Cross-Country Trip Wrap-Up

Shane with Silvia, our Volvo, that took us on our trip, standing on a corner in Winslow, AZ... Such a strange sight to see.

On February 4th, 2020, Shane and I set off to drive across the USA in our Volvo XC-70 station wagon. We started from our island in Maine, Stonington, and we traveled through 23 states and DC, returning to our home yesterday, March 1.

Places We Visited: Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, DC, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, and Connecticut. (The states underlined are ones I had not been to previously.)

Miles Traveled: 7,906

Here's the whole route.

Click map to enlarge.

Below are some photo highlights if you want the Reader's Digest version of our trip and don't want to bother looking through the last 4 weeks of posts -- some photos are new and some already published on this blog.

Niagara Falls, NY

The St. Louis Arch

In front of Harry Truman's house in Independence, Missouri.

With our sister-in-law, Laurie, in Kansas City, Missouri.

The Scout statue in Kansas City, MO.

Dodge City, Kansas

The Grand Canyon

Hiking in Sedona, Arizona.

Shane walking across the scary Devil's Bridge near Sedona, AZ.

Cleaned bird poop off of  Tippi Hedren's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

And the Oscar goes to... Shane!

That tiny white speck over Shane's right shoulder is the famous Hollywood sign.

In Santa Monica, California, near the Pacific Ocean.

Relaxing in Palm Springs.

At the Alamo.

Dr. Now's office in Houston, Texas, shown on the TV reality series, My 600 Pound Life.

Mardi Gras Sunday in New Orleans.

With our friend Ashley on Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee.

In front of Elvis's home Graceland in Memphis, TN.

Outside the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.

At Monticello, Jeffersson's home outside of Charlottesville, Virginia.

Day 3 - Meet Me In St. Louis, Louie!

View from Malcolm W. Martin Memorial Park on the Illinois side of the Mississippi,

Today we traveled from Columbus, OH, to St. Louis, MO, via Indiana and Illinois. We have lucked out with the weather, though it is pretty cold. It was snowy during the drive here, but it did not accumulate on the road. There was worse snow just north of us. 

We arrived in St. Louis around 3 p.m. after a delicious breakfast at the Waffle House, earlier in the day and checked into our hotel (The Holiday Inn in downtown St. Louis). We then walked over to the iconic St. Louis Arch National Park site. We took the tram ride to the top of the Arch, which did not sit well with Shane. You sit in this enclosed, small pod that rocks a bit during the 4 minute ride to the top. It made him a bit motion sick, but not too bad luckily. 

The views out of the top of the Arch are very cool. Also, there is a nice museum as part of the National Park Service site. Very Interesting. It is all about St. Louis as the gateway to the West. 

Tomorrow, we head to Kansas City, MO, home of the Super Ball winning Chiefs. We will be staying with Shane's step-bro Trent and his wife Laurie for the weekend. Trent, an amazing trumpeter, has a gig with Michael Feinstein Sunday night, which we will be attending... Can't wait. Below are more pics from the Arch.

Shane enters the St. Louis Arch tram pod #1.

It is tiny inside the tram... Luckily it was just Shane and I in our pod.

At the top of the Arch, Shane takes a picture out of the small windows.  

View from the top of the Arch. 

View showing the baseball stadium on the left.