Day 1- Providence, RI to Columbus, OH.
The most grueling drive of the trip and the most horrific display of roadkill I've ever witnessed. I'm happy to say we made it to Columbus without killing any wildlife. We visited my friend Dave, his wife Kate and Dawn's friend Kaleb. I was too delirious after driving all day to remember to take photos. Dammit! Oh well, Ohio pretty much sucks anyway haha....
Day 2- Columbus, OH to Nashville, TN.
As soon as we headed south we started to see lots of things like this...
I don't know if you can tell from the picture, but there are also advertisements for frozen beef patties on the side of the truck...weird. My personal favorites were the "Hell is for Real" billboards (usually located across from trucker porn shops) on the highway. We were a little too slow with the camera to get those.
While in Nashville we checked out the strip downtown and had some fried pickles (which are surprisingly tasty), which Dawn is enjoying here. I'm sure she is just loving this picture on here ; )
While in Nashville we checked out the strip downtown and had some fried pickles (which are surprisingly tasty), which Dawn is enjoying here. I'm sure she is just loving this picture on here ; )
We were determined to eat some sort of meat while in the south (i.e. not chicken). We knew we weren't realistically going to get ribs or a big ol' steak. We decided to split a burger which was 'crazy' enough for us. We then went on to watch one of the most miserable bands I've ever seen beg for beer and money. I was embarrassed for them, but the tourists seemed to fall for it. Did I mention we were the only people under the age of 45 in there? I suppose Monday night is not the best night for checking out the Nashville music scene.
Day 3- Nashville,TN to Greenville, TX.
On the way through Memphis we just had to check out Graceland. We couldn't tour the house because it was closed on Tuesdays. Dammit!The luck! That was a bummer, but we did get to walk around the house and see The King's grave site. Elvis is truly an American Icon, so it was pretty darn cool to see that on our trip across the country. Did you know Elvis had a stillborn twin brother, Jessie? Imagine... two Elvis's!
Day4 - Greenville,TX to Carlsbad, NM
We spent a long day driving through the emptiness of Texas thanking God we hadn't grown up in one of those depressing, run-down, roadside towns. We picked up Dawn's brother Dustin along the way at the Midland airport, hometown of G.W. and Lara Bush. Let's just say it explains a lot...
Day5- Carlsbad,NM to Demming, NM.
Finally we got to get out of the car! We started the morning walking through Carlsbad Cavern's National Park. Still one of the most amazing places I've ever been. Absolutely nobody was there, so we practically had the cave to ourselves.
We then headed to White Sands National Monument where there are these dramatic white sand dunes. Gorgeous! It looked like we were in the snow and it felt like it too. We were freezing our butts off !
Day 6- Demming, NM to Tempe, AZ
We started the day with a relatively short drive to Saguaro National Park. We drove around the park and did a little hike through the Senoran Dessert. The scenery was beautiful, the weather was absulutely perfect, and the cacti were amazing.
We then drove to Dawn's friend's place in Tempe, just outside of Phoenix, hit up some bars and fought off the cockroaches in our sleep.
Day 7- Tempe, AZ to Thousand Oaks, CA
We made it to Joshua Tree, National Park with just enough time to drive through the park and walk around a little bit before sundown. As we drove through the park (listening to some 'experimental' Pink Floyd) I felt like I was on another planet. It was a shame we didn't have more sunlight to get out and walk around some more, but whatcha gonna do?
I want to thank Dawn for driving all the way home with me. I couldn't imagine the drive without her. Your a great friend and an overall awesome person! Oh jezz.. I'm getting teary eyed writing this. I'm such a sap! I'm gonna miss you!
We spent a long day driving through the emptiness of Texas thanking God we hadn't grown up in one of those depressing, run-down, roadside towns. We picked up Dawn's brother Dustin along the way at the Midland airport, hometown of G.W. and Lara Bush. Let's just say it explains a lot...
Day5- Carlsbad,NM to Demming, NM.
Finally we got to get out of the car! We started the morning walking through Carlsbad Cavern's National Park. Still one of the most amazing places I've ever been. Absolutely nobody was there, so we practically had the cave to ourselves.
We then headed to White Sands National Monument where there are these dramatic white sand dunes. Gorgeous! It looked like we were in the snow and it felt like it too. We were freezing our butts off !
Day 6- Demming, NM to Tempe, AZ
We started the day with a relatively short drive to Saguaro National Park. We drove around the park and did a little hike through the Senoran Dessert. The scenery was beautiful, the weather was absulutely perfect, and the cacti were amazing.
We then drove to Dawn's friend's place in Tempe, just outside of Phoenix, hit up some bars and fought off the cockroaches in our sleep.
Day 7- Tempe, AZ to Thousand Oaks, CA
We made it to Joshua Tree, National Park with just enough time to drive through the park and walk around a little bit before sundown. As we drove through the park (listening to some 'experimental' Pink Floyd) I felt like I was on another planet. It was a shame we didn't have more sunlight to get out and walk around some more, but whatcha gonna do?
I want to thank Dawn for driving all the way home with me. I couldn't imagine the drive without her. Your a great friend and an overall awesome person! Oh jezz.. I'm getting teary eyed writing this. I'm such a sap! I'm gonna miss you!
