Coast to Coast Road Trip - June 2021
Day 1 - Los Angeles
Al slept like a baby on the plane ride which was all great until he started trying to rouse us for the day at 230am PST. 😬
Already had some quality pool time (while I watched Wales rescue a draw from Switzerland in the lobby at 7am) and breakfast at a cafe that has its own hot sauces. Boys went off-menu to add bacon to their fresh croissants.
Sarah had a delicious chamomile and citrus tea. So much fun and we’ve not really even left LAX yet.
Just moved hotels across to Santa Monica for the next 2 days. Saw what we think will be priciest petrol of the trip — $4.59 a gallon just near the airport.
Fun afternoon at the Will Rogers State Beach with Paul, Vanessa, Zac and Zara! Boys loved playing in the waves and on the body boards for hours.
Evening was a short walk around the super busy pier…our boys were flagging pretty hard with the jet lag. We powered them through with some Johnny Rocket burgers while they exchanged stories of electronics woes and the sneaky tricks of younger siblings and practiced some questionable British accents.
Didn’t make it through to sunset (I got close, below)but took a decent chunk off the jetlag, fingers crossed for a more adjusted day tomorrow.
Day 2 — Los Angeles (cont.)
Early up today — 530 or so, which is just about doable and feels good as a cadence to set going forward. Once we get the van it will be a big advantage to be up and at 'em early. Today it was useful to watch some more football — happy to go on record saying England well deserved to win, hopefully they get more of a test in matches to come. 😎
Some pool time already in the books and heading to the pier . We are hoping it will be a lot quieter in the morning or at least not as crazy busy as it was last night.
Plenty of tourist things planned today and tomorrow. I think this is my 4th time in LA but I’m really excited to show the sights to the kids who, to their credit, are doing really well without their screens so far.
So, back to beach and the pier this morning. The rides on Santa Monica pier were closed to out of state visitors which was probably a blessing. 🥳
Boys were flagging a bit and we had a walk to Venice planned so we invigorated them by taking the oceanside route through the sea. Some big waves to play in before we headed inland to buy some hats, which the boys expertly modelled.
We then headed into Abbot Kinney for a foodie fix and a much needed sit down after so many steps!
Short rib eggs Benedict and a burger to share followed by some Salt and Straw ice cream.
Then, Muscle Beach and Venice Skatepark.
A strange thing we found about LA is how damn hard it is to get an Uber. Maybe not a surprise that nobody wants to drive any more than they have to here. Such wild traffic. We had plenty of time to get to our Hollywood bus tour, we thought, but ended up cutting it very fine after waiting a long time for various rideshare services. Stress.
When we made it on it was a fairly good tour; we checked all the boxes with the sights and celeb houses but didn’t really get enough time to get good photos. Gary the tour guide was entertaining and chatted to us for a while at the end, while random dirt bikes and super cars roared by. The boys fav was Lady Gaga’s house — mine and Sarah’s was Bruno Mars.
Day 3 — Reflections on LA
Los Angeles is beautiful. Our tour guide said it best “beautiful ocean, beautiful mountains, beautiful forests, beautiful weather (over 330 rain-free days a year) it’s no wonder so many movies are filmed here".
Our itinerary was tourist trap central but I wouldn’t have done it another way for the boys first visit.
Day 3 (cont.) Picking up the wheels, to Barstow, CA
After a brief final trip to Santa Monica beach it was a functional/foundation build day. We picked up the RV after an hour in LA traffic, waited an hour doing paperwork and pre checks, set off to enjoy another couple of hours in LA traffic (past the Miller brewery) en route to Barstow, CA. We picked up our WalMart shop which we’d pre ordered online, then went in to spend another $100 on stuff we’d forgotten about. For a small town it was a massive WalMart btw. Biggest one I’ve seen.
As we progressed out here through and over the mountains we could see the terrain getting more arid. Really felt desert-y when we got here, not least the 104F temps. When we got to the campsite it was another couple of hours setting up the van with sheets, cleaning stuff and made some pasta with sauce. Just a jar — I have no plans to mess around trying to perfect a sofritto out here. Fraser promptly spilt his entire bowl all over himself and the floor. After we cleaned up the physical and emotional mess it was time for bed! Early start to make the most of Vegas tomorrow. That’s the plan, at least…
Day 4 — Barstow, CA to Las Vegas, NV
Woke up early after the first night in the RV, a little sore and a little sticky after some disturbed sleep. It cooled down in the evening so we went to sleep with the generator AC off trying to be eco warriors. Unfortunately it was still the desert and we woke up baking like potatoes in a toasty oven. AC did the job when it was back on, although the manual noted that it could only, at most, get the van 20 degrees (Fahrenheit) lower than outside. Remember this for later.
RVers seem to be early risers, which makes a lot of sense. Roads are quieter early and it’s good to get somewhere sooner if you’re only overnighting it so you have more time. So, even just after 6am as we emerged the campsite was pretty lively. We still had some unpacking to do but we hit the road not long after 8.
