I have been dreaming of a multi-day, cross-country road trip for YEARS. When Cody and I decided to move to California, I knew this was what I had been waiting for! I spent endless hours planning our route, stops, and even restaurants to chow down at. We spent 10 days traversing this beautiful country, and I can’t wait to share allll of my favorite details with you! This post includes photos and stories from New Hampshire to Colorado, as I decided to break the trip up into a few posts.
DAY ONE // On a cool July morning, I woke up with the sun, and did some last minute packing. A couple hours later Cody and I said our final goodbyes before we drove away from my childhood home, and left New Hampshire. It was such a beautiful and bittersweet day to leave New England. The sun was out, there was a crisp breeze, and clouds were dancing through the sky.
We spent the first several minutes inquiring about our shaky trailer dragging behind, but eventually settled into a new state of comfortability.
We arrived at our campsite in New York around dinnertime, and were pleasantly surprised. It was at the top of a hill, overlooking an amusement park. We were one of the only campers, and it felt like we had the whole place to ourselves. We set up our campsite, made ham sandwiches (which we would grow VERY accustomed to eating over the next several days), and then wandered out to watch the sunset.
DAY TWO // The weather report predicted rain around 7am, but unfortunately, around 4:30am, we woke to the sound of booming thunder and intense lightening accompanied by pouring rain. We scrambled around cleaning up our campsite and then headed an hour west to Niagara Falls. I had been to the Canadian side as a child with my family, but the American side was just as wonderful.
We wandered around for a couple hours, enjoying the emptiness of an early morning visit, and then set our sights on Ohio. Before reaching our final destination for the day, we stopped at White Turkey, THE MOST darling drive-in diner.
Only about an hour further and we were arrived at our campsite (a Christmas tree farm) in Peninsula, Ohio, in the middle of Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Before we could stake down our tent, the wind picked it up and floated it up over our heads and down the hill, adding a good laugh to our day. It was wicked hot and humid, but we spent the rest of the day in the woods, enjoying the park.
DAY THREE // Our longest day, and somehow one of the days I hold most dear. We left Ohio before the sun rose, around 5am. We drove 15 hours that day, stopping like clockwork every three hours to get gas and switch driving. We drove west along I-80 all day long, and encountered more construction than I would like to remember.
A blurry early morning scene from I-80 W / Ohio
Our first stop was for gas and snacks in Indiana. Then we stopped in Illinois and indulged in some greasy Steak ‘n Shake before continuing along to Iowa.
After making it across Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, we escaped most of the HORRIBLE construction and stress!! We stopped in Le Claire, Iowa, the first town over the border, right along the Mississippi River. We wandered into Antique Archaeology, the store from the show American Pickers. We absolutely fell in love with this sweet little town on the river.
We spent the rest of our day driving through the rolling green hills of Iowa, scattered with windmills. SO LOVELY. We stopped once more in Iowa before arriving at Lake Anita State Park, just before sunset.
DAY FOUR // Relief was in sight as we set off to our friends house in Colorado. We continued through Iowa along I-80, to Nebraska, and eventually to Colorado.
What we didn’t expect, was that eastern Colorado was flat and scattered with livestock. A few hours deep in Colorado, and we finally caught sight of the Rocky Mountains, just before it started to get stormy.
We arrived at our friends house to be greeted by their two adorable children AND my beautiful sister! We spent many hours chatting, followed by the comfort of a real bed. A wonderful day, indeed.
Andddd, that is all for now friends!