Top 10 Things I Learned from Traveling the USA

We just finished traveling the USA for just over 2months (68 days) in our new car. We left Austin on August 23 and returned on October 29. We spent time with most of LW's family and some of my family. We have been to 21 states  ( 3 of which we had never been to before) and also Canada on this trip.  Our new car started with 6 miles when we bought it in April and upon our return it now has about 14,000 miles on it. Gas prices ranged from the cheapest in Council Bluffs IA and Little Rock AR at $1.97/gallon to the highest in Atlanta GA at $2.59/gallon. We had to have 2 oil changes while on the road and one stop for auto repairs ( see post about Des Moines).  We received no traffic tickets. Yea!

This will be my last post for a bit while we are home in Austin.  We have rented a condo up near the Domain to be near the kids. We are planning to depart again around the first of the year.
So until then...

Here are some life lessons (in no particular order) I have gained from our travel time.  I hope you don't mind if I share them with you. Maybe they will give you a slight advantage or some helpful information if you ever decide to take on such an adventure.

1. Less is more.  We have traveled with one suitcase for each of us, a bag with electronics in it, a small carry on size bag for bathroom stuff and a bag that has some food items in it.  We have had 4 pillows and two small throw blankets in the car.  LW took his golf clubs and one bowling ball in a bag.  He used the bowling ball once and and the golf clubs once.  As we travelled we ended up sending some clothes home that we didn't need.  Even though that doesn't seem like much, we need to cut back. So as we think about our next leg of travel, rethinking the stuff we had with us will be a major part of planning.

2. Michigan's dead raccoons = Texas' armadillos.  Not really a life lesson but interesting. Driving all around Michigan, the roadkill (and there was quite a bit) was always a raccoon.  I knew we wouldn't see armadillos like we do in Texas. I guess I was surprised by the number of unfortunate raccoons though.

3. MVP of the trip...my rain boots. I almost didn't take my rain boots.  I was thinking about how much space they would take up.  Good thing I did!  From about the time we left, we had some amount of rain ALMOST everyday until we got to about Pittsburgh around mid October. They will continue on to the next leg of our trip.

4.  Donut stores are difficult to find.  Ok maybe this is not all that important but just another "noticing."  When we lived in Arlington, it seemed like there were little donut shops on every corner.  Not Dunkin Donuts or Shipleys.  Little private owned, delicious donuts.  In Austin there are a few that we frequent.  On the road, in other cities, these were very difficult to find.  Mostly we found big name brand places like Krispy Kreme.  (I like Krispy Kreme, don't get me wrong.)

5. Diet Coke vs Diet Pepsi. What is with the rest of the country?  Almost everywhere we ate, served Diet Pepsi. In the beginning, I would tell the server diet coke please.  The server would then say,"Diet Pepsi ok?"  No!  Of course it's not ok.  But in the end I would always say yes.  Eventually I didn't even ask for Diet Coke.  Glad to be back in a state that offers Diet Coke as an option.  (Even though I am trying to cut down.)

6. Hate LA traffic!  The traffic in LA and our little fender bender has left me with a little trauma, especially if I am not driving.  LW keeps telling me to relax but my reaction in congested traffic has become almost involuntary.

7. Can ship things home..buying things.. Our rule as we started was something comes in, something goes out.  But I soon realized that I could just as easily ship things home to Michael to store for us.  Unfortunately once I discovered this idea, shopping  opportunities increased.

8. Missed having a home to decorate for holidays.  Seeing all the Halloween decorations out in the stores, made me miss the opportunity to decorate for one of my favorite holidays.  Yesterday I went to our storage and got my box of Thanksgiving decorations out and took them to the condo we are renting.  By the time LW got home from golf, I had decorated for Thanksgiving.  It makes it feel a little bit more like "home."