Vegas was our target today and the drive was a scenic and wonderful one. We came up I-15, between the mountains and through the gap between Death Valley and Mojave National preserve. Sweeping arid landscapes and some hefty climbs that, with cruise control engaged, caused the engine to groan hauling the van up above 4000ft. Still blows my mind a little that we can routinely drive roads here that are more elevated than Ben Nevis.
I was allowed to stop and do some bourbon hunting at Costco in Henderson, NV which worked out nicely. For a start, Buffalo Trace is a lot less rare than back in VA! I picked this Sam Houston up, which I’ve never seen back home. Excited to try it! 🙃 More hunting to come!
Vegas continues it’s vibe for being the town you can do anything you want in, including parking your RV in the middle of it. We hooked up in the Circus Circus RV park and started to get organized to set out from our Vegas base, but very quickly started dripping and wilting….
You guessed it, we forgot the minor inconveniences that come with deserts. In this case, it was a scorching 110F (43C in old money). Stepping out the van felt like opening the door of the oven when you’ve turned it up too high to try and rush cook a frozen pizza. “It’s okay..it will cool down at night" Wrong. It wasn’t going to.
Faced with the prospect of a very uncomfortable night,we broke and booked a room at the aforementioned Circus Circus hotel. Felt bad chickening out of RV life 2 days in but no regrets — it made our overall experience so much better. Also the room was only $28..so we can consider the $44 for the RV park as pricey Vegas parking. It’s still 108F outside as I write this at 10pm. I hope my Sam Houston hasn’t spoiled out there.
Vegas itself…similar to LA, Sarah and I have both been before and wanted to whistlestop the kids around some highlights. We cruised the strip on the monorail to let them see it all, stopping off to compare Paris to IRL Paris then catch the Bellagio fountains. Vegas and kids was always going to be an interesting combo, I think you might run out of things to do after a couple of days. They did enjoy seeing the adults around us at play though. We stood close enough to a roulette wheel that we could see what was going on, imagined picking numbers and lost an imaginary $200 in 2 minutes. That’s a pretty authentic Vegas experience, I’d say. 😎
First state line crossed today, another one tomorrow as we head north for some hopefully cooler weather in Utah.
Day 5 — Las Vegas, NV to Beaver, UT
It felt great to be waking up in the hotel today. Temps had dropped a little overnight but there were many news reports of heat records being broken all over the south west so it was good comfort that we weren’t being too soft about running for cover. It was a leisurely prep today and we went to a local Walmart to do some returns and get hopefully the last of the “didn’t realize we needed this" things before hitting the road and heading north.
The drives are getting gradually longer; we are in training for the marathon across the middle of the country which we’ve planned to buy us more time in the north east. Today started with the familiar arid desert vibe but slowly started to get more red and mountainous. A combination of limited geography knowledge and failure to see details on a map meant that it was a fun surprise to me when we crossed into Arizona.
Even more of a fun surprise when I-15 took a turn towards and directly through the mountains for the most beautiful stretch of road so far. A winding rampage carved through bright red mountains as we cut across the northeast corner of Arizona.
Time flies when you’re having fun and seemingly a few short minutes later we crossed our second state line of the day into Utah. The red mountains didn’t abate as we continued (thankfully, traffic-free unlike the southbound side) to a planned stop at Kolob Canyon in Zion National Park. I’d heard great things about Zion and it didn’t disappoint. The sides of the canyon towered above, resplendent in deep red, as we wound our way up the scenic drive to the mile-long trail which we walked up to the outpost at the top. Temperatures were still pushing 100F and without shade and at altitude it was a pretty tough mile. Well worth it though.
I’ve been trying to avoid spamming social but the views up there made me break that streak. Totally didn’t do it justice and will remember the sight for a long time to come. It seemed to connect with Al in some way too, who asked us to try being quiet so we could hear what silence sounded like. 😂
With the sights locked in our minds we carried on north to finish the day at Beaver, UT. Maybe trying to compensate for last night’s hotel I braved the outdoorsy vibe and cooked burgers for dinner on charcoal. Fire. Meat. Raar. It worked out OK in the end! No food poisoning so far, at least.
Enjoyed the evening vibe of the campsite and we were treated to a spectacular sunset behind the mountains before retiring to bed with another relatively lengthy drive to come tomorrow.
Day 6 — Beaver, UT to Salt Lake City, UT
Yesterday’s drive was always going to be tough to live up to and so it proved. The land was greener almost immediately and stayed that was for the whole 200 mile straight shot north on I-15 to Salt Lake City. Occasional ups and down with sprawling plains of farmland in each valley, mountains off in the distance. Definitely saw a lot more cows. That’s about it. 🐮
I was excited to arrive at Salt Lake and experience the vibe — I was sure that forming my impressions from The Book of Mormon musical wasn’t going to be entirely accurate. Although I did have a sneaky play of “Sal Tlay Ka Siti" while me made quick (aka instant noodles) lunch after we arrived. It was hot again — mid to high 90s — but once we got moving towards downtown on the very handy UTA light railway it definitely seemed bearable. Maybe Vegas had raised our tolerance a little.
