Way back in 2009, I bought a campervan and drove around the U.S. for four months, visiting 46 states and seeing so many places that I never thought I would see.
I couchsurfed and slept in the van. It was a budget trip that created some of my favorite memories. You can still read my daily journal entries from that trip at the 9000 Miles blog.
I’m now embarking on something similar. On April 3, I headed off for a 23-day excursion from Seattle through Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, seeing national parks and unique attractions along the way.
I’ve decided to go old-school and post daily journal entries for anyone interested in following along.
This time, I’m traveling in my Subaru Outback, a much smaller vehicle than my old Chevy G-20 van, so I’ll mostly be sleeping in campgrounds, plus a few nights in hotels booked for free using points.
This is not the ideal time for such a trip, with gas prices as high as they are. But I have a feeling prices will get even higher this summer, so I’m not going to delay it. I’ve already rescheduled this road trip once. It had been planned for last November, before an opportunity to go to Japan came up instead.
My main reason for taking this trip, aside from the fact that I love road trips, is to visit Guadalupe Mountains National Park in western Texas. This is a little-known desert park that I first visited several years back and grew to love over repeated visits.
I now run a website dedicated to this park, called Visit Guadalupe Mountains, and I’m coming to collect more content and hike deeper into the park than I had previously.
Here’s the planned route of my journey! Heading south through Utah, and coming back up through California.
I will take 19 days on the way down, and 3 days on the way back, racing back from Phoenix (25 hours) as fast as possible, because I have to get back to work. I don’t have unlimited time off like I did back in 2009!
The expected itinerary:
-Portland, OR (Bruce Springsteen concert)
-Canyonlands and Arches National Parks, UT
-Mesa Verde National Park, CO
-The Four Corners Monument where Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico meet
-Albuquerque and Santa Fe, NM
-White Sands and Carlsbad Caverns National Parks, NM
-El Paso and Guadalupe Mountains National Park, TX
-Drive home via Phoenix, AZ and Sacramento, CA
Day 1: The Boss!
April 4
Location: Portland, OR
Miles traveled: 175
The first day of the road trip brought me to Portland for a rare opportunity to see the legendary Bruce Springsteen. He’s 76 now, so I wanted to see him one last time.
He doesn’t move around as well as he used to, but it was still exciting to see him play for nearly 3 hours, covering many of his biggest hits, like Born to Run, Born in the USA, Hungry Heart, and Dancing in the Dark.
Elsewhere in Portland, I visited the Peculiarium, which is a museum of weird stuff. Kinda like the Museum of the Weird in Austin. Except that one is way better. I wasn’t impressed with the Peculiarium.
The only memorable part is that they do have a couple clever photo ops. Someone save me!
Day 2: The real Oregon Trail is better than the video game
April 5
Location: Twin Falls, ID
Miles traveled: 775
It was ambitious planning a 590-mile drive for Day 2, but it worked out fine. I drove from Portland to Twin Falls, Idaho.
The main stop along the way was the National Oregon Trail Interpretive Center. Can you believe there are still several sections of the original Oregon Trail from the 1800s? I’ve seen a few others before, but this one was cool.
You can still see the path as it wraps around the hill and through the valley below. You can hike right on the old trail. There are even old wagon ruts from the 1860s still visible in the dirt! That’s wild.
After 10 hours of driving, I made it to Twin Falls. The main attraction here is Shoshone Falls. It’s one of the tallest waterfalls in the country. They say it’s higher than Niagara Falls!
The other little moment of joy in Twin Falls was this Hawaiian fast food place called Mo Bettahs. I don’t know why a Hawaiian fast food place ended up in Idaho, but it’s delicious. They have them in Utah too, apparently.
The chicken was so tender it was falling apart, and the macaroni salad was perfect. I like these small, unexpected discoveries on road trips.
Day 3: But which watermelon slice is #1?
April 6
Location: Green River, UT
Miles traveled: 1022
Today was mostly a driving day. I’m now in Utah, about an hour from Canyonlands National Park. Tomorrow will be the first of three consecutive days where I visit a national park that I’ve never seen before.
Today I saw the world’s second-largest watermelon slice. Yes, second-largest. It sits alone in a sad, empty parking lot near a museum.
I’m guessing it was once #1, but apparently got passed by another watermelon slice. (I could look it up, but I’m just not that interested.)
I also passed through the town of Helper, Utah, just because I saw a cool photo of its downtown and I had to re-create it. Imagine walking around everyday and having this view of the mountains surrounding your town!
Day 4: These views are unreal!
April 7
Location: Moab, UT
Miles traveled: 1126
Caqnyonlands National Park was every bit as gorgeous as advertised.
Day 5: So many arches!
