The Best And Worst of Cross Country Driving

Its been about 1 week since I've arrived in San Francisco and I've had a few days to put the roadie into perspective. I know how people love lists, so I've decided to lay out the best and worst of cross country traveling for folks who may or may not want to give it a try someday...

The Best...

5.) St. Louis Arch-Its a big metal arch that sticks out of the ground along the banks of the Mississippi River, but if you haven't seen it its bigger and more impressive than you can possibly imagine. I really hope to visit St. Louis again someday to take the elevator up the arch and scope out the Budweiser factory.

4.) The Change in Scenery-From The Atlantic Ocean, to forests, to wineries, to the Great Lakes, to Farmland, to Desert and mountains, to more farmland and mountains, and finally the mighty Pacific...there sure is a lot to look at while you're cruising across the country. It may not seem like it at the time, but when you step back and put the trip into perspective, there truly is!

3.) Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame-Jim Morrison's cub scout uniform, Michael Jackson's Grammy for Thriller, Elvis' Cadillac, plus lots of stuff for radio nerds like me. We spent 2 hours there and could have spent hours more if we didn't have to hit the road.

2.) The Pacific Coast Highway-Beautiful, picturesque, and legendary. Truly as awe inspiring as advertised, and with tons of camping spots and hiking trails I'm sure to return soon. Also just what you need to see after traveling for day through farmland and desert.

1.) The Grand Canyon-If its not on your list of things to see before you die, stop what you are doing right now and put it on. Words simply can't describe how breath taking the Grand Canyon is, and with hiking trails, mule rides, and great views from behind metal railings at the top there is a GC adventure for everybody.

The Worst...

5.) Niagara Falls-Beautiful and impressive, but after about 30 minutes I found the waterfall thing getting old. I really don't understand why people honeymoon there. I'd have a much better time vacationing in Boston or at a cabin on Lake Champlain.

4.) Oklahoma/Texas-After OK-City its hours and hours and hours of driving and the only cool thing we saw was a brush fire. The largest cross in the Western Hemisphere really didn't do much for us.

3.) Hotels with horrible internet connections-Nothing is worse than getting to a hotel after 8-12 hours in a car to upload pictures and blog, than having to deal with a terrible wifi signal. A process that takes a few minutes max at home can take hours when the internet connection is suspect. And yes, I'm talking about you Vagabond Inn in Bakersfield, CA.

2.) Las Vegas/Hoover Dam-Not boring, just not as exciting as I pictured them. After days and days of driving through nothing, I was disappointed to roll over the Hoover Dam, I found Lake Mead much more impressive and the mountains around it made the dam look pretty small in comparison. Vegas on the other hand was a tiny strip of casinos in the middle of the desert. All crammed together and not as impressive as its legend would have you believe.

1.) Arizona-Home of officer 5920 and his $190 speeding tickets, poor quality jeans that are available at J.C. Penny, and that nasty sugary ice tea. The only thing Arizona has going for it is a giant hole in the desert (see Grand Canyon) that hopefully someday will envelop the entire state.