Keen for something to occupy the boys we headed to the Leonardo museum of innovation. Only one floor was open. Utah has this surprising and weird mix of very low (almost Alabama-esque) vaccination rates yet pretty strict mask and distancing control — an odd couple to see together. That one floor was good fun though and we had the place almost to ourselves. Lots of hands-on flight-related experiments and we passed over an hour in there.
Just next door was the public library which I’m really glad we looked at — local sources say it’s one of the most beautiful libraries in the US, which I’m happy to buy into. Both the inside and outside were a sight to behold.
I then was allowed a few mins inside my second liquor store of the day. Utah has been surpsingly fruitful ground on the rare bourbon front, I picked up a High West Double Rye (which makes sense for the area) and an Elijah Craig Barrel Proof, both of which would be an hour or more in line on day of release back in Virginia. The van may be rattling by the time I get it back to the East coast. 😝
Dinner was at Spitz’s a casual Mediterranean place which we all really enjoyed. Very cool with the kids decor too. The boys told me to be sure to write a 5 star review for them.
So, all this SLC and no mention yet of the Church of Jesus Christ (of the latter day saints)? We read going in that only -40% of the population was Mormon and it really felt like any other city. The only clues were in the names of buildings and streets and the Zion Bank I spotted. The mythical draconian alcohol control was really not much different to VA — maybe the ID checks were more stringent but that’s about it.
As for the home of the Church in Temple Square…it was sadly under quite serious construction and not really accessible for us to experience. I would have liked to learn more real history in person but it wasn’t to be.
Currently letting the boys blow off some steam at the pool before trying to stick to early bedtimes ahead of a bit of monster drive tomorrow — 315 miles which will be 5+ hours. The mountains in the distance to the north and east promise some interesting scenery…we shall see.
Day 7 — Salt Lake City, UT to West Yellowstone, MT
Not a huge amount to report today other than a huge number of miles driven (315) and a few milestones. Two state lines — first, as the farmland got greener and flatter, Utah turned into Idaho and we saw potato fields stretching off into the distance. We made a pit stop in Idaho Falls to restock with food supplies and gas in anticipation of the days to follow spent mainly in National Park territory. Thanks to some very positive Google reviews we also took a chance on some Idaho bbq. Pulled pork and ribs were very good, brisket and bbq sauces (which were very sweet and not spicy at all) not so much. The boys burgers were great too and, perhaps predictably, so were the fries.
Back on the road we started to see and feel the type of undulation that had been missing since Southern Utah. We also got back to the rough potholed road surface from north of Salt Lake, which was a bit less of a welcome return. Most excitingly, we got a great glimpse of things to come with Grand Teton piercing the skyline out to the East.
The crossing into the south east corner of Montana signalled our imminent arrival at the most expensive of our campsites, priced no doubt in reflection of it’s proximity to the West gate of Yellowstone only 9 miles away. The high fees afforded them the capacity to provide great facilities, including a heated indoor pool and mini golf so it was a fun evening. The leftover charcoal from the other night was just enough to warm up some hot dogs for dinner, which I paired with the neck pour from the cheapest of my bourbon picks so far, which was surprisingly delicious.
So here we are, like the hobbits at the Gates of Mordor, braced in anticipation for the excitement of a day we’ve been looking forward to as a potential trip highlight. Early alarm set, Mount Doom awaits.
Day 8 — West Yellowstone, MT to Colter Bay, WY
Yellowstone day!! We got up early to get a jump on traffic; my newsfeeds had been full of warnings about how busy the national parks were this year and sure enough there was already a wait to get in when we arrived at the opening time of 8am. With only 1 day to spend we planned a route around the south loop.
Imagine the excitement when only 5 minutes in we saw a massive bear sauntering through the woods at the side of the road! We were being ushered quickly along by the park rangers so no pics, but a great memory. First stop were the artists paintpots, our first of many geothermal areas of the day. Pools of mud bubbled and spluttered away between the plumes of steam rising from the ground.
Next up our first of the biggies, the Grand Prismatic Spring - a huge multicolored geothermal lake that took a good 30 minutes to circumnavigate and offered many great photo opportunities.
Car parks at each point of interest were busy but flowed well and the wait never felt like a major inconvenience, especially not with a toilet and kitchen on board — RV perks! We arrived at Biscuit Basin and decided to take on the Mystic Falls hike which was a 3-mile round trip to a secluded waterfall area. There was a bit of grumbling along the way from the boys and Sarah and I’s footwear choices of Crocs and Allbirds (respectively) were probably not the best for some light rock scrambling but we made it and enjoyed the view alongside a friendly chipmunk.
