The Great American Road Trip

My sister and I have always talked about renting an RV and driving across the country. You know, just pack everything up and go! Coast to coast. See all of the cities and landmarks all over the U.S.

Well, about a month ago, it all went down. Although, instead of an RV, we drove my niece’s Toyota Camry to drop it off to her at school in California. And we couldn’t exactly stop at alllll the landmarks as we were on a strict time limit. But despite it all, we made it happen.

I know I said it’s an adventure every time Kiki and I do anything together, but this takes the cake. We have enough stories and jokes to last us a lifetime.

Unfortunately for me, I hate riding in the car for long periods of time. The “short” hour-long drive from Baltimore to D.C. gets on my nerves. If I could fly everywhere, I would. I also hate driving, BUT, I’m an excellent road dog. It’s very seldom that I fall asleep, I’m an exceptional conversationalist, I can DJ for hours, AND I make great sandwiches. What more could you ask for?

Keep reading to get a play-by-play of all of the shenanigans we got into on the Great American Road Trip!

Day 1: Friday August 25, 2017

At 5:46 a.m., Kiki grumbled as I brought two suitcases, my backpack, a cooler, and five shopping bags full of food out to the car. Some say I’m a serial over packer… I say, you can never be too prepared.

We went grocery shopping the night before and bought lunchmeat, bread, a case of water and snacks so that we wouldn’t have to stop to buy food. (One of our best decisions to date).

Once we got everything all loaded up, we set our sights for the west coast. Within about 45 minutes, we reached the first astronomical toll in Pennsylvania. Why it was $18.25, I will never know.

At 7:58 a.m., I twisted and turned (while still safely in my seatbelt) reaching into the backseat, which I called “the basement,” gathering supplies to make Kiki and I a breakfast sandwich.

Side note: This “breakfast sandwich” was nothing more than two pieces of bread with some mayonnaise, turkey, and cheese slapped on it. I’m just dramatic and wanted to differentiate from a lunch or dinner sandwich. Lol.

By 9:45 a.m., we reached Ohio and made our first stop to use the restroom and get gas. The rest stop was super clean, had numerous eateries, a convenience store, vending machines, and even had a gas station on the same lot so we didn’t have to stop again.

Amanee’s Rest Stop Rating: A+

Hour six rolled around at 11:47 a.m. and we were still in Ohio. Lots of grass. Lots of trees. Lots of corn. Not much to see. And on top of the uneventful scenery, there was another $18.25 toll. Just ridiculous.

Finally, around 1:00 p.m., we made it to Indiana and the toll booth wouldn’t let us in. Rude. An attendant had to come and reset the machine so we could enter the state!

Indiana was pretty uneventful as well. We rode past Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park and my sister was pretty excited about it… Before my time. And some more corn.

Somewhere along the way we switched to central time and went through a $8.05 toll and then another $1.35 toll right before we entered Illinois at 2:22 p.m. CST. There were so many tolls. It was crazy.

By hour 11, the fatigue kicked in. We took a break at a rest stop and sat outside on a swing set for a few minutes to stretch and get some fresh air.

Soon after, we got back on the road and reached Iowa around 5 p.m. CST. We rode past Iowa 80: “World’s Largest Truck Stop” and I missed the photo op. Oops.

We got some action an hour later when we rode behind an ambulance with their lights on and four other cars for a few miles. It was like an escort!

The sun began to set around 8:15 p.m. CST but we kept on going! The weather was nice and mild so we put the windows down and marveled at the blue and pink cotton candy sky. We even passed the Bridges of Madison County (the same ones from one of our mom’s favorite movies). Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to stop to see the bridges because we had to make it as far as we could before the sun went down.

Side note: If you notice any small visitors in the photos, it’s because the windshield was filthy. RIP to the hundreds of bugs we killed along the way. HA!

We made it to Omaha, Nebraska around 9 p.m... My least favorite state BY FAR. I’m never going back. It literally smelled like farts. The whole state.

After a stressful encounter with a light-less car swerving through the lanes and a tractor-trailer who kept flashing their lights at us (I think it was just Optimus Prime saying hello), we pulled into a rest stop for the night around midnight.

It was the spookiest truck stop I’ve ever seen. The lights in the bathroom flickered like a horror movie. I shrieked as I walked into the stall because all of the toilet bowls were brown. When I tried to wash my hands, the water just squirted out of the sink. It was gross. I had to douse myself in hand sanitizer when we got back to the car. My sister was cracking up at me. I was traumatized.

Amanee’s Rest Stop Rating: F for FAIL.

