17 Days, 7000 Miles
and 22 states 		LexdenBoyz' USA Holiday 1999 Diary Picture of me

Diary, Day maps, Tour map, Piccies

Day 1 Saturday 26th June
  • daily distance: 399 miles
  • started: Detroit, Michigan El. 600 ft
  • reached: Geneso, Illinois El. 590 ft
  • states visited: Michigan, Indiana, Illinois
 		A short day, only set out at 4pm, tried to get as far as Iowa before sunset. Crossed a time zone which gave me an extra hour in the morning.
Day 2 Sunday 27th June
  • daily distance: 790 miles
  • total distance: 1189 miles
  • reached: Fort Morgan, Colorado El. 4330 ft
  • states visited: Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado
 		A day, devoted entirely to driving, I wanted to get to the Rockies as soon as possible. I even enjoyed Western Iowa. The Platte valley in Nebraska is a nice drive actually, the road steadily gets higher and higher. Going into Colorado is where it begins to feel remote and isolated. Crossed another time zone which gave me an extra hour in the morning.
Day 3 Monday 28th June
  • daily distance: 656 miles
  • total distance: 1845 miles
  • reached: Mesquite, Nevada El. 2500 ft
  • states visited: Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada
 A Long hard drive this day. Set off early, the rockies come into view as a line of what looks like small white clouds. Impressive stuff. Drove over a pass at 11,000 feet. I'd never been even half that high before. Utah is kinda scary. Entering into it from Colorado, you pass a sign that says next services 104 miles. Yikes. Its just miles and miles of desert, and all the canyons like youve seen in the Westerns. You cant help wonder "what if the car breaks down?" Its at times like that you feel grateful that its a Japanese car. Crossed yet another time zone. Thats 3 in 3 days. 25 hour days are great. I seem to always be able to use the extra hour. Stayed at a cheap casino hotel. They rely on you spending money there, but I managed to win, so the hotel was effectively free.
Day 4 Tuesday 29th June
  • daily distance: 442 miles
  • total distance: 2287 miles
  • reached: Los Angeles, California El. 300 ft
  • states visited: Nevada, California
 A day to stop and smell the (desert) roses. Went to Las Vegas but not impressed, I'd say its been over-hyped. Still I won 30 dollars. I ALWAYS win in casinos. Played Vegas by Sleeper on the CD as I was driving in, and I was hoping to pop into dunes casino, but couldnt find it. The desert drive is very nice actually. Not remote like Utah, and I've gained more confidence in the car now. I'm glad I dont live in the little towns there though... dry dusty and very hot indeed. Temp reached 110.
Day 5 Wednesday 30th June
  • daily distance: 60 miles
  • total distance: 2347 miles
  • Stayed in LA
 A Rest day.. good look round, and some hill climbing.. LA is a terrible place to live. You can see the pollution in the air, and its too hot to be outside really. Its no wonder everyone drives everywhere. I do like the fact that there are palm trees everywhere though.
Day 6 Thursday 1st July
  • daily distance: 68 miles
  • total distance: 2415 miles
  • Stayed in LA
 Another rest day.. Went to Hollywood. Its cool see the places that are already familiar from the TV. Looked round Hollywood Boulevard. Its got a most interesting selection of fetish shops ...
Day 7 Friday 2nd July
  • daily distance: 423 miles
  • total distance: 2838 miles
  • reached: Bridgeport, California El. 7000 ft
  • states visited: California
 Time to leave LA, and run back to the hills. Went to Yosemite park, climbed up to Yosemite falls. Very impressive place. Also saw a Sequoia tree grove. Amazing trees, 1000's of years old, and so so tall. There was still snow by the side of the road on the exit out of the park. Slept so well cos of the altitude (approx 7000 feet)
Day 8 Saturday 3rd July
  • daily distance: 547 miles
  • total distance: 3385 miles
  • reached: Jackpot, Nevada El. 5000 ft
  • states visited: California, Nevada
 Went to see Lake Tahoe.. magnificent alpine lake. Very high up too. Highest point for the day was at 9147 feet. Ended up in a little casino town on the norther border of Nevada. I won 20 dollars. I ALWAYS win in casinos. *L*
Day 9 Sunday 4th July
  • daily distance: 355 miles
  • total distance: 3740 miles
  • reached: Yellowstone Park, Wyoming El. 7365 ft
  • states visited: Nevada, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming
 The trouble with driving east is that you are only getting 23 hours in a day..*sighs* Yellowstone was the highlight of the trip. A truly amazing place, never seen anything like it. I could have stayed there a week easily.
