My 32,000 Mile Cross Country Trip

By Darlene Rutkowski

This author was surprised to learn that her five-and-a-half-month trip around the great USA put over thirty-two thousand miles on her Jeep. Family and friends were also amazed. This author is aware that other individuals have taken similar trips, such as this one. However, this one is unique, in that this author did it alone at the age of sixty-five, and for five and a half months. Just the thought of checking in and out of hotels almost every day, during these months is enough to turn someone off from this type of trip. However, this author found ways to deal with it, such as regularly scheduled weekly phone calls with some family and friends. Also, after time, the standard breakfasts served daily at these hotels became boring, so this author would go to a local restaurant for breakfast for a different menu choice. This author encourages everyone, retired or not, to explore the great USA by a vehicle of some type. Each state has much beauty and many sites to see, which definitely enriches one's life and perspective of the world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Sep 4, 2019
• ISBN: 9781644624302

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My 32,000 Mile Cross Country Trip

Darlene Rutkowski

Copyright © 2019 Darlene Rutkowski

All rights reserved

First Edition

PAGE PUBLISHING, INC.

New York, NY

First originally published by Page Publishing, Inc. 2019

ISBN 978-1-64462-429-6 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64462-430-2 (Digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Part 1

Part 2

Dedicated to all those who served or are currently serving in the USA military, especially those who fought in the Vietnam War. Their service allows us the freedom in the USA to travel all over the country without fear.

Part 1

As like many others, the thought of retiring did not come easy for me. However, having worked for forty-eight years, including twenty of those years where I worked an additional part-time job, I knew it was time. I have found that there are various signs that individuals observe or experience that confirm it is time for the retirement phase to begin. For me, one of those signs included my being the oldest person at meetings, of which, some days, I had many to attend. I turned sixty-five in November 2014 and had the financial resources to retire. It took me until the end of February 2015 to take the retirement plunge. I knew that this transition could not be met by just taking a two- to four-week vacation. I knew I had to do something more monumental, more monumental than hiking to the top of Half Dome, which I did on fourteen different occasions. Since I love the United States of America and always wanted to take a long-term cross-country trip, this type of experience appeared to be just what I needed to make the retirement transition. However, I knew that it would take a lot of courage to complete this trip alone. Additionally, I accepted that if I got scared, became ill, or was homesick, I could always turn around and go back to California, or I could drive to a nearby airport, park my Jeep, and fly back to California for a while and then fly back to where I left my Jeep and resume my trip.

In planning this trip, the following thought processes occurred.

After analyzing the costs, I determined that I could afford a six-month trip to visit forty states, not including California, my launching point. My plan was to save visiting the final five New England States (Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island, and Connecticut) for another time. I had been to New York, Massachusetts, and Hawaii on a number of occasions, and I had taken a cruise to Alaska, so I did not have to visit those states at this time. Even though I had visited Tennessee, Colorado, Wyoming, Florida, Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, Indiana, Ohio, Alabama, New York, Massachusetts, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Mississippi, Illinois, and Michigan, I would be visiting most of these states again either to see sites I had not seen before or to revisit some of them, especially in Michigan, where I was born and raised.

As a member of Choice Privileges for many years, my goal was to stay in as many Comfort Inns, Comfort Suites and Quality Inns as I could. I would even earn a few free nights every now and then. I understood that this chain does not have hotels in every area of every state, so I would need to stay in other chains such as Best Western, Holiday Inn, Hampton Inns, Super 8, Microtel Inn and Suites, etc. I knew that I would have to gear myself up for hoteling for up to six months. I would be staying with a few friends and family along with way, but for the most part, I would be staying in hotels/motels. I also planned on staying in hotels close to major highways, freeways or near airports, as this approach appeared safe to me. I also knew that a number of the above hotels had laundry services, which would take care of that basic need.

I was fortunate to purchase a leased 2012 Jeep Liberty in November 2014 to replace the 2006 model that I had. That Jeep had a lot of miles on it, and I could not trust it for this type of lengthy trip. Since I tend to be quite organized, packing my Jeep would not be a difficult task. I have had good experience with having my Jeep serviced at Jeep dealerships, and I knew that they were located in each state.