Back round the trail and we were on our way to Old Faithful. We parked in time to knock up some quick sandwiches (not as cool as the truck next to us cooking chicken on his tailgate propane grill) and head over to Yellowstone’s most famous attraction. Old Faithful was due to pop at 1pm +/- 10mins and after a few false alarms spouted briefly there was some worried murmuring in the crowd by 1:07pm. Just as I was saying that it would be far more remarkable to be there the time when Old Faithful didn’t erupt, it delivered. Huge jets of boiling water sprayed in the air and the crowd ooh’d and ahh’d.
Our final stop was the West Thumb of Lake Yellowstone where we saw more geothermal delights and took a short final hike to Duck Lake. This was a much quieter route, almost eerily so as we quizzed each other on bear encounter protocols. 😬
As our watches clicked over to 18,000 steps we got back in the van for the short drive to Colter Bay campgrounds just inside the north entrance of Grand Teton National Park. Reservations were full in the area - even booking some way in advance we were in a “no hookups" site so were treated a more traditional camping experience amongst the brave souls in tents. Darkness fell and we dozed off inside our van / bear fortress.
Day 9 — Colter Bay, WY to Rawlins, WY
We woke up in looming shadow of the towering mountains of Grand Teton. Ill-equipped for a short waterfall trail, we never had plans to scale any of the mountains but they were a joy to look at.
I got to enjoy them for some time after we left, filling my rear view mirrors as we headed south east towards the next phase of our journey. Today was a long drive but a beautiful one, traversing large parts of the Rocky Mountains at one point above 10,000ft elevation as we weaved across the Wyoming Centennial Scenic Byeway. The mountains turned back to the reds we’d seen in Arizona and Southern Utah, then got even darker and deeper red with clear layers of sediment cutting across them.
Glorious scenery makes for more enjoyable drives but it still felt like it has been a long day when we pulled up in Rawlins. This was more a pitstop than a destination, now 1400 miles or 35% through our trip in terms of distance. We continue SE tomorrow where Colorado awaits.
Day 10 — Rawlins, WY to Denver, CO
We are well and truly into the teeth of long drive territory now. Another 5 hours and 300+ miler had us heading east and then south to Denver. We hadn’t actually planned much for here and the combination of an RV and a big city isn’t a great one. From some (admittedly last minute) research it seems some neighborhoods near downtown Denver have specifically enacted laws to prevent it. We settled on focusing activities tomorrow, taking our time today with the drive and heading to a campsite 30 miles west of the city which it turns out means “really high up in the mountains”. Burned about 1/4 of a tank of gas to get up here but well worth the views, and the big chair to rest in after the altitude makes the stairs feel like a cardio challenge.
A day with relatively few sights seems the right time to do some general RV reflection now that we’re all in the swing of it. Spending time in vehicle we are all used to now to the point that driving is just “what we do" and doesn’t seem like a huge hassle. Except on one of the mainly badly-maintained roads where we are getting bounced around much more than we would in a car. Good job the government is so close to passing that infrastructure bill, right. 🙃
Nights I would describe as “borderline comfortable”. Sometimes we all sleep really well, sometimes one or two of us has a bit of trouble, either through temperature (the equipment in the van is equally ineffective against a mountain chill as it was against a heatwave) or there just not being quite enough space as we’re used to. We deliberately chose a smaller (25ft) RV to prioritize manoeuvrability, which has been a blessing many time already. I don’t think I’d do that differently, even if I sometimes get a bit jealous of the luxury megabus mobiles that we see around. Especially when I bash my mosquito bites on a surface that’s closer than I’d like or expect.
We have stuck to campsites rather than “boondocking" — they have generally been cheap and the convenience of the electric hookup is almost worth it alone, even if the activities for kids are the main selling point for us.
Having a fridge and a kitchen is great and eating out has been rare as a result. Everywhere has a Walmart so regular restocks of easy-to-make basics are no problem. I don’t think we are at our most nourished or vitamin-heavy but that seems fine for a short period of holiday.
It gets messy very easily in a small space especially with the youngsters at play — probably why you’ve not seen any photos yet — but it also means that it never takes long to clean up either.
I’m sitting here sunset watching again, hopeful once more for a postcard-worthy pink and purple spectacular but I don’t think it coming. I’ll leave a level update on the Costco bourbon for now. If the sun (or the stars, if I stay up that late) I will add it below. If not, tomorrow is always another day.
Day 11 - a bit west of Denver, CO to a bit east of Denver, CO
Today started with some excellent all-you-can-eat pancakes for the boys at the campsite (and $2.50 per kid what a bargain, they didn’t see Alistair coming) 😋
We had a day of downtown Denver fun planned out, it had been a while since we’d been near a city and it was also a welcome break from logging miles. Careful research had revealed we could park the RV for free at Denver Zoo but they were still on timed tickets to limit crowds so we secured those for later in the day, left the van and walked over to the Science and Nature museum.
