Cross Country Road Trip- USA

Driving into Utah was crazy only because when we exited Junction 81, they closed off the freeway entrance back on and had detour signs leading to another on-ramp.

So, we decided to follow the orange suckers that pretty much led us in circles and drove us insane. On top of the mass confusion, these detours weren't completed to its intended destination, causing Jen and I to be delayed yet, another hour. We concluded that the guy setting up the detour signs must've gotten lazy/tired/lost and finally gave up, creating this discontinued route.

Well, what about GPS you may wonder?

Well, GPS was trying to lead us in circles back to the same freeway ramp that was of course, blocked off to start with. Finally, we formed a plan to get ourselves so lost from the original point that GPS would have no other option but to 'recalculate' and lead us to an alternate on-ramp.

So apparently, no road trip is ever complete without at least one cop pulling you over. Whilst in Utah, I was napping and Jen was driving like a madwoman, a trooper pulled us over for going 92 mph on a 75 mph zone. Damn!

The officer inquires as to the reason we are driving so hurriedly and Jen and I tell him it's because we have to pee. Badly. This sounds like a pretty good reason, I mean, cops have bladders too. Anyways, we plead with him to give us a warning and tell him that he could check out both our driving records and he'd find both of them to be immaculate.

He took Jen's license and a copy of our rental receipt with him to his car.

When he returned, he asked how it was possible we made it so quickly to Maine and back in less than 10 days and implied that we must've been racing at high speeds. But, when we pointed out to him that we are demented and drive through the night, taking turns sleeping in shifts, he shone his flashlight into the back of our car, saw that we practically lived there, and shook his head.

He issued us the following.

Sometimes in life, it is very nice to be a woman.

Lucky for us, we came across a nice cop in Utah. He told us that if we needed to pee, that we could just pull over on the side of the road and pee in the desert. He then warned us again to follow the speed limit, told us that he'd give us some 'privacy' to use the restroom, then drove off.

Another few hours and we'd be in Vegas...

Driving through the dark mountains in Utah was once again scary. The roads were so dark and every couple of feet, there were warning signs that deer and elk would 'frequently run across the highway'. So, I had to make sure that I didn't drive too fast. Also, there were A LOT of road construction so in some parts, there was only a lane to work with.

After driving 288 miles, I pulled over at a gas station and Jen and I got some rest. This time, we didn't even bother to hide under the blankets or park in some dark area. Our sleep now had priority over our safety.

In the morning, we awoke at 7am and Jen resumed driving until we got into good ol' Las Vegas.

8.16.07:

We got into Vegas two hours before our check-in time so Jen and I decided to hang out in the lobby. We started dozing off and the receptionists felt sorry for us, so they got us a room and checked us in early.

For the first time ever, in the numerous times Jen and I have gone to Vegas together and on separate occasions, never have we opted to choose food and sleep over gambling and partying.

We ended up knocking out from 1pm to 6pm, woke up to shower (I went swimming for a bit), then headed to Rio's Seafood Village Buffet, stuffed ourselves silly until 11pm, then headed back to our hotel and crashed until 8am the next morning. When we awoke, we showered, packed up, checked out, then went for some steak & eggs before leaving.

We were in a hurry to return the car to Budget by 5pm, but we weren't content with coming to Vegas and being such party poopers. So, we each played a game of roulette and several hands of blackjack.

After losing $40 each, we decided we no longer felt like inadequate party animals, and got ourselves ready to head back to California.

We ended up returning our car rental on time (and in one piece). Definitely by far, one of the most fun road trip experiences I have ever had the pleasure of having. Someday, hopefully one day soon, I plan to revisit some of the places that we wanted to explore in depth had we had ample time to chill there longer.

Once again, thanks for sharing this experience with us and as always, stay tuned for my upcoming travel adventures!