Saturday, August 27, 2016

an epic cross country summer road trip

 holy schmoly.
this post took me 
F.O.R.E.V.E.R.
to make.

but i think it will explain my month or so absence this summer, and hopefully you will 
enjoy my cross country trip that we took this summer
with NO reservations
anywhere.

i know! crazy right?
and it's even crazier that we as a family survived 24/7 
for 28 days in a row
which was how long we were gone for vacation.

see, my daughter will be 18 soon,
 and knowing that may put a big change in the family future summer plans, 
my hubby proposed we take an epic summer trip.

so here goes a LOOOOONG drawn out detailed scenario of the stops we made, starting with a couple screenshots of our 7513 mile trip...
STOP 1. TEXAS
driving thru Texas was a 2 day event after we stopped at crestview, fl from home. 
in texas we stopped at Tyler, Amarillo, and Dallas.

holy cow there were a ton of very interesting and fun stops in Texas. including a crazy dinner and lunch spot and some cars stuck in the road, literally.
the big texan was a place you could eat 
a 72 ounce steak for free.
only if you ate it under an hour...
otherwise you'd have to pay for it.

and no, we did not order it, cuz if we did, 
we would still be chewing.
dang that's a lotta cow to swallow 
but some crazies did manage to do it.

in dallas,
there was this place called truck yard and oh my goodness i was in photography heaven.
it was an outdoor place that was super eclectic i could barely sit still to eat.
click click click click 
was all you could hear from me.
we also went to the dallas cowboys at & t stadium that my son and hubby were enjoying and me and my daughter were suffering. lol 
(we're not exactly football fans)

for the next stop, 
my son LOVED this place especially 
after he found a spray paint can that 
wasn't empty after checking, oh about a hundred or so of them scattered everywhere.
he was happy as a lark painting his name on every car.
i am 1000% sure his name was already spray painted over by that afternoon.
i think these cars may actually still be standing due to 
the layers upon layers of spray paint holding them up.
they sure are cooool though!
after leaving texas, we stayed at the beautiful town of flagstaff, az for a quick overnite stay since we got there after dinner 
then headed up to page, arizona for my hubby's bday celebration on the colorado river.

living in flat boring florida made this day surreal.

STOP 2. COLORADO

then we did this, again...
our bodies were in pretzel positions cuz that's how you have to position yourself 
when you are driving nonstop and haven't seen a bed in a while.

my hubby calls himself a "super trucker".
i am not a "super trucker",
i am a "super sleeper" when it comes to road trips but heck it's hard to sleep in a car when you come to places like :

STOP 3. LAS VEGAS
we stayed here for 4 days.
and managed to get a really good price at the paris hotel cuz my hubby likes last minute deals whereas i sweat and get anxiety waiting for the last minute.

dang we are so opposite.
speaking of opposite,
i can't decide if i like vegas better in the day,
or night.
STOP 4. LOS ANGELES/HOLLYWOOD

i don't understand why L.A. and Hollywood is made out to be so glamorous.
i mean, mad hatter johnny depp dude and hangover alan hang out there.

and i have no idea how people get so close to the darn hollywood sign on the hill cuz the closest we could get was about 300 miles away (give or take a few miles) lol
so anyway, 
hollywood's not complete without a tour right?
we took one of those buses, excited to see michael jackson, katy perry, and beyonce's homes.

but the tour was a little different than we had hoped for...
the pic above is really how far we were from the sign and the lower pic is just a blow up.

dang i was all ready to get up on top of the "o's" and take an epic pic.
not.

and speaking of not, you know all those movies of the sunset strip of palm trees?

tell me what you think of this,
what the heck, did they mistaken anaheim's trees in the movie for the sunset strip?
dang i was fooled so many times watching those movies!

and then sunset strip?
ummm...ok.

and the famous hollywood homes?
i guess if you like roof tops, 
then the tour is fabulous...
STOP 5. ANAHEIM

ok, THIS city was fabulous.
so clean. so pretty. and of course disney.
 and had one of the cooooolest places full of restaurants that foodies would die for. 
this is the packing house, 
an unassuming place from the outside and AWESOME on the inside.
STOP 6. SANTA MONICA

we were going to go here for the 4th 
but i think if we did we would still be stuck in traffic. ok, so maybe not.
but it is a pretty place nonetheless.

STOP 7. PACIFIC COAST HIGHWAY

oh my goodness oh my goodness oh my goodness.
if you've never driven along the PCH, 
put it on your bucket list.
it was by far THE most fave place for me on the whole trip.
i wish i could take some of the scenery back home with me to flat boring florida.
(can you tell i'm a mountain girl at heart?)

i mean i was THISCLOSE to these crazy gurgling sounding half ton elephant seals!
and this place?
well, see what you think yourself.
we were in awe. 
it may be the fact that we were totally winging the entire trip and 
had ZERO idea what to expect but it was BEAUTIFULLY breathtaking.

normal people research and research and plan way in advanced for trips like this but oh no, not us! we are insane and didn't even know why there were so many cars parked off the road when we got to this place.
we just figured there must be something over there...

holy moly guacamole.
so we saw this and my heart pitter pattered and my cel phone camera did a major workout.

i just stood there in all its wonder and thought 
"this must be a dream". 
i know that sounds silly but i think you need to see this for yourself if you haven't already to see what i am talking about.

i took a gazillion pics of the falls but am only sharing one or else i will take up most of your valuable time for about a week if i showed you every pic. :>P

STOP 8. SAN FRANCISCO

we went here 11 yeas ago.
a lot has changed.
it wasn't like i expected and the seals around pier 39 were gone :(

it was an ok stop...
but i still love the muir woods, 
and the cooold 50 degree weather in July 
from all the sea fog.


