bogey did very well for all 8.5 hours in the car today. He was happy he was able to look out of the window and didn't have to be in his crate (we had to collapse his crate to save the space). We created a space for him on the seat but he decided that he was happier on top of all of the luggage.

We had plans to see the Christmas decorations at the Gaylord Opryland, but Bogey had other plans. We only made it to the lights outside when we got a call from the Hotel front desk informing us that Bogey was howling and barking non-stop, so we had to leave before we could step inside. It's looking like we not only need pet friendly hotels, but pet friendly sight seeing as well.

We're hoping for less snow for our 677 mile journey to Oklahoma City tomorrow.

Advice, tips and suggestions for driving cross country

In an effort to help us plan the first of many legs of our journey, please feel free to add comments to the advice given to us by my Cousin Brad:

I drove across the country and back in the summer of 1999 and it was

one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. So, in an effort to help
make your trip memorable as well, I wanted to impart upon you some
lessons and tips I learned on my trip.



1) This may sound obvious, but plan ahead. I would recommend that
you know where you’re going to wake up every morning, what you’re
going to see that day, how much time you’re going to spend in the car,
where you’re going to eat your meals, and where you’re going to go to
sleep. Now, this doesn’t mean you need to pick out a restaurant for
lunch, but rather, I’d recommend planning out your driving and get a
good idea of what towns you’re going to be near when it’s lunchtime.
Doing this will ensure that you will not waste good driving time, for
example, stuck in some boring place for the night because the next
townis too far away. And, I would also look at the opening and
closing times of each of the attractions you want to see. That way,
you won’t show up to find out it’s closed on Mondays, or something
like that. In addition, I would make as many hotel reservations as
possible. It’s much easier to cancel a reservation before 6 PM
because you don’t need it than to find one at 11 PM in the middle of
nowhere. (Trust me, I found that out the hard way.)

Having suggested that you should plan out the entire trip, I would
also recommend putting in a few floating days where you don’t have
anything assigned. That way, if you go somewhere and want to spend
the day instead of just 3 hours, you can do that and it won’t screw up
your overall schedule. And, be realistic about driving times and how
much time you’d want to spend places. Don’t become Clark W. Griswold
and always rush to the next thing at the expense of where you
currently are.

2) Get a tent and two sleeping bags and camp some of the nights. This
will save you a good amount of money and will be kind of fun. If you
do it enough, the money you save from hotels will pay for the cost of
the camping equipment. And, you’ll probably use the equipment again
when you’re in CA. Of course, since you’re going to be traveling in
December, look at the weather reports. Maybe it’s too cold everywhere
and doesn’t make sense. I don’t know. (Also check altitude, which
makes things very cold at night.) And, you have a dog, so you’d need
to figure out how to camp with a dog. I imagine if it’s too cold the
dog, it will be too cold for you.

3) Don’t screw around with anything east of the Mississippi River.
There are lots of neat things east of the Mississippi, but they’re all
very similar to things we’ve all seen growing up on the East Coast.
Get across the river as quickly as possible and see the West. There’s
nothing like it anywhere else in the world. You’ll probably need to
spend one night east of the Mississippi, so you can find a neat
town/city and stay there. But, other than that, go West.

4) I might even change the above recommendation to say don’t waste
time east of the Rocky Mountains. There are a few exceptions, like the
Badlands, but for the most part, the Plains States are very flat and
after you’ve driven across them for hours and hours, you won’t want to
stop anyway.

5) Bring all of your music with you. I don’t know if you have an iPod
or other music player, but if you don’t get one used from eBay.
You’re going to be in the car for hours and hours. You’ll need
something to listen to.

6) In a similar vein, rent or borrow books on CD to listen to between
Graham and the Rockies. You can rent them from any Cracker Barrel
restaurant for $3.50 per week and return them to any other Cracker
Barrel. (They make you pay the full price when you rent it but you
get it refunded, minus the fee, when you return the book.) I’d check
to make sure that these restaurants are well placed out West, though,
so you can return the CDs without going out of your way. Also, you
can get books on CD from your local library and buy padded envelopes,
address them, and buy postage for them before you leave. Then, when
you’re done, you can just mail the CDs back to the library.

