In October 2020, my oldest daughter and I embarked on a journey which was by all standards, an Epic 10-day, 4,750 Mile Road Trip: Masquerading Across America – Destination: Utah. Our journey took us across 14 states: Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Tennessee.
We travelled from mountains to mesa, plains to prairies, all the way from grasslands to Graceland! We crossed the Appalachian Mountains and Rocky Mountains while passing over the Mississippi, Colorado, and Rio Grande Rivers. We traveled through Louisville, St. Louis, Kansas City, Denver, Albuquerque, Amarillo, Oklahoma City, Little Rock, Memphis, and Nashville.
Along the way, we passed military bases, farmlands, oil wells, solar panels, and miles and miles of windmills whirling in the breeze as we traveled by interstate, backroads, dirt roads, and Route 66. We saw a great and diverse country along our Epic Road Trip!
Our ultimate destination was Moab, Utah. While in Moab, we camped in a tent, hiked, and cooked most of our own meals. It was warm and sunny during the day and clear at night with dark, starry skies.
Early mornings led us to three National Parks: Arches NP, Canyonland NP, and Capital Reef NP. Dusty and rocky trails led us to arches, buttes, meteorite sites, canyons, and domes. We drove down hairpin turns on Schafer Trail to the bottom of the canyons where we drove from Canyonland NP back to Moab.
We saw petroglyphs and dinosaur tracks from earlier days, and witnessed beautiful sunrises and sunsets each day. We had long days and were tired at night, but each morning we up early ready to see what new and exciting mystery was in store for us. We saw slick rock, red rock, and a Hole in the Rock.
On our last night in Moab, we took an astronomy class. We met outside of Canyonland NP where it was very dark. We witnessed several meteors, the moon, various planets including the ring around Saturn and four of Jupiter’s moons, star clusters, and other galaxies – it was far out!
We ate BBQ in St. Louis, tacos in Albuquerque, steak in Amarillo, and ribs in Memphis. We stopped by the Cadillac Ranch on Route 66 in Amarillo and took our picture in Memphis by the Graceland sign. We packed about as much as could be expected in a 10-day Epic Road Trip. And by the way, it was all done in a single cab pickup truck – we were riding coach and it was a first class adventure!
