Road Trip Tips

What to Bring:

• Lonely Planet USA. Seriously. It was my bible.
  
• A road atlas of the entire US. Mine was a Rand McNally atlas from 2000, with a map of the whole US as well as maps of each state. Very, very helpful.
  
• Lots of music. We were in the car for more than 48 hours, and music definitely helps pass the time. Ask your friends to make you mixed CDs before you leave.
  
• A laptop or DVD player with a way to connect it to the car speakers. We watched 3 movies in the car, and just hearing the movie while driving is a good way to stay awake.
  
• A box to keep all your stuff in. I picked one up from the Container Store before leaving and it was a great way to keep my car from turning into a disaster area.
  
• M&M’s, water bottles, Crystal Light, gum, cookies, cherries, etc. You’ll want to snack, and chewing on stuff is another good way to stay alert on the road.
  
• Kleenex, plastic trash bags, wet wipes… You’re going to be stuck in a car for hours. Trust me, you’ll want it to stay clean.
  
• First aid kit. It doesn’t have to be fancy, but I sliced my finger open on my trunk and Fraser sliced his on some barbed wire. It’s nice to have around just in case.
  
• Shampoo. Cheap hotels don’t have great toiletries.
  
• A camera with a huge memory card. There’s a lot of weird stuff that you’ll want to take pictures of, and when you’re bored it’s a good way to pass the time.
  
• A credit card. We charged mostly everything and still ran out of cash, and many hotels won’t let you check in if you’re under 21 and don’t have a card.
  

 

Some other tips:

• Be flexible. We randomly decided to go to San Francisco, which was the best decision we made on the trip. Try not to give yourself a time limit. We expected the trip to take 6 or 7 days, and it took 11. Some days you’ll want to stop after a few hours or you’ll find some crazy roadside attractions. One day we decided to stop after finding out Dramamine causes drowsiness. It’ll be less stressful, more fun, and more safe if you’re flexible and open to anything.
  
• Know that you’re not the only person in the car. Respect everyone else’s space, and if someone wants to stop somewhere, then stop. You’ll get along much better if you respect each other.
  
• Keep the car clean. It gets very frustrating as it gets more cluttered. I tried to clean it out every morning, and I got a car wash after about a week. You should wash your windshield off at least once a day, if not every time you get gas.
  
• WATCH YOUR SPEED. Our speeding tickets totaled over $300. It’s not worth it. Pay attention especially when you’re driving through small towns. The speed limit drops quickly and they don’t post the limits frequently. You might even want to invest in a radar detector!
  
• Try to eat healthy. You don’t have to eat cheeseburgers every day to save money. Being in a car for hours makes you feel disgusting enough; you don’t need to add to it by eating tons of fast food. 
  
• HAVE FUN!! This trip is your personal adventure. Make the most of it, and make it last. It will go by faster than you think!

Reflection of This Journey

I seriously advise everyone to take a road trip at some point in your lives. It’s an incredible experience that will teach you what you’re capable of as a traveler and will show you what the rest of the country is like. I was nervous that I wouldn’t be able to handle life on the road or that something would happen that I wouldn’t be prepared for. Luckily, I had the security blanket of a credit card, cell phone, and GPS system, but I still was glad to see that I could handle everything that was thrown at me. I got along well with my car-mates, even if I did get a little pissed at my brother from time to time. We had no major disputes, which was nice. The driving really wasn’t as bad as a thought it would be. Even if I ended up driving 7 hours in a day, it wasn’t that bad. I loved seeing how the scenery changed as we headed west, and seeing all the quirky weird things along the way. I loved the independence that I had, and I loved spending time with Hunter and Fraser. We laughed so much during our many hours together, and we’re never going to forget this trip. 

Next Steps...

We left my grandparents’ house in Bremerton for Port Townsend, where my dad’s parents live and where we have a cabin on the beach. Hunter and I stayed until Sunday, when he went to an art camp and I went back to Bremerton. I’m working on finding a job in Seattle, and I’ll be living either with my mom’s parents or with my mom’s sister. I also have to get a bank account, register my car, get a Washington driver's license... Pain in the neck. I go to orientation in July, and at the end of August I’ll move onto campus and begin school!

