Gee's RoadTrip 2008 Review

Introduction: Below is a day-by-day review of the Roadtrip my dad and I went on May 10 - May 25, 2008. We drove from Bicknell, Indiana to Anaheim, California. This was my first "real" vacation in almost 17 years. Growing up, my parents didn't have a whole lot of money so a family vacation was rare. Most of the time we would head to the beach at Cataract Lake in Indiana. The only real trip I remember taking with the family was to Memphis to see Elvis Presley's Graceland mansion. I just remember my two younger brothers, mom/dad, and I loading up in the smallest truck in the world (1980s Datsun pickup) at the last minute to go to Memphis. It was a tight squeeze as I had to sit between my mom's legs and do the shifting. That's basically how I learned to drive a manual transmission car. I do remember that the trip was fun and the mansion was amazing. Later on, when I was 10-11 years old, my brothers and I had the chance to go on a Florida vacation with my aunt and uncle. They actually drove to Florida so we got to see other states. I will always remember that Florida trip because we did and saw so many things - Daytona Beach, Panama City Beach, and Orlando. As I got older, I never really had the time or money to go anywhere. Since that Florida trip, I've only been to St. Louis twice for a weekend vacation. Late last year, my aunt Carolyn invited my dad and I to come to Anaheim and stay with them. I figured after getting a divorce and being long overdue for a vacation, that I needed this. My dad also needed this because he had never seen the ocean and he just needed to get away from everything. It was perfect timing. So I started planning and I knew from the start this was going to be a roadtrip. We both wanted to see the country and experience it on the road. While planning, I went ahead and put in my 2 week vacation at work and started looking at all the attractions on the way to and from California. Since we wanted to see as much of the country as possible, we planned on driving the southern route (via I-40) to California and the median route (via I-70) back to Indiana. I would highly recommend this route for anyone taking a roadtrip because you will see so many things. We certainly did! Enough about all that. Here is the review and a few pictures of my trip.....

Day 1 - Saturday, May 10th

We left Bicknell, IN at 5am with XXXXX miles on the ticker. Our destination the first day...Amarillo, Texas. Some people would think that is too much driving for a first day, but that was our goal (plus I had already booked our lovely Motel 6 room online). Before getting on the main I-40 route, we traveled on US-41S to I-64W into St. Louis (of course we saw the Arch) and then onto I-44W. While on I-44 we passed through most of Missouri and Oklahoma and finally connected to I-40 in Oklahoma City. On our way to Amarillo, we stopped by Groom where the largest Cross in America is located. http://crossministries.net/ Not only was I awstrucken by the huge cross, I was drawn to each of the sculptures that told the story of Jesus' journey to the Cross. I took so many pictures and shot video of the whole story. I just remember thinking the whole time what Christ did for us. I said a silent prayer to myself and thanked Jesus for his sacrifice and everything he has done in my life. This was undoubtedly the highlight of my whole trip!

We eventually made it to Amarillo after driving about 970 miles and 14 hours. We checked into the Motel 6 and unpacked. One of the things we planned on seeing while in Amarillo was the Cadillac Ranch off of I-40 http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2220. It was still daylight when we arrived so we headed to the cows field where the Cadillacs were buried upright. Visitors are encouraged to add their own graffiti so you know I had to pack some spray paint. With the wind blowing like crazy, I was able to spray "The Gee's 5/10/08" on one of the Caddies. After the ranch, we were on a hunt for some good Texan food. We ended up eating at a very good restaurant called Country Barn BBQ & Steak. The building really looked like a barn and had a giant statue of a cowboy (i think it was the old Muffler Man) out front. Inside the restaurant were western decorations and private theme rooms like a jail ceil and saloon. There were people just sitting around playing bluesgrass music too. I ended up eating their all natural beef steak which was probably one of the best steaks I've ever had. The rest of the food was good too. We couldn't leave the restaurant without first getting a picture of us in the jail cell. Our waitress gladly took the picture and we headed back to Motel 6 to finally get some sleep. That was a long day, but we had fun!

Day 2 - Sunday, May 11th

On Day 2, we left Amarillo at 6am and headed to Williams, Arizona http://www.williamschamber.com/. The goal for that day was to arrive in Williams and check out the southern rim of the Grand Canyon http://www.nps.gov/grca/. Driving through New Mexico, my car was hit by a sand wind funnel crossing the road. I was actually get tired of seeing cows and desert by this time and wanted to see some rock formations. Entering Arizona, I got my wish and I was thinking about the line from the Wizard of Oz movie - "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore". I was thinking "I don't think we're in Indiana anymore". Being an Indiana boy and not going to many places in my life, the landscaping was unreal. Anyone who has traveled I-40 will also tell you about the historical Route 66 road that runs parallel with it. It was cool to see how parts of it still exists - many dead ends, some parts are gravel, some parts paved. I could not imagine traveling that road back in the day. Anyways..we finally made it to Williams and once again checked into our lovely Motel 6 room. After unpacking, we headed to the Grand Canyon. We stopped at the main entrance and bought a 7-day pass for $25 even though we were only going to visit for 2 hours. We ended up only seeing 2 points - Mather Point and Yavapai Station. I was alittle disappointed that we didn't see more, but we were also anxious to get to California. Most likely it's an all day event to see the whole southern rim. I will be going back one day to see the rest of the canyon. After the canyon, we went to our room to sleep. It was another long day of sightseeing and driving.

