TBT: a drive cross country

It's hard to imagine, but 10 years ago I moved to Los Angeles with my husband (then boyfriend). We loaded whatever would fit into our 2000 Honda Civic and went. I still remember the trip vividly. Here is my travel log:

August 1, 2004: move to LA what a day! Vermont to Niagara Falls, Buffalo New York. 3:00 car broke down in Mohawk New York.  Exhaust pipe dragging on the highway. "Mark" helped us temporarily fix car in a Walmart parking lot with metal wire. Sunday, no mechanics around. Traffic jam at 7:20 PM. Made it to Niagara! Fireworks over the falls.

August 2, 2014: 8:30 AM car fixed, Hooray! Niagara Falls, Maid of the Mist, fun and wet. 

Lunch at Hard Rock Cafe. Drove through New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, started into Indiana.

August 3, 2004: had breakfast in Elkhart, Indiana. Drove all day no lunch stop. Went to Indiana, Illinois, Iowa. Would have made it into Nebraska severe thunderstorms. Met travelers in glass gas station from West Coast and bound for Chicago and Vermont. Everyone stuck because of rain. 

August 4, 2004: spent last night in seedy motel in Underwood, Iowa. Got up early. Drove through Nebraska, on to Denver, Colorado. Arrive before dark for once! Now in mountain time. Was flat at first after entering Colorado. Rocky Mountains suddenly appeared. Went to downtown. All hotels booked due to convention. Had dinner at Jax, went to Rockies Cubs game at Coors Field. Pretty sunset in Stadium. Cubs won, we left early and searched for hotel. Stayed at Mountain High Inn.

August 5, 2014: woke up, had breakfast. Drove on I-70 W through Rockies. SCARY, big down hills. Stopped in Vail for gas $2.25! Went through gorgeous canyon by Colorado River. Lots of tunnels the mountains, highway flatter now, mountains farther in distance. Utah, Arches National Park - beautiful! thunderstorm on our way out, luckily it went east not west with us. Drove through 100 miles of nowhere. Dark, felt anxious, low on gas. Finally hit civilization again around 10 PM.

August 6, 2004:  9 more hours to Santa Monica. Drove 30 miles through twisted, burnt canyons in Arizona, then California desert.  Drove through Las Vegas, didn't stop. Huge scary freeways in LA! Got to Santa Monica, weather was cool. Hotels booked, stayed at Santa Monica motel. Our new home in California!

*****

I think it's funny how $2.25 gas in Colorado seemed really expensive at the time.

Our picture taking was more limited because we only had a camera that used film. The "modern" drop-in kind! We did have a flip cell phone.

We lived at the Santa Monica motel for a week before finding an apartment. I worked for a year before going to grad school my husband started right away at law school.