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My wife and I will be taking two weeks and driving from Pittsburgh to Vegas and back and would like to share our trip with everyone. We started a Google Map of the trip and will update it along the way. You can see the start of it HERE.We hope you enjoy it. We leave June 29th.
Welcome to the RTA Forum!
We wish you well and look forward to hearing more about your trip.
One note, please give us updates on the forum, and don't just expect people to visit your site.
Thanks.
Have a wonderful trip you two! Can't wait to see all of the updates! Stay safe and talk to you soon!
Thanks, the day is finally here. We both had a hard time sleeping last night. Too many thoughts in our heads. Kim worked half a day today so we should be on the road about 2:00pm. The truck is packed and filled up with gas at $2.99 a gallon. Not much going on today, just driving. The weather looks good going out so we should have a good long drive.
Have a great trip. Look forward to reading your updates on this thread as your journey progresses!
We finally got to Davenport Iowa. We left home at 2:45pm and got to our hotel at 1:30am. It took almost 11 hours to get here. The only trouble we had was in Ohio. There was a accident so they had us getting off 80 and taking a detour. It took us 45 minutes to get back on 80. Other than that is was just a long day of driving. No sights to see. Tomorrow is another long day of driving then the fun begins. We filled up with gas twice. It was $2.99 in Ohio and $2.98 in Illinois.
Have to love the price of gas. You will be a pauper when you get back home buddy!
Loving the updates. Keep in touch!
We left the hotel in Davenport and had to find a Best Buy. Our digital camera stopped working yesterday so we had to buy a new one. We finally got on 80 at 11:00am. There wasn't much to see again today. Just a very long drive. We got gas for $2.99, and $3.29 today. We stopped a hour for supper then a half hour to see the first Pony Express Station in Gothenburg Nebraska. It was built on the Oregon Trail and donated and moved to Gothenburg and restored. That was the only sightseeing today. We drove to Brush Colorado and got a hotel at 11:15pm. It was a very long day. Tomorrow the sightseeing really begins.
Cant wait to see some pictures. Hope you guys are having a blast.
Miss ya and can't wait to hear all about it when you get home.
Next stop is Vegas?
We left the hotel in Brush about 7:00am and drove to the Pikes Peak Cog Railway in Manitou Colorado. We had reservations for the 10:40 train. If you know when you are going, it would be a good idea to make reservations. The trip up to Pikes Peak takes about one hour and fifteen minutes. There are a lot of very nice sights to see on the way up. The seats face each other and we were in the seats with our backs facing up the hill. It was a little tough taking pictures facing that way so if you go, make sure you tell them you want to sit facing up the hill. It was in the low 90's at the bottom of the hill and when we got to the top it was only 45. We had long sleeve shirts with us so we were ok. You are only up at the top for half an hour or so. There are no bathrooms on the train and you are not allowed to eat on it. We bought a box lunch they sold at the bottom to eat at the top and that was a mistake. Make sure you eat before you get on the train. There is not enough time at the top to eat, shop and take pictures. When you get to the top everyone runs to the bathroom then does some shopping. It gets pretty crowded inside. By the time you eat, there isn't much time for pictures. The view from the top is awsome. Well worth the trip up. It was $32 a person at this time of year. We both did get altitude sickness though. We never though it would bother us but we were pretty bad. I though for sure I was going to pass out. The more I tried to breathe in, the dizzier (is that a word?) I got. They tell everyone to drink water to help it so we did and we got better before going back down. The whole trip was about three hours. We had a great time.
We left there about 2:30 and drove back towards Denver. We got on 70 and stopped to see Buffalo Bills grave. It is only about 5 miles off the exit. There are some good views of Denver from there also. The trip down the backside of the mountain coming out of Denver was beautiful. We even got to see some big horn sheep standing by the road. We stopped at Vail to get gas and it was $3.57 a gallon. We finally got to our hotel in Frutia Colorado about 9:00.
The Pikes Peak Railway sounds fun! But I would have to drive up if it were me... Check this video out! :D
Craig, that video is crazy. They talked about the people that raced up the hill and some of the speeds they do it at on our train ride, amazing stuff.
We left Fruita at 10:00, got back on 70 and drove to Arches National Park in Utah. It is about half an hour south of 70. We got there around noon and drove all over the park. It was 102 today. We walked around some trails and took a lot of pictures. The park is a must see if you are ever out this way. It is amazing the way the wind cuts through the rocks to make the arches. We left the park at 4:00 and got back on 70. The drive on 70 over the mountains in Utah is another beautiful drive. Just make sure you have enough gas and read the signs because there is one section where there are no service stations for 110 miles. They have signs warning you so make sure you read them. We drove 70 to 15 and got a hotel in Mesquite Nevada. It took us six hours to get to Mesquite from Arches. The speed limits have been 75 in most of the places since we got to Nebraska. Todays gas prices were $3.37 and $3.23.
I am loving this site, I feel as if I'm on vacation with you. Great pics, I did get all of them, keep them coming. Best of luck to you in vegas and your journey home. Buy me a Vegas tie-dye shirt and I will pay ya when I see ya. My other one is kind of old. Thanks
Char
Char, we will get it for you.
