From Charleston to Louisville

Wow! Still can't keep up.  So we spent maybe two hours in Charleston.  Pulled off the interstate right into the center of the business district.  Small area, several charming (from the outside) spots.  There was a children's art fair in one of the streets, but I feel like the area would be otherwise pretty dull.  The surrounding streets were reminiscent of parts of the city at home.. the homeless, depressed parts.  Signs for a scenic highway (US-60) led us along a mile or two of a riverfront area, which was nice, followed by miles of poverty stricken areas abundant in gentlemen's clubs.  Originally we had planned to end here for the day, but we shortly after were back on the interstate towards Louisville.

Louisville was fantastic!  An unexpected surprise for sure.  The city is beautiful, but was somewhat lifeless except for at food establishments.  Most of which had large outdoor areas.  We passed many unique cafes, bbq pits, pubs and the like, all of which had large numbers enjoying their food and drink outside.

Seen above is Louisville slugger field, which I am not sure but seemed to be for little league.

The Louisville slugger factory! That bat was enormous, and could be seen blocks away.  That night it stormed pretty hard, so we didn't get to do much outdoors, but I did manage to get a few decent pictures of it.

Our short car tour of the area finished with dinner at an irish restaurant, also surprisingly fantastic.  At this point the day was complete, and we retired.

Sunday, June 30th.

Woke up early to get breakfast with some friends, whom had conveniently been staying in Louisville this weekend.  See: Wild Eggs, which scored an awesome 4 and a half stars on Yelp.

Toured the Louisville slugger factory right after breakfast and as of 12PM, we are on the road again.  Next stop St. Louis.

Welcome to Shartlesville!

Made some fast progress this morning.  Left just before 6AM.  I have to play a little bit of catchup here to cover everything before I forget.  We changed the route up a bit from the original plan.  Originally we thought we were going to see the Christmas Story house museum, aka the house from the movie.  However my left and right brain must've failed to communicate, because instead of being in Columbus, the house is actually in Cleveland.  Threw us off last minute.  So the new route, from already being west in PA, brought us down into that panhandle of western Maryland.  

We picked up Interstate 68 heading west towards West Virginia.  From a distance we saw rolling mountains, and this wide deep gap stuck out in between what was otherwise uninterrupted hilly forest.  The highway climbed, then fell, then climbed higher, and fell again, winding back and forth all the while... Like a stretched out theme park ride.  Then, we approached the gap in the mountain, and drove right through it! It was like when moses parted the Red Sea.  Minus the holy intervention.  I wish I had more pictures after this point, but my stubborn self just wanted to keep driving and enjoy it.  I-68 was, no is, gorgeous!  Signs denote it as the National Scenic Byway, and scenic it was, for a freeway at least.  The highway was a shade of red also, that was a first.

West Virginia.  Made it all the way on our first tank of gas.  Filled up - and interestingly enough the price of gas was higher than Jersey, as expected, but only came out to about 3.40/gallon.  Much better, considering we were budgeting for an average of $4/gallon.  We fueled the car, refueled ourselves a bit with some java goodness, and back on the road we were.  I-79 South en route to Charleston, WV.  Side note:  rest stops were surprisingly bountiful.  Walking into this Cheat Lake, WV "BFs" brand rest stop, we could've gotten anything from Coffee, to cigarettes, to fresh (really "fresh") pizza, ice cream, and an entire refrigerated room of Beer.  A stop a few hours earlier, in Maryland still, had similar amenities, but also offered Laundry and a public shower.  Ew?

It's 730PM right now, Saturday still, and we've since stopped in Charleston, WV, where we intended to  spend the afternoon and rest before continuing.  Last minute decision was to continue on, and we're just about to get off the highway in Louisville, KY.  But I will have to post more later.  What a long day already!

Itinerary Planning!

Something about driving has always been exciting for me.  Particularly taking new routes, seeing new places, experiencing new areas.  I have often thought about driving cross-country.  Now is my chance to see how I'd fare going on a true american road trip.  I'm pretty excited to see what the middle of the USA is like.  Oh, and San Fran is a new endeavor as well.  The trip itself, however, is both the rush and anxiety which is stirring an odd but familiar flutter from within.  Excitement, I suppose, for lack of a better description.  Or maybe it's the appeal of telling life to go fly a kite for a bit while I am off far, far away, strapped into my seat, stuck on the road, where nobody knows who I am.  I'm not much for tourism, but I would like to tell a story from my adventure.

For now I give you my itinerary, at least as of today.  Hopefully I'll be able to update as I go, or laugh at my plans as the universe often does.

Road Trip 2013 Itinerary

Union, New Jersey to San Francisco, CA

6/29/13 – 7/8/13

Saturday, June 29

NJ to Columbus, Ohio                                                                (8.25 Hours, 520 Miles)

*Area is populated, stops can be anywhere en route.

I-78W to I-81S to I-76W to I-70W.

Sunday, June 30

Columbus, Ohio to St. Louis, MO                                             (7.25 Hours, 465 Miles)

*Stop in Louisville, KY                                                                                         

I-71S                                                                             (3.25 Hours, 206 Miles)

*Louisville to St. Louis

I-64W                                                                                 (4 Hours, 260 Miles)

Monday, July 1

St. Louis, MO into Kansas

                                *Stop in Kansas City (Kansas/Missouri)                                                           

                                I-64W to I-70W                                                                 (4 Hours, 251 Miles)

                                *No other attractions before Denver.

                                Drive I-70W until Hays KS (if possible)                          (4 hours, 266 Miles)

Tuesday, July 2

            Kansas to Denver, CO                                                                      (5 Hours, 341 Miles)

                                I-70W.

                                Possible Stops (rest/fuel only):

                                Goodland, KS                                                                    (2 Hours, 145 Miles)

                                Burlington, KS                                                                (2.5 Hours, 174 Miles)

                                Limon, KS                                                                        (3.5 Hours, 250 Miles)

Wednesday, July 3 OR Thursday, July 4

            Denver, CO to Salt Lake City, UT                                               (8.25 Hours, 525 Miles)

                                I-70W to US-6W (exit 157) to I-15N

                                Possible Stops (*Stay Fueled*):

                                Rifle, CO (After mountains)                                             (3 Hours, 183 Miles)

                                Grand Junction, CO (Larger town)                                 (4 Hours, 243 Miles)

                                Green River, UT                                                           (5.25 Hours, 343 Miles)

                                Price, UT/Helper, UT                                                   (6.25 Hours, 406 Miles)

                               

Friday, July 5

            Salt Lake City, UT to Reno, NV                                                      (7.5 Hours, 518 Miles)

                                I-80W

                                Possible Stops (**Try to stay above half tank**)

                               Wells, NV                                                                        (2.5 Hours, 181 Miles)

                                Elko, NV (Larger town)                                                  (3.5 Hours, 230 Miles)

                                Battle Mountain, NV                                                     (4.5 Hours, 300 Miles)

                                Winnemucca, NV                                                        (5.25 Hours, 353 Miles)

                                Lovelock, NV                                                                      (6 Hours, 426 Miles)

Saturday, July 6

            Reno, NV to San Francisco, CA                                                    (3.5 Hours, 218 Miles)

                I-80W

                Possible Stop: Sacromento, CA (State Capitol)                             (2 Hours, 133 Miles)

Total Trip Estimate:  3100 Miles, 47 Hours

Flight Home: SFO 7/8/13 2PM  Arrives EWR 7/8/13 1040PM.