Part 1 of 6 EPIC ROAD TRIP!!!!

Day One: “Goodbye” (Scratch that) “See you soon Santa Barbara!” (07/30/2007)

Monday, July 30th will be a memorable day in the Herrick house. It was the day that we said “See you soon,” to a place that we enjoyed our first 2 years of marriage and to people we grew very close to. It was also the first day of our EPIC road trip across the US to our new home in PA.

Nothin’ really to show here. We drove 11 hours straight from Santa Barbara down the coast through LA, through the desert up I-15, through Vegas and St. George, to set up camp in the dark at Zion NP. Don’t they tell you not to do that?

State Count: 4 (CA, NV, AZ, UT)

Day Two: “D*$#, it feels good to be a gangsta.” (07/31/2007)

That’s right, 3 National Parks in one day. Oh yeah. The best part about it was that we milked every penny out of that Annual National Parks pass we bought last year to go to Grand Canyon on the day of expiration!

Jeff got a quick hike in at Zion NP before we drove up to Bryce Canyon for a quick look before dropping down into Arizona to camp at Lake Powell (Glen Canyon National Recreation Area).



Best scenery to wake-up to: Zion

Krista’s vote for Cool-er than Grand Canyon: Bryce Canyon















Best campground of the trip: Lake Powell

State Count: 4 (CA, NV, AZ, UT)

Day Three: “For only $3, you too can vacation in 4 states in ONE DAY!” (08/01/2007)

So after taking a quick dip in Lake Powell that morning, we drove through Northern Arizona to 4 corners, and continued on to Durango, CO, our favorite destination on last year’s summer road trip. Last year, we didn’t stop for the 4 corners monument when we learned that it would be $3 pp to visit the “4 corners.” But this year, we couldn’t pass it up. We went back to our favorite campground from last year’s road trip in Durango and enjoyed a night on the town in Historic Downtown Durango.

Best $3 spent on the trip: 4 corners (The best $2 spent was to feed a cow in Springdale, UT)

Part 2

Day 4: “It doesn’t get any better than this.” (08/02/2007)

I could go on about Durango, but I will save that for some other post. It is truly a beautiful place that I wish I had invested in about 3 years ago. Jeff and I got our last glimpses of D-town while on a morning hike that overlooks town and the Animas River. We found out later that it was also a stretch of the Colorado Trail that spans the whole entire state. We then drove the BEST/MOST BEAUTIFUL/EVERYTHING STRETCH OF ROAD that goes from Durango through Silverton up to Ouray. It is called the Million Dollar Highway, and it truly does live up to the name. We made this drive last year and hope to make it a yearly event. We also dropped down into Telluride to ride the Gondola before camping at Ridgeway State Park. Before I move on to Salida, I want to let you in on a little secret of ours. We LOVE it when we work the system or find some tricks that “make life better for us.” So the least that we can do is share these “tips” with you guys. Say, you are on a road trip or in a resort town, and you really need ice to cool down the milk in your ice chest but the ice is $3 and you really don’t want to pay that considering it will melt eventually. Note: There is always a hotel nearby. Remember how your mom always sent you down the hall to get ice? I did too. And it worked out perfectly in Telluride! One of our favorite moments was when we happened to stumble upon the 4-star Ice Hotel about the same time we were in need of some ice. Oh yeah. How ironic. Also, if you need a bathroom break on the road, don’t go to the gas station! There is always a hotel lobby nearby that has WAY better bathrooms.



Place that keeps us smilin’: Durango















Watch out Yosemite, most beautiful stretch of road in the US: From Durango to Ouray






























Best Gondola ride/Good place to enjoy views while sipping a nice brew: Telluride

Days 5 and 6: “Welcome to River-Rat Country.” (08/03/2007-08/04/2007)

We met Jeff’s parents in Salida, CO and spent two days exploring one of our favorite “little-known” places in CO. Many young people live there during the summer months to raft/kayak the Arkansas. It is where my roommate/best friend, Katie, grew up, and I always enjoy visiting to soak up the lively spirit of the town. We got to hang out with Katie’s parents while there too! Jeff also hiked a 14-er, Mt Shavano, with his dad on Saturday. Great views of the Continental Divide from the top! We left Saturday night to head into Denver and to have a quick visit with Katie and Mark in Golden.

