My American Tour
36 days — 12,000 miles — 25 states
Preface
I’ve dreamt for some time about taking a coast-to-coast road trip. A journey without constraints and, theoretically at least, without a planned end.
Utah road scene on route 128. It's easy to imagine we're driving at what was once the bottom of an ocean.
This travelogue is an account of my first cross-country trip, taken at a time in my life when I may not have had the financial means to do a lot but, more important to me, I had the luxury of time, being between semesters in college.
Crater Lake is the bluest water I've ever gazed upon. It is stunningly beautiful.
I am traveling with my friend Andy, who I’ve known since high school. We share an ambition to see as much of this country as possible. We will be camping, really, for the first time in our lives—in many ways we are very green. We hope to sample the states to get a taste of all the major regions of this land.
Map
The grandest of grand trips. We mostly camped on this trip, but we did pop in and stay with friends on 6 of the 35 nights we were out on the road. We drove all night twice, on nights 15 and 35. Not every day number appears on the map to accommodate simplicity.