Road Trip U.S.A

Road Trippin' U.S of A

Welcome back blog friends to another installment of the epic Adventures of a 'Woof dog'!!!

This episode is our travels across the southern half of the good ole U.S of A. Well, actually, it was our move from SoCal to Flo-Rid-A but it does make for an epic trip (some 2700 miles, 8 states and 5 days of travel) which includes some interesting experiences and so tips/hints for anyone planning such a trip in the future.

So, our adventure began early one Sunday morning, After packing most of our stuff, which isn't a huge amount, and shipping across country we packed the rest into a rental car and pointed it east'ish. Well, east'ish after navigating the roads of SoCal which, surprising to only those who have never lived in SoCal, were a nightmare adding two hours to the trip before even leaving Orange County!

So, we headed East out of California. One of the good things about the US is the interstate road systems (not so much the quality of the roads which can be terrible at times but the connectivity). Essentially, almost half our trip was on one road, the I-40, which took us from SoCal (Just outside of Barstow, CA) to the Texas panhandle. It was the I-40 that we hit a few hours after leaving home.

Now, for those not familiar with the geography of the States, the Southwest in particular, I've taken the liberty of inserting a simple map of the region below.

If you zoom in you'll notice that SoCal has a variety of regions. There's the coastal plain which includes the area that we lived in, Irvine. Going East from there you cross between the San Bernadino and San Jacinto mountains into the inland empire (IE) and then the high desert. Be forewarned, in the summer the temperatures can vary greatly between the regions. That means that, like when we left, the temp in Irvine was 70 degrees (21c) at 9 am but by the time we passed Barstow at noon it had risen to 95 degrees (35c) and peaked at 120c (48c) just before we crossed into Arizona...hey, I have photographic evidence!

Damn it's hot!!!!

Tip: Taking I-40 East saves considerable time when travelling as it bypasses Las Vegas. The drawback is the I-40 isn't the most scenic of routes. It tends to be, mainly, desert scrub lands and the mountains in the distance. The only stop worth taking the time to visit is London Bridge which is in Lake Havasu and is a 40 mile detour (20 miles each way).

So, the plan was (well my cunning plan that is...) to break the trip down into manageable chunks with the first leg being from Irvine to Williams, Arizona. Now, if you've read my previous posts, you'll know that Williams is the 'Gateway to the Grand Canyon'. You'll also know that I love the place despite the fact that it is a tourist attraction and generally full of kitsch. Nevertheless, I've been there a number of times, usually to hike the GC. However, this time it was just a natural place to stop being approximately 7 hours from Irvine.

Given that we were only stopping one night, I decided to try a different hotel rather than the 'chain' hotels used in the past. The hotel I decided upon was the Grand Canyon Hotel. The hotel is right on the main drag and dates back to 1891 which fits in with my love of history. However, my love of history made me forget that it was the end of June and the middle of a hot spell...very different from a mere 5 weeks earlier when it snowed!

Nevertheless, cute little place with period decoration and a few slightly scary displays reminiscent of a B grade horror movie.

 

The dress hanging on the wall was just odd.

So, we made it to Williams and checked into the hotel. One of the great things about the town is the abundance of great places to eat. One of my favorites is Cruisers which is less than a quarter mile from the hotel and on the main street. The restaurant does,mainly, BBQ and it does it very well! My recommendation is the Prime Rib Burger...I'm getting hungry just thinking about it... 😀

Cheers everyone....

Oh, I forgot to mention that Cruisers is affiliated with the GC brewery (shameless plug following Grand Canyon Brewery ) which makes some fine tipple which I am happy to partake in as evidenced in the above photo. I really should get some royalties...

The stop was short but gave Nadia a chance to point(e) out the failings of American grammar and spelling.

The next morning, after an early run and a coffee from the local coffee house, we jumped into the rental and continued heading east.

Tip: The elevation in Williams is approx 4000 above sea level...running there is a bit tougher than in the UK or SoCal...kicked my ass to put it politely.

So, next stop was Albuquerque. I'm actually surprised that I spelled it correctly...trust me, I did!  The scenary improves as you drive through Flagstaff and climb into the mountains rising to 6-7000 ft in places. That being said, long hours in the car driving roads like...

Chris Rea's song 'Road to hell' popped into my mind.

...didn't dampen my enthusiasm. I continued to be happy and positive throughout.

Driving is a serious business....

