Driving across the USÂ can be as entertaining as going to Europe.
Just in a more… American… way. Â Go ‘Merica.
If you’ve been following along, you know that Vegas and I picked up a hitchhiker at Graceland. Â The King himself.
The second day of our cross country move involved a trip to Graceland. Â How could we pass up the bobble head Elvis that would become the mascot for our journey? Â We also couldn’t pass up a grilled banana and peanut butter sandwich.
Lesson From Route 66: You don’t always be perfectly healthy. Â Live life. Â When in Rome, eat the greasy sandwich. Â Or whatever… you know what I mean.
He came with us to meet Heather in Little Rock, and he saw the house my dad grew up in in Conway. Â That night we rolled into Oklahoma City and crashed. Â Not literally – just in the bed. Â Who knew sitting all day could be so tiring?!
Lesson From Route 66: Picking up hitchhiker isn’t always a bad thing. Â And you’re never too old to play with dolls.
Day 3 involved a stop in Amarillo, TX. Â I had never been to the northern part of the state and it certainly lived up to the saying that “everything is bigger in Texas.”
We stopped in a couple of teeny little towns where we found random old steak houses and the world’s largest barbed wire museum.  We did our best redneck tourist stop at the leaning water tower of Britten.  One urban legend says the guy (Britten) got drunk one night and bet his friend that he could build a leaning water tower that could remain upright.
Lesson From Route 66: Always do sober what you said you’d do drunk… it’ll teach you to keep yer pie hole shut.
Once in Amarillo, we hit up The Big Texan. Â Home of the free 72 ounce steak. Â Free if you eat the whole thing in under an hour, that is. Â We were dead set on taking the challenge. Â Vegas and I were even going to race each other. Â Once we got there and saw what 72 ounces of meat looked like, we decided to pass. #thatswhatshesaid
Lesson From Route 66: Being competitive is fun, but don’t be a damned idiot about it. Â Can you imagine being in the car with us after that?!
Post-steak we stopped at Cadillac Ranch. Â It wasn’t as big as I’d imagined, but worth a stop to see the craziness. Â Oddly, it wasn’t built by Texans. Â A bunch of artsy-types from San Fran erected it. Â The Cadillacs have now been half-buried in the ground for long than they were on the road. Â Even yard art is bigger in Texas.
Day 4 we woke up in Albuquerque, NM. Â We don’t remember getting there. Â Just kidding (sort of). Â We got in late the night before and I woke up all confused about what day it even was. Â A trip to Whole Foods was needed to resuscitate my brain. Â There is a giant red arrow pointing to the parking lot. Â I call that a sign from God! Â The King got more sandwich fixins. Â We got the hot bar. Â Maybe that’s lame since we could have eaten local food…
Lesson From Route 66: Don’t question a good thing. Or your stomach. Â Whole Foods is awesome in any state.
On the way to Arizona we passed a casino in the middle of nowhere. Â We had to stop because I had an interview (speaking of… does anyone want to hire me for freelance marketing/social/writing work?). Â Vegas played poker (and won $200… she says – and I quote – “I am a video poker master”). Â We learned that there is such a thing as a casino that doesn’t serve alcohol. Â #fail
The Continental Divide was a good time, as was the giant tee pee right across the Arizona border.  We bought more M&Ms.  I think we literally bought a pack a day.  We also bought our fair share of Indian handmade jewelry and tsotchkes.  Not to mention local beers.
Lesson From Route 66: Sometimes it’s less about buying stuff than it is about supporting the locals.  Both of us have Indian blood… supporting the economy a little after all this country has put Native Americans through just seems right.
Flagstaff, Arizona may have been my favorite stop. Â There was snow on the ground, but it was really quite warm in the sunshine. Â At this point we decided to slow down a bit. Â We’d been driving about 8 hours a day and were a day ahead of the mover. Â Why not sleep in and spend the early afternoon exploring a new town? Â We stayed in a cute little boutique hotel and lazily ordered room service for breakfast. Â Our hunk of burnin’ love really loved the hot sauce. Â It was just his size!
Elvis was a hit in Flagstaff. Â He got to visit his distant relatives, the gnomes. Â He enjoyed a nice spanish lunch before sweet-talking the lady at The Sweet Shoppe into letting him get behind her counter (tee hee). Â We got a couple of gelatos out of it – peanut butter-peanut butter cup and rocky road – so we didn’t give him too hard of a time.
