Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Road Trip 1/2 Across America 2005



The "Perspective" entry below referenced our road trip pictures... in light of full disclosure, here's that story!

In 2005, we returned to the States after living for nearly a year in Prague, Czech Republic and we decided to take a short vacation before returning to work.  You know, visit some friends and family and reconnect with America.  Those of you who know us will understand how a short jaunt became the Roadtrip Half Across America!

We covered 13 states in 3 weeks, over 5000 miles... all the way from wee little Moberly, Missouri to the Florida Keys to Texas to the Grand Canyon!  Below is a short diary from our travels that was originally part of our old website (the content of which disappeared when that laptop crashed!).  For a lot more pictures, visit our Facebook album.

Sunday, 3/13 (St. Louis, Missouri)
 - Spent afternoon with Scott’s grandparents in St. Louis


Monday, 3/14 (Arkansas & Tennessee) - 
Visited Elvis’s home in Memphis... Graceland!


Tuesday, March 3/15 (Nashville, TN)
 - Went Shopping in Nashville
; Visited Dana, our great friend from Prague, & her family


Wednesday, March 3/16 (Georgia)
 - Spent the night in Valdosta


Thursday, 3/17 (Florida)
 - Met Tammy & her daughter, Sarah, in Orlando. (Missed you Bryan!) 
Spent the night in Ft. Lauderdale

Friday, 3/18 (Florida Keys!) - Arrived on Big Pine Key at Bahia Honda State Park
; setup across the road from beach... removed watches...
commenced relaxation

Tuesday, 3/22 (Florida)
 - Packed up and headed north


Wednesday, 3/23 (Louisiana) - 
Spent the night in Baton Rouge


Thursday, 3/24 (Louisiana)
 - Met great family friends, the Hennigans, in Robeline near the town where "Steel Magnolias"
was filmed.  Spent the night in totally cool Bed & Breakfast


Friday, 3/25 (Texas)
 - Drove to Beaumont to visit family & Scott’s grandmother’s gravesite. Spent night in Houston.


Saturday 3/26 (Houston, TX)
 - Had lunch with Mike Roth & Family... Mike’s a friend of Scott's from Jr. High... they reconnected before we moved to Prague... Had dinner with Scott’s Aunt Donna & cousins, Bonnie & Stuart. Bonnie visited us in Prague over Thanksgiving ‘04 with Jaime


Sunday 3/27 (Houston, TX)
 - Spent Easter with family: went to Grace Church & had dinner at home followed by hanging out & a quick jaunt over to Scott’s old neighborhood


Monday 3/28 (San Antonio, TX) - 
Visited the Alamo, shrine to Texas independence; wandered the Riverwalk & had dinner by the water.


Tuesday 3/29 (West Texas)
 - Drove to El Paso... getting into some very cool, very rugged country


Wednesday 3/30 (New Mexico & Arizona)
 - Walked across the bridge to Juarez, Mexico for a few minutes to catch sight of the infamous pharmacies. Drove to Flagstaff, AZ through awesome mountainous country.  Explored old mining site (Gotta love driving off road up the side of a mountain! FINALLY!) Spent the night in Flagstaff, AZ


Thursday 3/31 (Arizona)
 - Grand Canyon! Walked the ridge, rode the shuttle along the South Rim. Watched the sun set. We are such a small blip on the face of the earth...


Friday, 4/1 (Parts Unknown!) - 
Left Flagstaff by midmorning (had to get our oil changed... we've gone over 5000 miles so far!)
 Drove up through Monument Valley into Utah, swung down to the 4 Corners (where CO, NM, UT, & AZ meet) and then on to Cortez, Colorado for the night. The views in this part of the country are mind boggling. You can't imagine the scope and beauty of this area until you see it first hand. We had no idea what to expect and aren't really sure what all we saw... it's just amazing.


Saturday, 4/2 (Colorado)
 - Visited Mesa Verde Nat'l Park's 700 year old ruins and drove on to CO Springs

Sunday, 4/3 (Missouri) - Back to Missouri for some Famous Dave's BBQ!

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