The stop was planned around a friend who lives in ABQ who set us up in a great resort and casino called the Sandia. The resort is named after the Sandia mountain range just a few miles from the resort. This was a fantastic place and provided a bit of a break from the road and allowed us to relax a bit before the third leg of the trip which promised to be very tough..

Oh, did I mention food? There's always food and the council room restaurant in the resort provided some good eating...and dessert, there's always room for dessert.

American version of bread pudding...not too bad.

The next day, and leg, meant an early start. The plan was to make it to Dallas (Mansfield to be exact) by late afternoon. That meant 9-10 hours on the road which is like driving from London to Edinburgh and almost all the way back in one shot.  So, my grand plan was to make it to make it to Amarillo then head south on I-27 which, with my liberal interpretation of the speed limit, meant that I could shave an hour or so of the estimate of the driving time. So, there I was, minding my own business creating a hill at 75 or possibly 80, maybe 85...when, all of a sudden.

How fast was I going...?

Suffice to say that with some smooth talking, and the officer having no idea what to do with a UK drivers license, I managed to only lose 30 minutes and some pride.

The main reason for the stop was to visit a friend of mine, Chris Langwah, who happens to be a Dallas police officer. For those of you who are fans of the Band of Brothers TV series, Chris is the grandson of Doc Roe (Think of the episode focusing on Bastogne with the part of Doc played by Shane Taylor-see photo following).

Shane Taylor as Doc Roe....

 I had been bothering Chris for a ride along since December when we met in Belgium so this was the perfect opportunity for me. 

Those of you who know me will know that I am a supporter of our military and LEO officers so the chance to take a ride along with the Dallas PD was fantastic! Needless to say, my opinion of what our police officers do everyday was further strengthened by the experience. The officers have to put up with a lot, most of which the general public have no sight or knowledge of. During my time with the officers, they made 4 stops, one a felony stop, and handled the situation as true professionals.

Me with one of Dallas PD's finest...

We spent 2 days in Mansfield. That allowed us to spend some time with Chris and his family and have great dinner..

We loved our stop in Dallas but had to hit the road early in order to make it to stop 4, New Orleans!

To get there meant driving around Dallas and linking up with the I-20 which runs West to East into Louisiana via Shreveport. We then take I-49 south toward Alexandria then hitting I-10.

 Now, neither of us had been to NOLA although I did spend a night in Baton Rouge some 25 years ago! My only experience with the city was via NCIS New Orleans and the odd movie set in the city. I decided that, given the short amount of time that we'd be in the city that we'd focus on Bourbon street and the french quarter. Getting to city proved to be tougher than expected...torrential rains began shortly after entering the state and didn't abate until about 30 minutes from the city. Nevertheless, we were soon crossing the bridge into the city....

Like a cow peeing on a flat rock....

Old school NOLA cemetery....

They weren't lying, the city is like a foot above sea level and still bears the scares of Katrina but it oozes history.

I have to be honest, not a fan of the French Quarter...not sure if I'd go back. I found the architecture fantastic but the area itself was dirty, smelly and full of construction. The vaunted music was rarely seen or heard and a lot of the venues catered to people who just wanted to get drunk, typical stag do stuff..wasn't impressed other than with the architecture. Although we did have a hurricane which, coupled with some local cuisine, wasn't bad.

Po-boy.

That's gator bites....yummy.

I do think I'll return to New Orleans but only to see the WW2 museum and the rest of the city...no really interest in returning to Bourbon street.

The final leg of our trip was from NOLA to our new home in Tampa. This was, again, another long day with over 9 hours driving. As I mentioned previously, the interstate system in the States is quite good. While we took I-40 from Irvine to the Texas panhandle, we would be taking I-10 from NOLA to just past Tallahassee, the Florida state capital, before dropping south along I-75 into Tampa. This final leg of the journey would see us covering 4 states, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. The time spent in MS and AL was pretty short given each state was less than 100 miles West to East on I-10.

Despite the long drive we still managed to drive  through Mobile, site of a famous civil war battle and now site of the USS Alabama museum. Now, I have to say that I was very impressed by the size of the ship and feel it definitely deserves a return visit...

...the grounds of the museum also contain a number of displays that would interest those followers of WW2 history, including a nice C-47 and a Sherman.

After leaving the USS Alabama in Mobile, it was just a case of following I-10 then taking a right onto I-75 all the way to Tampa.

I hope everyone enjoys this latest post...please follow and stay tuned for more adventures. 😊