Road Trip 2008 Wrap Up

My road trip is over - time to wrap things up - sort of like a post-mortem from my engineering days :).

Overall: I got a *lot* of quality time with my parents! We got to visit with more relatives, and even met some new ones. I saw parts of the country I had never seen before, and noted quite a few that I want to spend more time in (*really* slow travel, and *with* Rick). I learned (and re-learned) a *lot* about how to do a road trip, and about what I want from a road trip.

Statistics (I may have to update these later with actuals from Dad):

• Miles: 2400 +/-
• Gas mileage: 55 mpg +/- (it really pays to drive 62 mph, in a Prius!)
• Days on the road: 10 days (+ 9 days in Tennessee)
• Cost per person: $385 (+ $200 for flight back)
• Cost per mile: gas for car = 10 cents/mile, plane ticket = 10 cents/mile
• Cheapest gas: $3.75 (but we kept missing this!)

Pack list:

1. First aid kit
2. Food box and cooler (sharp knife, utensils, bowl, ziplocks, paper towels, ice pack, cereal, snacks, water)
3. Notebook and pen
4. Flashlight
5. Air mattress, sheet, pillow (optional: blanket and towels)
6. Emergency contact and medical information
7. Itinerary with contact info - remember to keep it rough...
8. The usual suitcase contents - clothes, toiletries, etc.
9. Day pack or sling bag
10. Pictures and books
11. Address book, address stickers, and stamps (for all those postcards)
12. Maps
13. Laptop
14. Camera
15. Cell phone w/ hands-free system (many states have hands-free laws now). A good option is pay-as-you-go with no roaming or long-distance charges.
16. Car emergency box (jumper cables, flares/triangles)
17. Guitar, CDs, favorite DVDs, or other shareable entertainment
18. Something from your home area that you want to share with others (wine, fruit, arts/crafts...)
19. See this advice also: What to Pack on Your Next Road Trip

Things to keep in mind for future road trips:

1. Know why you are on the trip. Is it to get from here to there? or to explore? or tour all the theme parks? or visit friends and family? or see all the National Parks? or to be awed by the majesty and expanse of the open road? Be true to you.
2. Look for Mom and Pop places. These are harder to find than chains, but they provide a better flavor of a place.
3. Plan on eating at least one meal per day from your food box and the grocery store. This will save $$, and keep you from getting bored with eating out. You get to see the sorts of things that are stocked (and eaten) in different parts of the country. It also saves your sanity if you are nowhere near a restaurant when you need to eat...
4. Spend time in places along the way. 500-mile days are doable, but just not very fun. Make your schedule loose enough that you can take that side trip that looks interesting. Spend time in local libraries and bookstores reading up on the locale. Pick up a local weekly paper and go to a listed event.
5. Don't be afraid to just whiz through a point-of-interest. It's all about keeping things interesting. If you just want a quick look at Graceland, spend 10 minutes walking along the fence. However, if you are a die-hard fan, go on the tours and spend the whole day (or more)!
6. Keep an eye out for visitor centers. Stop in and pick up all kinds of local information. Scan materials for events happening right now, and *go!* The maps you get here will have a lot more points-of-interest shown than your road maps. This is also a good place to talk to the staffers about what to do, where to park, how to see something without getting caught up in the crowd.
7. Take a tour or two. Sure, it's touristy, but you get a good overview of the area, and usually some interesting facts as well. For that matter, take a tour in your own area - I'll bet you'll find out something you didn't know!
8. Drink plenty of water. Stock up on bottled water. You can try filling up a refillable bottle, but if it tastes "off" you won't drink enough.
9. Talk to folks; strike up a conversation wherever possible. Find out where they like to go in their area.
10. Walk through galleries - and some museums, but galleries are free...
11. Pick up a couple of hotel directories (super 8, days inn, etc). These usually have maps and details about the individual motel. Or try using an Inn or Bed & Breakfast listing - these usually need reservations and more $$, but may be worth a phone call (and you can use the chain motels as a back-up).
12. Take and wear compression socks. The kind that you get in the hospital for post-surgery anti-thrombosis are great! Or see if you can get the kind for treating varicose veins. These are especially good if your legs swell from sitting a long time in the car. They are also good to wear on an airplane for the same reason.
13. Take a sheet to use at the homes of family and friends. If you are only staying a day or two, this saves them from unnecessary laundry. Most are surprised by this gesture, but I know I appreciated it when my folks did it when they visited me.
14. Find some way to exercise. Stop at rest stops and walk around a bit; hike in a national park; take a walking tour of a town; consider taking small weights or an exercise ball.