This ended up being the highlight of the day. There were some really impressive dinosaur skeletons, locally sourced from Colorado. We met a new (to us) dinosaur called Torosaurus who was similar to a Triceratops but different in some really interesting ways including the windows he had in his neck fan to help deter would-be predators. The gem section — again almost all sourced in-state — was a surprise hit with the boys. Finally all those Minecraft hours paid off with unusual excitement seeing amethyst.
The space section was also great, with loads of really cool and interactive educational activities for the boys to do.
We almost had to rush a little more than we’d liked but it had been 23 years since I’d got to see Scotland crash out of a major tournament in insipid style so we made our way to a local (British!) sports bar to watch that and get some lunch.
Well, at least the fish and chips were good even if the football fully met low expectations. It was a nice atmosphere, very pub-like vibe to it and I got to continue the Tartan Army tradition of posing for a photo with the gracious opposition fans afterwards.
Back to the zoo then, all a little weary in the 90F+ heat. Many of the animals were feeling it too I guess; many of the enclosures had zero signs of life. I think I’m a bit “over" zoos too, honestly. It’s nice to see real efforts to improve the conditions animals are kept in and to state the conservation case too but still…maybe I’ve been to one too many. The boys sparked into life when they saw the otters — they sat and watched them swim and backflip through the clear side of their tank for quite a while and really enjoyed it.
Back to the van and a quick 40 mins east to this evening’s campsite. We’ve spent some time preparing entertainment and psyching up for what will be the longest drive of the trip to seemorrow at 540 miles. As I said yesterday, driving is just an expected and inherent part of the experience now so we’re feeling good about it overall, even if the geology and landscapes will not offer much in the way of interest or wonder relative to the drives before it.
Day 12 — Denver, CO to Lawrence, KS
I’m going to classify today as “cross-country tax". If one is going to take on a coast-to-coast without the luxury of unlimited time then there has to be at least one slog of a day across the middle and today was ours. 10hrs, 540 miles, 2 fuel stops, 1 state line crossed,1 time zone crossed and, if you’re a child, 4 Adam Sandler movies watched. Who knows which is more bearable.
I wasn’t expecting and interesting drive but when it actually got interesting I was yearning for the tedium of endless fields to be my biggest concern. The new “interesting” was the Great Plains reminding me and my high sided vehicle that it was also the central part tornado alley. No twisters on view but for at least 5 of the 10 hours the RV was being whooshed from side to side by strong winds, often unexpectedly and not always in the same direction. So, it was sharp focus required and a draining expedition.
Clearly this wind isn’t a unique experience based on one of the things we did enjoy — the many wind turbines on show whirling around creating alternative energy on the almost unfathomably long stretches of farmland as far as the eye can see in all directions.
Other highlight of the day was lunch at a highly-rated Mexican food truck in Colby, KS which admirably lived up to the hype. All made from scratch and very popular with the locals of the town, the self-titled “Oasis of the plains".
By the time we checked in at the campsite some 25 or so miles west of Kansas City we weren’t good for much (other than blog writing). We enjoyed leftovers from lunch thanks to a deliberate over-buy and settled in for the night.
Day 13 — Lawrence, KS to St Louis, MO
Refreshed by a great sleep, disturbed only briefly by a doozy of a thunderstorm, we spent a few leisurely hours at the campsite enjoying the (best yet) showers and tidying the van a little. I wasn’t going to let us slide out of one of America’s great bbq cities without sampling it’s delights so we plugged the famous Joe’s Kansas City Barbeque into the GPS and set off hungry down the yellow brick road (seriously!).
We went to Joe’s original location in a converted gas station in downton Kansas City (on the KS side of the line). The car park wasn’t super RV friendly so I parked next to the 2 catering vans out the back on a hatched area.
Round the front, a line snaked out of the door across the front of the building — always a great sign in my bbq experience. It moved fairly quickly and the 30 minutes or so of waiting gave us plenty of time to choose our treats from the menu. Kudos to the boys again here for their patience, I think all the driving has strengthened this muscle for them. The food was top notch. KC bbq is characterized by dry rub prep followed by hot, sweet tomato-based sauce; between us we tried a little bit of everything. It definitely kicked the (pork) butt of last week’s Idaho bbq. Being super-picky, the brisket wasn’t quite in the same league as TX but I don’t think anything will ever match the out of body bbq experiences I’ve had at Franklin in Austin so the bar is high here.
Happy and full, we went back round to the van which was blocked in by an additional catering truck. 😬 I sheepishly sought a member of staff, expecting a bit of an earful for my parking but got only humor and helpfulness. I’ve really noticed the difference that people are so chill about parking compared to the environments in which I’ve been conditioned to think about it — DC, NYC, London, any UK city really.
