DCaffeinated

Life. Inside the Beltway. Outside of Politics. Mostly.

6.21.2005

Road Trip!

Three and a half more days of work. Then a summer on the road. Who knew that quitting your job and moving halfway across the country could be so stressful? I'm really hoping that once Friday rolls around, all of the little things that didn't get done will pass on, and the gf and I can enjoy six weeks driving around the country.

After two months of dragging our asses planning (well, of my dragging my ass planning) we finally came up with an itinerary that hits most of places we want to see. Sure we'll be rolling through some places quicker than I'd like, but I only have so much time and money. Tough-titties.

1. Columbus, OH. Yeah, I know, we have a place to crash and its halfway to
2. Chicago
3. Badlands, SD and Mount Rushmore
4. Glacier National Park
5. Spokane, WA, the Grand Coulee Dam, and the North Cascades
6. Seattle
7. Olympic Peninsula
8. Washington, Oregon, and Northern California Coast.
9. San Francisco
10. Yosemite
11. The godless city of LA
12. Zion, North Rim of the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Arches, Canyonlands, Moab
13. Santa Fe, NM
14. Austin, TX

Just typing it all out gets me jittery with excitement. Kinda like sex, only more family friendly.

If you have some thoughts about must see places in or between these locales, it is not too late to have an impact on "The Greatest Road Trip Ever Taken By Me!" as this event has been labeled for publicities sake. And if you check back in over the next few weeks, there might just be some updates and photos to evoke public commentary. Who knows, there might even be some witty stories that poke fun at the trashiness that is the heartland of America. Wow, it is like one big mystery.


-As I wrote this I found a link to a friend, who is doing a waaaaaay cooler road trip this summer, fifty state capitals in fifty days. Pretty nifty. Makes my little trip look shabby in comparison. I will now go cry.

2 Comments:

  • I've got some useful stuff on my blog if you're headed to Yosemite. There's a lot of stuff that's going to stay closed this year due to our record snow. There's also lots of cool pics and happenings in the Park. Oh, don't forget your mosquito repellent.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8:29 AM  

  • Lucky...road trips are what summers -- and life -- are all about. I've driven from Palo Alto, CA to the DC area twice, and have the following quick suggestions in case they help:

    http://www.roadtripusa.com/ - the most useful free road trip site ever

    CA Coast on highway 1- worth the extra time (Carmel, Monterrey, Hearst Castle, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara)

    LA - well Santa Monica is a good stop, there are cheaper motels near the freeways, but it's an awfully big place to road trip

    Vegas is a great stop for a night, if you've never seen the spectacle...but if you've seen it, it's a black hole that'll tempt you to spent too much time and money there...so beware of that city, fun as it may be.

    Flagstaff, AZ is pretty small, but has a quaint arty downtown and a decently bohemian feel. They have lots of decent, cheap motels, good diners (including Galaxy Diner on rt. 66) and bookstores to chill in. Plus, it's barely an hour from the grand canyon, and the locals in the outdoorsy sports store gave great recommendations for hiking around the canyon.

    Albuquerque, NM - probably the most surprisingly cosmopolitan and fun city on the road trip. There's some great food (go to El Patio for MORE SOPAPILLAS), a cool old town area with not-too-touristy shops, and a very pretty stretch of parkland near the Rio Grande. Plus, near UNM on old Rt. 66, there are lots of cool punks, activists, etc that made me miss the SF Bay area.

    Roswell - waste of time, unless you couldn't immagine our government lying to us. Not about aliens, but about all the money they waste developing tech to kill people. But there are nice motels.

    El Paso - A shithole, but a five minute walk from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Juarez is also a shithole, but one with cuban cigars, cheap tequila, and a penchant for dollars.

    Dallas - friendly, but too big a city to stop for only one night during a road trip.

    Oklahoma City - nothing to do, but a surprisingly big city as far as the buildings and convention center are concerned.

    Memphis, TN - Surprisingly cool city, lots of blues...amazing bbq. Not the most night life, but still worth a stop at Neely's.

    Nashville, TN - Also surprisingly cool, not as much bbq as Memphis, but it makes a city boy feel country music soul. The downtown is actually lots of fun, with bars, live music, and a disney concert hall.

    Knoxville, TN - There's a cool college town feel here, and lots of great brick buildings to find cold beers.

    Anyway, that's a few of the highlights...if you want any more tips, get to me at evanlcooper at gmail dot com

    in the meantime, back to work!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 10:59 AM  

Post a Comment

<< Home