Miscellaneous:

• Tennessee had a lot of decorated cemeteries. The locals we spoke to said this was probably an aspect of Southern Pride, and said there is a day specifically set aside for going to the cemetery to clean up and decorate the graves. Compare this to Latin and Asian cultures that have a similar holiday. Contrast this to my immediate family (California and Pacific Northwest) - we looked for my uncle's memorial and couldn't find it. I can't name where *any* of my relatives are buried.
• A typical house in Tennessee is brick, and in the center of a large well-maintained lawn. Fences are very unusual. Contrast this to Santa Fe, where houses are adobe, flat-roofed, and usually fully fenced, with glimpses of plants. Contrast to California, where houses are usually wooden, with plenty of earthquake safety features, and usually fully fenced. Both California and Santa Fe houses are much closer together than in Tennessee. Houses in a Costa Rican town often share a wall (now *that's* close!)
• Rest stops are different! California rest stops usually have minimal information about the area, posted on signboards. They always have rest rooms, usually have picnic tables, and sometimes have snack vending machines. In Texas, you see picnic areas - tables and parking, but no snacks or rest rooms. In Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas, rest stops can be like mini-theme-parks - there are staffed visitor centers, snacks, rest rooms, and tables - all housed in air-conditioned castles (well, not really, but compared...). I felt sorry for us when we first saw the picnic areas that had no rest rooms; then I felt sorry for Texans who expect so much more from a rest stop than is provided on a California road.

Tennessee - Family and Opryland

We finally got to Centerville, Tennessee, and saw my sister and her family - it has been *years* and her family has *grown!*

I had a real shock the first time I said this out loud: "my baby sister's granddaughter..." =:-O



Mom and Dad brought quilts that cousin Goldie had made - what a hit!





A few days later, Aunt Mabel flew in. She is taking my place in the Prius Express...
That's a little joke - we usually drive 62 mph in a 75 mph zone (when possible without getting run down).




Today we went to Opyrland in Nashville. It is a huge glass-enclosed garden/convention center/hotel...









Annie was very taken with "Ivy" diVine - a performance artist.



This little guy is hidden away...



Mom, Dad, and Mabel leave tomorrow morning for the rest of the tour. I get more visitin' time in Tennessee, and fly home later.

People to visit with:

Natchez Trace

From Memphis, we turned South and East, heading for the Natchez Trace.
We drove through the upper part of Mississippi, and Alabama, then picked up the trace and took it back into Tennessee.



Crossing the Tennessee River...



I don't know that I've ever seen so many different colors of green all at once!



At Collinwood, we pulled off the trace to get a map and info, and met the *lovely* people of Wayne County, Tennessee. Maps, cookies, and a few local stories later, we get back on the Natchez Trace - happy people!

There was a small side road - one way, closed to RVs and trucks - that followed the old trace for about a mile.



We found an outlook, and pulled off the old trace for a look.



We crossed a stream...





At Duck River, we turned off and headed for Centerville to see more family :)

An interesting side note - we listened to an Alabama radio station for a while, and Rick Steves was interviewing Christopher Baker, who writes the Moon travel guide to Costa Rica - now *that* was strange!

Zoom to Tennessee

Zoom!

We left Pecos behind, and drove and drove. From New Mexico, through Texas horse and cattle country.



