The Way Out West (summer road trip blog)

[OmCheeto]

I did it in 7 days (or was it 5?). Stayed in some pretty nice KOAs...that much I remember. And fireflies, I remember seeing them for the first time...and I remember how dang flat Kansas is. Wow, I've got plenty of rememories! Good thing, because I didn't have a camera then .

I have pictures of roadsigns.

My fellow roadwarrior was in a hurry.

24/3. What a trip. Only fell asleep at the wheel once. Thank god it was in Denver with 10 foot snow banks on the side of the road.

zzzzzzzzzz.. Boom! Bounce! . .. ... did we just hit something?

Um... Why no. It must have been, an, um, a snowball or something... Go back to sleep. We'll be in Idaho by morning.

 

[jtbell]

Days 23: Nashville to Chattanooga, TN

Well, I'm home now, since Saturday evening, and have been wading through a 3+ week backlog of stuff which has kept me from wrapping up this trip report properly.

I did manage to get up early enough on Friday to ride that train into Nashville and back. Some nice rural scenery on the outer portion of the line, then mostly trees, kudzu and industrial "backyards."

The local newspaper is still dominated by coverage of the aftermath of the disastrous floods earlier this year. There were articles about the planned re-opening of the Grand Old Opry in the fall; a possible suit by the owners of the Opryland complex against the US Army Corps of Engineers; police protection of flooded-out homes which are being repaired or rebuilt; and temporary eviction of flooded-out homeowners from hotel rooms which had been reserved months in advance for the Country Music Association awards festivities.

Then I checked out of my motel and drove to Chattanooga. My main goal here was the "Chattanooga Choo-Choo" resort complex in the former Terminal Station. It has a short trolley line on its grounds, which uses an ex New Orleans streetcar. Last weekend the Choo-Choo happened to be host to the Tennessee H.O.G. (Harley Owners Group) convention, so the parking lots were full of motorcycles, people dressed in biker outfits, and vendor tents catering to them. And the vroom-vroom of motorcycle engines, of course.

 

[jtbell]

Day 24: Chattanooga, TN to home

Before leaving Chattanooga, I had tentatively planned to visit the Lookout Mountain Incline, a mile-long funicular railway that climbs up the side of the namesake mountain just south of the city. However, it was somewhat foggy and I had visited the Incline before, so I skipped it and headed east into the mountains of western North Carolina, then south into South Carolina and home.

I hadn't realized that the southeastern corner of Tennessee, around the town of Ducktown, was once a major copper-mining center. The last mines closed decades ago, but you can still see some of the traces they left behind.

Across the state line in North Carolina, the Nantahala River gorge between Andrews and Bryson City is a popular spot for whitewater rafting and kayaking. Every year, our Student Activities Board sponsors rafting trips there, but this was (embarassingly) the first time I'd ever visited that area myself! Even if you aren't into rafting, the drive through the gorge is very scenic. You can also ride through it on excursion trains from Bryson City on the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad, which I definitely want to do sometime.

I stopped in Bryson City long enough to watch the daily Nantahala Gorge excursion train return. Before that train arrived, a group of tourists departed in the other direction on a couple dozen gasoline-powered "speeder" cars which are normally used for track-inspection purposes.

My wife and I really should spend more time in this area. The nearest reaches are only about an hour's drive away, and we often drive through those areas on day-trips, but we haven't gone deeper into the mountains yet except to drive through on the way to/from the West or North. Bryson City is about 2.5 hours away (one way).

 

[jtbell]

Thanks for the comments, everybody! I still haven't made it coast to coast, thanks to having to cut off the California portion of this trip because of my foot problems. Not counting the all-day or half-day stops, it took me about six days in each direction between South Carolina and Arizona. My wife and I have done it one way in five days on previous trips. So we don't hurry it too much. If we wanted to get there fast, we'd fly.

Total distance was about 5400 miles, including a fair amount of "local" driving for chasing trains, etc. I haven't tallied all my costs yet, but I'd say a typical figure was about $90-$100 per day: $40-50 per night for lodging at someplace like Motel 6 or Super 8, $30 per day of actual driving for gasoline (in a compact car that gets 35-38 miles per gallon), and $15-$20 per day for food. I stayed at my brother's house for several nights in Tucson which helped a bit. I usually bought cold cereal and stuff in supermarkets for breakfast in motel rooms, ate Subway sandwiches for lunch and often for supper, and ate dinner in a restaurant about half the time. I should probably also include a few hundred dollars for work done on my ten-year-old car before leaving.

 

[Borek]

Great trip - and as others, I was closely following. Thank you for sharing

We plan long trip (well, long in European terms) for July. Will keep you posted, although I am not sure yet about internet access on the road.

 

[Tsu]

Great trip - and as others, I was closely following. Thank you for sharing

We plan long trip (well, long in European terms) for July. Will keep you posted, although I am not sure yet about internet access on the road.

Oooooo... Excellent, Borek! I'll really be looking forward to that one! LOTS of pictures, please!

jt, I drove the I-40 from Raleigh, NC to Barstow, CA (and then up I-5 to Oregon) right after 9/11. It was a strange, but beautiful trip. I guarantee yours was better.

 

[Borek]

I haven't tallied all my costs yet

Any more detailed info?

 

[jtbell]

Any more detailed info?

No, that summary a few posts back will have to suffice. Keep in mind that motel costs are about the same for two as for one, for the places my wife and I stay in when we travel. That is, the nightly cost of a motel room is usually the same regardless of whether one or two people are in it. $50 per night is a reasonable target, unless you're near a big city (Chicago, New York, LA) or a major tourist destination (New Orleans).

A great way for two people to eat cheaply is to take advantage of the Subway sandwich chain. You may be acquainted with them, because they're in Poland, too. When my wife and I travel, we almost always eat at Subway for lunch, splitting a footlong sub and a small soft drink for a total of about $7. When I travel by myself, I often eat supper there, too. I try to avoid eating too much on a road trip because I'm sitting in the car most of the day.

 

[Borek]

A great way for two people to eat cheaply is to take advantage of the Subway sandwich chain. You may be acquainted with them, because they're in Poland, too.

Didn't know. According to information in Polish wikipedia (http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subway) they have 34 points in Poland - mainly in large cities.

 

[jtbell]

Subway is literally everywhere in the USA. Just about any town of any size has at least one. Even when we're not driving on the Interstates (motorways), which is most of the time, we never have to wait long before finding one. You do have to keep your eyes open, because they're often not in their own buildings, but instead in store-fronts in small shopping centers. Those are usually more interesting because the customers are mostly locals instead of the fellow travelers you find in the Subways (or other restaurants) at the Interstate exits.