As I've said before, I've been very lucky in the amount I've traveled up to now. My favorite manner of travel is road trip. I'm so out of practice anymore. That or I'm getting old. Driving long distances gives me the time to think and reflect and marvel at the vast array of landscapes. A lot of road trips are quite boring for the most part, but the payoff is in getting where you're going or happening on those great moments with friends/family or natural beauty.
5. Summer of 1997
This was a long trip out west and back that I took with two others. We hit a lot of places... Mitchell Corn Palace, Devil's Tower, Mt. Rushmore, Dinosaur National Monument, Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon, Petrified Forrest, Winslow Meteor Crater, and Sand Dunes National Monument. And don't forget all those weird places in-between... The whole experience ended for me with my personal record 32-hour in-a-row driving shift (yes Ian, I remember that you have me beat). The trip was just over two weeks long, and we also took our bikes along for the ride as well.
4. 2004 Maine
It was the first road trip taken with my wife. It started of pretty rough with some trailer problems in Toledo (we ended up dumping the trailer there) and continuing onward. This first day was on my birthday as well. But Vic and I spent a nice week at the cabin before taking the long way home hitting Fallingwater and Latrobe on our way home.
3. The massive road trip circa 1984
Sure, I was only 8, but this was a trip to remember. I was mom, dad, Carrie and I taking many weeks on a very large road tip in a big van. I don't remember all of the details and where we went, but I do remember fragments. Camping grounds. The Leadville, CO incident (let's just say there were interactions with cops). The Four Corners. Carrie sitting on the Yucca cactus. Listening to Thomas Dolby's The Golden Age of Wireless enough to make my dad go crazy. Hiking to Indian ruins that I can pronounce, but no idea how to spell. Freeze dried food cooked on hikes. Carrie and I completely fixated with Steve Miller Band's Abracadabra. My first time to Bryce Canyon. It's one of those perfect childhood memories of fragments that leaves you searching your head for more... and it all brings a smile.
2. 1999 Crested Butte and Breckenridge
Left Indianapolis with Neil, J and kyle in my Defender 110. Dropped J off in Peoria and picked Kevin up. Drove straight through, but managed a little balyhoo in Kansas City... We also happened to find the only WallMart in America without a single atlas in the store. Met Ian in Crested Butte, and then the off roading began. No one else had ever done it to this level, so I had to start them off light up around Irwin Lodge before working up to Pearl Pass. Our time in CB was filled making fun of Blair Witch, playing guitars behind our head (or trying to), getting Slogared, and shooting lots of priceless video. Ian and Kev left to head back East while Kyle, Neil, and I went on to the Solihull Society National Rally in Breckenridge before heading back. Somewhere I have the trail names we took... They weren't that hard - but not that easy. It was nice that our hotel just happened to be right behind the Breckenridge Brewery. All things considered, it was quite the experience, and I have the photos and video to prove it. There has been banter about a return visit in '10 for Colorado veterans, so we'll see how that shapes up.
1. Marriage / Honeymoon (2006)
No brainer that it's #1... I left Indy, and drove to Rockland, Maine to do all those wonderful preparations. Vic flew in later that week before all the guests began to arrive. The wedding was completely awesome. We judge every other wedding by it. After a day's rest in Rockland, we took a short honeymoon. We first drove down to Newport, RI for two nights where we stayed in a B&B that used to be the city jail. It was more novel than it was a place that I'll actually want to stay again. Saw the mansions and the town. Got killer ham and cheese croissant's on the way out of town as we headed to New York City for a few days. In NYC, we did a lot of walking, and saw a lot of sights. In the end it was easily the best road trip I've ever taken.
Honorable Mention: 1996 Indy-San Fran aka Dinan Delivery, 2000 Indy-Maine-Indy-Yellowstone-Seatte-SanFran-Indy, 2001 Colorado, 2002 Colorado / Rally, NYC-Maine 1998.
One Comment
1 Hungry Hank wrote:
Yeah, the '99 trip was good (I also liked the rally we attended where the switchbacks and mountainside tried to toss the Rover (with us in it) plunging to our deaths). And thanks for remembering that my Peoria to Los Angeles non-stop goodness has you in second place for dumbest road trip driving techniques. I still remember the shakes I had from that and my worry that some gas station employee would ask the police to check if I was on speed. Good times.