and suddenly we were in West Virginia

Ok so we haven’t posted anything in a while because we have been seriously internet deprived. You can imagine how hard that is for three teenage girls! Now that we can finally post we have a lot to write about. Hopefully we can remember everything we’ve done. We’ve been on the road for 7 days now, and everything is starting to blur together.

So Saturday we left Oklahoma City and headed for St. Louis. We stopped to see a giant blue whale on the side of the road. It was a little odd, but worth a quick stop for a photo op. 

The drive was pretty uneventful. We stopped for a late lunch at Lambert’s Café (“the only home of the throwed rolls”) in Missouri at the suggestion of Maddy’s mom. We were so glad we stopped. Although there was a long wait for a table (30 minutes) we stuck it out and were soon seated in large wooden booths, looking at a menu full of good ole Southern eats. And, true to their claim to fame, there was a guy walking around the restaurant throwing dinner rolls to patrons. They were warm and delicious and we waved at him several times throughout our meal for more rolls.

After a filling lunch we got back on the road. That afternoon we stopped at the Meramac Caverns just outside of St. Louis. Here was learned about Jesse James’ infamous escape from the law and the rock formations of the caves. I’m sure Maddy has a lot more to say about the caves, but for me it was just an interesting sight and a welcome relief from the heat.

Saturday night we arrived at Maddy’s grandma’s house where she welcomed us with open arms and a delicious peach cobbler. We talked for a while and then gladly went to bed early after a long day. The next morning we got up to the humid heat of summer in the Midwest. After some creative repacking of the car and a delicious breakfast of peach cobbler we headed off for the city and the arch! I had never seen anything like it before at took tons of pictures inside and out. Luckily the line was short for a ride to the top and just 10 minutes after arriving we were waiting in line for the elevator. 

this is the very tiny elevator door

If anyone’s planning on passing through St. Louis and is claustrophobic and/or afraid of heights, I do not advise doing this, no matter how much you want to see they city from 630 feet in the air. The elevators we got into were so tiny we could barely sit up straight, and we’re all pretty short. After 3 or 4 minutes of rocking back and forth (I do not recommend this ride for those who experience motion sickness either) we were at the top! The view was amazing, even though the windows were small. We could see far out into the distance and closer sights like the Busch stadium and the court house on one side and the Mississippi River out the other. After coming back to the ground level we walked through the Museum of Westward Expansion. They had some pretty interesting pieces from history, like a covered wagon, a stuffed buffalo, and some strange robotic figurines that moved and talked. It was a little creepy, truthfully. After we had our fill of history and architecture we headed over to “the loop” a street near Wash U that's a trendy hang out for students. We had a yummy lunch at Fitz's (famous for their homemade root beer) and walked up and down the streets. We found a cute little bookstore where we picked up some reading for the road, and stopped by Vintage Vinyl, where some DJs were blasting music outside and some guys were break dancing, each trying to outdo the guy before him. That night we watched the Emmy's with Maddy's grandma and turned in early.

us at the top!

view of the city from 630ft 

Busch Stadium 

We were up bright and early yesterday morning, hitting the road at 8am. Our last stop in Missouri was a giant catchup bottle. I don't think that requires anything more than this picture:

Nothing happened in Illinois or Indiana (in fact I just almost forgot we drove through these states). Driving through Ohio was very boring. There was some traffic going through Columbus, but other than that it was mostly just cornfields. 

We were almost at the Ohio border and very excited to almost be to our stop for the night (just outside of Pittsburg, PA), when SURPRISE! West Virginia jumped out at us out of nowhere. We drove right under a sign that said Welcome to West Virginia and did a double take. Weren't we supposed to be in Pennsylvania now? Had we taken a wrong turn? After freaking out for a moment we consulted our trusty iPhones and realized that we were in the little sliver of West Virginia they call a panhandle. So we were on the right track after all and 10 minutes later we were in Pennsylvania. 

Today we explore Pittsburgh! 

Passing through Ohio now. Nothing to report but cornfields.