Day 10 Monday 5th July
  • daily distance: 400 miles
  • total distance: 4140 miles
  • reached: Gilette, Wyoming El. 4544 ft
  • states visited: Wyoming
 Stayed the first part of the day in Yellowstone. Got sunburnt, waiting for a Geyser to erupt, and kept seeing strange cone shapes in things, and just had to go and visit Devils Tower(Close Encounters). Also saw the Buffalo Bill Memorial Dam. Heights dont worry me at all, but the view over the edge of the dam and straight down is quite alarming at first sight.
Day 11 Tuesday 6th July
  • daily distance: 523 miles
  • total distance: 4663 miles
  • reached: Sioux Falls, South Dakota El. 1450 ft
  • states visited: Wyoming, South Dakota
 A morning and early afternoon spent at Devils tower. Got lots of rock clambering in. Didnt see any sign of UFO's though. The start of some hard driving to get back to the east coast now. The "Big Horn" mountains were suprisingly imprssive. Many of the towns in the Western States display a population and an elevation. It always amuses me when the elvation is way way higher than the population for some reason.
Day 12 Wednesday 7th July
  • daily distance: 699 miles
  • total distance: 5362 miles
  • reached: Mt Vernon, Illinois El. 500 ft
  • states visited: South Dakota, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Illinois.
 Another hard driving day. Covered 5 states which is my record for a single day, could have made it 7 with a couple of extra border crossings. Not much to report on here. Saw the Arch at St Louis. It looks impressive enough, but you have to ask what is the point of it?
Day 13 Thursday 8th July
  • daily distance: 518 miles
  • total distance: 5880 miles
  • reached: Sutton, West Virginia El. no idea ft
  • states visited: Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia
 Found a public library so I could pick up my email... piles and piles of work crap! Its pretty satisfying actually to know that you dont have to deal with any of it, and the computer system i'd just developed and installed for Chrysler had only a few minor cosmetic issues that the team could deal with. Stayed at a tiny little lodge off the interstate. It was like stepping 30 years into the past. However theres a lot to be said for trying out the motels that arent part of national chains. You do get a more personal service, and they are cheaper too, though the facilities dont tend to be quite as good.
Day 14 Friday 9th July
  • daily distance: 370 miles
  • total distance: 6250 miles
  • reached: Washington DC El. not much
  • states visited: West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvannia, Virginia.
 Climbing in West Virginia. There wasnt any need to go to Pennsylvania, but the road passed about 2 miles from the border so decided to make a swift detour just to 'bag' the state. Pointless really but there you go.
Day 15 Saturday 10th July
  • daily distance: 40 miles
  • total distance: 6290 miles
  • stayed in: Washington DC
 An amazing day this one. Visited the Natural History Museum, and also the National Aerospace Museum. Its all the moon landing stuff, full size rockets, skylab living quarters etc.. I was happy as a pig in shit. I could have easily spent a few days here. Washington is much more like London than other american cities. Theres pedestrians for a start, and old buildings.
Day 16 Sunday 11th July
  • daily distance: 410 miles
  • total distance: 6700 miles
  • reached: Beckly, West Virginia El. 1000? ft
  • states visited: Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia
 A relaxing day this one, morning in Washington and a bit more climbing in West Virginia. A most enjoyable day. Its got to the stage where 400 miles is regarded as being an easy drive.. You'd allow for a whole day to do that in England.
Day 17 Monday 12th July
  • daily distance: 490 miles
  • total distance: 7190 miles
  • reached: Detroit, Michigan El. 600 ft
  • states visited: West Virginia, Ohio, Michigan
 Speeding ticket! Ye gods, I was doing 79 in a 70 limit, (reduced on excuse to 75 in a 70 limit). Pathetic or what? Having said that probably 80% of my total distance was spent at about 10mph over the limit so cant really moan too much, still pisses me off though. 72 dollar fine to pay! And STILL not paid it. My cheque was returned. Apparently they dont accepts lloyds bank cheques. Its their loss, not mine.
Anyway got back to detroit at 8pm. Felt sort of satisfied. Now what will i do next year...?

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