9. Eating out every meal. We used to eat out a lot.  Mostly because I hate to cook.  But being on the road for 2 months, eating almost every meal out in a restaurant has gotten me to where I am craving home cooked meals.  We got to a point where LW would ask what I wanted for dinner and nothing specific stuck out.  No specific cravings. He would ask, "Italian, steak, chicken."  But it always felt like we had just had that to eat.  Now in the condo, we are trying to eat in.  However, I burned the first meal....could have been my cooking skills but I think the oven temperature was way off.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

10.  We can do this!  After asking if we had fun, the next thing people seem to ask us is if we are still getting along after being together 24/7 in a small car for the past 2 months.  Actually, yes we are doing great!  Some days are better than others but it has not been too much different than living in a house.  Just a little closer quarters.  We have had a great time, seen some amazing things and are both looking forward to the next part of our travels.  But we were both ready to come home to Austin and see the kids.

So not all of those 10 things are life lessons.  Some are just thoughts.
Until January....Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas!

Surprise!

Our BIG plans for Saturday involved a surprise. Watch this video.

Originally we had planned to try to get to the Carolina coast for a week or two but Hurricane Matthew changed those plans.  Had we gone to the coast, we would not have gotten back to Austin till mid November.  There were lots of other places we could have gone as substitutes for the coast but ultimately we both decided we wanted to head back to Austin to see the kids.  I wouldn't say we are tired of traveling.  I'd say we missed our family.  So here we are! Back in Austin!


For those of you wondering, we will be here until the first of the year. We have rented a condo up near the Domain to be near the kids. Then we will head out again for more adventures.

FYI...I have at least one more post about our travels that I will be making until I take a break for awhile.

Little Rock

On Friday we drove from Memphis to Little Rock. First we met my cousin for lunch. We had a great time catching up with Kris and meeting Tristan.

Then we visited the Bill Clinton Presidential Center. This was a very nice presidential museum.

Cabinet room, stats about education, Billy's wallet, a drawing Bill made, China Hilary chose for the White House

Hillary's 3rd grade report card 

Part of a report Hillary wrote as a child

There was a special exhibit on the Beatles. Bonus!

Then we drove on to our hotel in Hope.  We have BIG plans for Saturday.   Wait till you see what our plans are.

Home of the Blues

Memphis, TN...home of the Blues, Soul , and Rock n Roll. We started at the visitor center right on the riverfront. Standing almost hand in hand were 2 of the biggest names to come out of Memphis...Elvis Presley and B.B. King. It was if they were our official welcome wagon to this place of history.

We started by riding the monorail over to Mud Island. If you've see the movie The Firm with Tom Cruise, then you've seen this monorail. Once on Mud Island we checked out the Mississippi River Museum. This little museum was interesting but was in need of some sprucing up.

There was also a very cool concrete sculpture on Mud Island. It was a miniature reproduction of the lower Mississippi River. It spread out for about 1/2 mile. It was on a scale of about 30 inches for every mile of the river. It wound  around the riverfront walkway until it emptied into "the Gulf of Mexico." It was an amazing display but needed some TLC. Maybe that will be my "retirement job," taking care of the Mississippi River Walk.

We also took a bus tour with Backbeat Mojo Tours. Our tour guide sang to us while also telling us about the sights of the city. One stop was at the Levitt Shell. This used to be the Overton Park Shell.   According to our guide this was Elvis Presley's first live performance,  playing before headliner Slim Whitman in 1954. Even though he started out scared and very stiff, eventually the music overtook him and he began shaking his leg. The girls in the audience went wild.

We saw Sun Studios and had a tour. Here is where Elvis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Howling Wolf, Jerry Lee Lewis, BB King and many others got their start.
We walked around Beale Street.
We went to see the Lorraine Motel where MLK Jr was shot. The wreath in the picture marks the spot where he was standing when assassinated. They have mostly left his room right behind the wreath as it was that day. The shots come from the boarding house across the street. This is now The National Civil Rights Museum.

We also went to The Peabody Hotel to watch the March of the Ducks. We got there to listen to  the Duckmaster tell the history of the March and to watch as the ducks left the fountain, walked the red carpet to the elevator that would take them back to their penthouse for the night.

Then we had dinner and listened to some live music.

