Days 18-20: South Dakota

In a surprising turn of events, I'm completely in love with the state of South Dakota.

The trip up from Wyoming was a little bit rougher than expected. In addition to an unexpected oil change on the rental car, for much of the drive through Wyoming I was fighting being blown off the road by 50+ mph wind gusts. And because I lost over an hour to the oil change and was too stubborn to adjust my agenda accordingly, I ended up on the road later than I wanted to be.

The upside of that was that I got to see Devil's Tower set against a great sunset backdrop.

Eventually I arrived in Deadwood, South Dakota, my destination for the night. The temperatures were arctic and the streets snow-covered, but my hotel was great and I treated myself to a delicious dinner of buffalo ravioli. Afterward I ventured to a local saloon where there was a great live band playing. It was some much needed relaxation after a long day of stressful driving.

Deadwood is a great town. I'd love to see it in the summer when everything is open and it's full of life. As it was, even in the frigid November temperatures I found myself tempted to just stay there and go off the grid. If this was the kind of trip where I just drove until I decided on a place to stop and set up camp, Deadwood would have been the place.

However, this is not that kind of trip, so I continued on the next day. To make up for my previous day of frantic driving, I spent the next day meandering my way through South Dakota with no set agenda. I had breakfast at a local restaurant in Sturgis, most famously known for the huge motorcycle rally the town hosts every summer. Sated, I moved on to Rapid City, where I found a great local record store and made some purchases, including some purple vinyl to add to my collection (how I'm going to get all my records home on the train from DC remains to be seen).

From Rapid City, I went to Mount Rushmore. I expected to be underwhelmed, but it really was beautiful. There's just something about it that makes you feel like you could stare at it forever.

 

What was not really worth the price of admission was the Crazy Horse Monument. Whenever it's finally finished I'm sure it will be, but right now we're far from that. And the view you get from the $11 visitor center admission is really not any better than what you can see from the highway for free. Once they get around to finishing the rest of it and it's not just his face, I'm sure it will be great.

From Crazy Horse I kept heading east and stopped at the infamous Wall Drug Store. It was mostly deserted this time of year, but I managed to get a good deal of my Christmas shopping done, so that was nice.

I stopped for the night in the town of Kadoka, South Dakota. To call it a town is really generous, but it's a good base for hitting up Badlands National Park in the morning.

Which is what I did first thing this morning. And all I can say is that it is stunning and unlike anything else I've ever seen. Driving through, you feel like you've landed on another planet. Seeing it dusted in snow only added to the feeling. I also got a healthy dose of wildlife encounters. Once again, words can't do it justice, so I'll leave it to the pictures.

 

Road Trip Days 15-17: Colorado

Leaving Utah, I started my climb up the winding highways into Colorado. The scenery was beautiful as I made my way to Vail, Colorado. As it turned out, I didn't really get to see much of Vail, because Mother Nature had other plans for me. The snow started shortly after I got to Vail and continued through the night. Happy to be off the roads, I just set up camp at my hotel's restaurant for the night. Snow is always beautiful until you have to drive in it.

The next morning, I had to dust off my Wisconsin driving skills and battle through some nasty roads to Denver. My rental car definitely wasn't made for that.

Thankfully it was a relatively short drive. Although I did learn the hard way that there is apparently a huge shortage of windshield wiper fluid in the state of Colorado, and I of course ran out in the middle of the drive when I needed it most. Eventually I tracked some down, after some significant effort.

Denver was a great break from the trip. I spent two nights with an old friend from college, and it was the first time since Nashville that I spent two nights in a row in the same bed and had a day when I didn't drive. We spent most of our time just relaxing and catching up, and it was wonderful. We did make a visit to  downtown Denver and treated ourselves to some delicious Voodoo Doughnuts, among other things.

 

I also go to do some much-needed laundry. The insane thing was that I found two pieces of glass from my broken sunroof in the clothes that I'd been wearing for the last two weeks. I'm really not sure how that's possible.

Anyway, tomorrow I'm heading north, where it's sure to be frigid but at least there's supposed to be no snow. Fingers crossed.

Road Trip Days 13 and 14: Nevada and Utah

I made it out of LA better than expected. I set my sights for Las Vegas, with one final Route 66 detour on my way. Even though the Route 66 part of my trip was official done, there was one thing in California that I really wanted to see but had missed because of my detour to Joshua Tree. Thankfully, it was right on the route to Vegas.

Just outside Barstow, California is the quirky and utterly delightful Elmer's Bottle Tree Ranch.

When I stopped by, I met Elmer himself, the creator of every piece in this fascinating bottle forest. He was working on a new installation that involved a face cutout for people to take pictures and he measured me to factor into his calculation of how tall the woman's face cutout should be. It's such a bizarre idea, but this place is just so charming that it really made my day.

Leaving California on a final positive note, I headed on into Nevada. Before arriving in Las Vegas for the night, I made a detour to Valley of Fire State Park. I still don't understand what is necessary for something to qualify as a National Park as opposed to simply a State Park, but it seemed to me that Valley of Fire had it. The swirling red rocks were unlike anything I'd ever seen.

