My Cross-Country Adventure...

[MaxEntropy]

My brother-in-law moved from Columbia, MO to Las Vegas about a week and a half ago. My wife and I had planned to go out there and help him unpack and get organized - he had plenty of friends to help him load, but none to help him unload. Our original intention was to fly out to Vegas and help unload and fly back. Then I had a crazy idea - I'll drive to Missouri and help him drive the U-haul towing his car. My wife would fly from Cleveland to Las Vegas a couple days later, then we would both fly from Las Vegas to Kansas City and drive back together, stopping at her mother's house in Paris, MO along the way. So I drove from Akron, OH to Columbia, MO on 4/10 in my car.... I love road trips in this car - I have to be careful and make sure I use cruise control because it likes to run.

On 4/11, my brother-in-law and I dropped my car off at long term parking at the Kansas City airport and then I jumped in this hot rod....

My brother-in-law had decided to take the southern route to Las Vegas (through Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona) to avoid having to climb, or perhaps more importantly, having to descend the Rockies in a U-Haul with his car attached to it. It added a few hours to the trip, but I think it was a wise choice.

Driving Day 1 - Akron, OH to Columbia, MO

Driving Day 2 - Columbia, MO to Albuquerque, NM (via Kansas City Airport)

Driving Day 3 - Albuquerque, NM to Las Vegas, NV

Along the way, I took a few pics to document our/my journey....

Columbus, OH - not much to see from the I-270 loop except the A-B brewery.

Ohio/Indiana border - I'm not sure why Ohio has an ugly, baby blue arch near the border, but it's there.

Indianapolis - an oasis among corn and soy bean fields....

Indiana/Illinois border - nothing to see here....

St. Louis (I missed the Illinois/Missouri border due to traffic)

Kauffman Stadium/Arrowhead Stadium - are you ready for some football (or baseball)?

Kansas City - Mmmmm, BBQ!

I did not get a picture of the Missouri/Kansas border because Kansas...

Witchita - just about the only sign of life in the state of Kansas

Kansas/Oklahoma border...

Oklahoma/Texas border (which I almost missed)

Texas/New Mexico border (you have to trust me that the yellow streak is the sign)

New Mexico/Arizona border

And finally, the Arizona/Nevada border.

About the only "fun" thing we did (besides eat out at a lot of pretty good restaurants) was visit the Hoover Dam. Very impressive engineering challenge and the scenery was spectacular!

When we left Las Vegas, we flew back to Kansas City and drove to my mother-in-law's house for the night.

Driving Day 4 - Kansas City to Paris, MO

Driving Day 5 - Paris, MO to Akron, OH

In summary, I was in a car/truck for 3,020 miles over the 5 travel days. I actually found it kind of fun and got to see a lot of the country in the process. I joke about Kansas, but there is something appealing about the mostly flat landscape with rolling hills. As we were driving across Kansas, we were driving into about a 40 mph wind and when we cut southwest towards Oklahoma, it became a cross wind, which made the driving interesting - semi trucks around us had a noticeable list. One thing was apparent to me - Indiana needs to get their "stuff" together: I-70 though Indiana is the worst road I drove on - I needed an oil change when I got back and I had the alignment checked. It was a little off and I blame the potholes in Indiana. Some were quite jarring, especially in a sporty car without much tire sidewall to absorb the blow.

A friend told me I was insane for planning this trip over Masters weekend, but when I wasn't driving, I had the Masters streaming on my phone and managed to catch almost all the final round. I thought it was a great tournament and I was actually very happy to see Tiger win.

So there it is - my spring adventure and why I was not terribly active on here for a few days.

[TSauer]

That's a heck of a road trip! You were in my part of the country for a little while here in Missouri. Surprised you didn't make any pit stops and play a few holes of golf somewhere lol. I'd definitely be tempted to!

[GB13]

That's quite a trip! Standing there at the top of the Hoover Dam would have scared the crap out of me! 

[MaxEntropy]

21 minutes ago, TSauer said:

That's a heck of a road trip! You were in my part of the country for a little while here in Missouri. Surprised you didn't make any pit stops and play a few holes of golf somewhere lol. I'd definitely be tempted to!

If my brother-in-law played, I'm sure we would have tried.

Strangely, my wife came up with the idea, albeit too late, that I should have packed my old clubs and left them at his house so I wouldn't have to rent clubs when we visit him.

[MaxEntropy]

14 minutes ago, GB13 said:

That's quite a trip! Standing there at the top of the Hoover Dam would have scared the crap out of me! 

My wife stayed plenty far from the edge, as if she was afraid a gust would pick her up and throw her over the edge.

[GB13]

20 minutes ago, MaxEntropy said:

My wife stayed plenty far from the edge, as if she was afraid a gust would pick her up and throw her over the edge.

You have a sane wife.

[MaxEntropy]

2 minutes ago, GB13 said:

You have a sane wife.

I would be tempted to agree with you if she hadn't done the INsane thing and married me.

[Shankster]

Sweet trip. I’m with GB... just looking at that picture made me feel sick.

[MaxEntropy]

23 minutes ago, Shankster said:

Sweet trip. I’m with GB... just looking at that picture made me feel sick.

Then I'll add this one.... 

[GB13]

2 minutes ago, MaxEntropy said:

Then I'll add this one.... 

*having panic attack* 

 

[perseveringgolfer]

That was a fun read, great pics as well.

Wish we had a U-Haul over here, makes so much sense.

[Shankster]

Then I'll add this one.... 

[TSauer]

1 hour ago, MaxEntropy said:

Then I'll add this one.... 

NOPE.

[bens197]

Then I'll add this one.... 

Awesome


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[sixcat]

You obviously have a much better relationship with your B-I-L than I do Max!!!!!!!!

[GB13]

23 minutes ago, bens197 said:

 

Awesome


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With all due respect, you are wrong. It is NOT awesome!

[MaxEntropy]

32 minutes ago, sixcat said:

You obviously have a much better relationship with your B-I-L than I do Max!!!!!!!!

LOL, I do. He's a good guy and when we get together we can speak "nerd" together - he's a network engineer/IT guy and I'm a research scientist. 

[sixcat]

33 minutes ago, MaxEntropy said:

LOL, I do. He's a good guy and when we get together we can speak "nerd" together - he's a network engineer/IT guy and I'm a research scientist. 

Mine is in politics and oozes slime and sleeze!  He is 16 years older than my wife and has always taken it upon himself to "father" her in a lot of ways.  Forcefully trying to dictate every aspect of her life.  It was tolerable when we lived hours apart and saw one another twice a year, if that.  When we moved to this area in 2007, it became intolerable. 

We set boundaries that took him several years to adjust to.  Unfortunately, it took us getting forceful to ensure our boundaries were met.  Especially when he turned his dictatorial process toward our children.  We don't speak often!

[tony@CIC]

That's for posting. Looks like you had a great trip!


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[bens197]

With all due respect, you are wrong. It is NOT awesome!