Day 11 - Corvallis to WASHINGTON

We had breakfast at my aunt’s house and left around noon for Washington. It was weird passing into the Evergreen State knowing that this is my new home. Fraser wanted to see his friend’s new apartment, so we stopped by her place in Seattle. Passing through the city was such a great feeling. I’ve been through it so many times, going along I-5 and seeing the Space Needle in the distance. But this time was different. This time I’m going to be here for good. What a strange, awesome feeling. Anyway, after seeing Fraser’s friend we made our way over to Gold Bar, where Fraser lives and works. After having a car full of three people for 11 days, it was strange to have only one other person in the car. I plugged in my grandparents’ address into my GPS, avoiding the ferry. Unfortunately, my GPS is completely stupid and took us through the ghetto of Seattle. I missed a turn and it took like 20 minutes to recalculate, so I pulled into a random gas station, where a guy came up to our car trying to sell us a rap CD. Oh my god. I finally just decided to navigate to the highway and found my way from there. We didn’t end up getting to my grandparents’ apartment until almost midnight. We ended up just passing out, exhausted from the trip that we had taken over the last week and a half.

Day 10 - Eureka to Corvallis, OR

We woke up on Sunday on our last morning spent in a hotel. The continental breakfast at the Super 8 consisted of donuts, coffee, and orange juice. I immediately regretted eating the pastries. I felt disgusting. We found a place in Eureka called Los Bagels Co. and filled up on iced tea and bagels. If you’ve never had a bagel with plain cream cheese and jam, try it. It’s delicious. We hit the road for Corvallis, which was a pretty uneventful drive. I felt pretty nauseous the whole way from the donuts and curvy roads, so Fraser drove all day. We arrived at my aunt’s gorgeous house in Corvallis around 7:30, where we had dinner and chatted. Fraser and I both took some sleep aids since we were both feeling pretty crummy, and passed out soon after starting a movie.

How to know when sleep aids have kicked in:

Me: "What other movie is that guy in?"

Fraser: "He's in a doctor show."

Me: "Yes, in this movie he's on a doctor show but what else?" 

Fraser: "He's in a car. In a doctor show."

Me: *slaps forehead*

Day 9 - San Francisco to Eureka, CA

We still hadn’t had enough of San Francisco, so we drove back over the Bay Bridge and sat in traffic until we made it to the Golden Gate Bridge. We spent a little bit of time in a park and on the dock before leaving. I think I might have gone through a toll on the bridge without paying, but I was a little confused when I was driving so I think I just missed it. Oops. We got onto Highway 1, which runs along the California coast. It was a fun, gorgeous drive but the curves got to be a bit nauseating after a while. Plus, the gasoline along the coast is friggin expensive. We had to pay $3.15 a gallon! Awful. We eventually made it to Highway 101, which wasn’t much better. By the time we got to the Super 8 in Eureka, I was definitely ready to be out of the car. 

Day 8 - San Francisco

We got up this morning and quickly planned our day around San Francisco. We checked out and found a parking garage then walked up the street to buy all day public transportation passes. We stopped at this one restaurant called the Hollywood Café for breakfast. Wow. None of us expected how amazing the food would be. Seriously, if you’re looking for a cheap breakfast in SF, check this place out. Anyway so we picked up our passes and began our journey by hopping on a cable car. We stopped in Chinatown and did some exploring. While it was a cool area, all the stores are pretty much exactly the same and they all sell the same lame stuff. No worries, though. We then deciphered the bus schedule and jumped on a bus to Haight and Ashbury. What an interesting district. If you’ve never been there, Haight and Ashbury is an area of SF that’s stuck in the 60’s, full of head shops, hippies, and homeless people. We walked into a few stores then went up to Golden Gate park, where we passed more hippies and vagrants, many of whom were toking up as we passed them. Not really my favorite area of town. Hippies bug me.

We decided to get on another bus to check out a place called the Cliff House. Unfortunately, we got on the wrong bus and ended up in some fancy neighborhood on the west side of town. We got off and waited for another bus. We made it to the Cliff House to find that the camera obscura there had closed hours ago. Boo. No worries, though. We climbed down to the beach and checked out a cool cave, then climbed back up and checked out some weird old concrete buildings that were all broken down and whatnot. We got to see the sun set over the water and once it got dark we got on once last bus. We had some issues figuring out connecting buses so we decided to make a huge walk to the cable car route. After waiting for a while, we got on a cable car and made it to the parking garage. We then headed to Berkeley where we stayed for the night.

