Williams’s family trip report:

Introduction: Several years ago my wife and I decided to plan a big cross-country trip. We planned the trip for the year 2000 for 2 good reasons. First that is the year of my high school 20-year class reunion from Waldport. Second our kids would be old enough to remember and enjoy seeing all of America.

We originally planned to travel Amtrak and buy some of their "See America" passes. This idea was changed to driving our own vehicle. So with that said, here is the low down on what a 1996 Mazda MPV loaded with a bunch of hicks saw as they crossed the country.

I also had a plan to stop at as many brewpubs as possible around the country. Due to travel fatigue I have only done a little one-line mini review on each of the beers I encountered. Most pubs were selected by how close they were to the Interstate or where we were staying for the night.

Day 1, Friday, July 14: After months of planning and preparing we packed the car, locked the house, and headed down the road. We pulled out of our driveway in Harvest, Alabama around 8:00 am and headed North on I65. The odometer on the van was reading 67,002.

Our goal for day 1 was to tour the St. Louis Arch. We arrived at the Arch around 3:00 PM. Parking is right along the Mississippi River. I mean you park right on the sloped bank of the river. Parking availability changes as the water rises and falls. The Arch has a great free museum to check out as you wait for the tour. The tram ride up the arch is an experience. We got into a little washtub-sized car that would fit 5 thin people in a friendly way. Then up we went. The view is more than I imagined. This might be the coolest man made thing I’ve ever seen.

Dinner that night was at The St. Louis Brewery and taproom. They had no kid menu. That put us off a bit. I ordered a sampler tray of their beers and received six choices.

Pale Ale – Butter, liquid butter. Pass the popcorn please.

American wheat – OK if you like this style.

Hefe – Cloudy and spicy, not too much of the banana and clove flavors. I like it.

Pils – This one was right on the money. Very crisp and refreshing.

Kolsh – This tasted like the pils with a bit more malt body to it.

Stout – Another typical brewpub stout. Good, but normal.

None of the beers were over carbonated, and only the Pale seamed flawed.

The food was great. I’ve never been to a brewpub that had anything other than great food. They need a kid menu, though. The overall feel of the place was like folks came to be seen here. Had a standup bar in the middle with guys smoking big cigars and acting cool. This was also our first taste of how other places in the country can ruin sweet tea.

After dinner we drove on to Warrenton, MO and checked into a Motel 6.

Total miles for day 1: 472.1

Gas prices for the day:

Williams Express, Springfield, TN: $1.63 for unleaded Plus.

Citgo, Benton, IL: $1.58 for unleaded Plus.

Day 2, Saturday, July 15: Before this trip started I had informed my family that there would be only 2 days that we didn’t have any sights to see or events planned. And that both those days would be long hard driving days. The good news is there were only 2, the bad news was that day 2 was one of them! With that said…

We checked out of the Motel 6 very early and headed west. The only event all day was someplace around the Kansas/Colorado border we started tracking a very large dust devil moving across a field. We could tell by the movement that it would cross the Interstate at about the same time we drove by it. The thing was huge; at least 3 lanes wide and we hit it straight on. I thought the van was going to tip over when the wind it us. The kids loved it.

We hit Denver and discovered we had gained an hour and were now on Mountain Time. Also the drive into Denver is awesome. It’s like we were driving across an absolutely flat world and on the other side of the city the mountains rise like a wall. No gradual foot hills. Just a wall of mountains. We checked into a Motel 6 on the north side of Denver and went to dinner.

Dinner that night was at CB Potts Brewery. The place was packed and had a very fun, family atmosphere. They even had a girl that went from table to table making balloon animals for the kids. The sampler tray was a pick 4 kind of deal. I ordered a Bock, Amber, Red, and Porter. They had no brown or Stout on the list. The waitress brought out my beers and got confused about what was what. She sat them down and I had to taste and figure out which beer was which. It was sort of fun game, like a blind taste test. I had very high expectations after all I’ve heard about how great a beer Mecca that Denver is.

Bock – A good malty lager.

Amber – I guess this would be a good beer for those that don’t like beer.

Red – tasted of apricots and grapefruit. The best beer in two days and two brewpubs.

