Today was a 422-mile day, starting from Newport Beach, California to St. George, Utah. Since St. George is best known for its retirement draw and golfing, we decided to retire in St. George, no golf though. Bummer. It was hot and sunny all day with temperatures ranging from 86-102 degrees; mostly between 98-102 the whole Roll. What beautiful scenery, too!!
We decided to camp our first night about 120 from the entrance to Grand Canyon. So excited! The rocks are already starting to turn red. Anyway, we discovered that the Pathfinder, or Louise as Tom has named her for her part in our journey through the Southwestern states (it’s a Thelma and Louise thing), already needs repacked! Really we are most likely just trying to talk ourselves into a camp trailer we keep threatening to pull along. Hmm… Will have to keep you posted on that note. We have gone from roof rack to U-haul trailer to camp trailer. Maybe roof rack…
Huck and I decided to make this a bit of a detox trip. Or at least to start… We’re not just talking about detoxing our guts and all the little critters that have been along for a free ride either, but to really focus on eliminating toxic elements of life. Thank God beer is good for you! It started with exiting Southern California’s notorious and thick smog. What a relief to actually see the horizon before us as we traveled. We did hit some congestion in Las Vegas, Nevada but that only lasted about 30 minutes. What we discovered most about our Roll through Vegas is that it is best viewed through the rear view mirror. Not flattering I know, and we say that without even having stopped and leaving a mark. Remember, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.
Here is another thing that we are going to attempt to incorporate into this Roll; a budget. Ha-ha. We really are committed to making it an adventure and challenge though. Not boring or forced. Today’s lunch was tuna salad and spinach in a sprouted wheat wrap and celery sticks. Sounds good, huh? It was actually refreshing to not get laden with heavy food for a target of 6 hours of travel.
The mountain ranges and landscape changed with each bend in the road. The best part was the Virgin River Gorge in Utah though; narrow canyons, with very tall mountains, or rocks. Watch out for falling rock!
PEARL: We discovered a free mobile application that helps you find the cheapest and closest gas from wherever you are (GasBuddy). Unfortunately, this was discovered after our second tank of gas, which in retrospect could have saved us enough for a six-pack of beer for campfire time. And, no…not Budweiser. We are not to that stage yet. We have both pre-agreed that we hang up our hats on that one!
Cheers and Happy Rolling!
Tom and Huck
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Road Trip America from Barry Reeves on Vimeo.
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