Our planned route (emphasis on planned) takes us from the Atlantic (Amelia Island, FL) to the Pacific (Lake Forest, CA) along something of a southernly journey. A northernly deviation occurs in Texas in order to get to a) some of the roads I biked in 2009 and 2010 as well as b) the Grand Canyon. Neither one of us have ever seen the Grand Canyon, and it is on our bucket list.
The trip takes place in the winter because the car does not have AC. Actually, the car doesn't really have much heat either. However, we both have time to spare right now - so winter it is. We are trying to avoid snowy or icy conditions, so we may have to keep to the southern parts of New Mexico and Arizona. As I type this, it is right at freezing in Tucumcari NM with snow flurries to the west in Santa Fe NM.
The westerly journey will be along "back roads". In this case, "back roads" simply mean non-Interstate highways. You might not know this, but... the US has an expansive network of federal non-Interstate highways (maintained by state and local governments) that criss-cross the country. Odd-numbered highways generally run north-south and even-numbered ones run east-west. There is a similar numbering system for the Interstates; however, with the Interstates, the lower numbers are in the south (e.g., I-10) and west (e.g., I-5). The opposite is true for the non-Interstate system. For example, our primary road from Amelia to Pensacola will be US 90, which runs somewhat parallel to I-10.
According to Google Maps, the trip to California is something along the lines of 3800 miles. If we took Interstates and stayed right at the posted speed limits (neither of which is going to happen), it would require something along the lines of 60 hours of continuous driving.
The plan is for Angela to fly back home from California (she has a real job) and I will drive back along I-10. This will give me an opportunity to see some sites that we missed on the western trip. For example, Hell's Half Acre in Brewster County Texas. You have to be very specific when you're defining "Hell's Half Acre" because there are a lot of them. Texas alone has at least three of them. As far as a name for a subdivision goes, it leaves a lot to be desired. But wouldn't that be really cool when you were a kid. "Where do you live? Wuthering Heights? Well.. I live in Hell's Half Acre... so beat it." You got to believe it is a trailer park.
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