Porter – Roasty and toasty.

Once again the food was great. My daughter was a bit put out by the beer cheese soup. This is her favorite dish at brewpubs. Theirs tasted like a good creamed potato soup with some cheese added. I traded her my bowl of chili and all was well.

Gas prices for the day:

Conoco, Boonville, MO: $1.59 for unleaded Plus.

Conoco, Kansas Turnpike west of K.C.: $1.50 for super unleaded.

Total, Hayes, KS: $1.69 for unleaded.

AmPride, Stratton, CO: $1.75 for unleaded Plus.

Total miles for day 2: 811

Day 3, Sunday, July 16: We left Denver/Thorton Motel 6 and headed north for Cheyenne, WY. At Cheyenne we stopped at gas station to fuel up and pee out. When the car doors opened we got out first taste of how cold and how far from home we were. Ouch! Next we stopped at the Lincoln Memorial along the interstate in WY and let the kids run around a bit. Outside of Rawlins, WY we stopped at a rest area and had a nice little picnic lunch. The drive up to Jackson, WY is one beautiful piece of road. Lots of animals to see and wonderful scenery. We checked in to the Virginian Lodge in Jackson. This is a very nice place. If we ever go back it will be our first choice.

Dinner for day 3 was at Snake River Brewing Company. I was in the mood for stout. My blood needed the fortification. They just happened to have a cask conditioned stout on that day, so I ordered a pint. All I can say is move over Guinness. I didn’t think it could happen but I now have a new stout from which all others will be judged. It was smooth and creamy and I didn’t think a beer could taste that good. So of course I ordered a second pint just to be sure. I was thinking of maybe giving them a third chance but Amy stepped in and cut me off. While eating I met a family from Huntsville, AL. We talked and soon had a table from Oregon and another from Texas joining in. It was a nice 4-table conversation of tourists. The menu was very trendy and upscale. The food was as great as we expected. The local crowd seamed to be young people and not many of the local girls had on bras (OH MY!).

Over all Jackson is one of those towns that are just down right clean and nice. I wish we could have stayed longer. My kids spotted a Ripley’s Believe it or not museum and of course we had to go. Then we walked around the downtown area till dark. Once again, this was a very clean, and very safe feeling town.

Gas prices for day 3:

Total, Cheyenne, WY: $1.75 for premium unleaded.

Conoco, Rawlins, WY: $1.67 for unleaded Plus.

Total miles traveled on day 3: 515.3

Day 4, Monday, July 17: We checked out of the Virginian Lodge very early to get a good start on our Yellowstone Park adventure. It was raining hard. A very cold rain, too. It rained on us all the way into the park. First stop was Old Faithful. The rain had slowed up to a drizzle but it was still very cold. That had all the Geysers putting out huge amounts of steam. The place was cloaked in the steam and fog. We sat and watched old faithful in the rain along with a large crowd, then walked around and looked at all the other stuff in that area. Took way to many pictures and video. Finally we decided to hit the car and drive around till the weather cleared off. We then drove to Fire Lake. Now this was a neat Geyser. There were two little geysers on the lake that the kids found very entertaining. I think the one was called "Young Hopeful". The geyser behind that would go up 6’ or so then down, then right back up again. We all decided that this was our favorite water feature that we saw while in the park. No waiting, no crowds. Just a bubbling and spewing hole in the lake. We then drove up towards Norris and cut east along the Gibbon River. What a nice drive. The road winds along the water then opens up into great meadows. We got caught in a traffic jam as some Buffalo had picked the meadow as a good place for an after lunch nap. They were just 20 yards off the road. I think they did it just to watch us stupid humans pile up our cars and take millions of pictures. We then drove around to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. Wow. I didn’t expect that. Now that is a major slice of heaven right there. After that we checked out the mud volcano but I guess all the rain of that morning and the night before had things not to muddy. More like dirty water volcano. The road then opened up into an even bigger meadow and once again we were caught in a huge animal related jam. I swear those Buffalo have a twisted sense of humor. We drove around the lake and checked into Grant Village. These were very clean modern rooms but they have no TV, or even radio. So it was a great chance for us to catch up on postcards home. We had dinner at Grant Village. It was a nice restaurant with a killer view of the lake. A big lightning, thunder, and hail storm hit during dinner. Man the rain is cold in Wyoming. Nothing like July rain in Alabama.

