You Are Going Where?
In a very short time, we've passed through Nine States and driven 3,200+ miles. Our journey is only beginning.
We left most of it behind at a storage facility in Northern Nevada and we began our journey with a nine hour drive back home to Orange County, California. We simply wanted and needed to spend quality time with family and friends. After we made new memories, Debbie and I followed up on that theme with a six hour drive to see more family and friends in Arizona. From a driving perspective, these were merely two warms-ups for a much longer journey that lie ahead.
After a visit that was way too short, we refilled the gas tank and steered the car east, hopped on Interstate 10 and drive another 2,240 miles until we reached Florida. In the process, we passed through the following states: New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and finally Florida.
It is not the first time I’ve made this wonderful drive across the country. In the summer of 1987 after graduating from the University of California, Irvine, I went on a six-week, 10,000 mile drive with my high school friend Scott. On that road trip, we saw Major League Baseball games in 23 different stadiums, hiked the Carlsbad Caverns, experienced my first New York Broadway show (Starlight Express) and created a lifetime of memories.
This time, it is a much different experience. While Debbie and I have a plan, our schedule is much less rigorous. It also currently does not have an end date. Here are a few things we experienced during our days-long drive.
** 108 degrees in Arizona is as hot as you think it is.
** The cheapest gas sign we identified along the freeway was $2.69, at one station somewhere in Texas. Plenty of other stations had unleaded at $2.89 including one in Orange, Texas, two others in Vinton and Duson, Louisiana. The highest? $5.35 in Southern California.
** Best meal during our drive east? At the recommendation of Visit San Antonio friend and colleague Andres Munoz, when we reached The River Walk we headed for terrific Mexican food at Boudros. The guacamole was as good as he said it would be. The worst? Dinner at a Dairy Queen roadside gas station the first night. We were starving. No excuses.
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** Best town names as detailed on highway road signs:
1) Welfare, Texas
2) Sulpher, Louisiana
3) Flatonia, Texas
4) Weeki Wachee, Florida. Okay, this wasn’t a sign but the neighborhood where our server lived which was just off the freeway. We met her during a lunch stop.
** Saw not one but two houses being moved on the freeway driving through Louisiana.
** Parts of Florida are in two different time zones.
** When we arrived in a city we would look up interesting facts about different places and tried to learn a few things.
— When it came to Houston, there is an old law that bans the sale of Limburger Cheese on Sundays. Don’t believe me? Click here. Can’t make it up.
—- The State of New Mexico has only 2.1 million residents. That’s the entire State! Nevada, my former home, had three million and Orange County, California, my long time home, has more than 3 million just in the OC!
Something Learned along the way……..
While visiting family in Arizona ChatGPT suggested a hike at the Desert Botanical Gardens. Who am I to turn down ChatGPT? Debbie and I grabbed my father and his wife Debbie and off we went. The Gardens, nestled about halfway between Scottsdale and Tempe, offers beautiful walking trails and a variety of desert plants. As we walked the grounds, Debbie and I came across a man who explained this cactus, known as a Crested Saguaro Cactus. He said it was fairly rare which made me capture the photo. After photographing it, this is what I now know.
According to the National Park Service website “The saguaro cactus (Carnegia gigantea) is a truly iconic symbol of the Sonoran Desert. Its remarkable size and ability to endure harsh desert conditions has endeared it to many people.”
Apparently scientists once thought there were only about 200 of these types of cacti in the world. Today more than 2,000 versions have been identified. Here is a shot of the one I captured.
"While Debbie and I have a plan, our schedule is much less rigorous." At least you have a plan. One of my mentors in the tourism sector was the first multi-million dollar Lottery Winner in Wisconsin. When he called to say he wouldn't be available to keynote our annual meeting, I asked what was next? He said, "well, there's this diner in Arizona that supposedly has the best cheese soup in America. Past that, I haven't a clue."
Wow! What a start! Enjoy!