Our trip to America

During 2019 we embarked on what i can only describe as a life changing trip across America. Something our family always wanted to do but never had the time to acomplish. I dug deep and ended up buying my other half a one way ticket for her 40th Birthday present… One way?, yes one way, i had a plan… I booked flights from london to orlando as a 40th birthday gift, knowing that i was 40 a year later, knowing what i wanted as a birthday gift (the return flight 😉 )…

We landed in Orlando on the 25th July 2019 and made our way across country to Los Angeles over 22 days covering 4,000 miles of insane landscape.

Our itinery and route is plotted below as it may aide others doing this trip…

Orlando, Florida – Day 1 & 2, 34c with few showers.

Orlando’s International Airport and Car collection was a walk in the park. I pre ordered the car 6 months in advance of the trip and it really paid off. Prices had risen by approx £800 by the time we had landed. I booked through Dollar who were excellent! – Literally, take your pick from all the cars in the category… We picked up a Jeep Cherokee 4×4.

We stopped over on International Drive without going to the tourist hotspots such as disney, that said, where we stayed was close to all the parks with bus routes on the door step. The first two days were about relaxing and eating/drinking… We had an awsome night with music at the Bahama Breeze on International Drive.

Fort Walton Beach, Florida – Day 3, 34c with a few showers.

A good 6 hours drive across country to get here… Tip, you need to get on together in the car! You need to ensure all your cables for keeping the phones charged are to hand and a spare mega battery for offline charging is essential. We really depended on the phones for passenger entertainment, photos and for me – I dashboard mount for GPS. The weather was extreme on route with weather warnings in place for thunder and rain. Thankfully, as we got to fort walton things cleared up and the white sandy beech was stunning. AJ’s Oyster shack had a cracking atmomsphere for the evening entertainment and the food and drink was a great price. Oysters on tap !

New Orleans, Louisiana – Day 4 & 5, 33c with thunderstorms.

A good 4 hours drive across country to get here… Sticking with the Tip, you still need to get on together in the car! You still need to ensure all your cables for keeping the phones charged are to hand and a spare mega battery for offline charging is essential.

This place is mad, Bourbon Street is a historic street in the heart of the French Quarter of New Orleans. It comes to life in the night and into early hours – We made the most of it ! They dont take water leakage as serious as back home (find the photo), but they do take food and drink very seriously ! The choice was amazing… Oyster Po Boy, Chicken Fried Waffles and a great trip out in the swamp.

Dallas, Texas – Day 6, 36c and very dry.

A long drive here that took us through some amazing landscapes, driving time around 7 hours. Dallas was only planned as a stopover on route to Amarillo. The thought of a giant steak in the world famous texas steak ranch was the only thing keeping me going. Texas is flat, dry, hot and Dallas is even hotter.

Amarillo, Texas – Day 7, 39c and very dry.

A 5 hour drive through some very flat landscape singing ‘show me the way to Amarillo’ to ensure we didnt fall asleep. The landscape was impressive, dusty and there were cows everywhere ! The thought of a giant steak in the world famous texan steak ranch was getting closer. We also took the opportunity to do a little graffiti at the Cadillac Ranch. Cadillac Ranch is a public art installation and sculpture in Amarillo, Texas, USA. It was created in 1974 by Chip Lord, Hudson Marquez and Doug Michels, who were a part of the art group Ant Farm.

Santa Fe, New Mexico – Day 8, 36c and dry.

A 5 hour drive through some constantly changing landscape on the way to Santa Fe. We picked up the historic route 66 at this point that was an absolute pleasure to drive on… The new interstate has left large parts of this route abandoned as you can see in the pictures below. Our destination, Santa Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. The city was founded in 1610 as capital of Nuevo México, after it replaced Española as capital, which makes it the oldest state capital in the United States.

Flagstaff, Arizona – Day 9 & 10, 32c and dry.

A 4 hour drive through some amazing scenary picking up plenty of mountainous regions along the route. Flagstaff was our base for the Grand Canyon and all in all a place where i would be definatley returning to. Flagstaff lies near the southwestern edge of the Colorado Plateau, along the western side of the largest contiguous ponderosa pine forest in the continental United States. Flagstaff is next to Mount Elden, just south of the San Francisco Peaks, the highest mountain range in the state of Arizona. We took a detour on route the Petrified Forest. Petrified Forest National Park is in northeastern Arizona. In its south, the Rainbow Forest is full of colorful petrified wood.

Flagstaff, Arizona & Grand Canyon – Day 10, 35c and dry.

An hours drive leaving the lodge at 03:00 to get up to the canyon for sunrise! If your going to go there, do it in style… If you think you know how big this place is then its even bigger when you see it in real life. What an amazing sight ! My water regulations team may take offense with one of the images below !

Las Vegas, Nevada – Day 11/12 & 13, 43c and wow.

A 4 hour drive through some amazing landscape, every time i stopped the car i was transferring cash to ensure i could survive the next 3 days. Las vegas here we come. Everything in vegas is just on another level, the enormity of the casinos and shopping malls was just unreal. On the way we picked up route 66 and stopped in some of those famous gift shops along the way… We also dropped in on the hoover dam that was definaltey worth a visit and had some amazing food in Gordon Ramsey’ Hells Kitcken.

Bishop, California – Day 14, 34c and Dry.

A 6 hour drive but we were on the road approx 12 hours during the day. We had planned to get as close to Area 51 as possible and feel the heat of death valley national park. The heat did not let us down with the car registering 118 degrees f. The temperature was extreme! We also explored an abandoned gold mine on the way before arriving at Bishop. Bishop was a great little town used as a stopover before heading onto San Francisco.

San Francisco, California – Day 15 & 16, 22c and Dry.

A good 6 hour drive through yosemite national park up over the hill and down to San Francisco. Notable temperature change at this point where it started to get chilly! Alcatraz was on the agenda, along with sourdough and fish supper! The parking prices were insane but as far as destination goes, it was awsome…

Morrow Bay, California – Day 17, 14c (!) and Foggy.

A 4 hour drive down pacific coast highway 1 that was pretty foggy for this time of the year. We stopped in Santa Cruz on the way and visited the photo shoots from the lost boys! You may recall some of the film with the photos below. We were heading south towards a small fishing town morro bay. We had booked whale watching trip for our stay, something we were all really looking forward to. The whales did not dissapoint, what a sight! And the sour larger was good but sour !

Santa Barbara, California – Day 18, 24c and warming up.

The drive time was slowing right down now with a short 2 hour drive down pacific coast highway 1 towards Los Angeles. Our next detination was the seaside location of santa barbara. Cracking food and drink here! We were all tired at this point and needed the slower, relaxing day.

Los Angeles, California – Day 19/20/21 & 22, 28c and dry.

The end of the trip was near, with a few days in LA before flying home. We needed the days to wind down, everything that had gone on over the last 2 weeks for pretty hard going. Driving was long but enjoyable, food and drink were great and i now know where id go back to at some point in the future. I would highly recommend this trip to anyone. America is a great place…