Gas prices for day 4:

Conoco, Jackson, WY: $1.75 for unleaded Plus.

Conoco, Grant Village, WY: $1.75 for unleaded.

Total miles traveled on day 4: 193.4

Day 5, Tuesday, July 18: Check out of Grant Village right at sun-up and drove towards the west entrance and West Yellowstone, MT. We spotted several deer this morning. Then right before the west entrance we saw 2 big bull elk lying down in a field. It was still early and not any traffic so we stopped to take pictures. My stopping seamed to draw in other cars. Soon we had a mini traffic jam going. And through it all the elk sat there watching us.

The rest of the day involved hard driving to the west. We stopped at a McDonalds in LaGrande, OR with the intention of letting the kids play for a while. But the playground was closed, so we just did dinner and right back to the road. We drove hard and long all the way to The Dalles, OR and checked in Lone Pine Inn. This turned out to be one the nicest motels we stayed in on the trip. Right before the Interstate gets into the Columbia Gorge we passed miles of fields with trees that had a sign about some sort of Hybrid Poplar project. I’d love to hear some details on just what that was all about.

Funny for the day: I pulled into a Shell gas station in LaGrande. It was our first gas stop in Oregon. I was just starting to unbuckle and get out when a kid pops up at my window. I screamed like woman, it startled me so. Durn them Oregonians and their lack of self-service!

Gas prices for day 5:

Texaco, Island Park, ID: $1.74 unleaded Plus.

Texaco, Desert Winds, ID: $1.79 unleaded Plus.

Shell, LaGrande, OR: $1.86 unleaded Plus.

Total miles traveled on day 5: 789.4

Day 6, Wednesday, July 19: Checked out of Lone Pine Inn and headed west.

First big stop was Multnoma Falls. What a sight. I hadn’t been there in over 20 years and it is still a beautiful place. It did me good to see my kids climbing the same trails I had climbed in my youth. Then we stopped by the Danner Boot factory outlet in Portland, OR but they just didn’t have the great deals that they had last time I was there, so I didn’t buy any boots. I can get just as good of a deal on Danner Boots from Bass Pro Shops and have them delivered to my back door. Oh well… Then we crossed over into Vancouver, WA and stopped at my sisters house but she was not around so off we went up I5 to Longview and then passed back over into Oregon. We drove down to Astoria and climbed the tower. Once again I was retracing steps of my youth. The only thing that made Amy fuss more than climbing it was the trip back down.

We started down Hwy. 101 and stopped in Seaside for lunch. Then the long slow drive to Yachats. Had one stop at the Walmart in Newport to turn in several rolls of film then we cruised main street in Waldport a few times before heading south to Yachats where we checked into the Adobe Resort. They have really remodeled the Adobe into a first class place to stay on the coast. My kids headed straight for the rocks to climb on and get wet playing in tide pools.

Dinner was at the Yachats Crab & Chowder House. This used to be Riverview Inn. Food was very good, but also pricey. They had Pelican Doryman Dark on tap so I had me a pint. It was good dark ale, but the best thing about it was that later it gave me the nicest little hop burps. Just little reminders of a good dark ale.

Gas prices for day 6:

Union 76, The Dalles, OR: $1.91 unleaded Plus.

Town Gas, Taft, OR: $1.75 unleaded Plus.

Total miles traveled on day 6: 368.7

Day 7, Thursday, July 20: On this day in history, 1984, my wife and I were married. So all day as we did stuff we would call it our anniversary this or that. So first thing I went to a little bakery in Yachats (On The Rise Bakery) and bought some Maple Bars and a Mocha Latte for Amy. Did I mention Maple Bars? Trust me, you can travel around the world and never find a doughnut as good as the Maple Bars in Waldport and Yachats. Something about the water I guess. My mouth waters just thinking about it. Anyway, between the doughnuts and getting everyone up I managed to get all our laundry caught up. Then we took a nice walk on the beach and rocks. Then we loaded up into the car and headed north. First stop was at Sea Gulch in Seal Rock. This is the original chain saw carving place on the coast. We talked to an old school friend of mine for about an hour then went to Newport. Amy wanted Mo’s for lunch. The tourists had a line out in front of that place so I took her across the street to Mo’s Annex. Same food. No lines. Mo’s does make the best clam chowder ever. This is not opinion. Just fact. I had a Rogue Mo Ale with lunch, and of course it was good. Rogue doesn’t really do anything but good when it comes to beer.

