This was the longest trip we have taken to date. A total of 40 days. We drove to St. Joseph in 3 days and stayed at an Airbnb for 30 days. Our return trip was a week and a half with sightseeing stops in Texas and Arizona. We wanted to try and live in a colder environment for a short period of time to see if that was a possibility for us in the future. And by cold, I mean 20’s to 40’s cold, not Montana cold of single digits or lower. Been there, done that, and got the sweatshirt. Several years ago we spent the new year with our now famous Aunt Barbara in Montana. On New Year’s day, it was zero degrees with a wind chill of -18 degrees. I could do Montana cold again, but Cindy made it very clear she has no desire to ever do that again.
Days 1, 2, and 3
These were our travel days to St. Joseph. Our original plan was to take the I-40 from California all the way to Oklahoma, before heading north to St. Joseph. This is the fastest way and takes around 26 hours. However, a cold front moved through northern Arizona and New Mexico causing unsafe roads and car accidents. Not wanting to be any part of that, we changed our route and took the I-10 through southern Arizona and New Mexico. The trip took an extra 3 hours, but we did not hit any bad weather, so it was well worth it.
Here is a trick I use when traveling long distances over several days. Always make the first day the longest driving day, and decrease the number of driving hours every day. It makes a really long drive more tolerable. This has worked well for us. Other people I have told about this have tried it and said it worked for them too. This trip was no exception to that rule.
Day 1 saw us drive from our home in California, across the I-10 through southern Arizona and New Mexico, ending the first night in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Our drive time was a brutal 11 1/2 hours. And as you already know, this would be the longest driving day of the trip. Because of our route change, we did not encounter any bad weather.
Day 2 was a 9 1/2 hour drive from Las Cruces, New Mexico, to Elk City, Oklahoma. For those of you counting, that is two hours less than day 1. We started by driving north through eastern New Mexico for four hours. There were some interesting areas along the way, such as White Sands National Monument, and Alamagordo. There were also hours of driving through unpopulated areas. We stopped for lunch in Santa Rosa, New Mexico, which would put us back on the I-40 toward Oklahoma. Since New Mexico took such a hard hit from Covid, their restaurants were open, but only for outdoor dining. We ate on the patio at Silver Moon Café, where it was in the low 40’s and a little breezy.
I didn’t mind the temperature, but Cindy did.
After a very good meal, we were back on the road.
As we left New Mexico and entered Texas, we saw the New Mexico exit sign. Most state exit signs are very simple and usually just say, “You are leaving <insert state name here>.” This was the most elaborate exit sign I have ever seen. Why are they so happy you are leaving?
So it was on to Texas, which has added , “If you are from California, please turn around now,” to a small white sign beneath the main sign. It is blurry here, but trust me, that is what it says.
Luckily, we were driving across the panhandle area of Texas. That meant only about a 2 1/2 hour drive to get to Oklahoma. The bad news was we drove through Amarillo around 2 pm, which was too late for lunch and too early for dinner. That meant I did not get to stop at my favorite restaurant of all time, The Big Texan. Now I know what your thinking. Couldn’t we just have a snack and have a late lunch or early dinner? Oh no, what is wrong with you. Breakfast is when you wake up, lunch is between 11 am and 1 pm, and dinner is between 5 and 7 pm. But I’m sure you already knew that. So I had to miss out on The Big Texan this trip. That’s ok. I will be back.
As we approached the Oklahoma border, there was a beautiful sunset.
We made it to our hotel in Elk City, ate dinner, and got some shut eye.
Day 3 was the final push to St. Joseph. This last leg was an 8 hour drive north. We decided to drive mostly through Kansas and ended up on the Kansas Turnpike. We drove the entire 236 miles of the turnpike and paid a $15 toll at the end. Ouch. That was the most we have ever paid for a toll. We ended up at our Airbnb while it was still light and got ourselves settled in. Our place was an upstairs unit, 2 bedroom, 1 bath, that had a washer and dryer in the kitchen. Here is what it looked like from the front.
The rear yard backed up to an open park like area.
This was to be our home away from home for the next 30 days.
The next entry will be our first week in St. Joseph. Spoiler alert, we wanted to experience some cold weather and got more than we bargained for.