The 4 hour drive today felt like a short one and we had an exciting destination at the end of it — visiting my friend Shaun who I met through the Nottingham Forest North America supporters club. I’ve met Shaun in person a few times at Forest meetups and we’ve continued our friendship online through other shared interests in politics and history. Shaun and his family were such generous and welcoming hosts with whom we spent a wonderful (and surprisingly peaceful considering the boys took the “kids in house" tally up to 7) few hours with them. They pulled out all the stops to give us an STL food experience comprising of St Louis style pizza, toasted ravioli and gooey butter cake.
My only regret is not capturing a photo of us for posterity, I will look forward to doing that when we host in return back in DC.
Signing off now — Kentucky is calling and this bourbon fan has some planning to do.
Day 14 — St Louis, MO to Louisville, KY
A little slow off the mark today which isn’t altogether bad, learning to relax some mornings and not rushing somewhere too quickly is a skill we’ve developed. We had planned a short trip to the Gateway Arch National Park but ended up really enjoying it and spending much longer.
The arch itself was imposing and spectacular. It stands around 100ft taller than the Washington Monument and looked more than that, dominating the skyline at the intersection of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. The gateway to the west. Or the gateway to the east, if you’re us.
A lot was learned here! The boys learned about the tools if earlier eras while I got lost in an exhibit about the Mexican war, a part of history which had this far eluded me. Knowing that Mexico now is half of what it used to be, following what was described as “an unconstitutional war with the primary objective of expanding slavery" placed today’s border policy disputes in a whole new light for me. Shock number 2 for me was the huge backwards step in women’s rights that the Louisiana purchase took, courtesy of adopted British laws relating to estate succession and land ownership.
The ride to the top of the arch was fully booked for the entire day so no option to seek the view from the top. There was, at least, a fake tram car so we could pretend and the obvious selfie opportunity from the outside.
I was hoping for the subsequent 4hr drive to follow yesterday’s pattern and seem short but, alas, no. As well as an accumulation of driving fatigue it sheeted(not a typo) it down with rain for more than half of the journey, slowing speeds and increasing the need for focus.
We finally arrived at camp in Louisville (through Illinois and Indiana on the way so a 4-state day) got some food and we’re getting ready to settle when we were adopted (as had happened to me 4 years ago in KY) by a local family. We shared tastes and shots from our respective whiskey bottles (never thought I’d try Dana White’s banana bourbon), and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows on the fire. Until, that is, Al reached his limit of marshmallows, which is 12 large ones if you were wondering, whereupon he removed himself to throw up and it seemed like a good time to call it a night.
Day 15 — Louisville, KY to Lexington, KY
As observant readers will have noticed, bourbon has been a regular feature here, so today in particular I should take a minute to explain the roots of this fascination. As a true Scot and lover of a wee dram I have had to adjust my tastes over the last 6 years, not least because of the risk of financial ruin with the only recently lifted import tax. Bourbon was the natural replacement. Perhaps unfortunately for me this has coincided with bourbon exploding in popularity making some of the most-loved bottles extremely difficult to get hold of which, in turn, has created a very active and (for some) profitable secondary market. As I explained to the boys, bottles of bourbon are now a bit like adult pokemon cards.
This has not gone unnoticed in Kentucky where, as an unregulated liquor sale state, you can charge what you want for a bottle. Thus, hordes of tourists descend and end up paying secondary prices (or higher) for bourbons not seen elsewhere. So, the place where the “unicorn bottles" exist is actually one of the hardest places to find them at fair retail value.
The secret in KY is looking in Total Wine, whose policies prevent them from charging more than MSRP. They rarely have unicorns but at least they don’t price gouge for KY limited versions of mid-range bottles, which are very much my sweet spot. Distilleries are a blank — they are too smart to let their limited bottles go at retail knowing that the absence of them on their own shelves only serves to pump the hype machine for them.
The second Kentucky secret is Lexington, a far nicer town than the more popular Louisville and home to plenty of great bars and restaurants with nice food and, yes, local access to unicorn bottles which they then sell by the glass at affordable prices.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk. All of that said, we started the day at the Louisville Slugger museum, provider of bats to many of baseball’s great through the years. The world’s largest baseball bat sits out front as an imposing welcome to the wonders within.
This really was one of the most interesting museums we’ve seen, even for those in the party (Sarah and Al) a little less acquainted with baseball. The whole process, from selection of trees through to player-specific customisation, plays out in front of your eyes for real as bats for the pros are being made. Each stage of the process is expertly narrated by first a video then a live person and everyone leaves with a cute mini bat.
There were also bats on show that had been used in games that we were able to hold and pose with. Credit to the boys for gravitating to Ryan Zimmerman’s erstwhile weapon of choice.