Then we cruised the bayfront and did several tourist traps including Undersea gardens (which is still a sad little dirty aquarium), the Wax Museum, and Ripley’s Believe it or Not. We headed to Walmart to get our pictures then crossed the bridge into South Beach. We went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium. Now this is a first rate tourist trap. The kids loved it. We were there about 6:00 PM and the crowd was light. One of the volunteers told us that during the day it had been almost shoulder to shoulder crowds.

Dinner was at Rogue’s Brewers on the Bay Brewpub. Last time I was here this was the tasting room, but they added an upstairs restaurant. We walked in the door and then you just follow the taped arrows on the floor through the brewery to the back of the building.

First beer I had was the I2PA. What a great beer. I had expected a total hop assault but the beer was actually very balanced. Lots of malt in there smoothing things out. I purchased a few nips and can’t wait till it ages some. The second beer I had was the Hazelnut Brown. This beer made me both happy and sad. Happy because I had just tasted the best brown ever, and I love brown ales most of all. Sad because I will never, ever be able to brew this well. Most brewpubs I can leave feeling that I brew as well as them, but not at Rogue. It’s a homebrewers ego slam-dunk! Most brewpubs have great food and some beers that won’t offend the mega drinkers. Not Rogue. They have great food and then a large line-up of take no prisoners beer. I was truly in beer heaven. I left with a box containing a small collection of nips.

We then headed back to the Adobe and crashed.

Day 8, Friday, July 21: We headed for LeRoy’s Blue Whale for breakfast. This place used to be Del’s. Then we explored south down to Sea Lion Caves. Unfortunately all the Sea Lions were out of the cave on the rocks outside. Then we drove up to Cape Perpetua and walked the trails to the old sub watching station. Along the trails my kids got their first taste of Salmon Berries. I miss those little orange treats. We then headed to Waldport and drove up the Alsea River 4 miles to and let the kids hang out with their cousins. We fished for trout and just had a good time.

Dinner that night was up river at Buck’s Ranch House. This was also the starting festivity for my 20-year class reunion. A good time was had by all, I think. I might have drunk just a few too many beers, but that is what happens in Wildport.

Day 9, Saturday, July 22: Man, somebody must have hit me in the head. My skull is pounding, and I might have been poisoned, as my stomach is very upset. I’m sure this has nothing to do with all the beer that I drank the night before. We headed back to Waldport and had breakfast at Dan O’s. Well, Amy and the kids ate, but for some reason I wasn’t feeling to hungry. Then over to the High school for round two of the reunion. This was a see the school and walk the halls sort of thing. After that we headed back for the Adobe so I could take a nap and nurse my wounds.

We did another family walk on the beach and rocks. Then Amy headed to Waldport to buy a couple of pizzas. The reunion was having a banquet at the Adobe and we got the pizzas so the kids could camp out in the room. And I’m here to tell you the pizza in Waldport is great! Expensive beyond all compare, but very good. The banquet at the Adobe was very well attended. And in class tradition, we managed to get kicked out of the room and sent to the bar before the night was over.

Day 10, Sunday, July 23: More laundry and then we headed up the Alsea about 21 miles for the final event of the reunion. It was a big family cook out and picnic. My kids had never been in river water that cold but they are troopers. The kids waded right in and played all day. I dove in and even managed to get Amy into the water. I don’t remember the water being that cold, but maybe 20 years in Alabama might have thinned my blood just a tiny bit. We said our good-byes to old friends and headed out.