Day 3 - Monday, May 12th

We left Williams and headed to Anaheim. Driving 20 miles outside of Williams, my dad was pulled over by Arizona State Police. He pulled us over because we found out that Arizona had a law that prohibited GPS units being mounted on the windshield. My dad got a warning and that's all he talked about the rest of the way to CA. Guess I should have checked the laws for each state before traveling. So more driving and more rocks and mountains we saw. I was ready to see Californina. We finally entered CA, went through the checkpoint to see if we were bringing in fruits or veggies into the state, and needed gas (we made sure we were below a half a tank of gas). We finally came upon a station that didn't have a big sign with the prices. As we pulled into the station we saw that price for unleaded was 5.29!!!! Needless to say, we did not get gas there. We actually had good luck with gas prices on the way there filling up for an average of 3.40 a gallon. We got gas at the next station for 3.85 and headed to Anaheim. Along the way, we kept on seeing signs for Calico ghost town so we decided to stop by and check it out. Unfortunately there was a crazy fee so we got back on track to Anaheim. This must have been a hotspot because we saw a lot of charter buses going in and out of the town. I can't remember what city it was (somewhere after Barstow), but there was a major elevation drop and traffic started getting crazy. After traveling on all the CA interstates we finally arrived at my aunt's house. I met her husband for the first time and we went inside to settle down a bit. Later on they took us on a small tour of Anaheim and showed us downtown Disney and introduced us to a fast food restaurant called Weinerschnitzel http://www.wienerschnitzel.com/. I wish Indiana had some in the area. We got 2 conies, a corn dog, and a coke for 2.99! My dad and I also saw two things we've never seen in Indiana. In CA, U-turns are legal at most stoplights and motorcycles can drive between cars in traffic and while stopped at a light. So that was the end of Day 3. We were tired, but ready to see the beaches.

Day 4 - Tuesday, May 13th

This day was somewhat of a rest day. My uncle Alan took my dad and I to Angels stadium to take pictures. We relaxed in the hot tub later in the evening.

Day 5 - Wednesday - May 14th

Day 5 was another lazy day. We did visit the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove. The cathedral was built for the Reformed Church founded by Robert Schuller. I took pictures of the inside and outside. Robert Schuller was actually there that day, but I didn't get a chance to talk to him - I remember seeing him on TV when I was younger.

Later in the evening we all went to the Angels vs Whitesox baseball game. This was my first time at an MLB game and I loved the atmosphere. It was free hat night so we got a souvenir. Woo hoo!

Day 6 - Thursday, May 15th

On this day, we finally went to the beach. We decided to visit Huntington Beach since my aunt only lives 10 minutes from there. We walked the Pier and then I attempted to boogie board. I could tell by my dad's face that he was amazed by the ocean (remember this was the first time he saw the ocean). We had a good time swimming and just relaxing. On the way back, we stopped and ate at a Green Burrito restaurant. For being fast food, the taco salad was good.

Day 7 - Friday, May 16th

Day 7 was another beach day, but this time we relaxed at Laguna Beach. The Pacific Coast Highway 1 was a blast to drive on. I just remember it being a really hot day and the water wasn't that clean. Every time I tried to go out in the water, a mass of seaweed would wrap around my body. I also strayed away from my dad for an hour to take pictures of the coast and explore. At the end of the day, my dad realized his feet were severely sunburned from sitting out. By night, he could barely walk. To soften the mood, we ate El Pollo Loco.

Day 8 - Saturday, May 17th

On this day, we traveled to Dana Point Harbor to the Doheny Blues Festival http://www.omegaevents.com/dohenyblues/. The festival had 3 stages right off of the Doheny Beach. It was another scorching hot day and really no shade. I'm a Blues music fan so I was ready to watch all of the bands. Performers we saw were Robert Cray, Jonny Lang, Lazy Lester, Kid Ramos, BB and Blues Shacks, JJ Grey and MOFRO, Bobby Rush, and Pinetop Perkins with Hubert Sumlin, and Willie "Big Eyes" Smith. The band that really rocked the event was Eric Burdon and The Animals (remember "House of the Rising Sun"). It's weird, but my dad actually looks like Eric Burdon. After spending all day at the festival I was ready for bed.