Today's Numbers:

Roadkill count= 11... Wait make that 12
Number of rolls thrown to our table at Lambert's Cafe= 9 or 10
Number of Meramec Cavern billboards= at least 20

Number of "Adult" stores along I-44= 7 since Oklahoma (2 with video arcades? What...?)

more pictures!

hey if you want to see more pictures of our trip so far there are almost 200 up on facebook now!

675 more miles traveled as day 4 ends

So after hearing that Santa Fe, NM is one of the prettiest and loveliest cities we decided to spend the night there. Not the brightest idea because we arrived pretty late and left early this morning so we didn't get to see most of the town. We drove around for a bit but there weren't many people out and about so we decided to grab some pastries and hit the road.

Note #1: If you want to see a town on a road trip, don't spend the night there unless you plan on driving less than 200 miles or so later that day.

A little over an hour away from Santa Fe we found ourselves in the historic Route 66 town of Santa Rosa, home of the big Blue Hole.

 The Blue Hole is a naturally occurring spring that is 81 feet deep, 60 feet in diameter at the top, 130 feet in diameter at the bottom, and constantly 64˚. It is apparently a very popular travel destination for scuba divers because the water is crystal clear (fed from an aquifer). We dipped our feet in :) but too bad there was no time for scuba! It was still early morning in Santa Rosa when we got there so not much was going on, but it's definitely a great place to stop for some old Route 66 fun.

At about 12:30 pm (we had to add an hour for the time zone change) we reached the Midpoint Cafe in Adrian, Texas.












At last, we had come to the half way point between Los Angeles and Chicago on Route 66. The food there was amazing, even though we just ate simple grilled cheese it was absolutely delish, not to mention the chocolate chip and apple pies we also consumed. Of course, we stopped at the gift shop there, and had another look around the place before heading on toward Amarillo.

Outside the restaurant was an old gas station that now has an old truck parked outside of it. As we got closer to the truck we realized that hundreds, or maybe thousands of people had signed their names, date visited, where they were from, etc. all over this truck! If you plan to stop by here look for our names on the upper left corner of the tailgate.

Not far from Amarillo, TX was the Cadillac Ranch, a very unique and interesting sight to see. I first noticed it from the freeway—several cadillac cars sticking out from the ground in the middle of a giant field next to the freeway. We got out to check it out and noticed spraypaint cans scattered all around, which had been and still were being used for visitors to leave their marks. Overall, it was just a very random attraction, but if you're in the neighborhood then why the hell not?

Note #2: It is crazy/wicked/hella/mad windy in Texas. Why the hell aren't they investing more in alternative energy? Oh yeah. Big Oil. The world is doomed.

Note #3: On the plus side, gas is crazy/wicked/hella/mad cheap here. Like $2.50 a gallon cheap.

Had dinner in Clinton, OK across the street from the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum, which was unfortunately closed (we got there kinda late). Had a very scrumptious italian dinner, followed by more driving with big rigs, annoying cars, and road construction that seems to never end.

Finally we arrived in Oklahoma City for the night. I feel very disoriented from all this traveling, I never quite know which way I'm facing.

Note #4: What happened with those cops on the highway in NM? we don't know :( oh well.

Two cops just blasted right past us, going about 90 or 95. Very interesting, hopefully we'll find out what's going on. Almost to the Texas border!

For anyone who may be driving in New Mexico... Please do not panic if you see signs for Las Vegas and immediately start questioning Google Maps. There is a Las Vegas, NM. Good to know.

more of the southwest

As Maddy pretty much summed up yesterday, the Grand Canyon was gorgeous. Hopefully this isn’t too embarrassing for her, but she was so excited at seeing the canyon for the first time she couldn’t decide between running to the rim for her first glance or finishing the banana she had begun eating on the way over. Luckily she managed to do both, and all three of us stood taking in the beautiful sight.  I can’t talk about rock formations and layering like Maddy can, but I did get some amazing shots. 

We walked on the rim path for about two miles, stopping every so often for photos and breaks from the heat. After we explored for a while we went back to the lodge for an afternoon nap. We woke up starving and headed off for dinner. A nice quiet dinner was the perfect way to end the day. Unfortunately for our server a big group of rowdy Sicilian families came in just as we were leaving. Sorry Jason! 

