My family never flew growing up because my mom is afraid to fly and probably because it was cheaper to pack up the car and drive somewhere. We drove to Disney via Bainbridge, Ga. We took a very 19th century road trip to Lancaster and Gettyburg, Pa. During both of those trips we stayed in multiple places which is why I consider them mini-road trips). The next trip was my families first and only foray into a real road trip. For that trip we traveled from Raleigh, NC to Flagstaff, Az to visit my Aunt Nancy. It was the summer of 1995 and we drove a rented Mercury Sable sedan. We were gone about two weeks but spent about 5 or 6 of those nights in Flagstaff. Just my parents, me and my then sixteen year old sister, Emily. You know that was tons of fun for the family.
It wasn't the most exciting driving experience since we pretty much never left 40 West, but it was still cool for me, a 13 year-old quiet nerd. I got to see the American terrain gradually change, experience deserts for the 1st time, and see animals not found in NC but were always badass. On the way there we stayed the night in Knoxville, Tn; Fort Smith, Ar; McLean, Tx; Gallup, NM; before arriving in Flagstaff. We pretty stayed in a Best Western or its closest equivilent and the only thing I remember stopping to actually do on the way was go see the rubble of the federal building in Oklahoma City, Ok (The building had been bombed less than three months earlier. We spent the 4th of July in Gallup and watched fireworks at a local youth baseball field.
In Flaggstaff we went to the Grand Canyon, which I think you're required to before they let you leave the state, but which Alicia and I might test on our upcoming trip since we've both seen it before. The Grand Canyon was of course pretty awesome and beautiful. We drove south through Sedona into the low desert to see Sajuaro cactuses. On another trip to Sedona we went to Slide Rock State Park to jump off about 10 foot smooth rock cliffs into a river. That was also pretty cool. In Flaggstaff we exhaused any local museum they had which was kind of boring but I'm sure very cheap.
Finally it was time to head back home. We spent nights in Gallup, NM again (I think), Tucumcari, NM; Henrietta, Ok, Memphis, Tn, Crossville, Tn (I think) before being dropped off in Franklin, NC for a week at the Rouses. Going east, we actually stopped and did a few things. My dad and sister both had their picture taken while standing on a corner in Winslow, Az. Not being an Eagles fan then and definitely not now, I had no interest. We spent the afternoon in Albuquerque, NM seeing the Indian Market and the Rattlesnake Museum. Near Amarillo, Tx we stopped by Cadillac Grave Yard. The biggest coup was my sister convincing my parents to let us stop at Graceland. I'm not a huge Elvis fan, but it was seeing his house. It was very epic in its 70's glory.
Glenn Frey, not my dad.
That experience made me really want to go on another, even better road trip one day. In the 10th grade I made plans to vist every state in the continental US in a very zig-zagging route. An ex-girlfriend, whom I dated in grad school, and I made plans to go on a road trip, but we didn't last all that long, so we didn't actually do much planning. For some reason I remember that we were going to stop in Salina, Ks one night. We were planning on taking the trip in the summer of 2008. Last year Alicia and I did a two week trip to Texas and back along the Gulf. That was a test and we survived. When we got back a lot of people asked us jokingly if we still wanted to be together, but honestly that trip made us love each other more. I'll talk more about that trip in the future.
