Coast to Coast - SportsTop's Blog

SportsTop's Blog

Coast to Coast

Posted on November 20, 2008 at 04:37 PM.

(7)

I've done it again.

For the second time in four years I've moved from one coast clear across the country to the other coast.

It isn't the most enjoyable experience. There's nothing more painful then having to pack up all of your belongings and move them 2,700 miles, especially when you are a family of five.

Four years ago it was just me, my wife, and my four year old son. We planned a family vacation around our cross-country trip and made stops in:

San Diego, CA - Departure
Tucson, AZ
Carlsbad, NM - Carlsbad Caverns
San Antonio, TX - The Alamo/Riverwalk
New Orleans, LA - The French Quarter
Memphis, TN - Graceland
Bristol, TN
Arlington, VA - Arrival

It was a memorable trip and all of the stops we made at our major points of interest were well worth it. New Orleans pre-Katrina was a highlight as was Graceland.

This time around it was all about speed. We flew our kids to their grandparents house ahead of time so they wouldn't be tortured by being in the car 8-9 hours a day. Besides, we don't get much alone time anymore now that we have three kids and four days on the road by ourselves would be a mini-vacation in itself.

This time our trip would be a little more direct:

Arlington, VA - Departure
Nashville, TN
Oklahoma City, OK
Albuquerque, NM
Temecula, CA - Destination

As much fun as our first trip across was, I'd have to say this one was equally disappointing.

Nashville was okay. The night life downtown was decent, but nothing compared to other major cities I've been to.

Oklahoma City was dead....D-E-A-D.....dead. Even though we arrived on a Sunday, all of the bars and restaurants downtown were closing down at 9:45 p.m. The only place we could find still open was the local IHOP.

Needless to say, I'd be pissed if I was a former Seattle Sonic player.

Surprisingly enough, Albuquerque wasn't too bad, although maybe it was because I hadn't set my expectations too high. We had a good dinner and a few drinks while catching the Monday Night Football game at a local restaurant downtown.

We arrived in Southern California after four days on the road averaging about 10 hours a day (including stops). We were dead tired but happy to see our kids and positive we never want to move further than across town ever again.

Comments

# 1 Steve_OS @ Nov 20

That's quite a trip bro! Be safe out there!

# 2 Fresh Tendrils @ Nov 20

I definitely want to do a major road trip someday. First stop would be Memphis, then drive on down to B.B. King's birthplace in Mississippi which is about 2-3 hours away from there. But Hell, there's so much within a day of the Blue Ridge mountains that I haven't even seen or experienced yet that I think I can do between now and actually driving around the 48 states.

# 3 SportsTop @ Nov 21

I'd suggest everyone take some type of cross-country road trip. Especially when you're young and have the motivation and stamina to see numerous places. I'm lucky that I have a wife who loves to plan out trips for us to go on. I've been around the world and across the country and able to see countless sites all over.

What's always amazed me being somewhere and encountering people who've lived that place their entire life but never visited historic sites right down the road from where they live. It happened in Washington D.C. and Northern Virginia all the time when I met people that had never been to the National Mall or some of the historic sites in Virginia (Monticello; Mount Vernon; Jamestown; Colonial Williamsburg).

# 4 Fresh Tendrils @ Nov 21

I have an aunt and uncle who live in NOVA (used to live in Manassas but moved and I can't think of the town) and they've offered to let the family stay with them and we would go around D.C. Its something I definitely want to take them up on. The last time I really went around D.C. was in third grade. We took a field trip (I forget exactly what the purpose was) and was basically let loose with our chaperones - easily the best field trip ever. We went through the Smithsonian, went to Wall, Lincoln Memorial, the Mall, and ate lunch at the foot of the Washington Monument. It was awesome stuff.

Of course going to school in VA, we've been to Jamestown/Yorktown a couple times. I wanted to go to J-Town during the anniversary recently, but couldn't get time off. Me and the lady made a list last Summer of places to go see locally after our trip to the Biltmore (AMAZING place, by the way). Monticello was on there along with Williamsburg. We're right down the road from Natural Bridge and apparently there is a little thing called "Foam Henge" in that area too.

But yeah, there's so much history in VA that its just sad that people fail to realize how important the state is/was and take it for granted.

# 5 SportsTop @ Nov 21

I'd have to say Monticello is number one on my list followed closely by the National Archives. You're right though, there is so much history in Virginia and D.C. that gets over-looked by so many that live there.

# 6 Fresh Tendrils @ Nov 21

Your list of places to go or list of favorite places you've been?

I've been to Monticello, but I was in middle school and it was with my family - so I wasn't very interested to say the least.

# 7 SportsTop @ Nov 21

Places I've been. It was Jefferson's entire property, not just the house itself. It's amazing to be at the man's house who penned the Declaration of Independence. There was something about it that moved me.