April 8
Location: Moab, UT
Miles traveled: 1182
Today was Arches National Park day. Another day of extraordinary views.
I had assumed that Arches NP had maybe 4 or 5 major rock arches. Turns out, it’s more than 2000!
Here’s iconic Delicate Arch, the famous arch on the Utah license plate.
The hike to get to Delicate Arch was a beast. Even though it was only a couple miles, the incline was tough, and it was in the middle of a stifling, midday desert heat.
In total, I racked up 26,000 steps this day and treated myself to an evening of relaxing in an easy chair at a Moab campground.
Moab was a fun little town, with lots of breweries and restaurants. I would love to go back and spend more time.
Day 6: Those ancient skyscrapers
April 9
Location: Cortez, CO
Miles traveled: 1260
Another day, another national park. Today was Mesa Verde, a quieter park in southwestern Colorado. It’s mostly known for its cliff dwellings, houses built into canyon walls by the Pueblo people from roughly the years 500 to 1200.
Seeing the houses and hearing about the history was awe-inspiring. I can’t believe they had 4-story buildings a thousand years ago!
They even still have remnants of underground houses and central plazas that were built down in the mud (to stay cool in summer, and warm in winter.)
I was supposed to spend tonight sleeping for free in BLM (Bureau of Land Managament) land in Colorado, but it’s closed until April 30 because it’s elk winter habitat area.
The Mesa Verde campground is also closed until May, and there are no other suitable options in the area. So I had to grab a hotel. I found a great deal and ended up with a suite for $62. Score!
So here I sit in a comfortable room with wifi and time to do some reflecting on the first week, as it compars to my 2009 road trip. The biggest difference? I’m driving a lot more each day.
That’s the nature of such a “rushed” trip, as opposed to ’09 when I had months to spare. Three big parks in three days is not ideal. I know I’m only getting a small taste of each one, and that’s fine. I’m sure I’ll return to them at some point.
I’ve also been doing more highway driving than I would prefer. I really love spending time in small towns, and there isn’t as much time to do that this time around.
Still, the mountain views while driving around Utah and Colorado have been stellar. Seeing the stars at night has been stellar, literally.
After three big days of national park driving, the next few days will be more about social life and city attractions. Andrew arrives to join for the next week, and I’ll be hooking up with some old friends in New Mexico. It’s a big weekend ahead!
Day 7: The four corners!
April 10
Location: Albuquerque, NM
Miles traveled: 1677
Today I was super excited to finally make it to the Four Corners!
This is the famous spot where Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona all meet. You can stand in all four states at once!
It’s actually somewhat overrated. You have to pay $10, because it’s not run by the National Park Service. It sits on tribal land instead. And you really only need 10 minutes here, to walk over and take your pictures. Still, it’s a cool geographic spot.
After that, I spent the day driving to Albuquerque. On my previous trip, I remember ABQ as one of my very favorite cities. I’m excited to see if that holds true again.
I got here early enough to spend the evening doing boring-but-necessary errands that are part of a road trip — namely, getting an oil change, and finding a laundromat to wash my clothes. With those menial tasks completed, I have the whole weekend to explore this city.
Day 8: So much art in Santa Fe!
April 11
Location: Santa Fe, NM
Miles traveled: 1828
Now that I’ve visited all 50 states (twice, in fact), I need a new challenge. I’m trying to see all 50 state capitol buildings.
The New Mexico state capitol in unusual in that it doesn’t have a dome, it’s not especially tall, and it has trees on the sidewalk in front, so you can’t even get a great pic.
But it was nice to add this one to my list. I’ve seen about half the state capitols now.
I had heard great things about Santa Fe for years, so it was fun to finally visit. The city has so much art everywhere. Dozens of galleries — and that’s just on one street, Canyon Road.
There’s a fun Old Town, too, since this is one of the oldest cities in the Southwest.
New Mexico food is its own special thing. Everything is spicy. Do you prefer red chilis or green chilis?
Day 9: Back in the Querq!
April 12
Location: Truth or Consequences, NM
Miles traveled: 1989
I doubt anyone calls Albuquerque, New Mexico “the Querq,” but I like it, so that’s what we’re going with.
This was my first return visit since 2009. I randomly found myself back at the same intersection in the cool Nob Hill neighborhood where I took a photo back then.
Seventeen years later, the comic book store is still in business!
I got to meet up with my friend Erin, who I’ve known for 20 years now. It was so much fun to catch up, and she had tons of suggestions.
We went to a speakeasy inside an old hotel that has existed for decades on the classic Route 66. Love it!
Then it was on to the hilariously-named city of Truth or Consequences, where I met up with another long-time friend Lorie who now has a great art gallery. New Mexico is bringing old friends together!