Side Trip

Part of our thoughts going into this year of travel included the willingness to be flexible and go with the flow. Today was a perfect example of that. We woke up in Chattanooga, TN and had hotel reservations for this evening in Nashville.  Our original plan was to explore Nashville.  But as we investigated what to do, we decided that since country music is not a favorite of ours, we weren't too excited about our options. Then we thought about spending the day in Chattanooga since the weather is beautiful. But that wasn't really what we wanted to do either...
Then we talked about Atlanta, GA. It is only 2 hours away. We could knock out another presidential museum (Jimmy Carter) and we could also see the MLK Jr. Historical Site. So that's what we decided to do...Atlanta. Here are some photos from our side trip. Now we are headed back north and west to Nashville for the night.

The Fun Continues...

The fun continues while the Big Guy is gone. 

Sunday was such a beautiful day in Tennessee that I decided to drive to Great Smoky Mountain National Park. The park falls across the borders of Tennessee and North Carolina. I stopped at the visitor center just inside the park near Pigeon Forge. I got a map and some advice of where to go.

I decided to drive straight through the park to Cherokee, North Carolina. There was a tremendous amount of traffic because of it being Sunday, beautiful weather and a report of snow at Clingman's Dome.  Clingman's Dome is the highest point in the Smokies at 6,643 ft.  I decided to bypass the Dome until my return back through the park.  

Cherokee is an Indian Reservation so of course there was a casino, at which I lost money.

Driving back through the park, I made a couple stops for photos. I drove up to the Dome area but it was so crowded, I didn't get out. There was a little bit of snow still in the crevices of rocks and on the edges of the grass. At Newfound Gap, you can stand on the Tennesse/North Carolina border.

Coming in to the park, I drove through Pigeon Forge. Leaving the park, I drove through Gatlinburg.  I didn't realize that these 2 towns were such big destinations. There were tons of shops, amusement activities and restaurants. It reminded me of Branson.

The Smoky Mountains were so gorgeous. It was a perfect fall mountain day and drive.

Top right picture- elk in the tree line 

Monday I checked out the Worlds Fair Park and Sunsphere in Knoxville before heading towards Chattanooga.

Arriving in Chattanooga, I visited the triple sites around Lookout Mountain. The first place, Rock City, is actually in Georgia.

Then I rode the Lookout Mountain Incline, the world's steepest incline railway. It's a mile long.

Then I went to Ruby Falls. It is an underground cave tour that ends at the tallest underground waterfall. It was gorgeous!

 

Monday night I picked up LW from the airport. Next stop...Nashville for some country music.

Some Alone Time Fun

What's the saying? When the cat's away, the mice will play...LW flew from Lexington, KY to Omaha for the weekend to attend the services of a childhood friend. So while he is gone, the mouse is gonna have some fun alone. 

I started out with the Kentucky Horse Farm in Lexington. This huge complex has tons to see. First I took the quick trolley tour. The wagon was pulled by 2 beautiful draft horses.

Here are some of the many horses around the park.

I started at the Hall of Champions Show. Here is the list of who I saw at the show.

Western Dreamer-Triple Crown Pacer 1997

Go For Gin-Derby winner 1994 and the second oldest living Derby winner at 23 years old

Won The West- Champion Aged Pacer 2009 and 2010

Funny Cide "the Gutsy Gelding"-Derby winner 2003, Preakness winner (by 10 lengths) 2003, Belmont 3rd place 2003

Then I went to the draft horse meet and greet in the Big Barn. This is Royal, a Percheron. He weighs 1800 lbs and is about 19 hands tall (a little over 6 ft). The groom showed us how they dress a Percheron  by putting a bun and bow in the tail and braiding the mane.

More horses at the park

One of the 2 museums at the park. The other is the International Museum of the Horse.

A few things about Secretariat 

Man o' War memorial

Man o' War was the greatest race horse and leading money winner of his day.

Then I headed for Knoxville,TN. On the way I made 2 stops. First, even though I don't like KFC, I stopped to check out the original restaurant in Corbin, KY. It had a mini museum honoring the Colonel Harland Sanders.

Next I drove to Cumberland Gap National Park, the visitor center and Pinnacle Overlook. With the fall foliage, the view was so beautiful.

Today I'm headed out for more fun. Update ya later.