A long post...for a L-O-N-G Drive.

Sam and I just drove cross country, for those of you who want to know what it was like-here are all of the juicy details.

Day 1 Saturday April 14th

8:00 am-- departed Quincy, Massachusetts ...HOORRAY!!! :-)


1:00 pm-- arrived in Palmyra, New York. Drove to the top of Hill Comorah, got a tour of the Smith Home, went for a walk in the Sarced Grove, and drove past the Palmyra Temple.

4:30 pm--Arrived at Niagra Falls, near prospect point. Then we walked over to Terrapin Point where we could see the Horseshoe Falls. We didn't cross over to Canada so we didn't have the greatest view, but it still looked...big. I expected it to be much louder-maybe it is if you are at the bottom, in a boat.

7:13 pm Crossed the Pennsylvania border
8:00 pm Stopped for the night just outside of Cleveland, Ohio

Day 1 totals: 690 miles, 10 hours driving time

Day 2 Sunday April 15th

8:30 am Departed from Cleveland, started driving
2:00 pm Pit stop in Indiana

Drove through Illinois (the only sign that I missed) :-(

6:15pm Drove through St. Louis, Missouri-saw the Gateway Arch and the Cardinals stadium (and Sam was tempted to stop and watch the game)


10:00 pm Stopped for the night in Tulsa, Oklahoma. We really enjoyed this sunset as it was the first one we have seen in a long time-I decided to include that for all of my Boston friends in case they have forgotten what one looks like...that and because since it was dark the picture of the Oklahoma sign didn't turn out. We decided this is one city that we could live in. We liked the look of the town, and the people there were very nice ("people" meaning the front desk attendants at the hotel, and the cashiers at the gas station)

Day 2 totals: 14 hours driving, 1000 miles

Day 3, Monday April 17

7:00 am Started our day out early-since we decided to push though all the way back to Phoenix today.

12:15 pm Pit stop in Amarillo, Texas When I walked into the gas station I was asked "So, how can we rip you off today?" ....huh? I guess southern hospitality stopped at the border.
1:00 pm Entered New Mexico and drove through their blasted construction. The barricades being in the photo were on accident-but totally fitting, as they are what we remember most about this state. Many times we were forced to slow down to 45 mph (UGH! I know!-sooooo slow!) for pointless construction. FYI -If you see a sign warning you of a "safety corridor" and that the fines for speeding are doubled--watch out for black police vans (with traffic cameras) hiding just over hills--too bad for them we picked up on their plot and thwarted all their efforts to make a few bucks off of us...not that we were speeding Mom and Dad ;-)

"The grass may not be greener on the other side...

but the sun is definitely brighter in Arizona." --amber

8:00 pm Pit stop in Flagstaff, Arizona but we did NOT get gas...because Sam was so impressed with our gas milage, he wanted to prove that we could make it to Phoenix on this tank.
10:15 pm We arrived in the outskirts of Phoenix (Sam wins-yea.)
10:45 pm Gas light comes on, and I insist we stop for gas in 15 minutes from home--despite Sam's tantrum. (Man, he gets grumpy when he has to drive for 3 days straight!) :-) I love you Sam. :-)

11:00 pm (I am not sure in which time zone) We pull into Sam's parents' driveway
11:05 pm We were in bed, mad that we were not already asleep.

Day 3 Totals: 1000 miles, 16 hours of driving, 400 miles on one tank of gas

"I am never going to drive that far
again...EVER!" ---Sam