Texas and Oklahoma are *windy!*



"Oklahoma City looks mighty pretty"
OK, this just doesn't do it justice. I got my camera up just a bit too late to snap the downtown - and we *are* zooming after all!



Arkansas is definitely green!





We stopped EAST of the Mississippi River, and looked back :)



then we looked forward





We just *had* to stop at Graceland - but very quickly...

Through the Southwest - New Mexico's Pecos Ruins

The Pecos Ruins are about an hour outside of Santa Fe. "Pecos" is neither English nor Spanish - it is from a Native American word for "the place of water."



Pecos is a brilliant illustration of how New Mexico embraces and celebrates its heritage from Native American, Spanish, and Anglo roots. The Pueblos of Pecos were a powerful trading conglomeration - they traded with the plains Indians and those from further West. When the Spanish came, they traded as well. Then the Anglo pioneers traveled through Pecos on the way to Santa Fe.

The ruins at Pecos are part of a national park (www.wnpa.org) - the trail winds past the expanse of open field where trading took place, past the North and South pueblo ruins, and to the church ruins.



Adobe bricks were used in the construction



The church is near the South Pueblo.





Reconstructed kivas are along the trail - you can climb down the ladder and see what they are like.

Through the Southwest - New Mexico

New Mexico - many apologies to the rest of New Mexico (truly the Land of Enchantment) - we only got to spend the one short night in Albuquerque, then most of the day in Santa Fe before moving on.

But what a day! up by 6am (mountain time now), in Santa Fe old town by 9.

Santa Fe has an actual central park! With benches! And a bandstand! This park marked the end of the Santa Fe trail.



Right across the street is the hotel La Fonda (in Spanish, this means "the end" - as in the end of the trail).



We walked around goggle-eyed at galleries, museums, and architecture, and had a lunch of French crepes.

Sculptures galore!









Even "practical sculpture" :)



The Basilica





with stained glass windows



The courthouse



Even luxury condos...



Then we took the Loretto bus tour (this was excellent, and very informative!).

The Loretto church, with "the miraculous stairway" - the circular stairway has two 360 degree turns, with no center support.



Life-size sculpture of a Santa Fe trail mule wagon and trail boss:



We saw the state capitol building - its shape mimics the state flag - round, with lines raying out from four sides. It is a Zia symbol, and captures ideas like eternity, the four ages (infancy, youth, adulthood, and maturity), and the four directions.



We also saw the memorial for the Bataan Death march. New Mexico sent 1800 soldiers - 900 returned at the end of World War II. 300 of those died within a couple of years due to the ill effects of being prisoners of war.



After the tour, we walked around some more.

San Miguel is the oldest church in the USA.



As we walked around old town, we saw a lot of "chili-chains"



The altitude was getting to Mom, so we skipped some stuff (a *lot* of stuff). Leaves more for us later :) We found our hotel (no where near old town, and still pretty expensive) by 4:30. We pretty much decided to have dinner near our hotel instead of going back to old town. I definitely want to keep Santa Fe on our list for living for a month or two - something clicked for me (already).

We ended up not walking through the capitol building the next morning (lots of art and descriptions of the state and town history) - I'll save that for my future (long) visit. Instead, we hit the road - still a long way to go.

We *did* stop long enough to prove that I know how to sit on a post - can't make up my mind - should we go East or West of the Continental Divide?



To add to my list:
The Flying Tortilla in Santa Fe is a candidate for best food ever! I couldn't decide whether to have the Green Chile Stew or the Posole, so the waiter (Gabriel) brought a sample of both - oooh. The Posole was pork marinated in spicy red chili sauce, then slow-cooked with boiled corn (hominy). The Green Chili Stew was pork and potatoes slow-cooked in a spicy green chili sauce. Both tasted sweet at first, then left my mouth tingling all over! It was a tough decision, but I got a cup of the Green Chili Stew - oh soooo goooood!