Introduction

This is the story of my 23 day, 8000 mile solo road trip across the country and back. I'd really never left the east coast before, and I was always curious about what the rest of the country was actually like. I was not interested in seeing the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, or any of the other places filled with tourists. I know these places are incredible, but I'll wait and see those some day with someone else. The point of this trip was to discover what the rest of the country and its people are really like. I generally stayed off the interstates and spent the night in small towns, unless I was visiting someone in a city.


Here's the actual GPS trail of my trip. Started from VA on the more southerly route.

I was supposed to drive up through Oregon and Washington, but as is typical, the whole region was covered in heavy rains for a few days, so I cut east into Nevada to avoid the weather.

And the strange path I took to Tuscon, AZ was so I could drive through Monument Valley.

And for anyone who doesn't understand the title, it's the name of a Jackson Browne song, one of my favorites, and possibly the best road trip song ever written.

Day 1 - Vienna, Virginia to Shelbyville, Kentucky

The first day of driving was perfect. I drove for nearly 9 hours through the mountains of western Maryland and West Virginia and stopped in a small town in Kentucky called Shelbyville. My GPS showed that there were a few motels and bars in the area, so I thought it was a good town to stop in. Upon arriving I discovered that the motels that showed up on the GPS either didn’t currently exist or were pretty scary looking. It was getting pretty late and there were no other good looking towns nearby. I ended up driving about a mile out of the town to stay in a typical chain hotel near the interstate...the exact thing I was trying to avoid on this trip.

I had dinner and walked next door to the bar I had seen earlier, but now it was closed. 8:30 on a Saturday night? Wow, and it wasn’t even a dry county or anything. I drove around a bit to see if I could find anything going on, but found nothing. Shelbyville was shut down. The town must loose all its after hours business to the bigger cities of Lexington and Louisville, about 20-30 miles in each direction. I headed back to the hotel disappointed, and even had a few thoughts going through my head saying “are you sure you want to do this whole trip?"

Click pictures for a huge version

First picture I took, right as I got on the highway out of Vienna













Sideling Hill road cut, MD

Welcome to West Virginia

Shelbyville, KY

Day 2 - Shelbyville, Kentucky to Breese, Illinois

I got on the road, still nervous about how boring the next town could possibly turn out, especially on a Sunday night. My original vision of cool little motels and roadside bar full of locals seemed to be fading. But once I got on the highway I immediately regained the excitement of the first day and realized that I really wanted to do this trip. I crossed into Indiana, then into southern Illinois, at which point I got off the interstate for the first time and headed down Route 50 west, thinking I could probably find some more interesting towns off the major interstates. I was absolutely right.

I pull into Breese, IL and immediately found a cool looking little motel attached to a restaurant. I check in, get dinner, and walk down the street to a bar that I had noticed earlier. I open the door and see 6 guys drinking beer. I walk up to the bar, take a seat, and look to my side to see the men, who look a bit puzzled by my presence. The bartender walks over and asks for my ID. I give it to her, and she looks at it like it was written in Chinese. “Virginia? How the hell did you end up in Breese Illinois?” I tell her about the trip, and from that point on, she and the other patrons were fascinated in what I was doing, they were so curious about my trip, and even more so how I ended up in their small town in the middle of nowhere. My first beer was the only one I had to pay for. Everyone else bought me drinks all night. Some of the nicest people I’ve ever met in my life. This is exactly what I was originally picturing, but even better. Most of these guys were either farmers or construction workers, and were either born or had lived in this town for a long time. I really hope I find myself back in this town someday.


Welcome to Indiana













Here is a giant Santa Claus in Indiana for no explained reason... (And no I wasn't in Santa Claus, Indiana, that was quite a bit behind me)












Welcome to Illinois













Breese, IL













My motel for the night, which I later learned from the locals is referred to as the "naughty" pines.

Day 3 - Breese, Illinois to Kansas City, Missouri

A bit hungover today after drinking all night with the crazy locals, but that was fine; I had a short drive today to my next destination. I first pass St. Louis, the big arch dominating the skyline. I drive across Missouri and stop in Kansas City to visit my friend Dan who is currently working there for a couple months. This was a city, so it’s much harder to differentiate the place from anywhere else, or the locals from the tourists. Bit as far as cities go, this was one cool place. Awesome bars, good prices, and friendly people. Just because it has the word Kansas in the name doesn't mean it's boring. Thanks again to Dan for having me.


Gateway Arch in St. Louis













Crossing the Mississippi River into Missouri, Busch Stadium in background













Middle of Missouri













Kansas City

Day 4 - Kansas City, Missouri to Garden City, Kansas

I was warned by many people about this day: the drive across Kansas. In fact I once read a study that concluded that Kansas is actually flatter than a pancake, to scale. Yes, really: http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2003/07/25/kansas030725.html

The eastern half of the state still had trees and hills, but the western part of the state was exactly as advertised. Having never seen it before, it was pretty interesting to see the horizon of the earth completely surrounding me, but it wore off pretty quickly. Somewhere after Dodge City I ran into my first bit of trouble on the trip, a Gray County cop. He got me going 76 in a 65, and gave me a ticket. When asked why I was speeding, I wanted to tell him “I’m trying to get the hell out of Kansas as fast as possible!"

Soon after I pulled into Garden City, pretty much the only sign of civilization in southwest Kansas. A larger place than I was planning on staying on this trip, but there were absolutely no other towns anywhere nearby. Not a bad place though, went into a bar and drank all night with some construction workers from Topeka who were in town doing a contract.



Wind farm in Western Kansas














Only hills I saw for miles




























If only this was true...

Day 5 - Garden City, Kansas to Pagosa Springs, Colorado

I crossed into Colorado, which unfortunately looked exactly like Kansas for a couple of hours, until I came across a hill and saw the Rocky Mountains. A very welcome sight after about 500 miles of nothing. I went through some awesome mountain passes, and found my way to a small town in the middle of the Rockies.

Typical Kansas scenery














Mountain Standard Time...I fail to see any mountains...



























Cow Palace Inn? Cows are obviously a selling point around here...













Remember, Colorado isn't all mountains













First sight of a mountain










































Just like the Coors can



























View from the motel

Day 6 - Pagosa Springs, Colorado to Cottonwood, Arizona

In terms of scenery, this was probably the best driving day. From the west side of the Rockies, the desert terrain in Utah and Arizona, Monument Valley, and the red rocks of Sedona, it was incredible.



Chimney Rock, CO






































































On the far (west) side of the Rockies, it quickly turned into a desert













Near the Utah border, close to 4 corners













Welcome to Utah





































































Mexican Hat













Monument Valley



























Monument Valley looking north



























Welcome to Arizona













One last look at Monument Valley, from AZ



























Looks like another planet out here













Sedona








































Cottonwood, AZ, awesome little town in the middle of nowhere.














The night before I took this picture, I walked into this bar, the Chaparral, which I soon found out had received national news coverage for a rabid bobcat attack that happened inside the bar, about 2 weeks before I got there.











Here is some CNN news footage on the attack:





Step 1 in bobcat prevention: Close front door