A note about public transportation:

I’ve never really used a bus system on my own before, so I was pretty proud of my ability to (almost) successfully maneuver through the city. But let me tell you…you meet some pretty friggin interesting people on the buses. For example: at one point I felt a poke at my side to see a lovely little homeless man sitting 2 seats down from me. He then began to rant, telling me to never touch him again. He then said “you aren’t even that hot. You’re no Miss America you know.” And then proceeded to scold me for never serving in Iraq. He rambled about how he was a Vietnam vet then changed his mind and said he was an Iraq vet. I just ignored him and, needless to say, I was pretty relieved when he got off the bus.

We met some more interesting people on the last bus. When we got on the bus, it was almost completely empty. By the end of the ride, it was packed. Across from Fraser and I was an old lady who got really mad that we didn’t all get up when an elderly man had to sit down. She kept ranting to herself that there was a sign that said we needed to let elderly people sit down. After the guy had sat down in an empty seat next to us. She then got mad when we weren’t getting off the bus, and yelled at us to hurry up. The doors hadn’t opened yet. Crazy lady. Anyway, the old guy that sat down next to us was also mumbling to himself. God knows what he was saying.

Day 7 - Reno to San Francisco

After breakfast, we headed west for California. We had to deal with some more annoying construction, but we eventually made it to Sacramento. If you weren’t aware, I was born in Sacramento and lived there until I was 3. I asked my mom for the address of our old house and we swung by to see it. We decided to knock on the door and were invited in to see the house. It was a bit strange… I don’t remember much about the house, except for the itsy bitsy hallway going to my room. We snapped some pictures then headed to In-N-Out Burger and reveled in its deliciousness. After a very difficult search trying to find a hotel that would let an 18-year-old check in, we arrived at the Sheraton at Fisherman’s Wharf. The room was gorgeous, and was the nicest hotel we’ve stayed in this whole trip. It was nice to get away from ugly floral comforters for a night, even if we could hear loud buses and bumpin’ SUVs out the window. We left our room and walked around Fisherman’s Wharf for a little bit, exploring the shops and whatnot. We grabbed some ice cream and watched the seals and walked around a little bit more before deciding that it was way too cold, then headed back to the hotel.

Day 6 - Vernal to Reno, NV

Last night we decided that San Francisco was a good idea, so we hauled ass through Utah and Nevada in order to spend some time in the city. We left around 10am and made it to Salt Lake City in a few hours. Before we got there though, I received a speeding ticket. Unfortunately, Utahans don’t like to post speed limit signs frequently. I got pulled over for 44 in a 30. Ugh. Once we got to SLC we hit up the Gateway Shopping Center, a huge outdoor mall. The people there were weird though. I kept getting the feeling that everyone was giving us dirty looks. Like they didn’t want us in their state or something. Whatever.

On the way out of SLC we listened to Band of Horses “Great Salt Lake” as we passed…you guessed it… the Great Salt Lake. We then ran into a massive rainstorm, much like the one that we hit on the way out of Kansas. Once the weather cleared up, the terrain became a barren wasteland. I swear, Utah has every kind of scenery possible. On our trek through the state we came across pine-tree-covered mountains, rolling hills, wetlands, lakes, and desert. We came across the Bonneville Salt Flats and spent some time walking around on the salt. We left and soon crossed the state line into Nevada, which so far is empty fields, huge hills, and mountains. We stopped for some Burger King and grocery shopping. Hunter wanted to buy an action figure to fly out the window, but I wouldn’t let him. He then threw a temper tantrum in the checkout aisle of Albertson’s. I let him get a 50-cent figure instead. It has been flying out the window ever since, AKA 250 miles.

Fraser ended up getting tired so I took over the wheel again. I didn't mind driving, but driving through pitch-black Nevada countryside is rough, man. Depth perception gets thrown waayyy off. But lo and behold, Reno appeared out of nowhere, its casino lights drawing us in. Our hotel room reeks of weed, but whatever. We're exhausted. Time for sleep.

