Road Trip USA & Canada

We saved enough money during our twelve months abroad to add on three months driving across the USA. With a super low, per day budget, of just $45 we planned a route which included friends, family and rest area camping. We took two weeks to decompress, plan, acclimate to American cuisine and laugh with family and friends in Virginia. Here we bought a van (with the money we had from selling Jason's truck before we left), built a bed in the van and sometimes just sat in the van, giggling. This is luxury and what freedom to have wheels again!

The Van

Jason's mom, Debbie and step-dad, Mike, spoiled us rotten. Debbie had all the items we would need to camp across America, seriously, she thought of everything, down to a tarp, curtains, bungie cords and deoderant. Mike supplied us with all the lumber, screws, nails and power tools to build the bed. We were overwhelmed by their thoughtfulness, generosity and genuine excitement both to have us back in the US but also for our adventures ahead. But first, there was a lot of Virginia we had to explore.

Driving Virginia's country roads

Shenandoah National Park (with Debbie and Mike)

The first day of our journey, not only did we blast through a toll road booth in D.C. but we stopped in Gettysburg, which is massive and a week or more could easily be spent here, but we drove and walked through in just several hours.

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

The goal of our US road trip was to stick to backroads, using Interstates as infrequently as possible. We hoped to stay at as many rest areas as possible to save money on lodging, but this is somewhat hard to do when you stick to back roads. We planned to buy fruit, veggies, eggs, milk and whatever else was in season from road side stands and farmer's markets. We also planned to eat at least one local item in each state.

Our first three weeks on the road were traipsing the East Coast, including, and basically in this order, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine before dipping back to New York and Pennsylvania. This is the first time either of us has spent much time on the East coast and we absolutely loved the history, the lush, green landscapes, the cities, the small towns, the Atlantic ocean. Of course, I wanted to move there. I had big plans to live and drink maple syrup in Vermont or set up a home base in the road biking mountains of Rhode Island.

Most of our Truckee friends are imports, a lot from the East coast, which became useful in knowing where to go, what to eat and also allowed us to check out some of their hometowns. Like Cabot, Vermont, home to Cabot Creamery! Childhood home of our great friend Dave. We were just cruising along Vermont's backroads, Dave happened to call and we asked where his hometown was...we were less than 15 miles away and gladly made a detour, buying cheese and yogurt along the way.

Cabot, Vermont

Ben & Jerry's, unfortunately not in our budget, but the grocery store down the street has every flavor ever made for $3.00 a pint! Instead, we spent our money on BBQ and beer at Prohibition Pig, as advised by Dave, and it certainly didn't disappoint.

Stowe, Vermont

I know this isn't in order, but it's February, and we did this over the summer, and I'm 40, so basically I'm just going to plug in a bunch of pictures now and say something about them.

These stops in New York, made known to us by our friends Heather and Kristian.

Delicious hot dog smothered in a "meaty sauce", called The Michigan. Thank you Heather!! Looks disgusting but taste amazing!

Lake George, New York

We swam as often as possible...aka poor man's shower.

Niagra Falls

Amazing organic farm and farm stand in Maine, near Acadia National Park (pictured below)

The Breakers, Rhode Island as seen from The Newport Cliff Walk

Lobster and lobster rolls, Maine

A high school friend of mine reached out to us and invited us to spend the night with her and her family just outside Boston. We said yes, thank you, more please!!

With Cindy and Arthur (not pictured are their three amazing kids)

I hadn't seen Cindy in twenty years!! The beauty of social media. These two spoiled us with food, lodging, laughter and their adorable kids kept us fully entertained. From their house we took the train into the city and explored all the free stuff.

Boston, Massachusetts

While in Boston we reconnected with an old Tahoe friend, Sean and Kimberly, who zipped us around the city, hitting all the big universities, the differing neighborhoods and invited us to spend the night. Thank you, more please!!

Frank Lloyd Wright building at MIT

We reached out to our good friends' parents in Pittsburgh, let them know we'd be passing through and would love to see them. They graciously invited us to stay two nights with them. We were again spoiled rotten with food, lodging, laundry facilities and got a tour of this cool city. Thank you, more please! We can't tell you how grateful we are for our family and friends.

The Abrahams, view of Pittsburgh

Primanti Brothers, a Pittsburgh staple

Kinzua Bridge, McKean County Pennsylvania

This place is crazy awesome! Within less than a minute a tornado ripped this steel bridge down, twisting it like it was soggy noodles.