Not much time to write now, (we are in Vegas, what did you expect). After we left Mesquite we drove a little over two hours to Rachael Nevada. It is close to Area 51. We had lunch there and talked to some locals. They had some good stories to tell. We stayed a couple hours then drove to Vegas. It took about 2 1/2 hours to get there. We are staying at Harrahs this trip. Nice place but the room is a little small. Last night about 3:00am the guys across the hall had about five security guards outside their door and they kicked two people out. They stayed there while they packed their bags and left. It was pretty funny. We are going to be hanging out at the World Series of Poker tomorrow most of the day trying to meet some more pros. They are always nice about taking pictures with them. That is about all for now, we are at the Excalibur Casino using the Krispy Kreme free Internet. We didn't want to pay at our hotel. We won't be back on here until Friday evening.
Shirt? Who said something about a shirt???
We are in Tucson tonight. It took seven hours to get here from Vegas. We had a great time in Vegas and didn't want to leave but we have some more sights to see. I can't tell you everything we did in Vegas (you know the saying, What Happens in Vegas....) but we were busy. We went swimming and gambled a little. We left some money here but will pick it up when we come back out for New Years. We went to the Rio Casino to see the World Series of Poker and spent all day Thursday there. We got to meet a few pros and got our pictures taken with them. There was a big celebrity poker tournament going on called Ante Up For Africa. We hung out there and got to see a lot of big stars and poker pros. You can see a picture on our Google Map. They tied a record high temp of 116 yesterday. You have to drink a lot of water because you don't sweat. By the time you are thirsty, it is tooooo late. It was a very nice drive to Tucson today. We got to see our first big catus and a lot of joshua trees. So far we went a little over 3000 miles, used 153 gallons of gas and spent $486 on that gas. We are getting about 20 miles a gallon. The wind is very strong out here and we are fighting it a lot. The truck has been running great but it is time for a oil change already. Another busy day is planned for tomorrow.
Loving the updates! Keep them coming. Where is the next stop?
We left the hotel in Tuscon and drove to Saguaro National Park. There is a six mile loop around the park that you drive on. You get to see all different kind of cactus. Our favorite were the big ones that look like people. We left there and drove to Tombstone. This is the town where the Gunfight at O.K. Corral took place. There are some streets that they have blocked off and they have it looking just like it used to be in the old days. The people here are all dressed up in the old outfits. They put on a good show about the gunfight itself. We left there and stopped at Boot Hill Graveyard. There are more than 250 graves here from 1878. They give you a paper when you go in and tells you how most of the people here died. We left here and started driving toward San Antonio. We drove through a huge dust storm in New Mexico. You could see it for miles before we got to it. The wind was blowing very hard and it was hard to see. There were signs on the road warning about possible dust storms ahead and they weren't kidding. After a nine hour drive we stopped at a small town in Texas called Fort Stockton. We were both very tired. We got up this morning at 7:30am and stopped at the hotel at 11:45pm. We also lost two hours on the way here so it was actually 1:45 when we finally checked in to the hotel. We went straight to bed.
We only had a 4 1/2 hour drive to San Antonio today so after yesterday that was a easy drive. We went to the Alamo in downtown and walked around. There is a lot of history here. You can't take pictures inside it though. Then we walked to the Riverwalk. It is a area that is all below street level. The river runs through downtown and there is a walkway on both sides of it. It is very clean and there are shops and restaurants on both sides. We took a boat ride all around it and the guide talked about everything there was to see. The ride around the whole Riverwalk took almost 45 minutes. Once a year they close the flood gates and drain the water and find all kind of things in it. The number one thing they find is silverware from the restaurants. The Alamo is number one and the Riverwalk is number two of the most visited places to see in Texas. We spent the afternoon downtown then got a room about five minutes from downtown. Tomorrow we drive to New Orleans. We might not be back on here for a day or so.
I am finding the reports very interesting, keep it up!
The Cog Railway is something I've always wanted to do.
Wasn't there a story when they switched over from steam, the 1000 hp Diesels hadn't enough power like a 1000 HP steam engine?
My dad rolled his VOLVO coming down Pike peak once.
No injuries. Just a junked Volvo.
Family is still sore at me because I thought it was so funny of the thought of dad streaming down the road at 60 mph upside down sliding on the roof of his car, Scottish power stickers all over the bumpers.
Can't help it,, it cracks me up.
You're a bad man..! :) But the thought is mildly amusing... he gave the Volvo a good send off at least!
July 9th. We left San Antonio about 10:00am and did nothing but drive 9 hours to get to New Orleans at 7:00pm. There wasn't much to see along the way. We checked into the hotel. It was half a block from Bourbon Street. There is no parking here so we had to drop the truck off at a garage about four blocks away and it will stay there until we leave. They charge $20 a day for the hotel parking there. We walked around Bourbon St. for the first time. They block it off every night and everyone pours into the streets. It was pretty crowded. There are a lot of bars and adult clubs on both sided of the street. There are a lot of people here now, we can't imagine what it looks like for Mardi Gras. We walked around for a while then went to bed.