Lesson From Route 66:Â It’s a marathon, not a sprint. Â Slow it down when the mood hits. Â See the sights.
Day 5. Â Seligman, AZ. Â At this point I’m actually surprised we haven’t had the first argument. Â We are great together, don’t get me wrong. Â But 5 days in the car can make anyone cranky. Â Except us, apparently. Â We choose laughter.
Lesson From Route 66:Â Laugh at yourself. Â Belly laugh. Â You’ll make mistakes. Â You’ll run over skunks (I SWEAR it wasn’t me!). Â You’ll drop house plants off of the back of toilets (don’t ask). Â Enjoy the ride.
Laughter is why I didn’t kill Vegas when she nearly killed Elvis.  After falling from the great heights of a tractor, Elvis sustained injuries to his neck and right arm.  The sign seemed especially appropriate.  For all 3 of us. #cheerstosuperglue
Rolling down the road we went, into the little town of Seligman, AZ.  There was so much to see… but first Elvis had to pee.  Super clean toilets at Angel & Velma’s in Seligman, btw.
Lesson From Route 66: Never pass up a chance to pee.  On these long stretches you don’t know where the next clean potty will be.
I swear, if you ever have the chance to drive down Route 66, take it. Â We almost flew. Â I’d have regretted missing any second of this. Â ‘Merica at it’s finest. Â The people along these little stops were fabulous. Â Every stop was a little piece of someone leaving their mark. Â Being a part of that and sharing it with Vegas (and Elvis) was an experience I’ll never forget.
Lesson From Route 66:Â Run flat tires are seriously reliable. Â TN and OK need to put more money into road maintenance. Â
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If you’re ever driving across the US, check out this site (absolutely no affiliation).  Full of marvelous sights like these!
Have you ever driven across America?Â
What lessons have you learned from traveling?
This is amazing! I’d love to road trip across the US some day. It sure would be the ultimate test of a relationship! You guys did good 😉
I loved following your road trip and pretending to chow down on the sandwich with you…Let’s take that steak challenge on. Yes? Yes.
So doing a road trip across the US is actually on my bucket list- you have only fuelled that desire more than ever right now! And a casino that doesn’t serve alcohol- that’s preposterous!! Normally it should be on the house!
You must do it! I can’t believe people go without doing this… especially the Americans!
UGH I KNOW I BE A BROKEN RECORD.
but I LOVE you two and your love for each other and how you bring us into the love and……
It’s been entertaining following your trip! Looks like you guys made the most of it. So jealous you live in CA. I’ve always wanted to live there! Good times!
It sounds like you had a blast. And your hair looks really good.
Thanks Lee! 🙂
I can’t imagine driving across the US. I seriously don’t think that I would make it. Sad but true! But what a fabulous way for you and Vegas to kick off your new life together. So many unforgettable memories to hold on to. So excited for you!
You totally would! There’s so much to see, and it’s fun to watch the landscape change through each region.
Oh this looks like so much fun!! Love your hitchhikers too! My husband lived in La and has driven cross country many times I’ve never done it. I think this post makes me want to do it!!! I can’t wait to read about the rest of the journey. And a casino with no alcohol? I didn’t know that was a thing.
David and I always love taking road trips – we always have just as much fun travelling as we do when we get to our destination! As I said in my last comment, we did a road trip of the southern States for our honeymoon – Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama – so amazing, can’t wait to go back one day!
I would be soooo tempted by that huge ass steak… A big slab of meat is my kind of meal!
You have to let me know if you do GA again – I ave a ll kinds of Atlanta suggestions. 🙂
I’ve loved watching your adventures during this trek. I love that you guys really made the most of it and enjoyed yourselves. I am a horrible car traveler and just try to get to my destination as quickly as possible. So some good lessons here 😉
You definitely have to look at it as an adventure. It was (mostly) fun!
This looks like a lot of fun! 72oz of meat is insane. Not even I could do that.
Hahaha! I bet you could if you realllllly put your mind to it.
