Road Trip Across America-lessons learned.

I realize its been almost a month since I have moved to Pasadena, LA. However I thought I would let you know what it was like to drive across the GREAT US of A....
Here goes...



One of my best friends, Julie Schenning, came with me( a close friend of mine since I was thirteen, and one of the last, genuine hippies out there). We said goodbye to our very nervous parents in York, PA and headed off for the open road. We went past Pittsburgh, through Cleveland Ohio, and into Illinois. There isn't much to say about that part of the trip, other than the fact that we were warming up to the idea that we were actually doing it.  Julie and I talked about our excitement to actually visit California. Before leaving I had made a playlist with a selection of California songs.







We drove into the night and stopped at an ECONO Lodge just outside of Oklahoma City. When we had gone that far, It began to feel real for me. The climate began to change as well. The further west we went, the less humid it became. It was dry, windy, and sunny as we passed through Oklahoma and into Amarillo, Texas. Just a heads up: there is absolutely NOTHING surrounding the actual city of Amarillo Texas. But for some reason, right when we entered the top of the gigantic state, everything became wider, sunnier, and the skies were a deep cornflower blue with white cloud wisps and swirls. "Home on the Range" was a frequent travel song. The people we encountered grew kinder and sweeter with every mile. Julie and I were merely walking in a gas station parking lot as a woman in her SUV pulled up just to say hello,  her window rolled down as she uttered, "Be careful out there." Even our toll lady wanted to know our story. Needless to say, Julie and I now love the folk in southern/middle America. ;)


From there we went on to New Mexico. The wide-stretched landscape before us started to turn colors; rust, light purple, and yellows. It was definitely dry at this point. Julie and I were warned  we would start to get very bored. My dad said, "There's a whole lotta nothin from there till you get to California," as he tried to persuade me to take the middle route through Colorado. But I insisted and I am glad I did. Because as we began driving into Albuquerque and the mountains took our breathe away. Julie was so taken, she cried. We decided then and there that we LOVED New Mexico! 






Some of the more interesting moments occurred whilst Julie and I were in "New Mehico"...

First, as we drove into the border, we noticed that the air seemed a bit smokey. Julie and I chalked it up to dry desert weather, but it wasn't until we were in Arizona that someone informed us there had been a raging wildfire which engulfed the entire border of New Mexico that day. Of course  Julie and I would be the only ones not to notice that we were breathing in wildfire fumes.-(not a big surprise there)

Second, we stayed at the WORST hotel I have EVER seen. I was being cheap and we both were tired, so Julie and I checked into the "Road Runner Inn" on Route 66. I should have ran right out the door once I saw the stained carpet, the old and moldy AC, the naked light bulbs, etc. I completely outed the option of taking a shower that evening because I was afraid to step foot into the tub. 
But I reached my limit when Julie awoke in the middle of the night to find desert mites feasting on her flesh. 
So ...
needless to say we bolted out of there and at 2 am, Julie and I  began to hunt for a new place to sleep before making our way to the GRAND CANYON. 



And wouldn't you know, not a quarter mile away, I spotted the "El Rancho Hotel,"a gorgeous, authentic, western style hotel. I felt I had died and gone to heaven. The clerk informed me that it was a historical landmark on Route 66 and cut us a deal (being that it was so late). I was already completely and utterly sold at his point, but just as  he handed me the room key, the clerk uttered the words, "Your room is The Katharine Hepburn room."-That is when I knew that it was destiny and couldn't help but wonder if we would have made it there if it wasn't for the flesh-eating mites. 

Apparently,  the  "El Rancho Hotel" is a place where starlets from the Golden Age of Hollywood would stay while filming Westerns. Each room had the name of a different movie star.--LOVED it!

So after Julie and I had thoroughly showered we went to bed to get up in time to make it to the GRAND CANYON before sunset the next day. In the morning Julie ran into a homeless Native American who asked her for some change. She offered him apples from our cooler. He took them and told us that the Native Americans "welcomed us."- Nothing like bartering with the Indians! 

I see that this is getting a bit long, so I will wrap it up here...
Driving in  Northern Arizona: so beautiful, lovely mountains, sunshine pine trees etc.

Grand Canyon: huge hole in the ground. Julie didn't weep when she saw it, but definitely something to see. 

Entering California: surreal, momentous, and just in time. 

Thank you for reading about my cross-country road trip from York, PA, to Pasadena LA.  Follow me next time as I begin another chapter of my life in the "city of angels."