Day 11, Monday, July 24: We checked out the Adobe and had our final Maple Bars and latte from the bakery. Did I mention how good the Maple Bars are? We then drove straight down 101. First stop was in Port Orford at a roadside Myrtlewood shop. Then we stopped at the prehistoric forest in Port Orford and let the kids run around looking at dinosaurs. We got stopped at the California boarder and asked about any fruit. Of course I lied and said I didn’t have any apples. But then, lies to a Californian don’t count. Then we headed into the Redwood Forest. Had to stop and take pictures of Paul Bunyon and Babe. Then we left 101 to cruise down the Avenue of the Giants. What a great piece of road this is. We stopped in a dark place with huge trees and walked along a trail and took to many pictures. Then we moved on and did all the other redwood things, like drive through a tree, drive on a tree, see the immortal tree, chimney tree, and the 2-story tree house built from a stump.

We made it down to Ukiah, CA as the sun was setting. There we checked into the Discovery Inn.

Dinner was at Ukiah Brewing Company. They had 5 taps. Two of there own (porter, and a brown), Anderson Valley Gold, Wolaver’s Brown, and IPA. The last two were totally organic brews. The sampler tray was FREE! Free beer is one sure way to get me liking a place. And the food was also good, but I noticed there were no fried pork products on the menu. What kind of place doesn’t server fried pork? Don’t they know I’m from Alabama? Amy was into the adventure of regional cuisine and ordered the eggplant and feta cheese pizza. Anyway, here are the brews.

Ukiah Porter- Not very dark. I could see through it. No hop flavor.

Ukiah Brown – even lighter than the porter. Light like a Pete’s Wicked Brown.

Anderson Valley Gold – This was one boring lawnmower beer.

Wolaver’s Brown – Another very light beer calling it’s self a brown. I need a Turbo Dog!

Wolaver’s IPA – Nice. Not a huge IPA but it had good fruity flavors. I had a pint.

Gas prices for day 11:

Texaco, Yachats, OR: $1.83 unleaded Plus.

Beacon Gas, Arcata, CA: $2.08 unleaded Plus !!!!!!!!!

Total miles for day 11: 461.0

Day 12, Tuesday, July 25: We checked out of the Discovery Inn and had breakfast at a place in the same parking lot. Then down the road we goes. We rubber necked for miles looking at the vineyards and wineries. Then we pulled out into the scenic overlook above the Golden Gate Bridge. After a round a pictures we crossed it. And nobody told me it was a toll bridge! What is this world coming to? After the Golden Gate Bridge we turned off into downtown SF and proceeded to get lost (on purpose). Every now and then we would get up high enough to see the Oakland Bridge and would head off that way. We kept tacking around till we finally made it. But along the way we saw many neat and even shocking things. We headed inland and said goodbye to the pacific coast.

In Pleasanton we stopped at an Albertson’s and bought some fried chicken to chew on as we scooted down the road. We had just pulled back up onto the freeway and were up to speed. I had a chicken leg in my hand and the cruise control on 75 mph. Then something very scary yet cool happened. Right in front of us and over 3 lanes to the right a truck locked up his wheels and the smoke started pouring off his tires. The truck behind him also started smoking tires, but that truck was loosing it. His back end started coming across lanes and closing the gap to us. I was waving my chicken bone shouting look, look, kids. The truck got completely sideways and started tire hopping and leaving the ground. We were exactly beside it and in the next lane when it lost the battle with gravity. Boom it went when it flipped over. It shook our mini-van and the kids squealed. All the while I was zipping along with a chicken bone in my hand. Amy got on our cell phone and tried to call 911, but a recorded voice in Spanish said something and then put us on hold. Oh well.

Right after that we got over near the turn off for I5 and hit a traffic jam. Things were stop and go for about an hour. We had inched our way up and in front of me things cleared up. I mean open road. I was just starting to hit the gas when a CHP car came screaming down the exit ramp in reverse with all lights flashing. I stopped and waited to see what all this was about. The cop car kept backing up and came to a skidding stop right beside me. The cop jumps out, points at me and hollers "YOU! WHY ARE YOU STOPPED! GO GO GO!" Don’t need to be rude thinks I. Then down the road I go. Amy and I were silent for a few miles then we started laughing about it all. What a crazy place. Let me tell you something, in Alabama when a cop car comes at you in reverse with his lights on you better stop and wait to be told what to do.