Whitehouse Ohio, with our good friends, Paxton, Piper, Jill and Jade!

Toledo, Ohio

With family in Illinois

View from backyard, Illinois

And I learned how to make an ice chest stand, thanks Uncle David! We laughed for days here with Jason's aunt, uncle, cousins, mom and step-dad.

Yay! More family time in Iowa City, Iowa.

Iowa City has it going on. Such a cool college town that reminded me of Chico. Jason's aunt and uncle made this stop extra special. We ended up camping about six miles from their house the first night and were kept awake by the wildest lightning storm. Barb and Tony will have you in stitches, for hours!

The Field of Dreams, Iowa

Roadside art, Iowa

Our time in Iowa was complete, including a tornado warning. We said goodbye to Jason's mom and step-dad in Iowa, after nearly a month together, in three different states!

Door County, Wisconsin

We were so lucky to be in Wisconsin during cherry season. This is Jason's hometown and he had a lot of catching up to do. Friends came out of the woodwork to host us, feed us, tell stories. This was one of the most incredible experiences of my life, all because they love my husband. Wisconsin knows how to grow good, wholesome, kind, generous people and I feel so lucky to have spent time here, hear stories of Jason's childhood and meet the people who were so influential in his life. It truly was a homecoming.

Family Time

Just outside of Kiel, Wisconsin there is the most amazing little Amish bakery. We saw the roadside sign when we were driving in and made a note to return when they opened, Friday and Saturday's only. Saturday morning we pulled up to a boy trying to get his horse, or was it a donkey, to pull his buggy, down the driveway. We got out of the car and walked in to a small outbuilding that was bustling with female activity. About four or five women of all ages were in the small kitchen with stoves from the early 1900's. There was a long table down the center of the building filled with baked goods, pies, cinnamon rolls, cookies. All around the inside perimeter of the building were jams, cases of it! We bought a pie, cinnamon rolls, snickerdoodles and a jar of jam all for $15. I miss this place.

And of course, a trip to Wisconsin wouldn't be complete without a visit to Lambeau Field.

We stopped for a night in Minneapolis and met up with even more of Jason's friends. Seriously, the people in Jason's life, the people he chose as friends when he was a teenager are simply amazing. We were again spoiled with great conversation, food, lodging and fun with their kids.

Mike and Chad

The next day we planned to blast across South Dakota, getting to Mt. Rushmore before dark and then continue on to Wyoming. Shortly outside of Minneapolis we began seeing billboards for Wall Drug. For the next 500 miles we'd see a billboard about every 20 miles or less. Our curiosity and excitement grew for this place. We had to stop and try their $0.05 coffee and doughnuts. Finally we arrived, with hundreds of others, and enjoyed the themed town of Wall, all built up and around a drug store that was established in the early 1900's. The $0.05 coffee was hard to find but the doughnuts were were the effort.

Mt. Rushmore, yeah, it's creepy

Devil's Tower, Wyoming

Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone

Grand Teton National Park

The Teton's were one of our favorite stops. This place is awe inspiring, much more so than Yellowstone, for us.

The Teton's

About an hour or so outside the north entrance of Yellowstone is one of my favorite places, Chico Hot Springs. My sister, Michal and I, discovered this place while moving her from Bozeman to Billings and vowed to return upon her graduation from nursing school. We returned with family and friends and had a phenomenal time here, but Jason missed out so I had to bring him here. We didn't spend the night, as we stayed with a friend just down the road, but we walked around the grounds and had a beer at the bar.

​ With Brad at Chico Hot Springs

Campsite with a view, outside Glacier National Park

We pulled into this off the beaten path campground and were so lucky to get lake front property. This was a coveted campsite and we had people all day and into the evening asking us when we were leaving. There was a rush in the morning to snag this site up! Amazing, thank you, more please!

Glacier National Park

Glacier National Park is hands down our favorite park thus far. We could have spent weeks here, hiking, swimming and hoping to god we didn't run into a grizzly.

