Uncategorized | roadtripgetaway

On this road trip I traveled 7,700 miles across 13 states in 29 days. I had made a similar cross country trip by car with a friend as well a hitchhiking trip when I was much younger. The earlier trips were different in many ways, probably because my perspective on what is important has changed. On this trip, beyond the shear size of the country, I was struck by how many different things there were to see. If you keep an open mind and have enough time, you never have to drive too far before there is something worth stopping to see, even inKansas. I think this blog has shown that to some degree.

The remainder of this entry, in no particular order, are some random thoughts, facts, observations and opinions that were generated by this trip.

Twenty nine days and 7,700 miles might seem like a lot but it was not nearly enough. I had to skip over a lot of roadside attractions, scenic routes, landmarks, etc. to make it toCalifornia by July 1^st, which was my somewhat arbitrary goal.

My odometer turned over at marker 192, 13 miles east of Winimucca, Nevada.

While there were certainly a lot of differences between the States I visited, I was more struck by the similarities. I drove through a lot of traditional neighborhoods that looked the same as any in Pennsylvania or New Jersey. People I met may have had different accents, but they were mostly talking about the same things we Easterners do.

There are Starbucks almost everywhere. A lot of them are in supermarkets and Targets, but almost everyday I was able to start off with a Tall House. Thanks to my ex-boss’s generous gift card, I made it all the way to Colorado before I had to pay for any of it.

Sampling baseball games and ballparks in almost every city I visited (the home teams were on the road in Cleveland and Denver) was like going to Mecca without the Dishadasha. Sitting in the bleachers at Wrigley Field was a religious experience.

I have always traveled with a backpack which I found very convenient when I was going to walk some distances and visit a few places. You really can’t do that anymore, at least in the places I visited on this trip. They are simply not allowed in public facilities (i.e., museums, state buildings, theaters, etc). Obviously a Homeland Security thing…

I had a lot of music with me for the drive and you could usually find a public radio station, to keep you informed or entertained. If you want more than that you have to plough through a lot of Christian radio stations. And I am talking real fire and brimstone. A bunch of Cotton Mather DJ’s with mid-western accents.

There was spectacular scenery in every State. The Rockies were probably the most awe inspiring, but even Kansas had spots that made me stop and get out of my car to take in.

States without helmet laws are a little scary. Maybe when I was younger I would have thought it was cool to drive 70 MPH without a helmet, but now I just thing about how packed the head trauma units in long term care facilities must be.

Tattoos. I could write a few pages on my observations on tattoos. I read that 27% of Americans have at least one tattoo. I sort of expected them to be prevalent in big cities but lots of people in small towns have them as well. The difference, I think, is that the people in small towns than sported them were mostly younger and, how should I put this, not likely to rise to a management level in Walmart, while in big cities, there was no such distinction.

Of the big cities I visited, I would say Chicago had the most people with tattoos and, of these, the most with serous coverage. Cincinnati residents had the least.

I also noticed for the first time, and maybe I wasn’t paying attention before, was a number of middle aged (mostly) women with new tattoos. These women were especially striking in that the majority of them should not have been drawing attention to the their bodies, if you get my drift. This goes of the middle aged men as well, but there were not as many of them..

Lastly on this subject, when I was leaving a Starbucks near Denver, walked out with an elderly couple (like at least in their mid-80’s), sporting multiple new tattoos. I really wanted to ask them why they decided to get tattoos at this point in their lives, but I thought better of it.

I got one driving ticket on my entire road trip (thank you Davenport Iowa) but I can truthfully say I deserved many more. Trying to find particular addresses while driving in unfamiliar towns and cities led to a lot of quick, unsignaled turns, swift lane changes and some spectacular u-turns. In most cases, although I am sure I irritated a lot of drivers, reactions were generally reasonable. A couple of them gave me a little horn toot and one or two even gave me the ‘you’re number one’ sign’, but that was about it. Not so in Colorado, especially inDenver. The drivers there were downright nasty. Unless a lot of people were rushing to the hospital to deliver babies, I don’t understand the level of road rage directed at me. The worst offense I was guilty of in that state was to slow down to look for a street sign or house number, but I got blasted like you wouldn’t believe. Fair warning Coloradoans, if I see you inCalifornia, be prepared to be driven off the road.

Technology was, as you might expect, almost everywhere. Cell phones, laptops, tablets, etc. are not just for big city folk anymore. Still, Philadelphia is right up there compared to the large cities I visited in terms of number of devices seen on a typical walk through a downtown area on a business day. Similarly, cell phone etiquette was lacking in most places. Chicago was the ‘worst’, but I have been bumped into by cell phone users in out-of-the-way convenience stores in the middle of Kansas.

Favorite State, Iowa. Not sure why. Just a nice feeling everywhere I went.

Least favorite State, Utah. I really enjoyed hooking up with my relatives, but the State itself, boring.

Best Road Side Attraction. It’s almost impossible to choose, but I loved Hitsville and the Andy Warhol Museum. Not only were they incredibly interesting, but they were unexpected, which made them all the better.

Worst Road Side Attraction (of the ones included in this blog) was the ball of twine. The reason being, that just about every State I passed through laid claim to the largest ball of twine. I think Guinness should settle this.

Best day – every one of them.

Worst day – I never had a bad day on this trip.

I liked this so much I may take a similar trip. I am thinking I need to focus on a specific item next time, like diners, minor league ball parks, non-traditional museums, etc. Anything goes, now that I am retired.

Don’t forget to visit Niland’s Café if you find yourself in Iowa.

Photos were not permitted inside the factory (they were probably afraid we would steal the secret recipe), but here's a shot of Mr. Jelly Belly and a fan. — Photos were not permitted inside the factory (they were probably afraid we would steal the secret recipe), but here’s a shot of Mr. Jelly Belly and a fan.

There was also a lot of jelly belly art on display. Yes, this is a portrait of Ronald Regan made entirely of jelly beans. We were told that mr. Regans passion for this candy increased sales significantly. Also pictured is my wife giving her political perspective on the former President. — There was also a lot of jelly belly art on display. Yes, this is a portrait of Ronald Reagan made entirely of jelly beans. We were told that Mr. Reagan’s passion for this candy increased sales significantly.
Also pictured is my wife giving her political perspective on the former President.

The Jelly Belly factory is a favorite destination for children (lots of school trips), but we enjoyed it as well. You get to see how jelly bellies (aka beans) are made via a guided tour of the factory and learn a lot about the history of the candy. Supposedly, the person who built and ran the factory was the ‘inventor’. We learned a lot of useless information including the number of jelly beans you can eat without getting sick.