DRIVING ACROSS AMERICA ...

From Sea to Shining Sea!

Imagine leaving the canyons of New York City, having a wonderful time exploring the country, then waking up to find the Pacific Ocean beneath your feet! This trip was a marvel! Henry and I  finally feel like we know our country, a little better, at least. Our exit date from NYC was May 4th, although we didn’t really “hit the road” until May 29th, since we stayed nearly a month at Kripalu, in Lenox, Massachusetts. So, you could say we began our drive in New England, motoring from Salem Bay, through Connecticut to New York. After regrouping in the “Big A” for a week, we launched our travels south on June 11th. We paralleled the Atlantic  coast through New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Washington D.C. to Virginia. Then continued exploring the elegant South through West Virginia, North and South Carolina and Georgia. From Atlanta we drove South again to Natchez, Mississippi, then cut a a diagonal line across Louisiana to Dallas. Until this point, we could cross a single state or several states quite easily in a day’s drive. Texas is the second largest state in the Union, second only to Alaska and equal to the size of France. It was both interesting and fun to experience the vastness of this state. From Dallas we drove south to Austin, then due west to Marfa. We explored Big Bend in the south, getting a clear view of Mexico opposite the Rio Grande. Our next BIG drive was across the “Badlands” of West Texas. We were warned not to venture south of the Interstate because of the bad hombres (drug dealers). Before reaching El Paso on the far western tip of Texas, we headed north to New Mexico, Carlsbad Caverns, then through Ruidosa to Albuquerque. We spent quality time in Santa Fe and Taos, then explored our second National Park, Mesa Verde. In an arch from Southwestern Colorado, we crossed the Continental Divide between Durango and Salida, went to Colorado Springs, then crossed the Great Divide one more time, at Independence Pass. The sheer cliffs and hairpin turns made this drive exciting. Both passes were at 12,000 feet or better. The reward for this hair-raising encore was  the town of Aspen. From this civilized treasure we drove to what I call the “Serious West”. Henry and I entered the wild west en route from Aspen to Moab in the wilderness of Southern Utah as we worked our way  through the various splendid landscapes of America’s western National Parks. Our explorations were concentrated on the monumental rock formations around the Grand Canyon, a quest to understand this incredible natural wonder. With the help of a small airplane, a helicopter and pontoon raft, not to mention our hiking shoes,  Henry and I can say we’ve seen the Grand Canyon from top to bottom. From the shores of Lake Mead, we zoomed across Nevada to Los Angeles. At this point, we could boast that we had been in all four desert regions of America:  The Great Basin, The Sonoran, The Mojave, and the Chihuahuan deserts. The next exciting adventure, after seeing the two Getty Museums on the outskirts of L.A.,  was our drive north along the Pacific Coast Highway, or Highway One. This route was most beautiful in two places: between Cambria and the Monterrey Peninsula as well as north of San Francisco along the Marin County and Sonoma County coastlines. The finale of our drive across America played out in Sausalito and San Francisco, where we  connected with Henry’s daughter, Alicia and his son, Fred, living in California. After a week in the San Francisco area, we then boarded our flight to Japan to begin our worldwide adventures.  We invite you to enjoy our travels by following all our adventures as we have continued to explore the world! 

JOURDAN ARPELLE-ZIEGLER                                    BACK TO MAP PAGE