July 10th. This morning we walked to Harrah's Casino and played a little bit. Then we took a Gray Line bus tour of the city and saw the Hurricane Katrina destruction. It has been almost two years since the hurricane hit and there are still a lot of places that haven't been touched. It was very sad to see. They are starting to build back up some things but it is going to take years to get back to normal. The rest of the day was spent walking around town and doing some shopping. We went back to the casino for a little then back to Bourbon St. and walked around for a while one more time. We went back to the room and packed. We only have about a five hour drive tomorrow.
We left New Orleans this morning and headed toward Florida. We decided to make a stop at Biloxi Mississippi. We drove along the Gulf Coast and they are still wiped out from the hurricane too. What a sight to see. The Hard Rock Casino just opened a couple weeks ago so we decided to stop in there for a little bit. Then we drove the rest of the way to Panama City Beach. We have a hotel right on the beach. It has a nice private balcony and we have a great view. We are here until Friday when we start heading home. It will be nice to ralax a little bit for a day or so.
Hello,
It sure looks like you are both having a Great time with traveling. Also, I finally got to view the 18 photos that was posted. I was having some difficulty in viewing but finally figured it out. Can't wait to see the other photo's you both took while on your Journey. Have a Great time and a Safe trip home. Hope to see some photos' via my email when you both arrive home safely.
Love your sis,
Julie
Hey there yenz toursits,
I finally got my computer up and running AGAIN! Glad to hear yenz are finally relaxing after all that driving across country. Can't wait to see all the pics, and get my shirt...LOL Well c-ya in a few days.
Enjoy and happy traveling.
char
Yeserday in Panama City Beach we drove to St Andrews State Park and spent the morning dong some snorkeling. They had some jeddies there and they worked very good to keep the water pretty calm. We got to see some smaller fish and a crab. We had lunch there then went back to our hotel and swam outside our room in the afternoon. We got cleaned up and drove around the area and had supper. We played some mini golf and Kim won then we went back to our hotel for the evening.
Today we left Florida at 8:20am. We hit some traffic around Atlanta then some more traffic when we got into South Carolina. We took a break for an hour to have supper then drove the rest of the way to Statesville North Carolina. We checked into a hotel about 8:00pm. It was a 12 hour day on the road. This will be our last night on the road. We are about 7 hours from home so we will be there tomorrow afternoon. I will put some stats from the trip here when we get home and I will post more pictures on our Google Map.
Sorry to hear your trip's nearly over, I've enjoyed your musings. That dawning reality as you near the end of the trip is horrible, isn't it? I usually start sulking about three days before I'm due to fly home -- can't help it, I tell myself not to be so stupid but it doesn't seem to help! The only way I have found is to have another trip planned that I can look forward to as the end of the current trip nears...
Look forward to your end of trip report and maybe some photos too?
One cold, February morning we crawled into Davenport in the middle of a huge ice storm -- very scenic and very scary -- I-80 at 15 mph for 10+ hours!Quote:
Originally Posted by Mindcrime
Great tips about Pikes Peak Cogway!Quote:
The trip up to Pikes Peak takes about one hour and fifteen minutes. There are a lot of very nice sights to see on the way up. The seats face each other and we were in the seats with our backs facing up the hill. It was a little tough taking pictures facing that way so if you go, make sure you tell them you want to sit facing up the hill.
Mark
I am writing this on the 15th because we didn't have time yesterday to write after we got home. Yesterday we left North Carolina and drove straight home. It took us about 6 1/2 hours to get back. Like Craig said, getting to the end of the trip is no fun at all. We are tired but if we had more money and a couple more weeks off we could have went on. Driving all those hours on the road wasn't very bad at all. Kim and I had no problem spending all that time together. Long roadtrips are a lot of fun. Everyone should make time to do it at least once in their lives. Now it is back to work to make more money for another trip. We have New Years in Vegas to look forward to now. In fact, we left some money out there this time in some machines so we will pick in up with interest when we go back out. We kept a spreadsheet on the trip so here are a few of the stats for you.
Miles - 6,055
Miles Kim drove - 0
Gallons of gas used - 309
Price paid for all the gas - $955.00
Miles per gallon - 19.56
Most expensive gas - Vail Colorado - $3.37 per gallon
Cheapest gas - Tucson Arizona - $2.75
Speeding tickets - 0
States drove through - 20
Spending 24 hours a day for 16 days together - Priceless!
Today we watched two of the six video tapes we recorded. We bought a HD video camera before we left and was the best thing we could have bought for this trip. Watching the video in HD on the big screen makes you feel like you are there all over again. I want to thank everyone for reading about our trip. We had fun writing it while we were gone. We will be posting more pictures in a couple days on our Google Map page. You can find the link in the first thread. If I think of anything else in the coming days I will post it here.
Take care everyone.
Mark and Kim
Mark and Kim,
Thanks for letting us travel along with you. You already live in one of my favorite cities in America.
Great tips!
Mark