Day 5 - Winter Park to Vernal, UT

Left around 10 or 11 this morning. I was really bummed that I didn’t get the chance to hang out with another one of my friends from Thailand, Cam. We passed his camp twice and it was really frustrating that I couldn’t at least say hello.

The drive through western Colorado and eastern Utah is spectacular, in a weird way. It’s so bare and deserted, but there are mountains and cliffs everywhere. We stopped on the side of the highway at one point to take it all in and frolic in a field. Fraser decided he wanted some keepsake barbed wire so he ripped some out of the ground, cutting his finger in the process. I now have rust and dirt all over my trunk.

We arrived in Vernal, Utah where we found a hotel. We discovered that it had a creepy attic and a creaky shower, then decided to go out exploring. We walked down the street and discovered that it was a lammeee town. 90% of the people there drove either an SUV or a pickup truck. We found a random store that sold Mormon clothes as well as Billabong clothes and hiking boots. I was pretty excited to get out.

Day 4 - Boulder to Winter Park, CO

We slept in a bit this morning and checked out of the hotel around 11. We decided to walk around the pedestrian mall on Pearl Avenue, where we found a ton of really cool shops and really good food. Fraser attempted to give blood on the blood bus but they wouldn’t let him, so we decided to grab some sandwiches and make our way to Rocky Mountain National Park. The drive from Boulder to the park was gorgeous enough, but the ride through the park was breathtaking. The mountain range made me feel like I was in Lord of the Rings or something. On the way down I switched places with Fraser because I felt like I was going to fall asleep. I found out later that Dramamine (which I took to prevent motion sickness) causes drowsiness. Oops.

We made it to Granby, where I bought a 6-month expired double shot espresso. Five minutes later we discovered at least 850 coffee shops. FML.

We then decided to go to Fraser, Colorado to that Fraser could feel at home.

Otherwise, it’s been a pretty uneventful day. We found a motel in Winter Park which is about 10 minutes away from Granby. Hunter dumped honey in the shower. We fell asleep.

Day 3 - Topeka to Boulder

I hate Kansas.

So we left Topeka around 10:30am after getting some Panera and hitting up Wal-Mart. At first the scenery was actually really pretty, until we got to the middle of the state. Then wheat fields abounded. Luckily, we passed the time playing the cow game. If you have never played the cow game before, the point of the game is to locate the most cows. If you see a group of cows, you yell “COW!” and estimate how many cows are there, which are your points. If you pass a cemetery, someone yells “DEAD COW!” and everyone else’s points are erased. We also passed the time by locating hilarious signs throughout the state, such as the “Pornography kills families” billboard right next to the adult megastore.

We also got distracted by several roadside attractions. Hunter and Fraser decided to set off fireworks in some random abandoned farm. We then decided to go to Lucas, KS where we saw the Garden of Eden (www.garden-of-eden-lucas-kansas.net) and the Worlds Largest Collection of the Worlds Smallest Versions of the World’s Largest Things. I don’t understand how people aspire to do these things. Anyway, on the way there we had a little run-in with the po-po. So we’ve ben driving 85-90mph pretty much the entire trip. As we’re driving on a 65mph road, I say “you know, I’m really surprised we haven’t been pulled over yet.” LITERALLY a second later, we pass a sheriff. He turned around. Fraser got a ticket.

We also decided to stop at Prarie Dog World. There we found a huge cage of rattlesnakes and a field full of prarie dogs, goats, raccoons, coyotes, peacocks, boars, baby pigs, sheep, and cows. They had 2 6-legged cows and a 5-legged cow. It was strange.

We hit a storm on the way out of Kansas. It started pouring, and it was so windy that my windshield wipers were pulling off of my windshield, thereby not wiping water away. The sky looked like something you would see on a storm chasers show. I booked it to try to get the hell out of the state, because I hated it so much. The storm clouds literally ended at the state line. As soon as we saw the “Welcome to Colorful Colorado” sign, it was sunny and clear. I HATE KANSAS.

It took a few hours to get to Boulder, and eastern Colorado is completely empty. We reached Denver and it seemed to kind of appear out of nowhere. We checked into our hotel and met up with Stevie, who I went to Thailand with last summer. We hit up a sweet bakery then went up a mountain, where we could see the whole city. Much cooler than anything you could do in Cincinnati.