Notes on a Road Trip

As you may know, my sister and I just got back from a monthlong roadtrip around the country. It was pretty great. We did a lot of things and saw a lot of people. I’m not sure if I’m relieved or disappointed that there were no major incidents… I guess next time I go on a roadtrip, I’ll have to take Stomel through the deep south. Then, maybe we can get shot at by hillbillies… But, Laura and I avoided trouble and didn’t cause any…

Rather than giving a blow by blow, instead I’ll provide a series lists, along with some pictures, and, of course, a route map. Here they are:


The Route Map – with the places we stopped for at least a night. I couldn’t do it all in one map for some reason… So, here it is – week by week:

Week 1: Cherry Hill -> Phoenix (with a quick stop in Baltimore) 2,901 miles


View Road Trip '09 Week 1 in a larger map

Week 2: Phoenix -> San Francisco (with long stops in LA and San Fran) 1,015 miles


View Road Trip '09 Week 2 in a larger map

Week 3: San Francisco -> Portland (with a detour to Yosemite) 1,128 miles


View Road Trip '09 Week 3 in a larger map

Week 4: Portland -> Cherry Hill (with a long stop in Chicago) 3,176 miles


View Road Trip '09 Week 4 in a larger map

Total mileage: 8,220


The List of Notable Things (with qualifiers, and the occasional picture):

Horticulture convention in Columbus, OH (why else would there be 10,000 people here?)
All Star game in St. Louis (everyone except us was there)
Veggie Burrito and Ribs at the City Diner in St. Louis (pretty damn good)
The Fox Trot at Ted Drewes in St. Louis (why did we order this?)
Free samples at the Anheiser-Busch Brewery in St. Louis (great at 9:30 am)

City Museum in St. Louis (amazing)

Not having enough time at the city museum (not amazing)
Losing Laura’s cell phone at the city museum (it fell out on the 7-story twisty slide…)
Imo’s pizza (worst pizza in the history of pizza, and puts everyone in a grouchy mood…)
Heat lightning near Tulsa, OK (neat!)
Little League world series in Oklahoma City (another random convention?)
Running around the parking lot in Oklahoma City (worst place for a run)
Garlic knots at Rounders in Austin (great)
Missing the big wave of Bats in Austin (they went early!!)


The bats we did see in Austin (still a lot)

Getting Flobby Robby in the toy store in Austin (our best friend and trip mascot!)

Tex Mex in Austin (yay!! food!!)
Alamo draft house in Austin (Harry Potter 6!)
Haggling for Hotel deals (guy across the street just offered $45, can you beat that?)
The “Guns Save Lives” narrative signs (in Texas and Oklahoma)
9 hour Harry Potter drives (yes, we’re nerds, what about it?)
The smell as we got to New Mexico (what the hell was that?! I almost threw up)
Death of Flobby Robby in Phoenix (poor guy just exploded in the heat… [not pictured])
Linda’s pool in Phoenix (amazing in the 115 degree heat)
Crazy desert rain storm in northern AZ (came outta nowhere, man)

Hoover Dam (kinda cool)

The Traffic at the Hoover Dam (took us an hour to go 5 miles)

The Venetian Hotel room in Vegas

Mystere show in Vegas (how the f*** did they do that?!)
Gambling in Vegas (we’re not really sure what the appeal is…)
Trying to exit casinos in Vegas (the signs are purposely misleading)
Traffic in LA (how does a 12-lane highway come to a standstill?)
“Medical” weed in Venice Beach (get diagnosed and treated today!)
Finkel’s performance in LA (not amazing - sorry buddy)
Skylight Books in Los Feliz in LA (great)
Wustkuche in LA (amazing!! Thanks, Kyle)
Blintzes at Milky Way in LA (amazing – thanks Steven Spielberg’s mom)


Pea soup at Anderson's

The length and fee for the Hurst Castle Tour (just let us see the damn house!!)

Elephant seals on Rt. 1

The views on Route 1

Senator’s Cottage at Tickle Pink in Carmel (holy crap!)
Hills in San Fran (nuts - who decided to build a city here?)
Biking over the Golden Gate Bridge (woah)
Ghirardelli’s Sundaes in San Fran (for dinner!)
Angel Island (most boring tour in the history of tours)
Getting lost on the way to Green’s restaurant (we get a little nuts when we’re hungry…)
Green’s Restaurant in San Fran (best meal of the trip)

Frog’s Leap winery in Napa

Mumm’s Sparkling wine tour (wanna know how champagne is made?)


Giant Sequoias and views in Yosemite

Mike the Puppy at Crater Lake

The tree at the Pine Tavern in Bend (the tree literally grows through the restaurant)
Leanne's sushi place in Portland (huge and amazing)
Cup and Saucer brunch in Portland (amazing)
Powell’s Books in Portland (best book store)

International Rose Test Garden in Portland (who knew there were so many kinds of roses?)


Hood River (Laura’s favorite place in the universe!)

Tetons Hike and lunch [lunch not pictured]

Sturgis Motorcycle Rally and the 700,000 motorcyclists we saw for hundred of miles

Paying $130 for a Best Western in Gillette, WY cause of the Sturgis Rally (wtf?)

Crazy Horse (they’re never gonna finish this thing...)

Badlands Drive in South Dakota

Beer and Cheese soup in Madison (Laura thinks amazing, Seth begs to differ)
Jesus signs (all over the country)

That's all for now.