After my brief detour, I made it to Vegas. I decided to stay in the old downtown Fremont Street district, because I figured I'd been to the Strip enough times and had never seen the other part of Vegas. I always forget how weird and fake Vegas is until I get there. Fremont Street was just as odd as the Strip, but condensed into a three block stretch. But still no one does neon better than Vegas.

Leaving Vegas on my continued journey west, I headed into Utah. Mostly known for Mormonism, Utah has an endless number of amazing National Parks. I'd been to a number when I traveled out west several years ago, but I remember Arches National Park being particularly remarkable, so I decided to stop by again. It was every bit as magical as I remembered.

And now I continue to head east as I wonder how this latest polar vortex will impact my travels. Thankfully I packed that winter jacket I almost didn't bring....

Road Trip Days 11 and 12: The City of Angels

No one ever needs to worry that I might consider moving to Los Angeles. Driving here is the worst thing I've ever made myself do. They should seriously consider using driving withing 100 miles of LA as a form of torture. And I didn't even hit it at bad times, or so I'm told.

My first stop was the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, the burial place of a number of random celebrities. My purpose in going was to visit the graves of Johnny and Dee Dee Ramone, which I really enjoyed.

My reward for making it LA in one piece was to meet an old friend for a California rite of passage, In-N-Out Burger. I left the ordering to him, and the results were maybe not worth the traffic, but pretty darn great.

It was also nice to catch up after many years, not to mention to speak to someone who wasn't a stranger for the first time in a week.

I proceeded on to Santa Monica, my home for the next two nights and the official end point of Route 66. I wandered Santa Monica Pier before calling it a night to sleep off the stress of LA driving.

The next day I did some sightseeing, once again battling LA traffic.

LA is fine to visit, but the driving just kind of ruins it. Obviously I like driving, I'm driving around the country for a whole month. But the driving there is different. It's aggressive and constantly stressful, and you feel like you're seconds away from an accident at any given time. At least they have seriously fantastic Mexican food to make up for it. And I'm told the weather is great, although 1 of my 2 days there was cloudy and the one other time I've been there it rained. Long story short, I'm not a big fan of LA. Time to start heading back east.

Road Trip Day 10: Joshua Tree National Park

Having had my fill of Route 66 kitsch, I headed toward California to Joshua Tree National Park. Joshua Tree was never originally on my theoretical agenda, mostly because I incorrectly thought that it was much further south in California than it actually is. Once I figured out it was doable, I decided I had to go because I’d heard so many awesome things about it.

Before crossing over into California I made one last stop in Arizona at the London Bridge in Lake Havasu. This is the actual original London Bridge that someone bought and transported piece by piece to Arizona for some crazy reason.

After my brief visit to fake London, I proceeded on to Joshua Tree. The eastern parts of California are an odd mix of desert and mountains, and you can go an hour without seeing a single building, let alone a town or even a gas station. Thankfully I’ve taken to filling up my tank every morning even if I’m not close to empty. The idea was just to do it so I didn’t have to worry about it later, but my first few hours in California would have been the first time it would have been an actual concern had I not. And of course these are the places I have no cell reception. You know this is where they go to bury the bodies.

Joshua Tree is officially the best unplanned detour I’ve ever taken. There are no words for how awesome this place is. I got a campsite for the night and it was jut an unreal experience. The stars were incredible and I saw hands down the greatest moonrise I’ve ever seen in my life. This was possibly the only night I’ll end up camping, but bringing along the tent and sleeping bag for even just that night was 100% worth it. There’s not even cell service here, so I got myself a nice little camp fire going and just completely disconnected from the world for a night. The next day I drove through the park and was amazed by it's beauty. My words can't do it justice, so I will just let the pictures speak for themselves.

 

Road Trip Days 7 To 9: Gettin’ My Kicks On Route 66

I spent three days exploring the true old Route 66 through Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. Essentially I felt like I was starring in a live action version of the movie Cars. I’ve always been a big fan of Pixar, but I really have to say that they were spot on with that one. I also made up for my rainy start by having three days of impossibly gorgeous weather. I don’t think I even saw a single cloud for two and a half days.

On day 7 I gave myself a shorter driving day to break up the long days of driving that I’d been doing up to that point. I slept in a little later than my usual crack of dawn waking hour and let myself spend the rest of the morning exploring the antique stores that line the historical Route 66 strip through north Amarillo.

Heading west from Amarillo, the original Route 66 mostly exists as a frontage road running parallel to and about 200 feet away from the Interstate. The major roadside attraction in this part of Texas is Cadillac Ranch, a set of 10 Cadillacs ranging from the years 1949 to 1964, buried nose first into the ground.

 Graffiti is openly welcomed, and conveniently one of the many discarded spray paint cans on the ground still had some paint in it, so I was able to leave my mark.