I loved following y’all’s trip! I simply cannot imagine being in the car that long but maybe it is different since you knew going in the days would be long? I have a hard time sitting still in the car, though if I were the laughing the entire time that would change things 🙂
Glad you had a great time!
So awesome! I am so glad you had a nice time!!!
I am sitting here trying to think if Jason and I ever had an argument during our 3.5 week road trip… I cannot think of one? I probably got cranky, in fact I can safely say I was cranky one day, until we finally found a decent salad bar. I was never so happy to see greens in my life, and I am pretty sure the cashier was wondering what I was going to do with that giant bowl of greens. no croutons or ANYTHING, ha! 😉
never pass up the chance to pee. yes, this.
WELCOME HOME!!
We were both a little cranky one day too… but I think it only lasted a couple of hours and we were all good. And yes… I still can’t get enough green!
Sounds like y’all are having so much fun on your drive. We have driven from Kansas to California, Kansas to New Jersey, Kansas to Florida and of course Kansas to Texas – so we’ve driven lots of the country but not all the way across.
I think that counts – you’ve done a lot of road tripping!
oh yeah, i love flagstaff, AZ!!!! reading this is totally reminding me of our Thelma & Louise road trip in 1999. We started in TX, then AZ, CO, CA, NM, and some other states i forgot. that was back in the day! and we drove a beater chuck-a-chucka-boom crap car. it was awesome. me and my best gal in crime, and some horrible cassette tapes i made for the road featuring Red Hot Chili Peppers, janes addiction, and gwar… she freakin hated me so much for a while, LOL.
may your good times keep a rollin!
my tip – keep your eyes open! okay so back in the day when we did our road trip, we were young and broke, so we had to stay in very dodgy accomodations. we had a few near break-ins, but luckily we both were really “wanna be” tough chicks. we met in martial arts so we felt like we could kick anyone’s ass… LOL not the point of course. i learned that if i act like a total psycho lunatic, men would leave us the heck alone. it totally worked and we got to enjoy our time much more rather than deal with more douchery than necessary. i still use this little nugget in my present life – dudes are terrified of aggressive crazy chicks. LOL
Ha! There is definitely a lot of crazy out there. And the music… I think I drove Vegas a little nuts listening to my iTunes collection alphabetically by song title. Oops!
OMG – love this. We’ve done our share of driving along Route 66 although mostly through Arizona. We always stop in the local diners and have found a few gems. Stopping at random ghost towns is the best. Love this!
Arizona and New Mexico were my favorites! So much random stuff to see!
What an amazing trip!!! This makes me want to pack up the car and hit the road. I’ve been cross-country a few times but my husband and I always talk about renting and RV and taking the kids. Someday… Until then I’ll keep scrolling though this:-) Congratulations on your new home and being smart enough not to eat gigantic slabs of meat!
You’re hilarious! And I agree with you on many of these points. Go big, always take the bathroom breaks, Whole Foods is amazing, and have fun at all times. I’ve never done the whole cross-country driving thing and would love to. Hope your interview went well! 🙂
This trip sounded like an absolute blast.
Also, the Elvis injuries…he had it coming.
ROAD TRIP OF A LIFETIME! Yay for being in your new home! 🙂
Such a neat adventure you two got to go on with your trip across the states! I’m happy you enjoyed yourselves and especially excited that you stopped in my home state of Arkansas. Even in Conway where my fiance is currently working and living! I was just there 2 weekends ago staying with him, hanging out with his buddies, and getting ready for our trip to Texas. And you TOTALLY had me laughing out loud with the #thatswhatshesaid joke with the 72 ounces of meat. I’d pass on that too. Any day. Too much is never a good thing.
Conway? Really?! It’s such a small, small word.
I love that you chose to drive to your new home! Your adventures make me want to take a little drive across America. The closest I have ever been is in a motor home when I was a kid. Up from California to Montana. Unfortunately I don’t remember much of it (and not because I indulged in the local beers 🙂 ).
I bet that would be a fun drive! I’d like to do the northern route one day. In a party bus with friends. LOL!
Love it and loved following your trip (and Elvis!!) across the country. So fun that you got to meet up with Heather. These lessons are gems. I’ve only driven across the country once and really would love to do it again.
Oh yeah, Route 66, almost ran out of gas on that thing… but fun. Old-school Americana for sure.