Dear Readers,
Grab a cup of your favorite beverage and cozy up on the couch because this is a long one.
When I started writing this travelogue, I was at Recess Coffee enjoying the sunshine after 2 days of rain in Syracuse, New York. I was housesitting 2 cats who are practically impossible to tell apart. Only one more week and I hit the road again.
Update: I have hit the road and am enjoying a Long Island wheat bagel with a cookie butter hot chai at Ithaca Bakery while it pours outside. The route I’ll be taking to Michigan is slightly undetermined at this time. Rochester and Buffalo are on my radar. Neither place evokes excitement like perhaps New York City; however, I have found every place has their unique highlights. It’s up to us travelers to find them.
April 25th started off a massive road trip across the United States. Let’s get into it.
Tales from the Road
During the middle of April, it suddenly crept up on me that Holy Moly, I really needed to leave Tucson, Arizona. I had a deadline. Syracuse was calling. Plus there were places I wanted to stop along that 2,700 mile route. Driving more than 6 hours in a day makes me sleepy and cross-eyed. This trip would take some time. I gave myself 13 days.
I do realize 13 days is a luxury that most people can not afford for a one way trip. Fortunately, my work travels wherever I go and housesitting is part of my living.
Goodbye Tucson, may I see you again.
Bisbee, Arizona
After a morning of working and running errands, I hit the road. First stop, a place every Arizonian I met said I should go. So I went. Bisbee, Arizona. It is located in the hilly/mountainous southeast corner of the state. Bisbee is home to multiple festivals and events. It is quite the artistic folksy town. The prior weekend they hosted Weird Wild West, a vanlife festival.
Sadly, I was not wowed by this quaint mountain town. I could see the charm. Really I could but wasn’t feeling the vibe. Maybe I was having a Tucson hangover. Regardless, I only spent a couple hours there and moved on.
New Mexico
Cruising up Route 80 toward Interstate 10, I was blessed by the flashing lights of a New Mexico highway patrol car. Two of them actually. You would have thought I was a big deal. Kinda felt like a movie star.
One of the officers walked up to the passenger side window and asked me “Ma’am are you in a hurry to get somewhere?” I shook my head, “No.” I’m thinking I was actually 2 under the speed limit of 65 so not speeding at all.
“Ma’am you were doing 63 in a 55.”
“What? It’s 65 mph here.” I hadn’t seen a speed limit sign in forever and was assuming.
Then the wind whips the privacy curtain I have separating the front of the car from the back, out of the window and slaps him in the face. I was horrified and hoped this embarrassment wasn’t going to up my speeding ticket price.
Lucky for me, he was a very kind officer and let me off with a written warning. I asked him what I needed to do with this warning as I was clueless. It could have been my first ticket. Thankfully, it wasn’t. His reply was priceless: “You could put it on your refrigerator,” he said with a smile.
Truth or Consequences, New Mexico
One of my goals for this trip was to camp by water. Through iOverlander, I found BML land along the river in Truth or Consequences (ToC). It was an hour’s drive out of my way and intended to be an overnighter but I loved it and stayed 2 nights.
Side Trip: Pistachioland
Who can resist a name like that? In perusing the map around ToC, this gem popped up. As a nut lover, I had to go. It was another hour out of my way. Totally worth it! Multiple varieties of flavored pistachios, pistachio-flavored foods, homemade ice cream as well as typical tourist attraction goodies. Pistachioland did not disappoint. It is a working farm and offers farm tours, which I missed. I had a good time walking around the shop, sampling the goodies and making purchases for my family and me.
All the fun stops over, it was time for the worst part of the trip. The drive from El Paso to San Antonio, Texas. It is long and feels monotonous. A nighttime stop at an I10 rest area helped break up the drive. Interstate rest stops are some of my favorite places to overnight. They are safe and sometimes very beautiful. Plus most have the perks of flush toilets and running water. Something about the highway noise and idling semi-trucks puts me right to sleep too.
San Antonio, Texas
With my time schedule, I only spent a day in San Antonio. I hit up The Pearl Market indulging in a gigantic cinnamon roll and a bottle of Extra Hard Passion Fruit mixer for later consumption. Next, I visited the local independently owned Nowhere Bookstore. What a cute shop! Of course, I purchased a book. Then I worked the rest of the day before making camp in a Cracker Barrel parking lot.
