40 Days on the Road, Coast to Coast
2021 | CA >>> NY 🇺🇸
Leaving California
After getting hit by a semi and getting our SUV totaled, J thought this was a sign to cancel our plan to drive from CA to NY. I convinced him that we can use the rental SUV provided by the insurance to still go on with our roadtrip plans, which was only a few days away. It was a now-or-never decision we had to make.
We departed from Paramount, California on May 7th with the rental SUV trunk fully packed and Miska (husky) comfortably lounging in the back seat. Our first stops were still in California; they were the famous Death Valley and Lassen Volcanic National Park. While in the local area, we also went fishing at Anderson River Park.
Entering the Majestic Northwest
Beacon Rock State Park was blanketed with lush forest and waterfalls; I really admired the mushroom findings and the sights of many new tree lives that grew within an old tree. The hike at Little White Salmon River had an intense incline but the views were so worth it!
The three of us decided to go on a Ghost Town exploration in Oregon, in search for a bouldering spot that we never found. Then we had a spontaneous field-day at Mount Rainier in Washington. Lastly, we had a slow adventure day at the Twin Sisters Rock right on Lake Wallula bordering Oregon and Washington.
When we arrived to Montana, we stayed in at an Airbnb with a private backyard lake in Woods Bay. It rained the whole time we were there, so we mainly stayed indoors. It was actually nice to pause and take a quick break between all the outdoor adventures. Nevertheless the surroundings were still breathtaking right from our backyard.
Making Our Way Back Down
We started heading South and passed by Yellowstone for a bit of sightseeing. Once we reached Utah, we hiked in the canyons; it looked like Miska had a blast here! We also found so many beautiful (semi) precious gem stones along the way.
As we went further down into New Mexico, we were in Navajo Nation where we visited Bisti Badlands and the White Sands National Park. J and I befriended a few lizards on these hikes. :)
Palo Duro Canyon State Park was last on our canyon expedition series and then we were off to canoe through Caddo Lake in Texas. The mosquitos here don’t play no games–we were eaten up, lol!
Heading Straight Towards the East Coast
Now we started to head towards the East Coast. We passed through Ozark National Forest in Arkanas and went on hikes that were rich with mushroom and plant varieties, cute little critters, and fishes!
Going more East, we reached Tennessee. We lived on Yo & Alisa’s private land across from the mountain that Forrest Gump ran through. I really admired their container home designs and gardens. They loved Miska like their own dog, let us shoot our rifle at the targets on-site, gave us fresh vegetable selections from their garden, and we had lovely conversations and beer together.
While we were here, I took J on a date in Yahalla Forge where we did a blacksmithing workshop. This is where we became bubble buddies, hahaha! Brendan was an awesome host who provided us with blacksmithing history and instruction/guidance on turning the railroad spikes into our knife designs.
Our last stop was in Virginia, where we explored Channels State Forest. It was like a rock maze here and we loved it! After that, we were finally in NY where we settled in.
There is no “perfect timing” to start living.