When we got back to the car, we prepared for slumber. We parked directly under a streetlight (Good job, Kiki. Lol), but once we grabbed the sunshades from the trunk and put them in the windshield, it wasn't so bad. We locked the doors, reclined the seats, and went to sleep. Surprisingly, it wasn’t all thaaaat bad sleeping in the car. We had pillows and blankets and my blackout eye mask kept all the light out. 

Day 2: Saturday August 26, 2017

By 5:26 a.m. CST, we were back on the road. It was raining, lightening, and pitch black. We couldn’t wait to get out of Nebraska.

At 6:57 a.m., we entered the Mountain Time zone in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere. We got off the highway a few minutes later in a little town called Dix, Nebraska to find a gas station. It was like something out of a movie. They had ONE gas pump. Hilarious!

About an hour later, we were finally out of Nebraska. (Woo hoo!) Wyoming was so beautiful. 

The rest stop was the nicest one BY FAR. It smelled absolutely lovely, like cinnamon and cloves. There was even a greeter and a trail to hike.

Amanee’s Rest Stop Rating: A+

For the next few hours, we weaved through the Rocky Mountains and Medicine Bow National Forest, past the Lincoln Monument at the Summit Rest Area, and across the Continental Divide of the Americas.

To keep myself from being bored to death, I did a mud mask in the car. Gotta take care of your skin, even when you’re in the car for three days!

There were SO MANY wild horses and cows just roaming around on the side of the highway.

By 3:30 p.m. MST, we arrived in Utah. That’s where the fun began! Other drivers were bobbing and weaving through those squiggly mountains like it was a racecar event. My sister and I stayed safe and rode in the lane with the tractor-trailers. Nice and slow.

We stopped at Liberty Park in Salt Lake City, UT and it was SO beautiful. There was a lake, beach volleyball, a playground, botanical gardens, and even rides for the kids.

I absolutely loved it. I even researched the cost of living. I’m always on the hunt for a new place to live. HA!

On the way out, we rode past the Great Salt Lake. I thought I was hallucinating and seeing a mirage because I thought it was snow… It was salt. Fail.

I’m also writing a letter to the governor because I didn’t see a welcome to Utah sign. Hmph.

We reached Nevada at about 6:00 p.m. MST. I missed taking a picture of the welcome sign not once, but twice. We were told that Nevada got the darkest at night so it would be wise to stop before we couldn’t see anymore.

We chased the sunlight and went through some sort of windstorm that made the windshield look like an insect graveyard. The mountains looked like a fake backdrop in the distance.

We arrived at the rest stop around 8:00 p.m. PST. It was filthy dirty, pitch black outside, and I had absolutely no phone service so we missed what was going on with the Mayweather v. McGregor fight.

Amanee’s Rest Stop Rating: F for FAIL.

Day 3: Sunday August 27, 2017

By 5:45 a.m. PST, we were back on the road again. We arrived in Reno three hours later. 

It looked just like a little, dirty, bootleg Las Vegas. We got out, stretched, and walked around El Dorado Casino. I played the $1 slots twice. That was enough gambling for me.

An hour later, we were on the road to California and back on the racetrack. There were so many runaway truck ramps. As we rode through the Sierra Nevada Mountains, past Lake Tahoe, and down numerous 6% downgrades at 6,000 ft. elevation, Kiki said, “These are savage beasts! Why are they going so fast?!” LOL.

It was really crazy. We were literally coasting down the mountain at 70 mph. My ears were popping like I was on an airplane.

FINALLY, three days later, we arrived at our Airbnb in Oakland around 2:30 p.m. PST.

The Great American Road Trip was definitely an adventure and I’m so glad I got to experience it with my sister. But I don’t need to do it again... Once was enough for me. I’ll stick to flying from now on. LOL!

Surprisingly, I wasn’t as bored as I thought I’d be. We had tons of snacks, games, music, and our big mouths to keep us occupied. We even played the license plate game and spotted all but five states.

Some of the scenery was kind of boring at the beginning, so in a perfect world, I would fly to Wyoming and start there. Nice and short.

If we weren’t on a mission to get to California in three days, we could’ve made more stops but… Ya know, things to do, people to see, jobs to get back to.

3 days, 11 states, 4 rainstorms, 8 pit stops, 12 incomplete crossword puzzles, hundreds of cows, and endless cornfields, but the experience... was PRICELESS.

As always, thank you for coming along on my journey!

I hope you enjoyed reading and viewing my car photography! Stay tuned for my next posts. I'll be discussing some of my essentials for a road trip and the rest of our trip to California! 

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-A