We absolutely loved our time in Pacific Grove, especially the few days that Sarah, Joey, James and Emma were with us. The two weeks flew by, proving once again that time flies when you're having fun. For as much fun as it was, the time had come to move on, and we had a doozy of a road trip ahead of us.
The Silver Bullet left Florida in July of last year. It had been as far north as Upstate New York before making its way cross country to California. We had a lot of miles ahead of us and because of some upcoming adventures we had to relocate it pretty quickly. Last Sunday morning (February 26) we fired The Bullet up about 4:30 in the morning and pointed it toward the east............well sort of toward the east.
Day 1-Pacific Grove, CA to Williams, AZ. Getting out of California..............not an easy task!
If you've been following the weather in California lately, you know it's been kind of wacky. In December and January there was lots of rain and wind that caused significant flooding and wind damage up and down the California coast. We saw evidence of the destruction around Pacific Grove, as many of our favorite coastal trails were damaged. Although we had moderately decent weather during our two weeks in Pacific Grove, it was going downhill pretty quickly, especially over in the mountain passes that you have to take to get out of California.
We knew when we left Pacific Grove that the Tehachapi Pass between Bakersfield and Barstow was closed due to icy conditions. We weren't overly concerned because there were other options that we could choose before we got to that area. We also felt that once the sun came up that the pass might open fairly quickly. Well............as we got closer to Bakersfield the pass was still closed. No big deal, just go a little further south and take an alternate route. Well.........that didn't quite work out either due to icing and accidents on a large bridge close to Santa Barbara. Unfortunately, we had no option but to back track up to Highway 101, which added around fifty miles to the journey. We did make it to Santa Barbara and enjoyed walking around for about an hour (we didn't see Harry and Meghan, Oprah, Tom Cruise, Ellen or any of the other "celebrities'" that live in the area). Weather related issues had now pushed us so far south that our only option was to go through Los Angeles! But it wasn't quite smooth sailing yet. All the closures had not only forced us, but what seemed like billions of other cars, on to I-15. There was snow along much of the route, which is not real common for Southern California. Northbound (the direction we were going) was moving at a snail's pace. However, compared to the Southbound traffic (folks heading towards LA) we were moving at a rapid rate. To compound matters even more, there were hundreds of cars parked along the shoulder of the freeway. They weren't stalled or out of gas. It was Mom, Dad and the kids joyfully frolicking in the snow, totally oblivious of their contributions to the ensnarled traffic mess. Northbound or Southbound, we all seemed to feel the call of nature at the same time and descended on a Circle K on one of the exits where we waited patiently in line for over 45 minutes to use the one restroom that was open. It was nuts and a bit smelly!
Around 9:30 PM, 17 hours and 830 miles later we arrived at our destination of Williams, AZ, which is located about 36 miles west of Flagstaff. It was a quick hot shower and we hit the bed for a few hours before getting back on the road for what we hoped would be a less eventful Day 2.
Day 2-Williams AZ to Tulsa, OK...................A whole lot smoother!
I'm happy to share that Day 2 was nothing but smooth sailing, although it was a long voyage. The 36 miles from Williams to Flagstaff had received over a foot of snow the previous day. Fortunately, the roads were clear so there was no delay. Long before daylight we buzzed past Winslow, AZ. This time not stopping to "Stand of the Corner". The biggest highlight of Day 2 was that it wasn't a repeat of Day 1. We were making such good time that we celebrated our good fortune with a "sit down meal" of some pretty good Texas Bar B Que at Dyer's in Amarillo. Just to show how slow Day 1 had been, our drive from Williams to Tulsa was 1,011 miles. A little more than 200 miles further than we covered on Day 1 in the same amount of time!
Day 3-Tulsa, OK to New Douglas, IL ..............Keeping The Bullet on the road while our minds were in the gutter!
You may find yourself wondering, "if their destination was Florida, what the heck are they doing in New Douglas, IL?" It was part of the masterplan. Ben has recently relocated from Pennsylvania to Illinois, and we wanted to visit with him at his new place. It wasn't exactly on the route, but it added only six hours to our estimated travel time and he's well worth it. We knew we only had about a six-hour drive ahead of us, so unlike the previous two days, we slept in. We didn't fire up The Bullet and leave Tulsa until around 7:00 AM.
Most of the drive was through Missouri and on the Interstate. Interstate routes typically aren't the most scenic, however I-44 through Missouri is pretty scenic. It also turned out to be quite entertaining.
During Beth's first driving shift (we usually do around 3 hours per shift) I was reading billboards along the side of the highway. One that caught my eye was for the Uranus Fudge Factory. I was amused by the name and my shallow mind instantly descended into the gutter. Suddenly billboards for the Uranus Fudge Factory and other signs such as "Probe Uranus" started popping up every few miles. It didn't take long for Beth to join me and we created our own billboards in our minds which we proudly shared with one another while continuing to be entertained by those along the way. It just so happened that the end of Beth's driving shift coincided with the time we reached Uranus, and we certainly weren't going to pass up the opportunity to spend a few minutes in Uranus (you're probably making up your own slogans by now). It lived up (or down) to the hype and we were quite amused by the the merchandise on display. Of course, we weren't going to pass up the featured product...........Uranus Fudge. When we made our selections, the young lady asked if we wanted our fudge loose in a bag or packed tightly in a box! The Uranus Fudge Factory made such an impression that the jokes continued for another hour or so until we simply ran out of creativity. In case you're wondering, we got our fudge packed tightly in a box!
After a mere six-hour drive, we arrived in New Douglas. We loved visiting with Ben and Allie (his dog) for that afternoon, and all of the next day. The Silver Bullet got a well-deserved rest and the only driving that either of us did on Day 4 of this cross-country adventure was Beth learning to drive one of the campgrounds tractors.
Day 5-New Douglas, IL to Holmes Beach, Fl.................the final stretch!
Our goal for the day was to drive the whole enchilada from New Douglas, IL to Holmes Beach, Fl. We knew that was a very ambitious goal and that there were a couple of potential obstacles in our way. The weather, Nashville, the perpetual parking lot known as Atlanta and I-75 through Florida. For as much as the travel gods didn't smile on us back on our first day, they were with us on the last day of our adventure. The heavy downpours on the route had pushed out before our arrival, leaving only a smattering of sprinkles and pleasantly cloudy skies. We buzzed through Nashville just as the morning rush hour was picking up without any delays. We hit Atlanta around 1:00 PM and were extremely pleased to get through it with only very minimal delays. If you've ever driven through Atlanta, you know this is something that is extremely rare, no matter the time of day or night. It was more by circumstance than brilliant planning that we were on I-75 late in the day on a Thursday. The only delays were the ones that we created by driving only 3-5 miles per hour over the speed limit, while most of those we were sharing the road with wanted to be in the 10-15 miles per hour over the speed limit range.
At 8:45 PM we pulled into the driveway at Holmes Beach. (1,070 miles in just under seventeen hours) There was a congratulatory high five, kiss and selfie to celebrate our accomplishment. Of course, we couldn't have done it without the help of the Silver Bullet, which visited 24 different states over the last eight months!
The grand total of this doozy of a road trip...............3,351 miles in approximately fifty-seven hours! Beth and I are not only still talking to each other, but we agreed on two things.......... first, it was actually a bunch of fun, and secondly, we're not ready to do it again anytime soon!