STOP 9. MONTEREY

this city has a ton of character and was one of my hubby's favorites, 
mostly cuz it has a racetrack there which he of course visited with my son while me and my daughter took a nap in the truck. 

STOP 10. NORTHEAST CALIFORNIA>UTAH>COLORADO

there were days here and there where we drove and drove,
and drove and drove and drove,
then drove some more.
this mountain girl was on a mountain high at 
YOSEMITE PARK,MAMMOTH LAKES AND UTAH.
(STOP 11-whatever number)
i mean, authentic indian crafts?
and this?!?
STOP 12 OR WHATEVER: BRECKENRIDGE

my hubby and i used to ski here yearly way back before the kids. 
being from florida we wedged ourselves all the way down the green trails. lol 
(wedging is ski talk for 
basically pretending to know how to ski)

we spent a day at a horse ranch,
which had more than just horses.
and of course went into town.
but before that we had just a short visit to 
VAIL, STOP 13 OR WHATEVER

since it's way overpriced and hootsy-tootsy 
for me but hey, we were in the neighborhood and thought we'd stop by.
STOP 14 maybe: BRANSON, MISSOURI

our last tourist stop thank goodness for you right? i mean i do have to let you go to the bathroom for pete's sake since i held you up for this long already.

this city is family loads of entertainment.
but honestly i'd rather sit on top of that purple mountain all day.
so there you have it.
a screenshot of my cel phone gallery.
i had about 3 of these 
(around 9000 pics!!!), 
all of them different.

now you know why i took a blogger break,
and why i wanna do another kind of this summer trip forever.

my bucket list will never end.
but thank goodness this post ends for your sake. 
thanks for the ride with me!
:)












20 comments:

  1. What an amazing trip. We're buying an r.v. soon. I'll definately have to come back when planning our trips. Your post is great. You did an amazing job! Hi again! This afternoon I'm visiting all the bloggers that linked at my Fabulous Fall Party last year. This year's party will be at my new blog beginning Sept 1. I hope you'll come over and join the party again! Come see me here: http://mychristmasjourney.blogspot.com/
    Let's celebrate Fall together!

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    1. thank you Grantham Lynn! lucky you and the r.v. buying! that sure saves a lot of stress when you're trying to find a room after driving 14 hours like we did! LOL there is just so much to see you're going to have a blast!:>D

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  2. Lisa, what an amazing trip, I truly enjoyed all the photos!! I'm so proud of you for just "winging" it, and as much as I would like to take a road trip, I don't think I could sit still that long! Now, promise next time you're in Colorado, you'll call and I'll come find you. :)

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    1. thank you so much! the whole trip was incredible. and oh gosh Kim, i don't know when i'll be back in Colorado but i wouldn't mind going there tomorrow to come and see you! hehe and yeah my organized brain and butt were complaining here and there but my eyes made up for all the sites we saw! LOL:>D

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  3. I took an epic loop around the country back in 1999. Now I'm already thinking about when we can do another one with our daughter!

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    1. 1999? well i do believe it's time for another one Lisa! it'll be like a whole new trip cuz everything changed! and having your kids along for the trip to share the adventure is pretty darn incredible too :)

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  4. oh my gosh! what an amazing, epic, once in a lifetime sort of trip. we are hoping to take a parks road trip next year, but i need a system and and definitely can't wing it the way you did. that is freeing!
    b

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    1. that's funny you say how freeing it was b, just like my friends say too cuz when you have OCD like me and plan everything way in advance freeing is not what i felt at the time! lol the parks road trip sounds awesome though- you can always see a mall anywhere but those parks are one of a kind! :)

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  5. SO fun!!! :)

    Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!

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    1. you nipped that right in the bud Jess! thank you! :)

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  6. Wow! What a trip. I'm a native Texan and you showed me some places that I have never heard of. Great post!

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    1. oh my goodness Cathy really? that's so funny! that kind of reminds me thougj of when i have visitors here in Florida we go to places we never even knew existed either! :>O

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  7. I LOVED reading about your epic cross country trip! The PCH is on our bucket list so I read that part to my hubby and oh what a picture you've painted..can't wait!
    I remember that feeling of awe and amazement traveling thru Nevada and Arizona a few years ago..our first taste of "out west"!
    What great memories you all made this summer, especially since you survived with no planning or reservations!
    Hubby and I celebrated our 25th anniversary this summer with a two week road trip to Canada and Maine. I think you've just inspired me to go through my mountain of photos and finally make a post!
    Thanks for taking us along for the ride. :o)

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    1. well Karen i soooo look forward to that post because we went up to Canada and Maine last summer but we couldn't find any rooms in Maine so we ended up driving through most of it! ( yes us big dummies made no reservations in Maine again). i LOVE Quebec and what we saw of Maine (Portland) was pretty cool too. what an awesome way to spend an anniversary- much better than a romantic dinner LOL ;>D!

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  8. I would love to do a cross country trip sometime and of course to see the Cadillac Ranch! Thanks for sharing your post with us at Creatively Crafty #CCBG http://tryit-likeit.com/link-party-it

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    1. yes that cadillac ranch is so unique! get your camera battery on full before you get there! ;>D thanks so much Janet!

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  9. Lovely trip! I keep wanting to take a long family cross country trip but my husband thinks I am nuts to want to be in the car that long or spend that much time together with all 5 of us!

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    1. well i must admit Mother of 3, you do have to be a little nuts to go on a trip for so long but heck the memories make up for the inevitable nuttiness! LOL

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  10. Wow, what a great way to spend a summer vacation. It looks like you had a wonderful time and made lifetime memories.

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    1. oh goodness you sure hit the nail on the head Beth! :)

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here's wishing for a stuffed comment box... :>D