Austin, Texas
Austin is one of my favorite US cities. My original intention was to spend a week here and soak up all the coffeeshop and food truck goodness that Austin offers. However, I stayed way too long in Tucson. Only two days were allotted to Austin. To make it even more time crunchy, one of those days was full-on work all day. Luckily I had the one day to indulge in a few favorites: Radio Coffee & Bar, BookPeople Bookstore and Daiso.
Waco, Texas
My sole reason for stopping in Waco was Fabled Bookstore. Their head book buyer, Elizabeth Barnhill, offers a free personalized shopping experience called Walk the Shelves. You can book an in-person or online appointment. While discussing your likes, dislikes and what you are wanting to read, she pulls books from the shelves as you walk around the store. You end up with a stack of books to peruse in their cozy cafe with no pressure to purchase, although I have a feeling you will want to buy some. I bought 3 out of the stack. I’ve already devoured one of them and am reading another by the author.
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
I failed to mention that the timing of my trip was occurring during BIG weather weeks for the Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Tennessee areas. I tried to time it so that I was passing areas in between storms. Let me tell you, I am very thankful I spent that extra time in Truth-or-Consequences and PistachioLand because I missed a tornado that swept through the area I spent the night at the Oklahoma border.
There had been a storm while I was sleeping at the rest area which caused me to wake up throughout the night and check outside. Only rain and thunder. Phew. Until I got back on the road heading north, then I saw all the devastation. Buildings ripped apart. Metal sheeting on the expressway and littering the fields. Houses gone.
My immediate thought: Holy shit, I slept through a tornado. No. No I didn’t. That tornado ripped through that town two nights before. I don’t know if you have ever seen tornado damage first-hand but I had not. It is a sight I don’t think I will ever forget. The residents of Oklahoma and other tornado alley states are some BRAVE people. There is no way I could live there.
The sole reason I stopped in Oklahoma City was Prairie Artisan Ales. They specialize in sours and stouts. Sours are the only style of beer I like. I had picked up one when I was in New York City during the holiday season. Seasick Crocodile: Sour ale with cranberries, ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg. It was holiday in a glass. Delicious! At their shop, the beer menu is extensive. While they don’t do flights or samples, you can choose between quarter, half or full glass pours. All are very reasonably priced. I chose only a few quarter glasses as I needed to get back on the road in a couple hours. I am kicking myself now that I didn’t get a six-pack or two to bring along with me. (car space issues)
Fayetteville, Arkansas
I follow Clare from Online on Instagram and Substack. Her posts about her adopted hometown look so fun that I had to stop as I didn’t know when or if I would ever be back through this area again. I was totally influenced! And stayed two days.
Fayetteville is home to the University of Arkansas so it has the college town vibe, only this vibe is on steroids. Seriously, the best college town I have visited. There are an incredible amount of cool and interesting coffeeshops, restaurants, food trucks, grocery stores, you name it. They even have a tea shop, Savoy Tea Co. Look at this set up. *swoon*
I didn’t even get a chance to venture up to Bentonville, directly north of Fayetteville, which I believe is a continuation of coolness.
This town and its surrounding area is on my list to visit again for a longer time period. Maybe not during tornado season, as about a week after I was there, Bentonville was devastated by a tornado. Clare covered some of the news on her Instagram. My heart goes out to those communities suffering.
Memphis, Tennessee
This was a quick stop to see my friend Ann and purchase one of her ceramic mugs.
Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York
After Memphis, there were no scheduled stops other than to get gas, food and sleep. By this time, I had two days to get to Syracuse. Each day I drove until I couldn’t drive anymore. One night was spent at a small state forest parking lot in northwest Kentucky and the other night at a rest stop southeast of Cleveland, Ohio (strategically located near a Planet Fitness as I desperately needed a shower in the morning).
That night I was delighted by this park located right by where I got dinner. What a pleasant way to end the day: eating dinner by a lake watching baby ducks. Stopping at random parks across the country has got to be the best highlight of my entire journey since August last year.
After 13 days, 2700 miles and numerous gallons of gas, I arrived in Syracuse to housesit these two cuties.
If you read this far, thank you for coming along on this long journey.
Keep on trying,
Patricia
Wow what a trip! Thats a lot of ground. I am always amazed in the US how far you can go on land.