Best Pizza of the trip: Amica’s in Salida

Best view from the top: Shavano

Part 3

Day 7: “It’s always nice to see family and friends.” (08/05/2007)

Sunday, we mainly hung out with Jeff’s family and visited friends at Confluence Park in Denver. We got to see Seth and Jessica, Ben, Hans, Scott, and Becca. It was great to see them all.

“Wow, crazy to run into you here!” moment of the trip: Ben Watson at Confluence Park in Denver (friend from freshman dorms haven’t seen since graduation)





















Day 8 and 9: “Welcome to Colorado.” (08/06/2007-08/07/2007)

Some friends of ours from Santa Barbara, Chris and Jess, flew into Denver for a few days so we could give them a CO tour. On Monday, we took them to the Colorado Springs to see Garden of the Gods. They are huge South Park fans, so we drove them through the mountains to show them the little town of South Park, from where the show is named. We introduced them to some of our CO friends, including my old roommate, Beth, and her boyfriend, over dinner. Tuesday included a tour of Boulder, one of our favorite places in the world. I am pretty convinced that God made the Flatirons just for me. We showed Chris and Jess campus, Pearl St., Chautauqua Park, and where we got married, Flagstaff Amphitheater. We ended the evening with a great dinner with Jeff’s parents, Ryan and Jess Cumley, and Chris and Jess. Also to note, as a welcoming gift, Ryan brought over two gigantic zucchinis. Thanks Ryan.

Place to enjoy an afternoon stroll in the park : Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs



















































Place where great mems are made: Boulder

Part 4

Day 10: “Well, not much going on in Kansas.” (08/08/2007)

On Wednesday, we dropped off Chris and Jess in Denver for them to finish out their trip. We really enjoyed vacationing with them and hope it won’t be the last time. We then went back to Thornton to pack up the car and say goodbye to Jeff’s family before heading out for Texas. Can I just say that we became pros at unpacking and repacking the car on this trip? You can fit so much in a Honda Fit! So if anyone is looking for a car……look no further. We fit 3 weeks worth of stuff plus our TV in our little hatchback. I will also say that the trying times of the trip were when we had to pack the car. One, I was usually pretty tired by then. And I become an UNhappy camper when I’m tired and hungry. “B”, it was always stressful because if it didn’t fit, it had to get left behind! Three, Jeff and I are both the oldest in the family, so we both know that we have the “right” way of doing things. It makes putting up a tent and packing the car a chore. All the other times, we do pretty well! Oh yeah, usually when you drive from CO to TX (did it a lot in college), you go down through NM and go through West Texas. I was pretty tired of seeing desert and being hot. So we went through Kansas and Oklahoma. Not much going on there. We saw a cool thunderstorm on the horizon in OK. That was about it. 14 hour drive.

State Count: 9 (CA, NV, AZ, UT, NM, CO, KS, OK, TX)

Day 11: “Texas is hot.” (08/09/2007)

So before we got to Texas, like while in Arizona, I said a lot of, “It’s hot.” And Jeff was like, “Thanks for the weather report.” He is usually pretty good about keeping a good attitude about things even under not-so-great conditions. But, for the first time, Jeff started saying, “Man, IT’S HOT!” So you know it was hot. I think the whole time we were there, it was over 100. We spent most of Thursday relaxing and recovering from the long drive before. One thing about Texas is that you eat WELL! My parents took us out for dinner at BABE’S. All you can eat Fried Chicken and Friend Catfish with mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, and biscuits! It was very nice. After that, we hopped over to our friends, Chris and Monica’s, house for a quick visit. It was good to see them. They are having a baby today. As we speak, actually. Congratulations and welcome Abbey!

Day 12: “It take me back.” (08/10/2007)