Highline Trail Hike, Glacier National Park

Took a dip in glacier water

Bought a Snicker's here

End of hike glacier water soak

I can't tell you enough how lucky we were all throughout our travels. With a mantra of "Thank you, more please," we stayed focused on all the amazing things that seemingly fell into our laps. We focused on all the things, big and small, that we are incredibly grateful for. A huge gift came in the form of Canada celebrating 150 years of their national park system, which meant for the entire 2017 year, ALL national parks and most museums were FREE!! This was more than $100 in savings.

I am obsessed with the Banff Film Festival and have been wanting to come to Banff for years! This small city within a national park is remarkable. The Safeway here is gorgeous and affordable.

Lake Louise

Just out for a hike

Lake Louise glacier hike

Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada

Lake Moraine, Alberta, Canada

British Columbia and Alberta were on fire while we were here. They had been burning for days and the smoke was intense, ash covered our van every morning and it was difficult to see the mountains that we knew were surrounding us. We were incredibly lucky to get this clear shot.

We left Canada earlier than we would have liked, but with the smoke and ash it was time to go. We dipped down into northern Idaho, which was also covered in smoke, but stayed in Sand Pointe for two nights, again lucking out with the last available campsite, and a night in Coeur d' Alene...both stops provided plenty of lake swimming.

Sand Point, Idaho

My aunt and uncle graciously let us stay in their condo in McCall, Idaho, where we relaxed, updated the blog, hiked, did laundry and enjoyed having a kitchen and dishwasher.

View from condo in McCall, Idaho

Condo life, McCall

Selfie time with Joe, Courtney and Max in Boise, Idaho

When leaving Boise, Courtney gave me some money and asked that I go get a necklace from a Bend, Oregon jeweler, Bronwen. Her studio has limited hours and we pulled into town after closing time, but Jason insisted that we go up anyway and try the door. It opened to two beautiful, smiling women, making jewelry. I asked if I could come in and told them I was on a mission from my friend in Boise, to buy a tiny charm necklace. They were stoked, said they were working late and I was free to roam. I told them about our trip, our "thank you, more please" mantra and it felt like I was reconnecting with old friends. I found my tiny charm necklace, an om, put a bunch of stuff on my mental wish list and we headed to Katie and Wes's house.

Float time with Katie on the Deschutes River

Wes and Katie live in my dream home just outside Bend, Oregon. The home is beautiful, the yard large, landscape calming and within walking distance to the river. Katie and I did yoga and went to Trader Joe's!! It had been over a month since we had seen one, and I was jonesing.

We also got to meet up with my cousin, Steven and met his amazing wife, Jillian and son, Ezra. We spent hours catching up and reconnecting.

Crater Lake, Oregon

And, we're back! Holy mother of an adventure. Crossing into California was emotional, dizzying, sad, exciting, comforting. A mix of emotions and wonder of what our lives would look like after settling back in to a routine of work, saving money, hanging with friends and planning the next adventure.

California Redwoods

Camping is expensive in California, so we went down some country backroads and out to the ocean on the sketchiest road we have ever driven on only to find out that the camping was booked, had been for months, and was still super expensive. So back we go, driving past fifteen foot fences, No Trespassing signs, tarp walls, and a strong stench of skunk. We paid the full camping price, at a State Park, but to sleep among the redwoods, priceless.

Point Reyes, California

Hwy 1

We drove historic, and windy, Highway 1 to my aunt's house in San Rafael where we reconnected with friends, my sister, brother in law, nieces, aunt and uncle before heading to see my sister in her new home of Sonora, my friends in Roseville, my dad, stepmom and friends in Grass Valley and Nevada City before making the final push back to Truckee.

Donner Lake, Truckee, Ca

Friends and family are the reason we returned. We have the most incredible group of people in our lives and feel blessed to be able to say that. Coming back to Truckee, a small mountain town, has been an adjustment. Throughout our trip across the states we have been overwhelmed by the amount of stuff we Americans have. The size of our homes, vehicles, dinner plates. Our friend, Ginny Hanson, of Sak Saum, calls it "re-entry" and commented that this may be more difficult than culture shock, or stepping on that first plane. She was absolutely right. Re-entry has been a months long process. The sudden urge to just go, is ever present. The goal to find work that feeds our souls, pays the bills while funding our travel accounts and retirement funds is a struggle between want, need and some vanity. But, we have this trip, this fear facer, this accomplished dream to fall back on for support and a constant reminder that if we just get out of our own way, look fear in the face, dream big, relax and enjoy the ride, it will be better than we could have ever imagined. Thank you, more please!!