The Bourbon Trail, Route 66 and The Western States
Parts 1 & 2 (2023 Trip)
(Coming Soon)
Our third “Long Way Home” trip had us covering some 28,000 miles across 22 states, including our 48th of the Lower 48, The Bourbon Trail, all of Route 66 and the Western States
Our 2023 trip was epic, and we have now visited all “lower 48 states,” but it also threw us a few curveballs that required us to be flexible and creative, changing our planned itinerary several times.
We drove 14 thousand miles with the RV, and an additional 14 thousand with the car, through 22 states. We learned to drink bourbon on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, and completed the ultimate Road Trip USA by driving all of Route 66, from Chicago, IL, to Santa Monica, CA, learning about the original westbound migrants traveling the road in search of a better life while also enjoying all the fun and quirky Americana and roadside attractions. We stood at the lowest point in North America (282 feet below sea level) at Bad Water Basin in Death Valley National Park, and we were married by Elvis in Las Vegas.
In California we toured an impressive aircraft carrier, saw seals on the beach, ate the most delicious apple pie in the mountains and had incredible date shakes in the desert. We also walked among fun animal statues in the desert, were mesmerized by the glowing and twinkling spheres at Sensorio’s Field of Light in wine country’s rolling hills, and visited a stunning castle overlooking the Pacific Ocean. We were awed by the beauty of the coast at Big Sur, found colored sea glass on Glass Beach, and were moved by the gigantic Redwoods.
It was our first time visiting Oregon, and it was such a revelation especially with its spectacular coast and gorgeous bridges on the Oregon 101. We took a glass blowing class, had cheese and ice cream at the Tillamook factory, went tide pooling, visited lighthouses, checked out filming locations from the movie The Goonies, and walked through the remains of an actual shipwreck on the beach. We hiked the rims of the deepest and bluest lake in the crater of a volcano, climbed to the top of a stunning waterfall, sampled craft coffees and beers, and visited the last remaining Blockbuster in the world.
Washington’s Olympic Peninsula wowed us with its stunning, lush temperate rainforests, beautiful waterfalls and lakes, its rugged coastline with more tide pool creatures, a town known for vampires, lavender farms, alpacas, stunning Chihuly glass art, and a dormant volcano. We stood on the northwesternmost point of the contiguous United States, visited our favorite of three “German/Danish” towns on this trip, and were blown away by a whale swimming back and forth right in front of us just feet away from the beach.
For our first visit to Idaho we saw waterfalls, Craters of the Moon, ice caves and lava tubes, and ate potatoes at the Idaho Potato Museum.
Other trip highlights included finally seeing our first moose just outside Salt Lake City; soaking in natural hot springs in Colorado and New Mexico; visiting an ancient, living Native American pueblo; seeing the inside of the Hoover Dam; walking among Joshua Trees; returning to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta for a true feast of colorful, fun and creative balloons and going for another balloonride with a “splash and dash” in the Rio Grande River as well as seeing a full annular eclipse from the fiesta field.
We visited the birthplace of Martin Luther King Jr., as well as where he was shot and his grave; the birthplace, boyhood home and Presidential Library of two U.S. Presidents; and the birthplace of Elvis, and of the Blues. We met a living Blues Legend in person and he petted our Beagles. We listened to live Blues music on Memphis’ Beale Street. We admired saguaro cacti, ate delicious pizza while listening to the largest Wurlitzer theater pipe organ ever created, visited Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West (having visited the original Taliesin in Wisconsin on our 2022 trip), and so much more.