Friday, we hung out with my sister a little bit before she left to move down to Houston. For those of you not from Dallas, your heart winces a little bit when you find out a loved one is moving to Houston. It is like moving to the dark side. In-state rivalry I guess. Kind of like SoCal-NorCal. But she really loves it and is enjoying her first year of teaching there. In the afternoon, we went “Southbound, 35, we were headed down the road…” We went down to San Antonio/New Braunfels to one of my favorite places in Texas. We met my best friend Caroline and her husband Darren down there for the weekend. We were really anticipating this part of the trip, because we were planning to go toobing down the Guadalupe. Jeff had never been, and so I was excited to show him one of my favorite mems of growing up in Texas. We were also excited to get to know “Darroline.” I’ve known Caroline most of my life, but never had the opportunity to get to know them together. Anyway, after a quick stop at the outlets in San Marcos, we had dinner together at the Gristmill in New Braunfels/Gruene. If you ever have some time in Texas, go here. It is an old German town right on the Guadalupe River. The Gristmill is the “place everyone goes” when they go to NB. It is a great establishment with a great atmosphere. It is an old mill converted to a restaurant and next door to the “oldest dance hall in Texas.” It is such a great atmosphere. And when I think “Texas” I think back to waitin’ for a table there outside on a picnic table hearing the river and live Texas music. It is nice. Anyway, it was a great time hanging out with Darroline and telling stories, new and old. Note to everyone visiting the area: Avoid La Quinta in north San Antonio. We waited 1.5 hours to check in at 10 at night.

Earliest Breakfast of the trip: at Mama’s with family and family friends at 6 am in Dallas




























Best Restaurant of the trip: Gristmill in Gruene















































Day 13: “Take me down to the river, where I can hold your body close to mine.” –Pat Green (08/11/2007)

So on Friday, we were a little worried about what the river experience was going to be since the Guadalupe looked pretty high and scary. So on Saturday, we went back in to town and found out the Guadalupe was closed. SO SAD! In June, there was tons of rain in Texas, and they were still trying to recover. The river was at 5 times the max flow rate for toobing. But we ended up toobing down the Comal since it is spring-fed. We still had tons of fun. And it is hard to write about the toobing experience, other than it is awesome. You should just go sometime. Jeff really enjoyed it, so I was pleased. By the way, back in Colorado, we tried to leave the zucchinis behind. Ryan made sure that we brought them to Texas by hiding one of them in our sleeping bag. We found it when we got to Texas. So we decided to bring the zucchini with us so that we could get pics of the zucchini next to sights on our trip like the Alamo. Well, the zuchinni made it to the River and decided to commit suicide of the ledge of a deck down to the river. Never got to the Alamo. Pics below. Saturday night we went into downtown San Antonio to enjoy Mexican food at Casa Rio on the Riverwalk and to the see the Alamo at night. Good mems.

Best place to talk about old mems: Toobing the Comal River in New Braunfels

Great place for a date: Casa Rio on the Riverwalk in San Antonio

Part 5

Day 14, 15, and 16: “Relaxing and seeing old friends.” (08/12/2007-08/14/2007)

The next few days we were back in Dallas mostly seeing old friends and hanging out with family. Sunday night we had our traditional dinner at Cracker Barrel with my mom’s side of the family. It was good to see my Mema and see aunts, uncles, and cousins. We then had coffee with my high school buddy, Chris Evans. Then, Monday night I got to see more of my old friends from high school: Annie, Charlene, and Lauren. It was great to see all of them and to see they “haven’t changed a bit!” Then on Tuesday, Jeff and I got to take the train into downtown Dallas to see my mom’s work and to have lunch with my aunt. There is a really cool park called Thanksgiving Square that I use to sing at in high school. I always like going down there since my mom works next door too. Then we went to Mockingbird station to have coffee with my friend Morgan. It was great to see her and talk about married life! Dallas, in general, was a relaxing time.

Favorite Past-time: Telling stories with old friends in a coffee shop in Dallas

Part 6

Day 17: “Iowa actually is pretty.” (08/15/2007)

Wednesday morning, we said goodbye to my family, packed the car again, and headed Northbound on I-35. I’ve always wanted to drive I-35 from the very bottom (almost Mexico) to the top (Minnesota) since it goes through Dallas, where I grew up. Well, we did most of it in one leg. We drove through Oklahoma and used our Sonic giftcard from our road trip basket that my aunt gave us. You can’t go to the South and not go to Sonic. Then we went through Kansas City. I was surprised at how pretty it was in KC. Very green. I have heard that it is an up-and-coming place to live. Looks nice. Then we settled down for the night in Des Moines. Iowa is surprisingly very pretty. Very calm. Lots of corn. I’m wondering what Iowa will look like in 15 years. It might look different if Ethanol takes off.

