Epic Road Trip

What started as a joke quickly turned into something real. We had friends in San Diego who pushed back their wedding reception to July 5th. Instead of flying, I thought “why not drive and turn this thing into an epic road trip?” That’s what we did.

The exact itinerary changed multiple times before and during the trip. The important thing was making it happen. The theory is that we will try and write a bunch of words for each day for posterity. Right now we just have the highlights (listed as too long; didn’t read currently), so we will see if that ever changes. Here is a table of contents for you to skip ahead, if you so choose:

Table of Contents

Car Games

What would a road trip be without car games? We decided to start tracking state license plates as well as NFL/MLB teams (stickers/vanity plates/etc). We had to see them while driving, though, and not while parked.

The only additional thing we came up with was for the NFL/MLB teams. This was the concept of a Bingo (all teams in a division), Super Bingo (all teams in a conference), and a MEGA BINGO (all league teams).

Spoiler alert: Detroit fails us on a Bingo.

U.S State Tracker

Day 1, TN (4): Tennessee, Illinois, Florida, Wisconsin
Day 1, KY (12): Minnesota, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Ottawa**, Georgia, Missouri, Arizona, Kansas, DC*, Ohio
Day 1, MO (6): Nebraska, Mississippi, Texas, Alabama, Massachusetts, Washington
Day 2, MO (8): Oklahoma, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Indiana, Michigan, New York, Virginia
Day 2, OK (2): Cherokee+, Minnesota
Day 3, OK (6): Chickasaw+, California, Choctaw+, Colorado, New Mexico, Ontario**
Day 3, TX (3): Louisiana, Idaho, Nevada
Day 4, NM (3): Iowa, Oregon, Maryland
Day 4, AZ (0)
Day 5, AZ (0)
Day 6, AZ (1): North Dakota
Day 6, NV (0)
Day 6, UT (0)
Day 7, UT (1): Montana
Day 8, UT (1): Wyoming
Day 9, UT (2): Connecticut, Alaska
Day 10, CO (1): South Dakota
Day 11, CO (0)
Day 12, CO (0)
Day 12, KS (0)
Day 13, KS (0)
Day 13, MO (1): Hawaii
Day 13, KY (0)
Day 13, TN (0)

Total
45 US States
Missing: Delaware, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont

*Not technically a state… yet (1)
**Canadia! (2)
+Native American Nation (3)

Pro Team Tracker

NFL Teams
NFC North: Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings
NFC South: New Orleans Saints
NFC East: Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles, New York Giants
NFC West: Seattle Seahawks
AFC North: Pittsburgh Steelers
AFC South: Indianapolis Colts, Tennessee Titans
AFC East: New England Patriots
AFC West: Kansas City Chiefs, Arizona Cardinals, Denver Broncos

MLB Teams
AL Central: Chicago White Sox, Kansas City Royals
AL East: Boston Red Sox
AL West:
NL Central: St. Louis Cardinals
NL East:
NL West: Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies

Day 1: Nashville to St. Louis (via Cape Girardeau)

tl;dr
Drive to Cape Girardeau to meet up with Nate for lunch
Wait out the rain at Minglewood Brewery
Take pictures at the Arch
Check-in to hotel
Square One Brewery & Distillery for dinner
Ice cream at Clementine’s Naught & Nice Creamery
Drive through The Grove to look at murals
Drinks at Charleville Brewing Company

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Day 2: St. Louis to Tulsa (via Chouteau)

tl;dr
Ozarkland was closed.. BK was mad slow
Redmon’s Candy Factory & World’s Largest Gift Store
Nettie Ann’s Bakery & Amish Cheese House
Blue Whale of Catoosa
Savastano’s for Chicago style pizza
Largest High Five Ever
DECOPOLIS
Center of the Universe
The Max was closed 🙁
James E. McNellie’s

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Day 3: Tulsa to Albuquerque (via OKC/AMA)

tl;dr
Waffle Champion
Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum
Big Texan
Cadillac Ranch
Coyote Bluff Cafe

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Day 4: Albuquerque to Payson

tl;dr
Hot Air Balloon Ride!
Rudy’s BBQ
Petrified Forest National Park
The Tatman’s

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Day 5: Payson

tl;dr
The Tatman’s

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Day 6: Payson to St. George (via Vegas)

tl;dr
In-n-Out
Dirt Devil
Grand Canyon Skywalk
Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas
Nacho Daddy
Neon Museum

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Day 7: St. George to Spanish Fork

tl;dr
Zion National Park
Bryce Canyon National Park
Arctic Circle for ice cream

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Day 8: Spanish Fork to Salt Lake City (via Idaho?!)

tl;dr
Grocery store for snacks
Kneaders Bakery & Cafe
The Larsens
The Great Salt Lake State Park
Welcome to Idaho
Mtn West Cidery

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Day 9: Salt Lake City to Moab

tl;dr
Arches National Park
Eddie McStiff’s

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Day 10: Moab to Vail

tl;dr
Gondola One
44 North Huckleberry Vodka!
Westside Cafe & Market

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Day 11: Vail to Denver (via Ft. Collins/Longmont)

tl;dr
Westside Cafe & Market
O’Dell Brewing Company
St. Vrain Cidery
Left Hand Brewing
“COVID” Kyle’s House
Mici Handcrafted Italian

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Day 12: Denver to Wichita

tl;dr
Tacos Los Compas
Keeper of the Plains
The Anchor 🙁
The Harlows
Bricktown Brewery

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Day 13: Wichita to Nashville

tl;dr
Casey’s General Store
ALL OF THE DRIVING.

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Photo Album

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