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When I moved to CA, I took the train across. Great adventure since at the time you were allowed to get off four times at any stop for an unlimited time
I drove from Massachusetts to Tennessee and then all the way to California. This was 12 years ago when I moved to CA. It took me a week to do so because I had the truck loaded up with stuff. I took I-40 all the way as it was winter.
If I'd had more time I would have not taken the freeway. Almost 90% of the time was spent looking at nothing. It seemed like the states of Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Texas ( at least the parts I drove through) were full of nothing. Sort of depressing. Getting past TX it was really amazing. Arizona and New Mexico were amazing with weird landscapes. California was pretty spectacular too.
That said- I wouldn't mind doing ot again, but next time spending more time. The first time I did it I was rushing to get moved out here. Its a big country out there with lots to see.
I did almost the exact same thing back in 1995, just the stuff in my truck in a camper shell. In 2000 I moved to Miami but this time I had a small UHaul. Then I moved from Miami to Cheyenne, then Cheyenne back to RI since then. So I DO love driving cross country and I also love taking road trips just for the pleasure and I think I've driven to every state throughout the years. I should have been a trucker!
Great question, though - I hope somebody reads it; it's an old thread.
About the east-west divide, on the I-70 route I'd say the first truly western city to me was Colorado Springs, though parts of western Kansas and eastern Colorado have a semi-western feel. I didn't think Kansas City felt particularly "western". Along I-40, I think the divide is somewhere around Oklahoma City or eastern Oklahoma, as Arkansas is clearly a Southern state.
When I did the I-90 one year I had read that once you go over the Missouri River the landscape starts to get that 'western' feel and I thought that to be true. I loved western South Dakota. But I really think I'll just get a camper when I sell this house because there are SO many places I've driven through that I think, "Oh, I want to live 'here'" or "this is so nice, I would love to live 'here'! " So then I can just stop and live there for a while and then move on.
When I moved to CA, I took the train across. Great adventure since at the time you were allowed to get off four times at any stop for an unlimited time
I took the train once from RI to Flagstaff and really enjoyed it. For some reason it felt like a travelling 'family' especially as we rolled through the empty spaces in the evening.
I also even had a roomette once from Lincoln, NE back to RI years ago (long story) and I loved that as well. Same feeling of family, and the sleep was the best of my life, I swear! The gentle rocking, the enclosed space all to myself with a window. I'd do it again in a heartbeat but they're so expensive.
PS That trip to Flagstaff I was talking about there was one stop in LaJunta, CO if I remember correctly where we were actually allowed to get out and walk through the town for about 10 minutes. Pretty scary to think the train might take off and leave us but I had met other people and we all just got off! Great fun.
Road trip with two buddies, spring break, senior year of college. Ohio to New Mexico and back in 9 days.
We hit up every major city we passed: Nashville, Birmingham, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Houston, San Antonio, Roswell, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Oklahoma City, St. Louis, and Terre Haute. Crammed as much stuff as we could into the few hours to a day that we spent in each place. We even stopped off in Loving County, TX, to see what everyday life was like in the least populous county in the United States. (Spoiler alert: really boring.)
I lived in the middle of the country and have driven to both the East and West coasts but not all the way in one trip. I don't like rushing and take my time. I also enjoy long distance train trips.
The Historic Route 66 experience is almost an American pilgrimage along I-44 and I-40 including a lot of foreign tourists. Some people rent Harleys for the trip. People sometimes dread driving across the Great Plains but it can be interesting if you get off the interstate sometimes. Driving East through indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania always seemed like a blur of sameness to me until you hit the Appalachian mountains. On the northern route West you have chances to visit Glacier NP and Mt. Rushmore. I-70 goes through Colorado and Utah (Arches NP) but then you have to go to Las Vegas or up to Salt Lake City to I-80. I-40 will get you close to Grand Canyon and right through Petrified Forest. I have an interest in history and followed the Santa Fe Trail and the Oregon Trail for a good part of some trips west. US-50 was the pony express route out west. I do a lot of research when planning the route and only drive about 400 miles a day. I particularly enjoy staying in historic hotels along the way -- not always the boring chain motels on the interstate.
I took the train once from RI to Flagstaff and really enjoyed it. For some reason it felt like a travelling 'family' especially as we rolled through the empty spaces in the evening.
Long distance train travel is like a community on wheels. People tend to be relaxed and friendly. You get to know some of your fellow travellers either from visiting in the lounge car or conversations in the dining car. It is a shame that Amtrak is trying to scuttle the Southwest Chief route.
Make a playlist for each state you plan on going through. Get Kerouac's "On the road" as an audiobook.
That actually sounds really fun. I can't think of any bands from Idaho off the top of my head, so for the less populous states it'd be a good way of discovering a bunch of new artists.
Have you ever done a road trip across the country? What was the primary interstate highway that got you across, or what interstate were you on when going across the Rockies? (I-90, I-80, I-70, I-40, I-10). What did you see along the way? What were your favorite stopovers? Did you have fun? Would you do it again?
I've crossed the Rockies on all of these highways. But while I have done road trips across the country, they've always been in disjointed segments; never all at the same time. (The longest stretch I did on a single trip was Baltimore to Salt Lake City.) I-70 is the most scenic interstate through the Rockies, hands down. Honestly, the others don't even compare. But for desert scenery, I give the nod to I-8 and I-10 (as well as the aforementioned I-70) over the others. I've also done the "up and down" thing along the entire lengths of I-5 and I-95.
I actually enjoy traveling these roads by myself, where I have nothing but my own thoughts to keep me company. I can stop where I want, or skip what I want, without having to account for the whims of anyone else. Now that I have kids, I've had to cut way back on my road trips, as the kids find them to be very boring. (They like traveling, in the sense of seeing different places; they just don't like the driving to get to those places. So a lot of our travel is by air to specific destinations now.) My wife is good about road trips (though she doesn't quite enjoy them as much as I do), so maybe when the kids are grown and gone she and I can take some cross-country trips.
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Originally Posted by Tom Lennox 70
We also passed through Ellsworth, KS which Rascal Flatts sang about in a song, this was a classic Midwest town with a water tower and a few main streets, the kind of place that just screams "all-American".
Clearly you are a country music fan. I really like that song "Ellsworth" and I'm glad to hear that the town looks like I imagine it looking from that song. (Actually, I didn't even realize that Ellsworth is a real town.)
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