7) Focus on National Parks. When deciding where to go on your trip, I
would use National Parks as anchors. Learn about which ones are out
there, decide which ones you’d like to visit, and then work out the
details of traveling between them. I’m not saying that everything
you’ll want to see is in a National Park, but some of the best parts
of the country are in those parks. There’s a reason they’ve been set
aside, so you should enjoy them. I would recommend looking at
Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Glacier, Rocky
Mountain and Arches. As with the camping recommendation, I would
check the weather to see what is reasonable to visit in December.
John and I were at Rocky Mountain National Park on May 3 of this year,
and you really needed snowshoes it was so cold and snowy. So, you
might need to take this recommendation with a grain of salt, given
your traveling in December.

8) If you think you’re going to go to a few National Parks, I’d
consider buying an “America the Beautiful” National Park pass. It
costs $80 but gets you into all parks for free for a year. It’s
transferable to whatever car you’re in, and it gets everyone in the
car in for free. Individual parks cost $20 each, so if you go to 4
parks over the course of the year, it will pay for itself. Even if
you don’t hit that many on your trip, you’ll probably go to Kings
Canyon, Yosemite, Death Valley, Joshua Tree, etc while in CA. You can
get more info here: http://www.nps.gov/fees_passes.htm.

9) Consider joining AAA, if you’re not already a member. They’re good
with towing, if anything happens to the car. In addition, they will
give you free maps of all the states you’ll visit. And, if you give
them your destinations and preferred routes, they’ll mail you a
triptik that gives you detailed maps of where you’re going, what
you’re going to pass, and where you can eat/stay. Much of this info
is available online, but you’re going to be spending a good amount of
time in places where you don’t have any cell service, let alone wifi.

10) Again, because you won’t always be able to get on the internet to
look things up, buy one or two good travel books. These books will be
good to plan your trip, and also as a reference while you’re on the
trip. I like Frommers and Lonely Planet. There are also books that
specifically focus on the National Parks. And, there are books that
tell you where pet-friendly hotels are. I’d considering buying one of
those too.

11) Take a good cooler with you. You can buy sandwich stuff and
drinks in grocery stores on the way, and just replenish the cooler
with ice as necessary. It will save you a good amount of money
because you won’t need to buy every meal at a restaurant. And, it
keeps you from having to be in a populated area every time you want to
eat. In addition, throw in at least one good knife, but the rest of
the stuff (plates, other silverware, cups) can probably be
paper/plastic and disposable.

12) Buy an altimeter for your car. They’re cheap and you can get them
at camping stores or maybe even Target. I found it fascinating how
high I was on some of the roads. On tops of mountains, they tell you
the elevation, but those signs are few and far between. If you think
you’d be interested in this information, it’s worth the investment.

13) Stash a few hundred dollars in $20 bills somewhere in your car.
You’re not always going to be where you can use cards or checks. So,
just in case, hide some cash in the car somewhere. It could help you
out of a jam.

14) Finally, when you’re in California, make it a point to do
something every week. When I was in Ireland, and again in Olypmia, I
made this rule. It doesn’t have to be anything amazing, but just make
sure that every weekend, or at least once during the week, you go and
look at something cool, or do something you won’t be able to do when
you come home. If you don’t force yourself to do this, you’ll miss
out on all kinds of cool stuff in California. Of course, I’d
recommend going to National Parks, but LA and San Francisco are also
fantastic, as is the Central Coast, which is the stretch of land
between the two. After a few months, you’ll be experts and the people
you work will with be envious of how much interesting stuff you’re
doing.

Many thanks to Brad for all of his advice and insight!

We look forward to hearing more tips and suggestions others may have!