I felt confident that I could make this trip alone, as long as I had a few friends and family to see along the way. Additionally, I arranged for weekly and monthly calls with one sister and her husband in Michigan, and one friend in Louisiana, along with other friends in California. Having this type of support increased my confidence that I could experience a successful cross-country adventure. I had taken a number of trips as a single person with group tours outside the United States and never had any issues. An added bonus of traveling as a single person was that I have met many wonderful people from around the world. However, I did make a promise to myself and others that I would keep to myself on this trip as much as possible and not be a Chatty Cathy so as to not draw attention to what I was doing as a single person. I also made a promise to try to not go out of a hotel room once I checked in for security purposes.

I had made a preliminary plan for my trip from California to Florida with the understanding that I could plan the rest of the trip in the evenings when I was in hotels. However, I was not exact in my preliminary plan, as I wanted to be open to changing plans and going off in a different direction if I learned of some interesting site to see along the way. My goal was to see at least a few sites in each state. I understood it might not be possible for me to see more due to my desire to accomplish this goal within six months. Taking as many city tours as I could, whenever possible, was a must for me. Afterward, I could go back on my own to explore selective sites with more depth. Another goal was to stay off main freeways as much as possible so that I could see as many cities and towns, especially small towns, in the United States of America.

In thinking about what type of food I would eat and where, I decided to keep some healthy snacks and beverages with me each day such as Kind bars, nuts, crackers, fruit, and carrot snack packs. I would take a couple of cooler bags with me. I also knew that I would be eating at fast-food places at times, but I do not have negative thoughts about these types of restaurants as they all have healthy choices. Items I like include bean burritos at Taco Bell, salads and baked potatoes at Wendy’s, and food at McDonald’s has healthy choices. I enjoy their egg and cheese breakfast sandwiches and their fish sandwiches and salads. Having chicken sandwiches at Chick-fil-A was another possibility, along with having pizza from time to time, at various chains. Other sit-down restaurants, such as Olive Garden, Applebee’s, Outback, Denny’s, and Perkins were also good choices. Also, stopping at grocery stores for meals was also another option since so many have salad bars, hot food bars, and deli counters.

My plan included visiting as many national parks and other nature sites as I could. Since I appreciate history and religious art, I wanted to see as many basilicas, cathedrals, and shrines as I could to learn more about Catholic church architecture, along with visiting many museums.

I knew that I would have long days. I would need to get up early and be on the road no later than 9:00 a.m. I did not want to get in the morning commute traffic, and I determined that, by 9:00 a.m., everyone would be at their place of work. However, I knew that, from time to time, it would be necessary for me to be on the road much earlier, but I would try to keep that to a minimum. I also made a promise to family and friends not to drive at night in the dark, but again, I knew there would be times that I would be driving in the evening to get to a new destination. Also, I would do my best to get my exercise by walking around all the various sites. I would not be using the gyms at hotels so as to not draw attention to myself.

Each night, I would take time to review my preliminary travel plan for the next day. I also had an iPhone to assist me in navigating around the United States. Since I have always enjoyed the welcome to state signs, I included them in this book from the internet since I was unable to take photos of them myself as I traveled from state to state.

California

I started out from San Mateo, California, on March 10, 2015. I knew, if I waited any longer to begin this trip from my last day of retirement, I could become fearful and not complete this adventure. As it turned out, I was only scared three times throughout this trip, which are noted in this book. When I think about it, the seeds for writing a book about this experience actually started on March 10, 2015, since I kept a journal each day and took over 3,500 photos.

My first stop, taking Highway 101, south from San Mateo, brought me to Solvang (Sunny Fields), California. Solvang was established by the Danish in 1911. This town is a showcase of one in the Netherlands, where I have not visited. My favorite site in Solvang is the Old Mission Santa Ines, which was founded in 1804 and named for Saint Agnes. There is something about the spirit-filled air on the grounds of this mission, where I find great solace. Of all the missions I have visited in California, it is my favorite. Their museum is filled with Spanish artifacts, vestments, and artwork, including that of the Chumash Native Americans.

My next stop in Solvang was to go to their nearby Chumash Casino since it was on my list of things to do. My sister and her husband and their friends have shared details about their visit to this casino when they came to visit me in California. I am not one to seek out casinos, but when with others, if that is the way they want to spend some of their discretionary funds, I go along and have a good time. I have never been a very lucky person at gambling, sweepstakes, lotteries, or drawings, but every now and then, I come out a small-time winner or come out even. If I do not, I consider it a donation.

The first night, after leaving San Mateo, California, I