Road Trip 2022
Six days, three thousand miles, and fourteen states later…
This was definitely the most intense road trip Dan and I have ever been on, together or separate! All in all, it was a bit stressful, but we still had fun and enjoyed it. We tend to romanticize road trips a bit less than we did on our first road trip back in 2016, but it is what you make of it! Our biggest priorities this time around were getting to Phoenix as quickly as possible without driving ourselves crazy, and making sure the cats didn’t get too stressed out. Overall, I think we’d both agree that, generally speaking, the slower you can take a road trip the more fun it will be. You don’t necessarily need a whole week in one place, but three or so days seems to be ideal most of the time. Here’s an overview of how our speedy road trip went!
Also check out the reel I made summarizing our trip!
Greenfield, New Hampshire β Harrisonburg, Virginia
Day one was tough. We were a little more sad than excited leaving in the morning, but overall started the day feeling ready to go. Surprisingly, we ended up doing a fantastic job narrowing down what we needed to bring and had plenty of room in the car (we could even see out all of the windows this time!). As the hours ticked by, and as we hit INTENSE fog and traffic, we started to feel a bit tired of the day and intimidated by the remaining five days of driving. We still managed to have fun though, I for one strangely love driving through bad weather, and the cats did very well. Arriving to the Airbnb we were able to get more settled, enjoy some good food, and rest to wake up refreshed for day two. Harrisonburg was such a cute little town!
Harrisonburg, Virginia β Nashville, Tennessee
Day two I think we took more stops which was nice, but we still powered through the long driving day. We were both most excited for our stop in Nashville and were looking forward to the next two days of significantly shorter drives. I had never been to a Cracker Barrel before, so that was a short but fun stop, and neither of us had ever been to a Buc-ee’s so that was a great stop too. Dan was in awe of their beef jerky bar so of course we got some, and it was honestly delicious (and a great high protein snack!). For dinner, we got Vietnamese which was delicious. All I wanted was soup and the pho really hit the spot!
Nashville, Tennessee β Little Rock, Arkansas
Our first short driving day was such a welcome break. We originally wanted to power through from Nashville to Oklahoma City, but we were both SO glad we decided to add the extra stop. We stopped at a super cute coffee shop in Nashville before heading out to Little Rock! This day there were thunderstorm and tornado warnings across Tennessee so we took it slow, but all in all we mostly just hit lots of rain and some strong winds. We made a little pit stop in Memphis to get some classic hot chicken from Hattie B’s (per the advice of a friend of mine) which was INCREDIBLE. If we drive back through Tennessee when we leave Arizona, we will definitely be stopping there again. Dinner in Little Rock was another great spot, a little German bar with great pretzels and sausages.
Little Rock, Arkansas β Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
We took the morning slow on day four and I enjoyed my leftover Hattie B’s before we swung in to a local coffee shop for some great coffee and breakfast. About a month prior, I tried acrylic nails for the second time in my life and then super procrastinated getting them taken off (it was literally over a month). So with our second short driving day, I was able to stop at a local nail salon to get that taken care of. I enjoyed how long acrylics lasted, but for me at this point it was just too expensive to keep up with.
On our way to Oklahoma City we stopped at a big rest stop and realized we had been remiss at getting stickers for our roof rack this whole time! So we got an Oklahoma/Route 66 sticker and made a note to try to do better on our drive back from Arizona. Our Airbnb was in the Plaza District which was cute and full of fun restaurants! Every stop, including this one, was freezing cold at night which we naively weren’t expecting, but that didn’t stop us from enjoying some ice cream after a great dinner. After that, we had some fun playtime with the cats who had so much pent up energy at this point. At one point, Pepper launched herself up onto the brick pillar in the middle of the main room at the Airbnb and actually held on for a good 15 seconds (I’m still kicking myself for not getting that on video).
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma β Albuquerque, New Mexico
Another long driving day for day five, but we were officially feeling like we were in the desert which was exciting. It was still surprisingly cold in Albuquerque, but we took comfort looking at the weather in Phoenix, knowing that it would be warmer once we finally arrived. Our Airbnb was really unique, but it didn’t feel like the best area which set us on edge a bit. All in all we had no problems, though we’re starting to think that Albuquerque would be a place we don’t necessarily mind skipping in the future. We’re probably judging it a bit too harshly, but the two times we’ve stayed there we haven’t managed to see many nice parts of town. If you disagree and have advice on where to check out in Albuquerque, let me know!
Albuquerque, New Mexico β Phoenix, Arizona
Day six and our last day of driving! When we started seeing cacti lining the highway we knew we were close! We never realized that Phoenix is so surrounded by mountains, even with some interspersed throughout the city. It was a beautiful drive through Flagstaff, by Sedona, and then down into the city. We finally got to our new apartment and were so happy to find that it looked amazing! It’s way more space than we need and pretty well stocked. Our new landlord even left a bunch of local magazines and brochures about the area which was such a thoughtful touch. Dan was so energized that we finally made it (me not so much), that he insisted we make our first grocery shop that night. In the end I was glad we did as it allowed us to stay in for dinner and have things to eat at home the next morning…and also because I convinced him to stop at Trader Joe’s π
Amazing!! Sounds like a great trip! I realized I havenβt really had this kind of road trip vacation – we always power through and sleep in parking lots. Never have traveled with stopping someplace to rest/sightsee, it sounds fun! Glad you made it safe and that your place is nice!
Wow that is another level of intense! We may have tried something like that if not for the cats, but it definitely did make it more fun for us stopping along the way too. Thank you! Miss you both!