This past weekend I drove to Alabama all the way from Utah to visit home for the rest of the summer. This trip was a little different from my last one back in August 2008 because I took the shorter, midwestern route this time in place of the longer southern one. I managed to do the approximately 1,840 mile trip solo in about 2.5 days, including motel, fuel and sanity stops. Despite the rather mundane nature of this material, I will proceed to give a minor overview of the trip’s events for those bored enough to be interested.
Day one consisted of traveling from Provo, Utah, to my first stop in Limon, Colorado. The Rocky Mountains (specifically in the area west of Denver) are absolutely stunning! If it hadn’t been raining I gladly would have stopped to get some quick snapshots or maybe even some stock video footage of the beautiful scenery. I lived in Colorado for a time as a small child, but my memories of the specific region are vague at best. Even though it is late June, the temperature in that area then was down to 44 degrees fahrenheit! Once I passed Denver, the landscape went surprisingly flat in true Kansas fashion, which greatly surprised me, but I suppose it makes sense since the states are right next to each other.
During the trip I had planned to try and listen to most of the Lord of the Rings trilogy unabridged audiobook, but alas I only got through the first chapter of the first book… music took over the rest of the time! I tried Comfort Inn for the first time at the end of the first day and I was pleasantly surprised. Decent rates, nice rooms, and one of the best in-house breakfasts ever! Fresh waffles, fruit, doughnuts, juice and basically anything else you might want for a quick eat before hitting the road. Highly recommended!
The flat void known as Kansas... I thought a tornado would pop out at any moment!
Day two was spent trekking through the last bit of Colorado, braving the flat nothingness of Kansas, and finally getting blasted with a dosage of classic southern heat in Missouri. On this stretch I managed to get hit by some random piece of large debris while traveling at about 75 mph on the interstate, but oddly I cannot seem to find any damage done by it despite the loud “thonk” I heard when it hit somewhere above the windshield. At last I stopped for the day in a small Missouri exit-town late in the evening, only to search in vain for a reputable gas station. The closed BP I stopped at charged my credit card for 14 cents even though the gas pump was turned off! Shortly after, I got pulled over for not having my rear lights on (apparently I forgot to turn my full lights back on after trying a closed gas station, even though my daytime running lights were on luckily). In the end I didn’t get a ticket and I had a nice chat with the two polite officers, so kudos to the Missouri police!
Day three, at last the end stretch, consisted of Missouri, Tennessee, a small portion of Mississippi (I think), and finally Alabama. My GPS unit seemed to prefer the backroads for most of the day, and it must have been the most efficient route, because I saw a good number of transfer trucks also traveling on these smaller roads. If you don’t have a GPS yet for your vehicle, get one because they are absolutely invaluable! After driving through myriad little southern towns I finally arrived home and enjoyed having the trip over with.
In the end I can honestly say that I greatly enjoyed this marvelous opportunity to see a little more of my beloved country.
