Two Month Road Trip Through the USA - East to West and back Again

Breakdown of our 2 Month Road trip across the states:

Total Time: 2 Months

Total States: 25

Total National and State Parks: 9

Total Distance: 10 000 Miles / 16 000 Kilometers

Fuel: 330 Gallons / 1250 Litters

RENTING A CAR IN PA - For more info on renting a car

Days stayed:

In Motels: 12 (45-80 dollars per night)

Camping: 14 (15 – 25 dollars per night)

with friends: 36 (Free)

Food: Avg of 30 dollars per day

Fuel Cost: 1235 Dollars

Our Two Month Road trip through the states in a Nutshell

We packed all our stuff and we were off on our road trip across the US. Our first stop was Lindsay’s cousins’ wedding that was held on a beautiful horse farm on the country side in Virginia. It was a traditional Jewish wedding and everybody had loads of fun. We had a day free so we visited Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s house. If you are in the area it is definitely worth a visit. The free tours are really informative and the tour through the house was a highlight. Click here for more information. 

After our short stop for the wedding we continued onwards toward Knoxville, Tennessee to meet up with Lindsay’s old friends from Boulder, Leah and Taylor. Such amazing people. We spend a few days chilling and catching up. Lindsay and I set of for the Great Smoky Mountains for a day hike. We drove through the little gem of Tennessee called Pigeon Forge, the home of Dollywood and mini golf. A little wonderland of amusement. The hike we did in the Smoky’s was called the Alum cave hike. Not too hard and gave us a taste of the park. The hike we wanted to do was closed for repair.

Next we headed to Tuscaloosa, Alabama where we spent a week catching up with our old friend we met in Korea. Kim definitely has one of the biggest hearts of anyone we have met. She is such a blessing and made us feel right at home. She showed us around campus and we had a taste of real southern BBQ. We also went to an old Victorian style house. The Van Der Graaf house. Click here for more info. We got a personal tour of the house and its history. The guy that took us through the house was full of knowledge.

We left the hot humid air of Alabama behind and headed for New Mexico. Yes this was a VERY long drive through the great lone state Texas. Two days driving to be exact. Hmmm how to describe Texas. Cowboys, Oil Drills, Cornfields, Big Trucks, Country Music, and aggressive drivers. We did hit up this little gem an old abandoned diner/fuel station. Click here for the pictures. We did not do a lot in Texas except try to get through it a.s.a.p. No offence Texas.

New Mexico! What an amazing place. We arrived in Mountainair unscathed and set out to see the Salinas Pueblo Missions. Click here to read more about them. But in short they are old Spanish and Indian ruins. After we got our fill we headed up north to Albuquerque to spend some time with Lindsay’s old roommate Claire. She has this nice adobe style house. What a week. Claire and her boyfriend Adam were loads of fun. They made us feel right at home. We went and walked around down town and had some lunch in a saloon dating back ways when. We also drove out to the mountains and spent a relaxing afternoon in natural hot springs. Click here to read more. They also took us to a comedy club at an Indian Casino. Lindsay and I went to the Petroglyph National Monument which is an area scattered with volcanic rocks with old Indian petroglyphs carved out on them. We also stumbled upon a car show in Albuquerque on route 66. Click here for some photos.

Still in New Mexico we went to Bandelier National Monument where Lindsay used to live. Bandelier is made up of hundreds of Indian caveats carved out of a huge rock face. Click here to read more. After we walked around there for a few hours we headed to Los Alamos where the first Atomic bomb was made. To say the least it was weird. It is this small little town where you have to show ID before entering. We went to the little museum there showcasing the towns development. That same day we drove to the Valles Caldera on our way back. A huge volcanic caldera. Click here for some pictures. Arriving there we found out that they were busy shooting a film there. Valley of Violence with Ethan Hawke and John Travolta on set (But we did not see them). We were able to get to walk around in the Caldera for a while.

We Left Albuquerque on the famous route 66. Or the sections that are left anyway. We headed towards Flagstaff. The gateway to the Grand Canyon. We booked into a motel and got our bearings straight. We spend the day looking around town and the next day we headed to the Grand Canyon. Click here to read more about it. The day after we did the canyon we headed to Sedona for a short hike to Devils bridge. Seeing it was summer the Grand Canyon and Sedona red rocks was HOT. Really Really hot. Sedona turned out to be one of those gems we did not expect to find.

Lindsay was not so adamant to go to Las Vegas but when you’re in America you and in the area there is no way that you should not spend at least one day in Las Vegas. The drive there was alien. The landscape of Nevada is something else and the heat even worse than what we thought it would be. A scorching 115 degrees Fahrenheit or 46 degrees Celsius. We stopped off at the famous Hoover dam and got out of there as fast as we arrived. The heat was just too much. We got a place right of the strip. Not the fanciest but it fit our budget. Click here to read more about our experience in Vegas.

So we headed down to San Diego to meet up with a few friends we also made in Korea. Amber and Elliot the climbing duo from Daejeon and Corey my board game friend also from Daejeon. When we arrived in San Diego not even 5 minutes has passed and ‘Elber’ (Amber+Elliot) waved two passes to Comicon in front of our noses. There was still a few hours left before it ended that Sunday. We jumped at the opportunity and walked around the madhouse that is Comicon for a few hours. We stayed with ‘Elber’ for the week. Corey showed us all the little budget eating places around town and I got to get my nerd on for a night. Amber was really amazing and gave us a free surfing lesson. I think the bug bit both of us a little.

Next we made our way up toward Yosemite National Park. We stayed in a small town outside called Groveland. Click here to read more about our stay and Yosemite. We did Yosemite Valley on bikes and did a short hike one day and went to the big sequoias in the southern part of the park the second day. The last day we went on the most amazing hike called the Cathedrals hike, a must do if you are fit enough.

Just east of the park is a real gem. An old Ghost town called Bodie. Bodie State Park is kept in a state of suspended decay and there is no gimmicky tricks here. Just pure ghost town. Click here to read more.

After our fill of the wild wild west we headed up to Yellowstone. Now if there is anywhere on earth that would make me second guess my sanity and be transported to a magical realm full of otherworldly creatures and dragons it is Yellowstone. Elk, Bison, Bears, Hotsprings, Exploding geysers, and steaming earth. It is definitely packed with tourists in peak season but for a reason. Click here to read more on our experience.

Just south of Yellowstone is the Grand Tetons. Think majestic mountains, horseback riding, a huge lake, and some great skiing in winter. We camped out here for a few days and hiked around a bit and just took in the place. Click here to read more.

Our second last stop was Colorado. We were blessed enough to be able to stay with Coen and Heleen and their three little boys. Heleen is my aunt’s sister’s daughter. They were so inviting and made us feel like we were back in SA. Lindsay left a bunch of boxes in Boulder when she rushed out to teach in Korea. Not knowing that it would be almost 5 years before she would return. John one of Lindsay’s Boulderite friends kept all her stuff. So first thing on the agenda was to say hi to John and try to pack all the stuff in the rental car. Lindsay showed me around Boulder and where she used to work, Movement Climbing and Fitness. We did not have loads of time left so we managed to visit Rocky Mountain National Park for the day. 

This was basically the end of the trip but we still had to get back to Spring City Pennsylvania. Lindsay’s old roommate and my old friend from SA lived in Indiana so on our journey home we made a quick stop with them.

All and all America is an amazing place. Expensive at points but the majesty and beauty takes your breath away. I almost want to end this by saying “God Bless America”.