The dash on the passenger side.
Making our way through Arizona. Some big bugs met an untimely end on our windshield.
Checking out the traffic behind us in the gargantuan side-view mirrors.
Such a good driver!
Watching a beautiful sunset ... in the side-view mirrors.
I love the reflected light off the side of the van.
Night-driving and cool squiggly lines.
We were soo hungry when we got to Albuquerque, NM, but it was past eleven p.m. and everything was closed. Fortunately we found a Sonic that was close enough to walk to. It was delicious for a late dinner, and delicious for breakfast. Mmmm Mmmm. There were some lovely white bushes there too.
Views of the enormous truck in Oklahoma.
More night driving. The way the truck was rhythmically bouncing, the dash lights look like spirographs.
A truck passing us in the dark.
I like these pics of the cars and the street lamps blurring.
Just so you know, Oklahoma has some of the crappiest roads EVER! We were bouncing all over the place. We thought something might be wrong with the truck or trailer and had to pull over to check it out. Nope! Nothing wrong, just crappy roads with seams everywhere creating bouncing over 40 mph. Oklahoma! Fix your roads!
The next day ... Near the OK and MO border, there is a McDonald's that is built on a bridge that covers both sides of the freeway. We made a pit stop there and Adam got us some Bluebell ice cream that many people rave about. It was good, but nothing to write home about. Adam says, and I quote, "Overrated." (The bridge McDonald's that semis were zooming under was REALLY cool, though.)
Inside the McDonalds looking down.
It was hard to get a picture of, but there were cars and semis zooming 'through' this building.
ARGH! We had finally crossed into Missouri, and then a driver going by gave us some big signals that we were in big trouble. I nodded and pulled the moving van and trailer over onto the shoulder right by a freeway on-ramp and got out to find the problem. One of the tires on the trailer had blown and was shredded. It's a good thing that there was a tire right next to that one on the same side, or else we might have been worse off. We called for assistance and we were told it would take about 90 minutes for help to arrive. Unfortunately, it took longer than that, but he found out that a tire on the other side of the trailer was going bald and replaced that too! I love problem prevention!
The annoyance of inconvenience. And waiting for help to come. And waiting... and waiting...
Adam's Archos is great! We listened to Michael Medved and then watched some Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law.
Pulling off at the first available spot.
Lovely fields nearby.
Being bored and playing with the Sepia feature on my camera.
We went back in time!
We could make old-timey Pioneer Village pictures, for a lot less! (Guess we'd just have to rent some costumes. haha, Adam would LOVE that... not really.)
Hooray! Help is here! And we don't even need to take the car off of the trailer!
So later on as we were nearing St. Louis, I found a place to fill up and then I saw this compatriot. Moving with a big van with a car attached. Except this guy put all of his house plants into his car. This just made me laugh. That's a lot of houseplants. He must be a collector ... of house plants.
We had been making excellent time before our flat... but then we still weren't doing too bad and we had almost reached St. Louis ... and then we hit TONS of traffic. Traffic that wasn't moving. It was VERY frustrating. Darn St. Louis freeway construction and stand-still traffic.
We finally got off the freeway and took an alternate route that Adam's mom gave us. :-) Finally safe and sound in St. Louis!
10 comments:
Danelle, it's so fun to look at your pictures of driving across country! I'm glad you guys figured your semi flats before things go too terrible. Did Adam have to take a special test and learn some special stuff before driving that big rig? haha, or was it like a beer truck (Strange Brew Reference)? You guys should tour the Budwiser Brewery while you live there and quote strange brew the whole time you are there.
Haha, "Twenty-one speed," I like the Strange Brew reference to the Beer Truck. "Oh, sure, I can drive it." (Raises eyebrows alternatingly, like a pathological liar.) I would love to quote Strange Brew the whole time we are at teh Budweiser Brewery. Good times!
Yay! I'm glad you guys made it. I loved your picture story of your drive. We drove when we moved from UT to SC it was so much fun (minus the stomach flu that my 2-year old girl and 19-year old nephew got). Cool pics. I hope you guys love St. Louis!
Aren't you glad you don't have to move for another three years or so? I didn't notice the bad roads in Oklahoma when we moved I was just glad we were out of Texas & the boring flatness (although, when I drove out to St. Louis in the winter just behind a snowstorm, I did notice that they don't really plow their roads, so you can add that to your complain about Oklahoma roads).
Sounds like a crazy trip! Thanks for all the fun pictures! Good luck getting everything settled.
HI! I am in your Bookclub Blog!
I just updated with a post with our September book! You should go quickly check it out!
*PS- Gotta love Road Trips with Pictures going non stop. HA HA My husband gets annoyed with me sometime on Road Trips. BUT YOU MUST DOCUMENT EVERYTHING! So I feel ya! Glad I am not alone in that department!
Oh man! I'm sorry about your derailments but glad you tow made it safe and sound! Tyler and I are moving into family housing next thursday, hopefully it won't take as long as it took you! haha actually, I shouldn't joke I know all too well it's a nightmare to move even if it's next door. :[ GRRR.
Yeay! You made it safely!! That stinks about your tire blowing out. Yuck! Also, I totally dug the squiggly line pictures. It's like a modern version of Jackson Pollock. Awesome!
Jackson Pollock! Haha, I didn't think of it like that. Me likely.
FYI, you don't need a special permit to drive the moving van and trailer, although maybe they should require it, a person could do a lot of damage... so I was the one driving the "caravan" when the tire blew on the trailer that we were towing our car on. Just clarifying the story.
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