We weren't particularly a road trip family. Sure, we would travel by car, but it was mostly within our home state of California. None of the epic multi-state, let's visit a bunch of National Parks type trips other folks seem to have fond (? or at least formative) memories from.
So part of me feels like I missed out on the quintessential (US)American childhood experience, although I suppose it's not too late. (Well, the chronologically being a child is long past, but…)
And, as an adult, I have done some multi-state driving trips, although they were primarily to get from Point A to Point B, so not so much of the take-your-time, stop at all the random roadside attractions vibe that makes a Real Road Trip™.
Although what makes a road trip a road trip?
According to Merriam-Webster, it's "an extended trip in a motor vehicle" ... hmn. And actually that's the number two definition! Number one is "a trip taken by a sports team to play one or more away games," which I hadn't even thought of.1
Anyway, call it what you will, my sweet husband (MSH) and I drove to Texas for the total solar eclipse. Partly to take our bikes, and partly to have the option to redirect for better eclipse viewing, although we didn't end up doing that, even with a dismal forecast for our planned location.
Also, flying has just gotten so much less pleasant. Maybe it's my getting older, which makes the physical part of it harder, or having less tolerance for crowds. Or perhaps the break of the pandemic has reinforced the preposterousness of being jammed in a metal tube with a bunch of strangers, and being hurled a resource-intensive distance in a short amount of time. I'm not sure our meat-sacks and associated consciousness are meant to travel that way.
Even the distances one can travel in a car sometimes seem like too much.
But going by car does give you a sense of perspective. On the interstates of the west that we traveled on I-10 and I-40, lots of single-point perspective, with the road a diminishing size straight line stretching away into the horizon. Sometimes even at the 80 mph speed limit it felt like we were hardly moving.
Once we got out of the Los Angeles Basin, there were vast swaths of land with very seemingly very few people, as well as different terrain and vegetation from what I'm used to seeing. It's good to be reminded that there's all sorts of other stuff out there.
It also reminds me of how you are in the world is shaped by your environment. Austin and its surroundings are not completely flat, but there are no prominences to orient to, so I never felt like I completely knew which way was what direction.
Being out of my usual surroundings perhaps also made me more noticeful. In Texas there seemed to be many more taxidermy shops - or at least signs for them - than I'm used to seeing. I was surprised to see orchards - pecans, I think, although we also saw signs in New Mexico for a giant pistachio. And many of the truck stops had Indian restaurants, indicating the change in demographic of truck drivers, apparently.
In parts of the drive the roadside Thing was beef jerky and/or fireworks. There were freeway signs warning that Sand Storms May Occur, and telling what to do if one did and you lost visibility. Fortunately we did not encounter that situation.
The traffic lights in Texas were oriented horizontally rather than the vertically I'm used too. And some of them were a VERY long wait on the red.
Makes me wonder what folks coming from other places notice about California!
Gas Prices (credit price for regular - sometimes same as cash, sometimes not, also the cost difference between the grades varied - not always the $0.10 difference between each that I think of as "standard", and then also the relationship between cost of gas and cost of diesel seemed to be all over the place as to which was more expensive and by how much, but did not record all those numbers.)
04/04/24 Camarillo, CA 4.94
04/04/24 Indio, CA 5.59
04/05/24 outside Phoenix, AZ 4.19
04/05/24 between Gage and Deming, NM 3.35
04/06/24 after Van Horn, TX 4.29
04/06/24 Sonora, TX 3.19
04/07/24 Austin, TX 3.19
04/11/24 Sealy, TX 3.25
04/11/24 outskirts San Antonio, TX 2.99
04/11/24 Ozona, TX 3.29
04/12/24 Marfa, TX 3.24
04/12/24 Las Cruces, NM 3.39
04/12/24 Socorro, NM 3.40
04/13/24 Springerville, AZ 3.89
04/13/24 outside Kingman, AZ 3.79
04/13/24 Barstow, CA 5.69
04/14/24 Kettleman City, CA 5.30
FOOD!
Perhaps the most memorable food item we had were the Texas shaped waffles at the hotel breakfast in Junction, TX! And MSH remembered we happened to be carrying real maple syrup!!!
We try to find non-chain/local restaurants, and enjoyed a pizza with New Mexican green chile at Luna Rossa in Las Cruces on the outbound. The day after our big bike ride we had a great brunch at Phoebe's, and yummy tacos at the Taco Joint, San Jacinto - both in Austin. After some very underwhelming bbq in Junction, we tried again in Houston, and were glad we did - everything we had at the Pit Room was suuuuper tasty (dove right in and polished it off without taking any pictures)! Ohand we did go to a Waffle House, which seemed more like something to hit on a long rando ride, but now I can say I’ve been. (We don’t have WH in California.)
Random tips:
I've been wearing compression socks when I fly, and figured it wouldn't hurt for the long days in the car either.
Since we had space, besides travel mugs we also took silverware and the car camping plates and bowls to reduce the single-use/plastic/disposable usage at hotel breakfasts and what not.
And according to Wikipedia, the first recorded long distance auto trip was by Bertha Benz in Germany in 1888! She traveled from 106 km from Mannheim to Pforzheim and back, with her two teenage sons, but without the consent and knowledge of her husband. (emPHAsis added)
Fun write up! I grew up doing tons of road trips. The best ones get you off the interstates, on to two-lane highways. People aren’t in a hurry, and you can learn a lot from the locals, especially food and things to see. If you’re ever in Las Cruces again, you have to go to Andeles in Mesilla, an old and scenic town just south of LC. Great New Mexican food. Nearby Hatch is also worth your time for food and buying chiles. The orchards there indeed are pecans.
While gasoline is cheaper outside California is indeed cheaper, it’s also not as clean, and it takes more refining (mostly removing sulfur), which allows catalytic converters (if you still have them! ;-) ), which, combined with a higher tax, makes it more expensive.
I love the Southwest, and I grew up in New Mexico.