Next we moved on to Barstow. It was near dark so we decided to stop and have dinner and let the sun go down. Our plan was to cross the hottest part of the desert at night and also to arrive in Las Vegas at night so we could cruise the strip. So that is just what we did. As we passed through Baker, CA it was full dark, and they have a giant thermometer along the freeway. It was reading 113 degrees! At night! From there we made a fast course for Las Vegas.

Our plan was to hit Vegas, cruise the strip, buy a map of the city, and then find a nice little motel for the night. First thing we see is a big building that claims to be the Las Vegas tourism bureau. They are offering free maps, so we stop. Once in we get talked into staying at a Hotel on the strip. The Imperial Palace. I hate Hotels but they tell us the price is $55 a night and once we check in the Hotel will give us $50 worth of credit for food and stuff. So what the hell, we pay our money and off we go. The parking garage is in the way back of this place and we lug our stuff right through the middle of the casino to the check in desk. Once there the fun begins. There is an extra $30 fee being added to us. Plus tax. This takes the bill to over $90 and the principle of the matter. We get on a pay phone and try to call the Tourism board and get put on hold till our quarter runs out. Then we call again and get told that the place has closed for the night, call back tomorrow. Now I’m pissed. We lug our stuff back to the car and drive away. One hour later I’m still driving around Las Vegas but at least I can think again. What a bunch of bait-n-switch crap. What crooks. We checked into a Motel 6 and called it a night.

This day had gone from a day with very little planned to a most entertaining day. We had the truck wreck, the traffic jam, the rude cop, the hot desert, and then the Las Vegas crooks. Who would of thought you could get cheated in Vegas? Will we get our money back? It is on my MasterCard, so let them deal with that. I think we’ll come out of it OK.

Gas prices for the day:

Gas & Shop, Petaluma, CA: $1.83 unleaded Plus.

Fast 5 Fuel, Wasco, CA: $1.75 unleaded Plus.

Shell, Barstow, CA: $1.73 unleaded Plus.

Total miles for day 12: 738.8

Day 13, Wednesday, July 26: Check out of the Motel 6, have breakfast and get out of that terrible town. Lesson learned: don’t go to Las Vegas ever again! We headed out to Hoover Dam. We took the Dam tour. With a Dam tour guide. Rode the dam elevator. Guess you could see that joke gets old after a while. The tour of Hoover Dam is great. Someday I want to go back and take the hard hat tour. Much longer and much better. Then we headed for the Grand Canyon. What a nice hole in the ground that is. We found a quiet place along the rail and my son whipped out his pecker and peed over the edge. I filmed it all. What a father/son moment. We giggled about that for 3 days. We then cruised down into Flagstaff, AZ and checked into the Crystal Inn for the night.

Dinner was at Beaver Street Brewery and Whistle Stop Café in Flagstaff. The place was packed at 6:00 on Wednesday night. I consider this a good sign. We get a menu and check it out. They offer everything from BBQ chicken with corn on the cob to fancy upscale items with unpronounceable foreign names. They bring me a sampler tray with six of their brews.

IPA – Grapefruit juice. I love it. I later order a pint with my food.

Berry – I don’t like most fruit beers, but this was good ale with raspberries. Amy loved it.

Stout – yet another typical brewpub stout.

Red – this would be a nice session beer. Mellow and balanced.

Hefe – YUCK! Band-Aids. My tongue has been killed. I want to fall to the floor and lick dirty carpet.

Pils – A good, solid pils, but not as good as the pils from St. Louis.

All in all this might have been the best brewpub of the trip. They had a great menu, décor, an almost flawless lineup of beers, and the town of Flagstaff is one of those places that make you feel comfortable. Wish I could go there regularly.

Gas prices for day 13:

Chevron, Las Vegas, NV: $1.76 unleaded Plus.

Shell, Williams, AZ: $1.99 unleaded Plus.