Day 9 - Sunday, May 18th

After a week of running, we were definitely tired. This was an all rest day. I think my dad slept in until 2pm.

Day 10 - Monday, May 19th

Another day of rest, but we went back to Huntington so I could capture some shots at sunset.

Day 11 - Tuesday, May 20th

This was another beach day and we decided to visit Newport Beach. It was a gloomy day and the beach was actually dirty. We walked on the Newport and Balbonia Pier and took pictures. We also visited the Jetty in the harbor. There we saw surfers, skim boarders, and boogie boarders catching some huge waves.

Day 12 - Wednesday, May 21st

This was our last day in California. We packed up and headed to Vegas via I-15. My aunt and uncle tagged along and we checked into the Plaza Las Vegas hotel which is located in the old Vegas strip. After checking in, we grabbed a bite at the Lucky 7 buffet in the hotel. After eating, we walked down Fremont St. to check out the gift shops and casinos. Later on that night, we did alittle gambling and played Vegas Bingo with my dad. He is the Bingo King!! It was funny watching him play his game while making sure we were all playing it right. It was a very stressful game because they called out the numbers way too fast, but I guess everything in Vegas is fast. At night, we walked Fremont St. again to catch all the music performers and the show on the big screen. Downtown Vegas at night is unreal.

Day 13 - Thursday, May 22nd

On this day, we watched the Viva Las Vegas show in the Plaza. The show consisted of singing, dancing, and comedy. I laughed so much I had a headache. In the afternoon, my dad and I drove down the Vegas strip to do some sightseeing. We parked and got on the Monorail. Unfortunately we only saw part of the south strip and that was it. Since my dad has heart problem, his walking is very limited. At least we saw that section during the day and night. The strip at night is even more amazing than downtown. We did get to eat inside New York New York, but we did not gamble anywhere on the strip. The people that hand out the sex advertising cards were everywhere and very annoying. Guess that's one reason they call it Sin City. We got back to our hotel after getting lost and gambled alittle more. Overall, I only gambled $40 and I got all that back. I've never been a gambler, but it was fun. This was our last night in Vegas and it was time to head back home the next morning. I will visit Vegas again some day.

Day 14 - Friday, May 23rd

Day 14 was a very tiring day and it was time to go home. We left Vegas and headed to Denver via I-70. I was actually anxious to drive through the Rockies and see all the formations. Utah had some pretty good sights to see. The weather was blaah, but got worse once we got down in the mountains. In a five minute span, it was started thundering and lightning, rained and snowed! I actually became nervous driving and I don't usually do that. Once that was all clear, night came and we continued to drive through the mountains. We made it to Denver about 10:30 pm, ate Taco Bell, and fell asleep.

We left Denver and there was basically nothing special to see on the way to St. Louis. My dad did get pulled over again in Colorado..this time for speeding. He had to pee and we were trying to find a restroom. He ended up getting another warning though. Kansas, I have to say, is the most boring state to drive through! We were both ready to get back home and it seemed like the trip was taking longer. Around 10:30pm, we arrived at the Motel 6 in St. Louis - Bridgeton. The main lobby door was locked and there was a door for night check-in. Looking around, we were definitely in a bad neighborhood. The check-in desk was protected by bullet proof glass and people were waiting in line to get toliet paper for two rooms, to switch rooms, and report damage in other rooms. We drove around to our room and there sits a security guard. I had never seen security at any of the hotels/motels I've stayed at so I knew it was bad. We talked to the security guy before going to the room and asked if it was a bad area. He says "It's not that bad. We just have a lot of people out of town that come in and make Meth." Yeah..that made me feel better. He went on to say "make sure you lock your doors/windows and close your curtains". Let's just say I slept next to one of my golf clubs that night.

Day 16 - Sunday, May 25th

We survived the night in St. Louis and was only 4 hours away from home. We packed up and headed to Bicknell to drop my dad off. I dropped him off and I went to a family outing afterwards. I visited my girlfriend Anne and her son Cameron after the outing. I missed them so much. It was good to be back in Indiana!

In Conclusion....

That is my roadtrip in a nutshell. After driving almost 5000 miles and gone for 16 days, we saw and did more things than I could ever imagine. It was unreal to see how the landscape changed from state to state. Overall, the gas prices and weather were good to us. It was good to get away from everything for awhile - from Indiana, from work, and from TV/technology. It was nice to share this experience with my dad and I know he will never forget it. After taking hours and hours of video footage and over 1000 pictures, I can say I will never forget it. I am truly blessed! I hope you enjoyed reading about my adventure.

Robert