The Road Trip

What I love about having a blog is that it is the easiest way for me to remember what I was doing when. It's the best kind of journal of events you can have because just a few clicks away is a nice little recap with pictures. The problem is that when you don't do such a good job at keeping up to date...you end up having to do a ton to get caught up. So here it goes...


Here are the pictures from my road trip across the country. I've driven across the country 3 times now. To/from BYU and now to California. I'm pretty much a pro. I've done every trip by myself too. Not the most ideal of situations...but it leaves more room in my car for my stuff. :)

Mom and Dad were life savers packing up my apartment! Seriously would have died without them. We managed to get everything cleaned out by about 4pm the day before I was leaving. And I said goodbye to my home of 4 years and headed over to Jennah's to get some good sleep before the long journey!

I left around 7am from Jennah's and captured a picture of my mileage. 206,183 KM (not miles).

I could even see out the top of my back window! Not bad..considering I was living in a 2 bedroom apartment by myself. I downsized A LOT. This picture was of course taken on the first day when I wasn't completely sick of driving....

I was going to try to capture pictures of all the states I went through...but I wasn't very good at it. By the time I realized the sign was there - i was already passed it before my camera was on.

I drove through 16 states: Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Texas, Texas (it felt like forever), New Mexico, Arizona, and California!

My drink of choice....and what pretty much kept me alive: Good ol' Diet Dr. Pepper! And my roadmap: The blackberry (love google maps!).

Almost to my first destination...just one state away!!
My first day I drove all the way from CT to Canton, GA (just outside Atlanta) where Sharon, one of my bestest friends, lives! The drive took me somewhere between 14 and 15 hours. I was actually doing great until I was about 20 miles away from Sharon's house when I hit this dead stop traffic! Luckily Micah (Sharon's husband) was able to tell me a way to get around it!

I was so happy to get out of the car. And ready for a day of R&R! I spend 2 nights in Canton. It was great being able to spend some time with Sharon and her family! Her boys are so much fun....

We spent the day out by the pool! This is the pool for their sub division (or whatever you call it). It was awesome! Look at this place... Slides and everything. You don't even see it all in this picture!

It was exactly what I needed. I slapped on some SPF 2 and lay in the sun. Best feeling ever!

I joked with Sharon about how I felt like I was in the middle of a reality show - "The housewives of Canton, GA". Basically, all the moms get together at the pool every day and chat/gossip while their kids play around. Not going to lie...I could definitely live like that.

After the pool, Sharon and I went to dinner for some girl time! It was great being able to catch up. I need to visit her more often!

Saturday (June 27th), I left GA and headed for my next destination...Dallas, TX. Janet's cousin was kind enough to let me crash at their apartment before making the rest of my journey to Austin! I was grateful to only have to drive 12 hours to Dallas instead of the 15 hours it would have been to Austin!

Sunday morning I woke up and made my way to Austin just in time to watch my amazing Nephew, Jacob, play in the all-star tournament of his baseball league. He did great! And it was SO much fun to watch!

They played 2 games in a row and ended up winning the championship game! It was such a great game! Way to go Jake!!

hmm...i really, REALLy miss that tan I had. (California has done nothing good for my color! weird.)

I loved being able to spend some time with my nieces and nephews! They are getting so big! I spent a few days in Texas. I stayed at Kathy and Dans a couple of nights.

And then moved over to Steve and Janet's to spend some time with them and the kiddos.

We of course had to go bowling. I'm pretty sure I've gone bowling just about every time I've been to Texas. I swear it's one of the boys favorite things to do! Aren't they just cute standing there! love them!

I spent about 4 days in Texas. It was a very nice break from driving. But then I got back on the road and headed for Phoenix, AZ! Another 15 hour and LONG day! Probably my least favorite of the days for several reasons. 1- Texas never wanted to end. It just kept going and going and going. And 2 - I got a speeding ticket (in Texas). I was going 92 in an 80. The cop showed no mercy!

This was what I looked like before getting the ticket. Cruising, talking on the phone, leg up..nice and relaxed. PS - thanks to those that kept me awake by calling every once in a while! Even though the books on cd worked wonders (seriously converted to them!)....a phone call every now and then was the perfect pick-me-up!

In Arizona I stayed with a former mission companion of mine! It was fun to go to dinner and catch up! And so nice of her to let me crash at her place! She was even supposed to leave town that night, but stayed just so I could see her! Friday, I spent the day hanging out with Reidster before he had to catch his flight to China!

Then it was back on the road - heading to Los Angeles to spend July 4th with a couple of my favorite people - Brian and Ali!!

I loved the fact that Phoenix was only 6 hours away from LA! Talk about breeze of a drive! It felt SO short! I spent Friday and Saturday night in LA. It was fun to spend some time with Brian and Ali! I didn't really take any pictures....just this one! (Brian - didn't you take a picture of us on your camera??? Can you send me that??)

After church, I made the final leg of my trip from LA to Menlo Park, Ca. The drive took about 6 hours. I was so relieved to be out of the car, but a little anxious about the fact that this new, strange place was now supposed to be home. It was a very weird feeling.

And there you have.... 6,275 km's, over 50 hours of driving and 16 states later....I finally arrived! Longest road trip ever!