Day 10: Nuts, rockets, and sand
April 13
Location: Alamogordo, NM
Miles traveled: 2135
Today was all about the city of Alamogordo, New Mexico. It’s the home of White Sands National Park. But first we had to check out some other quirky attractions.
Like the world’s largest pistachio!
And then the Museum of Space History. I was not expecting much from an $8 museum in a remote town, but this was awesome. Five floors, tons of exhibits and information about the history of humans thinking about and exploring space.
This place is apparently affiliated with the Smithsonian, so that would explain its quality. We were just sad that the fake spacesuits they had to try on for pictures were children’s sizes only. Boo.
Then it was off to White Sands. This is a wild place. Fine white sand dunes, out here in the desert. You can run around in the sand and make your own trails.
There wasn’t much to speak of here in terms of wildlife. Just one lizard and three beetles. But the views were remarkable.
Hopefully we’ll have better luck for wildlife in the next two parks: Carlsbad Caverns, and Guadalupe Mountains.
I probably won’t be able to post for a couple days, since I’m about to leave behind the comfort of hotels for two nights of camping, including one in the backcountry atop Guadalupe Mountain. Hopefully I’ll be back on Thursday to check in!
Day 13: Stalagmites and stalactites
April 16
Location: Carlsbad, NM
Miles traveled: 2343
Today was Carlsbad Caverns day. We went 750 feet underground to see the ancient rock formations in the huge cave.
We also started the day with a strenuous hike in Yucca Canyon, a part of the park that virtually no one ever visits.
The road to get there was a single-lane gravel road, and no other human was on the trail but us. It was exhausting, but fun.
The weirdest thing of the day was seeing 30+ African barbary sheep in the middle of a town. They were brought to the Carlsbad area years ago when the bighorn sheep went extinct, and now they are thriving.
We also hung around for the bat show. Every night, thousands of bats fly out of the cave, and folks can stay to witness the spectacle. Photos weren’t allowed, but it was a cool sight.
Day 14: Fold that laundry!
April 17
Location: El Paso, TX
Miles traveled: 2464
I can’t say I thought I’d ever find myself folding clothes in a laundromat in El Paso, Texas. But road trips take you to funny places sometimes.
Between all the sightseeing, there’s the mundane stuff that needs doing, like laundry. And so it was.
Elsewhere in El Paso, we went to the viewpoint overlooking the entire city, and into Juarez, Mexico.
Then it was off to the Rio Bosque Wetlands. That’s a local park right next to the international border wall. It’s weird seeing the wonders of nature, like artificial holes created for the burrowing owl population, right next to the giant wall.
The food in El Paso was fantastic as always! It’s some of the best Tex Mex food in the country. At Ambar, we got a 4-course meal for $26. What a deal!
Posts will be infrequent over the next 2-3 days, as Andrew is headed home and I’m off to Guadalupe Mountains National Park for a few days of hiking and camping. Cell service will be minimal.
Day 18: Embracing the danger
April 21
Location: Pine Springs, TX
Miles traveled: 2647
I spent the past few days hiking and camping off the grid in Guadalupe Mountains National Park. I explored almost every hiking trail in the park.
The highlight was seeing some dangerous wildlife, like the western diamondback rattlesnake! Its rattle was loud and angry. It wasn’t moving from the trail, so we had to go around.
And the tarantula!
How about this horned lizard? I always thought these things were like a foot long, because most pictures are zoomed in so tight. Turns out, it’s only 2 inches long!
The park also has a remote sand dunes section.
Our view from 8200 feet above Texas.
Day 20: The drive home begins
April 23
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Miles traveled: 3655
For my last meal in Texas, I had to go to Whataburger. I haven’t stopped there since my 2009 road trip. Turns out the burgers are really good!
I drove to Phoenix and got there early enough to watch the hockey game at a sports bar. Somehow I always end up on road trips when the Penguins are in the playoffs, so I have to resort to odd measures to catch a game.
Day 21: The beauty of California
April 24
Location: Mt. Shasta, CA
Miles traveled: 4367
I had a long 9-hour driving day today, and I was able to break it up by spending a few hours at a resort in Palm Springs. Getting to spend some time poolside in the sun was a nice break.
Then it was on to northern California and Mt. Shasta (the town), which sits in the shadow of Mt. Shasta (the mountain). It’s a fun mountain town with a cool main street. I just passed through quickly, but I definitely want to spend more time here next time.
Day 22: Speeding home
April 25
Location: Eugene, OR
Miles traveled: 5014
Not much to say on the final day, as I’m driving 9 hours from northern Cali through Oregon and back to Seattle. I’ve explored lots of Oregon hotspots previously, so I can afford to skip through quickly this time.
It’s great to be back home!