Total miles for day 13: 360.9

Day 14, Thursday, July 27: Check out of Crystal Inn and head east. First stop is in Winslow, AZ. We stop on a corner and stand. They have a very neat little corner there with a statue of a guy holding a guitar. On the wall behind that is a mural with a girl my lord in a flat bed ford, slowing down to take a look at me. Wait till I scan the pictures. It will all make sense. This was high moment of the trip for me.

The Winslow picture!

After that we headed for Gallup. It was near lunch, we needed gas, and Amy was saying she hadn’t had any really good Mexican food in a long time. So we turned off the freeway and headed down the Historic Route 66 through Gallup, NM. We found a nice little place to eat. And the food was great. What a lunch. Then back to the freeway and no stopping till we hit Amarillo, TX. As we passed into town we passed a place with the Cadillac’s buried end first all in a row. We checked into the Fifth Season Inn, had dinner at the China Star buffet, and crashed for the night.

Gas prices for day 14:

Conoco, Winslow, AZ: $1.56 unleaded Plus.

Conoco, Gallup, NM: $1.61 unleaded Plus.

Texaco, Tucumcari, NM: $1.69 Super unleaded.

Total miles for day 14: 612.5

Day 15, Friday, July 28: Have a free hot breakfast at the motel. Checkout and head straight east. We can smell home. We stop along the freeway at the Oklahoma Trading Company just to get some souvenirs.

Dinner is in Little Rock at Vino’s Pizza and Brewery. This place is a sight to see. It looks like a dive. It looks sort of scary. But the wealthy old white people going in made us think it must be OK. Once in again we were shocked. Everyone who worked there was covered in tattoos and body piercings. The crowd was the most mixed thing I’ve ever seen. Old wealthy people, middle aged with kids, young college, and a healthy mix of the alternative sorts. They have the best pizza prices I’ve seen in a long time and the quality was top notch. They had six of their own brews and then another 8 or 10 taps with Guinness, Sam Adams, Sierra Nevada, and others. I got a sampler of their six brews.

Cream Ale – mild, sort of sweet, no hop profile.

Pale – amber color, slightly bitter.

Stout – and yet one more typical brewpub stout.

ESB – this was right on the money for an ESB.

Red – caramel flavor and a nice shade of red. Very good beer.

Hefe – Banana’s! They really took the yeast to banana-land. I don’t much like it.

After this we drove on to Brinkley, AR and checked into the Best Western. A trip to the pool got us swarmed by mosquitoes. What a mess. We ran back to the room and called it a night.

During the day sometime the cruise control on our MPV went ignorant. This was the only car trouble encountered on the trip.

Gas prices for day 15:

Love’s, Erick, OK: $1.59 Super unleaded.

Love’s, Oklahoma City, OK: $1.43 Super unleaded !!!

Love’s, east of Fort Smith, AR: $1.59 Super unleaded.

Total miles traveled for day 15: 675.0

Day 16, Saturday, July 29: We’ll be home today! Check out of the Best Western. In Williams family tradition we go to Waffle House for breakfast on the last day of a trip. Stop in Corinth, MS at Arby’s for lunch. This is also a family tradition. The kids just expect us to stop there. Stop at the Honda motorcycle dealer in Corinth and look around. Then head for Alabama. Stop at Credit Union to put some unused money back in the bank and then go home. Clean out the car. Pet the dogs. Start some laundry.

Off to market to buy a fat pig,

Home again, home again, giggity gig!

Gas prices for day 16:

Citgo, Brinkley, AR: $1.49 unleaded Plus.

Citgo, Collierville, TN: $1.55 unleaded Plus.

Total miles traveled for day 16: 292

Total miles traveled from my driveway to my driveway: 6,559!

Gas Summary:

Lowest prices: $1.29 unleaded in Corinth, MS.

Highest prices: $2.08 unleaded Plus in Arcata, CA.

Total gallons used: 308.728

Average price per gallon: $1.71 (includes all 3 grades purchased)

Average MPG: 21.25

Motels:

Lowest cost: Best Western, Brinkley, AR

Highest cost: Grant Village, Yellowstone Park, WY

Nicest room: Adobe Resort, Yachats, OR, or Lone Pine Inn, The Dalles, OR