We woke up bright and early this morning to get started on our day. Good thing too, because as we headed out of the Kaibab National Forest which surrounds the south rim of the Grand Canyon there was road work EVERYWHERE. It took us an hour to get back on the highway, a distance of about 30 miles. We continually ran into such holdups throughout Arizona, so we have decided to rename it the Road Construction State. 

just another example of what happens in the Road Construction State

We made a fun stop not too long after exiting the Kaibab National Forest, however. A roadside stand had been set up and was selling beautiful Native American crafts and jewelry. I got a dream catcher for myself and Maddy found a beautiful turquoise necklace she immediately put on. We also may or may not have picked up some early Christmas presents for our families ;)

saying goodbye to the Grand Canyon early in the morning

The rest of Arizona was pretty uneventful. The scenery was very pretty, but after a while it got somewhat monotonous. I can see why people like living here, but as a city girl it would soon drive me nuts! We kept ourselves entertained by giving ourselves Native American names. I am now Flying Eagle, Maddy is Dancing Fish, Emily is Little Bobcat, and trusty Dorah is now Chief Runs with Big Rigs.

Things definitely got interesting as we headed toward the New Mexico border and the Four Corners Monument. A heads up to those interested in traveling to see the monument: the Navajo Nation does not accept debit cards. When we saw the fee was $3 a person (cash only!) we had to scramble for money. We managed to find $4 in bills, but sadly our pocket change didn’t add up to the $2 more dollars we needed. Luckily the woman at the toll booth was able to break a larger bill Emily had! We had tons of fun walking from state to state and taking pictures of ourselves striking silly poses. (For those of you who don’t know, the Four Corners Monument is the point at which Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah touch corners. You can literally be in FOUR places at once!) There were even more craft stands at Four Corners and we picked up similar beaded rings to commemorate our trip. In addition the pretty glass beads, the rings are strung with a juniper bead, which I’m told helps ward off evil spirits. The owner of the stall told us his eleven year old daughter had made the rings!

Back on the road we didn’t stop, except for gas and a change of drivers, until the Aztec ruins. We took ourselves on a guided walking tour. The ruins were fascinating and we learned a lot about the history of The People of Running Water. The greatest part was trying to squeeze ourselves through the tiny doorways of the ruins! Sadly our pamphlet made no mention of the size and build of the ancient Aztecs, so we were left to wonder if this was an intentional architectural design, or if the Aztecs were really that small!

As I write this it’s about 630 in New Mexico (we’re now an hour ahead of the West Coast) and we just crossed the continental divide! I must have missed this geography lesson in school, because Maddy and Emily had to explain it to me, but once they did it sounded pretty cool. Kind of like the toilet flushing the other way in the Southern Hemisphere. We’re about half way to where we want to stop for dinner tonight, so I won’t be able to post this right away. Anyway I’m sure I’ll have more to write about when we get into our hotel tonight. For now, I’ll end with a few random thoughts I could not find a place for anywhere in this post.

The reception where we are right now is absolutely horrible! It was particularly bad when we were at the Grand Canyon. We had to struggle to find signals so we could call our families, and forget about wifi! Maddy was able to put up a short post from her phone, but I’m told it was a little garbled? She plans on fixing it tonight so it makes sense. We’re still struggling with poor signals and weak 3G on our phones, but don’t worry parents! We’re alive and well and have yet to get lost.

Another random thought: the Southwest has a surprising lack of law enforcement on the roads. I think so far we’ve seen maybe 10 cops on the road. And I’m not talking about just today. I mean throughout our entire trip so far, 1000+ miles!  Which is weird, considering the speed limit in Arizona is 75 mph (between 60 and 70 mph in New Mexico), and we continue to have cars pass us. There are also signs every few miles asking us to report drunk drivers, but we've seen no cops and thankfully no drunk drivers. 

