Well, we made it. In a way, it was good that the truly long distance driving was toward the end of the trip, since if it had been at the start, it might have taken a great deal of the shine off. But we made it, and looking back, it was quite the trip. By my count, we went through 39 of the 50 states missing Hawaii, Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. Some states like Deleware, Rhode Island and Alabama we barely hit, while there were many states we hit more than once. And we saw so many different places in such a short time. To do this properly, you would need to take at least 2 months. But we did it in 30 days, and did it all by car, except for the train part.
- The drive across the desert from Phoenix to San Diego was the most desolate portion of the entire trip. Plus we didn't have the advantage of other desolate areas that we hit during the night. This was in full 110 degree daylight. I think that's why so many people love San Diego - it seems like a huge oasis compared to the Arizona and California desert.
- I got the others to join me in wading in the Pacific Ocean. Then it was downtown to Petco, which is a really nice ballpark. It's within walking distance of the Gaslamp area of San Diego, which is the entertainment area of San Diego. It was a very nice evening when we were there, and having spent the past 3 weeks in the sweltering weather of the eastern 2/3 of the US, it was a very nice change.
- I was in the minority - I just wanted to sleep in on Saturday and blow off Disneyland, but I finally gave in, especially with the noon check out time. Disneyland doesn't exactly cater to old timers like me, and I've been to both Disney parks. Like I have said before, it's not the first 10,000 time you hear "It's a Small World" that's the killer, it's the next 10,000 times. We made it
to the Big A in plenty of time. It's the third time I have been to that stadium. The first time was for a bowl game between Colorado and Washington many years ago. Then my wife Peggy, Steve and I went to a ball game several years ago while on vacation. That game was memorable for us losing the parking place of our rental car and taking about 30 minutes to find the darn thing in the dark after the game. Then it was out of the LA area and on the road to - what, Bakersfield???
- It figured that the last game of the trip would feature the Mariners. And it would also figure they would waste a great performance from King Felix. Typical. And the one game we really wanted to not have go into extra innings did so. Oakland gave Tampa Bay a run for the worst stadium on the trip, but the Trop won the award by a narrow margin.
- I thought it was somewhat cool that the first sunrise we saw on this trip was near Mt Shasta, and the last sunset we saw on the trip was also near Mt Shasta. The trip back to Mike's house was uneventful, and it was nice that we took Mom out to breakfast to symbolically end the trip.
I will try to write my overall impressions after Steve and I get back to Austin. We are going to be catching the non stop Alaska Airline flight and will hopefully be home Tuesday afternoon. It was a once in a lifetime trip.
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