State Count: 11 (CA, NV, AZ, UT, NM, CO, KS, OK, TX, MO, IA)

Day 18: “On to Mad-town” (08/16/2007)

On Thursday, we drove from Des Moines, IA to Madison, WI. We were looking forward to going to Madison because Jeff was born there, but hadn’t been back since he was really young. And I always enjoyed going there on weekends when I lived in Minnesota for a summer. We would say our second favorite drive of the trip was the on this stretch of road. We dropped into the river valley and crossed over the Mississippi River in Dubuque. This area of country is full of rolling hills and picturesque red barns seen off in the distance. Frank Lloyd Wright thought it was pretty too! We drive close to Spring Green where Talesin is located. We arrived in Madison around lunch-time, just in time for some Wisconsin Mac and Cheese at Noodles and Company. (I had to.) We then took a stroll down their State Street that connects the capital to the UW campus. For those of you who don’t know, Madison is sandwiched between two lakes. In the afternoon we hung out on the UW’s terrace overlooking Lake Mendota. If you ever go there in the summer, they have concerts at night out on the terrace and it is a great atmosphere. I saw the BEST fireworks show ever there the summer I lived nearby. The terrace is just a great place to be and hang out. After that, we met Seth, a friend from college, for some coffee and dinner. It was great seeing him and talking about old mems. We all hung out at the other terrace, Monona Terrace to watch the sun go down. Great mems. Madison is high on our list of great cities.

Best place to hang out: Terraces in Madison





































State Count: 12 (CA, NV, AZ, UT, NM, CO, KS, OK, TX, MO, IA,WI)

Day 19: “Milwaukee, really?” (08/17/2007)

We are gettin’ close! Friday, we drove from Madison to Chicago with a stop in Milwaukee. I really wanted to see Calatrava’s Milwaukee Art Museum, so we took a slight detour. I had seen many pictures of the building in school and in magazines. Milwaukee was surprisingly one of our favorite places of the trip. I don’t really know what it is about it, but when we drove in, we just really liked the feel of the place. The waterfront area is very nice! We were only there for 2 hours, but really enjoyed it! And I got great shots of the museum. Onward to a jam-packed day in Chicago! We got downtown to our hotel in the afternoon and took the “El” train to Wrigley Field, had pizza at Gino’s East, and shopped at the hip CB2. We stayed in the theatre district, which was buzzing with people seeing shows. That evening, we went to Millennium Park. We were looking forward to going here the entire trip. MP has been on my list of things to see since it was built. I really wanted to see Frank Gehry’s amphitheater there too! And of course, there is the famous bean! It was cool, because we walked up to one of the outdoor concerts they have in the summer. It was such a nice experience listening to the orchestra surrounded by huge buildings, sitting with thousands of other Chicagoans, and seeing the cool architecture. See pics below

Pleasant Surprise of the trip: Milwaukee




















Ooo, what a wonderful feelin’: Millennium Park in Chicago

State Count: 13 (CA, NV, AZ, UT, NM, CO, KS, OK, TX, MO, IA,WI, IL)

Day 20: “We got our South Chicago experience in!” (08/18/2007)

Saturday included viewing the city from the top of Sears Tower and briefly visiting the Field Museum. We also drove down to see Hyde Park and the University of Chicago. While trying to get back to the highway, we got detoured through Southside Chicago because of construction. It was quite the experience! Just imagine a little economy car full of stuff with California license plates driving through the projects. I think the people sitting on the porches were laughing at us because we were out of place. But we made it! To cut into our drive to PA, we drove to Gary, IN to stay for the night. Not much to see in Gary!

Tallest building experience: Sears Tower in Chicago




















Day 21: “We’re almost home!” (08/19/2007)

We started our last day of our road trip with a drive-by sighting. Friends of ours, Dan and Bekah, were also moving cross-country from North Carolina to Minnesota. It worked out that our crossing point was in Gary, IN! So we got to have breakfast with them before heading straight to PA! It was REALLY great to see them and to catch up from the year! Our only other stop in Indiana was in South Bend to buy a t-shirt for our Notre Dame fan friend. The campus was really nice and well kept! Too bad the football season isn’t going as well this year. We tried to drive through Ohio without stopping, but had to stop for gas just before the PA border. We ended our EPIC road trip in State College at 10:30pm! We had more than a blast and really recommend that everyone does something like this at least once in their life!

Final State Count: 16 (CA, NV, AZ, UT, NM, CO, KS, OK, TX, MO, IA,WI, IL, IN, OH, PA)