I also think it’s fascinating how many people we’ve run into that are from so many different places. So far we’ve seen people from all over America (as far away as Ohio, New York and North Carolina) and the world! We’ve heard accents from all over Europe and Asia and down under. That’s quite a distance to travel, but then again The Grand Canyon is one of the 7 Wonders of the World!

Nothing much happened between writing the above and checking into our hotel. We had a great dinner in Bernillo at the Range Café. The internet is crazy slow here, which makes uploading pictures difficult. Hopefully it will be better tomorrow and I can add more. I will be also adding many many more pictures to facebook if you want to check them out!

Just Grand!

Greetings from the Grand Canyon! I attempted to post this via text message, however that did not work so well.

After driving for a bit less than 3 hours through road constructions and elk territory, we finally made it to the Grand Canyon National Park and hiked along the rim. Naturally I had a cow because it was so incredible. The canyon walls were absolutely spectacular with their vivid coloring and intricate patterns created by layers upon layers of rock. My inner geology geek emerged when we stopped at the Yavapai lookout/Geology museum... there are so many rock layers and different types of rock it was so overwhelmingly cool!!! I'm pretty sure Emily and Isabel got weary of my ranting and raving over rock. I mean it's just rock, come on.

We did get to see some traditional Native American dancing and hear some enchanting songs on flute. After that though it was time to get out of the sunlight and have a nap.

The sunset at the canyon illuminated the walls bright red. So gorgeous. I would definitely love to come back sometime and camp at the bottom. And ride mules. And do insane hikes of death. And see everything there is to see there. And maybe study some rocks. Long story short, I must see the Grand Canyon again before I die.

Day One... 615 miles traveled!

So Emily, Isabel, Dorah, and I set out this morning bright and early... sometime between 7 and 8 am.

The views driving to Southern California before noon are breath taking. Lots of deep golden hills, followed by more hills and flat lands with cashew and fruit orchards, followed by desert sands, rocks and shrubs. I may or may not have made a reference to Rohan of Lord of the Rings in my descriptions of the scenery. The southwest is so picturesque, and reminded me of studying California history and the gold rush in 4th grade.

We booked it across the Mojave desert in all of its peculiar and eerie beauty. After a delicious lunch of In-N-Out in Barstow, we drove to an old silver mining ghost town, the Old Calico Ghost Town. Paid 6 bucks to walk around the somewhat rebuilt ruins and get our cheesy tourist fix of the wild west. 

Calico Ghost Town
1881 Largest Silver Mining Camp in California 1896 

The town, if you could call it that, was very small and cute, with an old saloon that served Sarsaparilla. We nearly all died of heat exhaustion (it was only 114˚) so we didn't spend a whole lot of time there wandering around. Isabel almost left me locked in an old jail cell to die. That was cool.

Oops, sorry Maddy!

We finally hit the road again in the late afternoon, passing into Arizona over the Colorado River sometime around 7. I must say that driving on these crazy interstate highways such as I-5 and I-40, I have certainly conquered my fear of driving next to big rigs and trucks of the sort. I also must say that for a geology-loving college student driving down I-40 is really cool and there are lots of fun rocks to look at...

Colorado River

The mountains in the distance were colored purple, red, and pink while the sun set and we drove through empty lands of nothing but desert cacti, shrubs, and probably wildlife. It's hard to imagine anything living out there in this heat though. It had finally reached down to the 90˚s when we parked outside our hotel. Dinner was kinda sketchy. Looked like a more run-down version of Denny's with old white people as far as the eye could see. There was actually like no one there, yet the waitress claimed they were busy. Oh well, that is life on the road for you.

Tomorrow is the Grand Canyon :) where neither Emily or I have been. Dorah either.

Goodbye Los Altos!

the beginning

Thanks to the suggestions of our family members we decided to create a blog dedicated to our cross country journey. We're taking 10 days and heading from California to Massachusetts and stopping at 11 states in between. We're looking forward to driving through states we've never been too, seeing beautiful sights like the Grand Canyon, and eating at crazy food establishments like Lambert's Cafe, "the only home of Throwed Rolls." We're kissing our families, crossing our fingers and hope you enjoy reading about our adventures as much as we enjoy having them!