After a little local bourbon-hunting at Kroger we set off for Frankfort and Buffalo Trace. As above I expected no limited bottles and, hilariously, they actually had no bourbon for sale at all when we arrived. I was only there to see where the magic happens and take some pics, so I was very happy with what we saw.
A little more scouting in Total Wine then we rolled up to Lexington downtown for some tasty dinner (yes I had fried chicken in Kentucky) and some unicorn tasting.
You may think you recognize the Blanton’s in the middle but it’s the unicorn Takara Red edition which is aged for 2 extra years exclusively for export to Japan. So, made in Kentucky then sent to Japan and back . If I tell you it’s a bargain for $25 per shot, you can work out what the secondary value of a bottle might be for yourself . 🤓
Needless to say, Sarah drove us back to the campground where I think some among us may sleep well this evening.
Day 16 — Lexington, KY to Sunbury, OH
Having camped overnight at their campground,we were ideally placed to pop straight into Kentucky Horse park to complete the set of “Kentucky things” with some equine exploration. There was a lot going on here across 9 buildings but we started with the Hall of Champions where we were introduced to some former Kentucky Derby winners who now live a long life of luxury at the park. Such beautiful animals. This is Funny Cide, the Derby winner from 2003.
Fraser was very keen to ride a horse and this was available here. After a little bit of hesitation we all decided to sign up, waivers and all. There was a group of about 20 in our time slot and the handlers very carefully picked a suitable horse match for each of us based on unstated criteria which I’d probably rather not know. 🙃
The kids were very happy with their steeds and behaved very well throughout having learned a little bit in the briefing about the importance of human temperament in a peaceful experience with a horse.
Sarah was aboard the super-chill Captain and I was given Sysco who was a feisty boy that kept biting the behind of the horse in front. 😬
I only expected a short ride but they took us out for over an hour, walking in single file through the grassy rolling hills in the outer parts of the park. It really is pretty cool feeling part of a temporary shared bond with an animal like that or, as Fraser said, “you feel like you’re in control but you’re not in control". After learning about the history of the human/horse relationship in the museum we set off northeast.
There are no monster drives left to do on the trip but today’s felt like a bit of a slog even at just over 200 miles. It had a few things working against it; maybe 3 weeks in the driving is starting to mount up and take its toll? Also we have been somewhat spoiled in that today was the first time we experienced any real traffic where a combination of roadworks and accidents around both Cincinnati and Columbus slowed us down.
A lake to jump in when we arrived seemed to make the drive easy to forget for the boys and it was more burgers over charcoal for dinner.
Thoughts turned to the offboarding process this evening — using up food, plans for repairing little bits that have gone wrong on the van (including a small windscreen crack from a stone grr), packing. We hit an unexpected hitch when we went to book the rental car for Friday to get us back to Virginia after we drop the van in New York…I had heard of rental car shortages in April and apparently that is still a thing so we’ve had to shuffle plans a little to accommodate, all good though.
Day 17 — Sunbury, OH to Geneva, OH
Shorter drive today which we delayed a bit to enjoy the facilities at the campground. A really fun playground and a lake full of inflatables!
When we hit the road, the expected benefit of longer drives before it making it feel short didn’t really come. We think that it’s maybe because this was another kind of stopover leg with nothing specific at the end of it. The time passed soon enough though and we went for a walk along the southern shore of Lake Erie, waving to Canada on the other side.
With the end in sight we had to do a little bit of maintenance on the van and we found a friendly local guy to take care of it after a session of skipping stones on the beach.
On the way back to the campsite in search of somewhere to get a snack we stumbled across Geneva On the Lake town center which, at first, reminded us a lot of Skegness. Arcades, cheap food stalls and a holiday vibe. We sat and enjoyed some wings and nachos outside while listening to a live band who I will award 7/10 for effort. Enough said. Everyone enjoyed them though, most folks were having a great time in a very carefree manner. The puzzle that we started to piece together when we observed the mono-ethnicity and flag-heavy clothing of the crowd fell hard and fast in to place on our way out when we drove past a large and very well-patronized stall which exclusively carried “F*#k Biden" merchandise. 🤨 Aaanyway…..
Day 18 — Geneva, OH to Buffalo, NY
This definitely felt like a shorter drive; we got a good head start and a late-trip highlight was waiting on arrival at the end. Our inability to go to Canada due to COVID restrictions or the drive the short Niagara scenic parkway due to height restrictions were two minor sadnesses en route but those quickly faded when we parked up and saw the fast flowing straits heading toward the falls. It was hot and sticky up here, as it had been yesterday. Shame on us for bad research and packing hoodies because we were going to “nearly Canada”. 😎
A short trolley (tram) ride later we were at the roaring side of the American falls, the Canadian horseshoe falls just behind. What a sight! The rapids at the top were scary up close, flowing at 25mph before plummeting over the edge to the rocks below.
