Last month I had the opportunity to check off an item that’s been on my “bucket list” for as long as I can remember. I rented a car and drove across the United States, from the Pondside home base here on the Canadian border to (almost) the Arizona border with Mexico. Tucson, to be exact.

I’d always carried that list item in my head as “drive the US coast-to-coast”, and while this cruise didn’t meet that exact definition, it was close. It was only five hours less driving time than a trip from Boston to San Francisco, two cities that have changed so much for the worse during my lifetime that I lack the desire to visit either of them again.

I’m no stranger to road trips. But all of my previous drives were part of a larger journey, usually with planned itineraries. This one was different. All I had was a destination and target arrival date. Tucson and Thursday night, to be precise.

Tucson was the destination because five months ago my son relocated to that city after accepting a job offer. Thursday night because he was off for three days beginning Friday. I was hoping we’d spend the weekend checking out the Tucson area and catching up.

So not only was a bucket list item being addressed, I’d also get to visit with Youngest Son. That’s a solid two-fer!

Wife dropped me off Monday morning at the rental car agency about 50 miles away, and she wheeled off towards Maine to visit her folks near a different part of the US-Canada border. I threw my junk into the 2023 Hyundai and hit the road. The car had a little more than 27K miles on it upon pickup; there would be significantly more when I dropped it off two weeks later.

Usually on road trips I actively try to avoid using Interstates, but that wasn’t an option on this trip. Not enough time. So on I went south through Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut. Sliced through a bit of New York before gaining the Pennsylvania state line. There I stopped for gas and provisions- deli meat, rolls and cheap yellow mustard- before pushing on into Ohio to close out Day 1.

I’m not going to turn this post into a travelog, but do want to capture a few thoughts about the drive itself:

• Most folks really can’t grasp  just how big- physically large- this country is. It is huge. Modern travel is boarding an aluminum tube, sitting there for a time, then disembarking at a different place. A long-distance journey over the roadways forces you to see the changes as the landscapes change in contour and context. 

• Truckers rule the Interstates. Once you understand that immutable fact and try to work with the big rigs you’ll have a much more enjoyable experience. Safer, too. Most of the long-haul drivers are pros, and you could do worse than choose one going your way as a pace vehicle. But stay alert! I saw one driver apparently nod off a bit in Indiana. He came really close to going off into the ditch, and then struggled to recover. But he did.

• Interstate 70 absolutely sucks, and sucks the most in Illinois, with Missouri in close second place. Leaving that right there.

My goal for Day 2 was to get across the Mississippi River and through Missouri. This I did despite a rather frenetic transit of the Show-Me state. It was in KC that I waved farewell to I70 and dropped down into Kansas, where I called it a day in Ottawa.

Days 3 & 4 were much more enjoyable. I spent the preponderance of these days on old US54. Overall this 2-lane road is in excellent shape, and sports sensible speed limits. 75MPH in Texas. And the road goes through plenty of towns along the way, breaking up the scenic views. I was sad to leave it when climbing up onto Interstate 10 in Las Cruces for the final push to Tucson.

Long haul driving isn’t all about high speeds and loud music, but even at my advanced age there was some of that. The Hyundai had all of the tech, and Android Auto allowed access to the thousands of tunes I carry around on my phone. Let that sink in a bit- THOUSANDS. How many of us remember this?

And 8-track collections were worse.

As for high speed, my typical MO is to set the cruise control to the speed limit and wave at everyone passing me by. As I mentioned earlier, if I find the appropriate trucker I’ll match his speed and try to stay a couple hundred yards behind. Do the math, people- roaring along at 90 in a 75 doesn’t shorten the trip appreciably. Might shorten your life, though. And the trip will definitely take longer and cost more if the coppers nab you. Interstate 70 was loaded with speed traps, and business was brisk.

Road trips, and solo ones in particular give you plenty of time to think about things. I returned to the topic of bucket lists several times during the drive. I’ve never kept a formal list of such things, only occasional notes here and there. And I had never seriously given much thought to prioritization. After all, there’s all the time in the world, isn’t there?

Facetious question, I know, but I think that’s exactly how most folks travel through their lives. “I’ll do that when I retire”, or “Maybe next summer”- we attach thoughts like these to our to-do dreams. 

Hopefully at some point we all reach that point of “Maybe there isn’t all the time in the world”. I think I’ve reached it over the past couple years. Nothing morbid in the sense of “Better hurry up, I’m gonna die”, but more of posing the question, “How important is this to me?”, and letting that answer drive whatever prioritization required. In my case, “Let’s do that now?” is the starting point, rather than an indeterminate time in the future. Being at the stage of life where my time is now my own (i.e. retired!) reinforces this decisioning process.

Life’s never been better!

Anyway, I dawdled a bit in New Mexico on Day 4 of the trip, not wanting to get to my son’s house before he finished work for the day. Until the previous night he had no idea I was enroute, as Wife and I kept up appearances over various communication mediums. Initially I planned to just show up, but that wouldn’t have been fair. I still remember my housekeeping standards as a young feller. Youngest Son got a 24-hour notice, which I think he appreciated.

I arrived Thursday night, and we spent the weekend exploring the Tucson area. The days were full of excursions including Saguaro National Park, Pima Air & Space Museum and the San Xavier del Bac Mission. Evenings included sushi, tacos and large cuts of beef. We had a grand time. It was good to see Youngest Son doing so well after such a significant life event.

The route for the trip back was different than outbound, and it was a more pleasant experience. I never rode I70, only crossed over it in Ohio. Found a few hotels and restaurants along the way that we’ll probably use again, as our current plan is to try the “snowbird life” for a few months this winter. Wife and I have talked about this for quite some time, thinking Florida or the Gulf Coast would be the destination. But now circumstances present Tucson as the destination of choice, and from what I’ve seen so far, it’s a great one.

Might as well do it now, don’t you think?

Thanks for stopping by!