Thanks for the kicks route 66

I am writing most of this post on a Greyhound bus as we handed back the keys to the Cruze yesterday.

7 States splattered across a Chevy Cruze

We made it from Florida to California via 5 other states, in the process we covered 3323 miles in 21 days.

Every bend in the road really did bring new scenery and every town that we stopped in someone new wanted to chat, hear our story and tell us their's. As our new friend Jay would say "It was the bomb".

The driving was on the whole easy, only 3 times butt clenching and often spectacular. The American interstates and highways are generally in very good condition and well maintained (there were a lot less pot holes than the UK). The Chevy Cruise that we drove (free upgrade wahoo) was quiet and easy on the gas. Generally the other road users were very polite and made the drive very relaxing.

A bridge for sheep!

There were too many beautiful views and great sites to list them all but a few of my favourites were:

• Winding down that hill in New Mexico through the pine forests, stoping to photograph the wild flowers.
• Driving past the fields of nodding donkeys pumping oil in Texas.
• Our first route 66 sign, again in Texas.
• The look on the guy-in-the-Florida-gas-station's face as he tried to understand my accent.
• The dusty relics of route 66 glory in Arizona.
• Our first Cactus

Everyday somewhere along the road between our destinations we saw something that excited us.

171 miles on 1 road, no junctions!

Not too veggie friendly but it had great pie

Environmentalist Matt hates it: Machine Matt loves it

It was not all plain sailing driving out of Dallas in the rain (their first for months) was like driving through a ford for 20 miles. That was our first butt clencher with the wipers on double speed, trying to avoid the worst standing water, navigate Dallas' version of spaghetti junction (which is currently a building site) and watch out for death-wish Dale (or Dorris). The other Dallas motorists seemed to favour the idea that the faster you got out of the rain the safer it would be.

Entering Las Vegas provided our 2nd brown trousers experience. Nevada (it seemed to us) does not require slower drivers to stay on the right. We frequently found ourselves trying to undertake a slow moving lorry while being undertaken ourselves by a 4x4, only then to become trapped by a string of tailgating SUV's who would seemingly change speed in unison simply because their right foot was bored.

Over that hill we dropped 3000 feet in about 18 miles

The final pair of underpants was ruined whilst crossing LA in rush hour. LA has 3 problems; speeding, near gridlock and undertaking (again). Driving in LA is not relaxing anyway as the average speed is 85 mph (the limit is 70) and you are constantly being undertaken or cut up by people aiming for the very small exits. In rush hour the already packed roads become a weird sort of drag race. At each new junction the joining traffic causes a tailback. After the junction the road clears so everyone races to try and jump forward 1 or 2 spaces before the next jam. If you are not fast enough off the line when the jam clears at best you will miss the chance to cover much ground or at worst have a car lodged in your rear bumper as they expected you to floor it.

With so many new pairs of boxers required you might think that I would think twice before getting in the car again in the US. If we could I would go back to Hertz tomorrow get back the keys to the Cruise and head up the West coast, then maybe over the Rockies, no no back down to Utah to see Monument valley, but then again we did miss a lot of Arizona and New Mexico......

Me enjoying cruse control

For me the main draw of the open road in the USA is getting away from the big name destinations and joining the dots that help fill in the gaps in the map. Who knew that Mobile a sleepy gulf coast town in Alabama would be so full of history, friendly people and great milkshakes? Amarillo not only introduced me to the Texas panhandle but also to Chilli Rellenos and explained why we always seemed to meet Texans (they are generally so friendly they will talk to anyone and love Texas so will tell you where they are from in their first sentence).

Well better be off can't sit around typing all day there has to be some good Mexican (hopefully Chilli Rellenos) in San Diego.

Bring on the open road