The route westward

It's probably easier to remember details if I trace a route on a virtual map first, at least til I find a map I can upload with our route.

Day One: Breakfast and lunch in Charlotte. Sunny start. Early afternoon start in Charlotte, NC end in Lavonia, GA, a few miles west of the South Carolina/Georgia border. Stopped only at Hamricks outlet store, and at the GA welcome center to pick up books. At each welcome center along the way, we picked up the latest copy of any available travel coupon books for discount rates at hotels.

Day Two: Hotel breakfast. Cloudy and drizzly. The plan was to stop at Helen, Georgia for lunch, then drive the backroads along the Georgia mountains to somewhere near Chattanooga, TN. Drove through Dahlonega, once the home of one of the U.S. gold coin mints. Ended at Chattanooga, TN where we stayed overnight.

Day Three: Hotel breakfast. Headed southwest toward Alabama border. Welcome Center. Decision to head for Huntsville's U.S. Space & Rocket Center for a visit. Drive along Muscle Shoals (TVA Dam), to Mississippi border and Welcome Center. Stopped in Corinth, a site of a large Civil War battle and an old railroad depot and historical center.

Day Four: Hotel breakfast. Partly cloudy, cool weather. Explored the historic downtown area of Corinth, site of a Civil War battle, and dropped in to an old drugstore and soda fountain. Continued to Shiloh, TN, the site of the South's equivalent of Gettysburg battle of the Civil War. Lunch along the Honorary Sheriff Bufford T. Pusser highway. Through Memphis and into Arkansas. Stopped at Welcome Center. Ended in Forest City for the night. Dinner at possibly the worst Chinese buffet anywhere.

Day Five: Hotel breakfast. Cool, cloudy, then rainy, then drizzly. Headed to Little Rock, Arkansas, where we finally found the brand new (and due to open the next day) Clinton Presidential Library, situated along the Arkansas River. Found way out of the city and had lunch, then continued on way west. Drove through the Ozarks/Ouachitas (westernmost part of Appalachians) , and, stopping at the Welcome Center in Oklahoma, drove to Sallisaw where we spend the night - good Italian restaurant.

Day Six: Hotel breakfast. Partly cloudy, then heavy rain, then drizzly. Saw the source of the train sounds overnight -- tracks right across the highway! I-40 passed through mostly farmland from here on. The closer we got to Oklahoma City, the rainier it got. Drove through OKC in lunch hour traffic and highway repairs, in HEAVY rain. Drizzle continued into the Panhandle of Texas with the customary Welcome Center stop to pick up hotel discount books and tourist information. It had snowed a couple of days before. Stopped overnight in Amarillo.

Day Seven: Hotel breakfast. Still drizzly, but looked as if it might clear up. Headed west and stopped at the New Mexico border Welcome Center, built in a very Southwestern Adobe style. From there the road was very straight, looking like an undulating ribbon. High desert. Clouds cleared and we got sunny weather. Ended in Albuquerque and found motel (always with internet access), then called Marci so we could meet for a bit. Dinner and sleep.

Day Eight: Sunny and warmer, but still on chilly side. Hotel Breakfast. Freeway in city was quite attractive with SW designs on the sound walls and overpasses. Lunch near Gallup, after stopping at Yata-hey Trading post at the Continental Divide. This was the highest point we would reach, over 7000 feet. Crossed border into Arizona and stopped at yet another Welcome Center to pick up the next bunch of travel information and hotel discount books. Continued onto Flagstaff where we found hotel and had dinner - another pretty good Italian meal.

Day Nine: Hotel breakfast, but this time it's SUNNY (and quite chilly). Stopped for gas where we could see the nearby mountains (snow covered already). Not enough time to drive to the Grand Canyon, so we turned a bit south and went to Williams instead, the terminus for the Grand Canyon Railway, and a neat old town with a historic old town and railway depot. Last stop in Arizona was in Kingman where we lunched at the westernmost Cracker Barrel Restaurant. We continued across the mostly desert from then on to Needles, CA and the usual Welcome Center. Destination was Barstow for the night.... longer drive than I had remembered. Stopped for gas in the middle of nowhere, and paid $3.79 a gallon (so only partial fillup)! This time dinner was at Long John Silver, a fish fast-food place just a few steps from the motel. We hardly ever had to drive anywhere for dinner.

Day Ten: Hotel breakfast. Day was sunny and warmer. The California desert at this time of year is pretty lifeless. Saw a few cactuses. We ate an early lunch, can't remember the name of the town. Points of interest were Edwards AirForce base where the space shuttles landed when they didn't land in Florida, and then a ways west of there, the forests of windmill generators. From here the highway started heading upward and into a mountain pass between the desert and the Central Valley of California. Foggy near the top, and a traffic slowdown and stop because of repairs and an accident over the Tehachapi Pass. On the other side, it was drizzly and at times rainy. Finally hit US/CA 99 northward at Bakersfield. Some orange groves, some cotton fields, lots of cattle operations from here on. Stopped at a Microtel in Ceres, just outside of Modesto - was too drizzly and I was too tired to drive on to Sacramento/Roseville. Had dinner (short drive) and then slept.

Day Eleven: Foggy when we woke up, so we checked the Net for weather. By the time we came back upstairs from breakfast, the fog was clearing nicely. Now we headed straight north to Sacramento, and then west to Roseville and DAwn's place by mid afternoon. I don't remember if we stopped for lunch ... but we did find the way to Dawn's pretty easily. I vaguely remembered how to get there from US 65. Shopped for some luggage for Ron to bring his stuff back home. Ate dinner (Rob & Dawn were at a party) from Subway, then got lost a bit looking for Sam's and Walmart that I KNEW were nearby. Got lost getting back too, of course.

Day Twelve: Had breakfast out because the kitchen was non-existent... in the throes of a total remodeling job. Then repacked car, and headed to Sacramento and the Railway Museum ... I'd been there before but I had to show it to Ron. Walked through Old Town a bit then found our way out of town (I-5) and to Woodland, then to Ingela's farm for a quick visit, and back to find a hotel for the night. Ate at a restaurant where I'd eaten with Loa before. Was really weird to be there and not have Loa to visit with. We had an early morning the next day to get to the airport so Ron could fly home. Luckily well before traffic got heavy. He got there in plenty of time, and I continued on ... and got lost ... no navigator! Ended up in Marysville, then got directions to get to Roseville from there, easier than I'd thought ... Just tag onto Hwy 65 and head south. Shortly after I returned to DAwn's, she and I left for San Jose on the final leg.