Just before leaving Texas and entering New Mexico, you pass through Adrian, Texas, the official midpoint of Route 66. Adrian is 1139 miles from both Chicago and Santa Monica, the two ends of the route. There is an adorable café built on the midpoint line, where they are known for their pie. I of course made an obligatory pie and souvenir stop, and at the shop next door I met a lady who originally opened the Midpoint Café and claimed to be the inspiration for Flo in Cars. She asked me to add my signature to an old truck she had parked out front, and I happily obliged.

Not long after crossing into New Mexico is one of the more classic Route 66 towns, Tucumcari. I stayed at the Blue Swallow Inn, a historical Route 66 landmark. It was wonderfully preserved and completely delightful.

Tucumcari is a sleepy town with not a lot going on, but they do have a dinosaur museum, which is very well done. I also could not have been happier that they chose to play the Jurassic Park score on a loop throughout the museum.

The next day I set out for Holbrook, Arizona, another historic Route 66 town and home of the Wigwam Motel. When I first started reading up about this trip, I couldn’t wait to sleep in a fake teepee. But before getting to Holbrook, I stopped for lunch in Albuquerque and briefly roamed their old town section, which is mostly just a series of shops set up to take tourists’ money. I did find a great used record store in Albuquerque though, which made me very happy.

After entering Arizona but shortly before hitting Holbrook, you pass by Petrified Forest National Park, which also gives access to the Painted Desert. The Painted Desert is absolutely gorgeous.

Eventually I made it to Holbrook, where I did indeed get to spend the night in a fake teepee. And while that was entertaining, sadly the Wigwam Motel is not as charming as the Blue Swallow Inn was. The owners of the Blue Swallow have a huge enthusiasm for Route 66 and are clearly devoted to their business. The Wigwam Motel, on the other hand, gives off the impression that they just keep doing it out of habit more than anything. Still, I got to sleep in a fake teepee.

I decided to spend my third and final old school Route 66 night in the town of Seligman, Arizona. I initially had no intention of staying in Seligman, but it was highly recommended to me by an older couple in an RV that I had spoken to in Amarillo, and they seemed to know what they were talking about.

Route 66 through Arizona is largely subsumed by the I-40 Interstate, with marked exits here and there where you can choose to detour to see the remaining stretches of the classic route. Shortly after crossing into Arizona, there are some amazing abandoned remnants of Route 66’s former glory. The most interesting is the former Twin Arrows gas station. I could not stop taking pictures here.

 Before getting to Seligman I took a break from the Route 66 kitsch and made a detour to the Grand Canyon. I originally didn’t plan to spend much time there since I’d been there before, but I’m so glad I did. I approached the park from the East Rim entrance, and the landscape on the ascent to the park was unlike anything I’d ever seen. I was actually speechless (not that I have anyone to talk to on this trip) on the drive up. The East Rim is technically the far end of the South Rim, but hardly anyone approaches the park this way, which is really a shame for them but great for anyone who does, because the viewpoints are relatively uncrowded. And the views are incredible.

When I visited the Grand Canyon before, I was at the North Rim, which is more forested than the South Rim, but gorgeous in its own right. Even though I enjoyed my visit last time, I don’t remember being utterly blown away like I was this time. The views from the East Rim left me in complete awe.

The drive through the park eventually led me to the popular South Rim entrance, which is pretty awful when you’ve seen the North and East Rims. Approximately 90% of tourists go through the main South Rim entrance, which was a nightmare even in the off season. I can’t imagine what it’s like in the summer. There are multiple color-coded parking lots and I could only find a spot in the fourth overflow lot. And then there are all the parking lots dedicated to the countless tour buses bringing people in from Las Vegas for a brief peek at the Canyon through the concrete village built on the spot. Of course the Canyon is still gorgeous from here, you just have to fight through the hordes of foreign tourists to see it. Thankfully I had already had my experience and spent little time there.

After the Grand Canyon I finally made it to Seligman. This was the first day since leaving Nashville that I’d spent an entire day in one state. Up to this point I’d enjoyed my Route 66 adventure, but there was always a touch of sadness because there was a sense of what used to be that just didn’t exist anymore. This is where Cars gets it totally right.

Seligman was the exception, and it’s no coincidence that it’s almost universally accepted that this town served as the basis for Radiator Springs in the movie. Seligman has embraced both its history and the exposure that the movie has brought it and the town is just completely delightful.

I spent some time talking to the locals, and you really could not find a friendlier group of folks. I’m so glad I got the recommendation to stop there from the couple in Amarillo, and I’m equally glad that it was my final stopover on the classic Route 66 part of my trip.

The interesting thing that I’ve figured out on my drive is that almost no one who runs the businesses on Route 66 is from anywhere near here. In my stops at all the classic places, I’ve met people from Detroit, Rochester, Boston and Alberta, Canada. Apparently there is something about Route 66 that gets under people’s skin and they just can’t leave. I can’t say that has happened to me, but I’m really happy I’ve done this trip.