America by Road
The drive from San Francisco to St. Louis was amazing. We met up with Ken before we left to discuss taking a scenic route, which was priceless. On the road, we covered 2,463 miles over four days and saw 44 state plates traveling across California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, and Missouri.
Our first diversion from the main route was to take Route 50 through Nevada. This road is known as “The Loneliest Road in America” because there are so few signs of civilization for miles. We loved it. The road wound through huge expanses of Nevada desert with nice mountains off in the distance. We drove 75 miles without seeing another car.
That night, we crossed the border into Utah. The road changed from gray to red, and the mountains on the horizon were purple in the sunset. We stopped at a diner for dinner and finished the 13 hour drive in Cedar City, Utah. It was a small town, but even a small town can feel like a thriving metropolis when you have spent the entire day in Nevada.
We spent the entire second day in Southern Utah by Ken’s recommendation. It was the most beautiful drive I have ever seen. I felt like I was in a theme park, because every mile was different than the last. One moment, we were in a golden aspen forest, and the next, we were surrounded by open plains. The terrain transformed within minutes from a barren gray moonscape to a deep red canyon.
We took many opportunities to pull over and take pictures. Unfortunately, most of the pictures we took from the car are better views of bugs on the windshield than the scenery. There was one section where we were driving on a ridge, with steep slopes and amazing views on both sides of the car. Soon after that, we were following the Colorado River through a canyon. You can see the scale of the canyons if you check the tiny dots in the pictures of Lake Powell. Those are huge RVs.
If you are ever driving through Utah, add a day to your schedule for the scenic adventure. I kept my maps, so I am happy to share our route. The drive was beautiful all the way through Denver. Ben took us out to dinner while we were there, and we enjoyed some time outside the car with him.
Once we entered the plains of Kansas, it got pretty boring. The town on the border of Kansas and Colorado is called Kanorado, and that was probably the most exciting moment of the day. Also the billboard for Jesus Heals and Restores, Pornography Destroys immediately followed by Adult Superstore was entertaining.
We learned a valuable lesson on our journey across the country. You don’t have to travel to the other side of the world to see something amazing. We have awesome natural beauty right here if you go out and look for it. I can’t wait for the drive back!