We then got in line for The Maid of the Mist boat ride and only a short wait later we were in our way upstream to look at the base of the falls up close. From our spot on the top deck we got a great view. When we passed the American falls, Al and I were feeling pretty good about our choice to decline the poncho.
Sh*t got real when the horseshoe came into play though, when waves of spray cascaded all over the boat and we got absolutely drenched.
It was such a cool experience to see nature’s power up close, even with a face full of water. Some ice cream and a walk back to the car where we quicky dried off, and we rolled up at camp on Buffalo’s Grand Island.
I had bold dreams of striking off in search of the nations best wings, fueled by some greatly welcomed local knowledge but inertia won the day and we focused on using up the remaining perishable food in the RV. This meant a patchwork dinner and confiscating the marshmallows before Alistair could repeat his earlier heroics by roasting himself another round of upchuck over the last of the charcoal.
Home seems so close but also so far at this point. RV rentals were scarce even when we booked back in Feb so we have a merry drop-off dance to do around New Jersey later in the week which no doubt will take far more time than I want. With quite a bit of rain forecast, as long as it proceeds safely there will be no complaints. We still have plenty of fun left to have too. 😎
Day 19 — Buffalo, NY to Seneca Lake, NY
We couldn’t have wished for a better or more relaxing last day of the trip thanks to the large slice of lake life we were able to enjoy thanks to the fine hospitality of Devo and her family.
It took us a while to get organized in Buffalo, again trying to get ahead of the game for handover day. Once we got sorted it was a little shy of 3 hours down to Seneca Lake. You may have gathered by now that they love water in most any form so they were quick to plunge in and delighted to be joined by Scout the multi-talented sea dog.
Getting a chance to do some high-octane tubing was likely a key feature in their own highlight reels of the whole trip. Definitely screams of joy.
Almost too many highlights for me to mention. Aside from the wonderful company: skipping stones, hiding from a brief but wild storm, some delicious local bbq and beer for dinner, the most successful of bird watching trips where 2 bald eagles swooped over us (*America*) and the sunset which promised little but delivered in the end.
Day 20 — Seneca Lake, NY to Vienna, VA
The final day was never meant to be this much of a chunk but the really limited rental car availability forced our hand somewhat. The distance itself is not that great but when you throw in a couple of vehicle handover scattered throughout New Jersey and keeping people fed and bathroom-ed it ended up being close to 12hrs end to end to close things out and pull up at home.
Credit again to the boys for their patience today. While it felt a little luxurious to be back in a car the final leg of our journey really seemed to take forever. It took a heady combination of fun tunes and Sarah’s inspirational teacher skills to stop all of us falling apart, not least me.
We made it in the end and once we shop, collect the dog and drop off the rental car things will return back to everyday life. I’ll try to make some time tomorrow for some overall reflection.
Day 21 — Closing thoughts
It’s funny how quickly life comes at you after a vacation, how quickly the tidy empty house becomes ‘lived-in’ again, how easy it is to forget some of the experiences you’ve had. I’ve already really enjoyed looking back through the blog today and really happy that I got into the routine of memorializing each day. Sure, some of the writing is scrappy, it’s a little heavy on documentary of events without ever getting too deep but that works perfectly for me.
I really did do this far more for myself than anyone else and it’s really surprised me how many folks have told me that they’ve enjoyed reading along. Maybe I’ll check off another bucket list thing and write and self-publish a book about something in the future.
Living day-to-day through the journey you don’t get the full appreciation for the trip as a whole, so I’ll also enjoy being able to look back at that. A coast-to-coast drive in close proximity with others is no small undertaking and we all learnt new levels of support, patience, tolerance, (Oxford comma for the fans) and a rediscovered appreciation of some of life’s comforts and luxuries that accompany not living on wheels.
Our final total driven was 4273 miles through 16 states across 18 days on the move. My friends and colleagues promised me (some more ominously than others) that I’d see the ‘real America’ on this trip. I think I saw at least 16 different Americas, each furthering my feeling that each state has a really unique culture. It may not always be immediately obvious when you see all the strip malls, corn fields, Walmarts, fast food joints that so many have in common but if you make a little effort to do some digging, to seek some local experiences as well as the touristy ones, then there’s usually something interesting to find.
The relatively large percentage of Americans who don’t have passports (and we met plenty on this trip) is often a subject of ridicule internationally and, like most stereotypes, doesn’t stop to examine the why. With rolling grasslands, huge plains, towering mountain ranges, beaches, snow, rivers, huge lakes, deserts it’s hard to want for much in terms of geographical features.
As my number of states visited steadily rose through the last 6 years, it’s been easy to tell myself that I never planned to get to 50. Now that number is so tantalizingly close, I may find it easier to be persuaded otherwise.
Hawaii and Alaska both justify trips in their own right I think (although they aren’t cheap) and then I’d just be 2 road trips (one north, one south, both much easier than the above) and a visit to pick up my friend Mike’s coffee table from Portland away from being done.
Until then.
GC
