I made it.

The road trip across the country was nothing like I expected. My main surprise was that so much of the country is filled with open space. I’m used to the east coast, where all the cities butt up against each other and there isn’t any land that hasn’t been plowed or paved. Once you get past St. Louis, that all changes.

The route was pretty simple: I-64 West until St. Louis, then I-70 from there to Kansas City. From Kansas City we took I-29 to Nebraska City, NE and then NE 2 to Lincoln. Then, from Lincoln all the way to San Francisco we were on I-80.

The first day we went from Virginia Beach to Shelbyville, Kentucky. I left at about 9:15 from my house to pick up Sarah and we got going around 9:45. She drove the first half of the day until we got near the West Virginia border. The highways in West Virginia were hilly and snaked in between the mountains. The turns were much tighter than any of the other mountain ranges we crossed and there was plenty of traffic as we approached Charleston. This was also the only toll section of the trip, with the exception of the two bridge tolls (San Rafael-Richmond and Golden Gate) we encountered near San Francisco. At Huntington, the interstate was closed off completely and everyone was forced to exit into a huge mess towards the city. The road atlas we had got us around that through some narrow back roads until we got to an interstate entrance farther along. I learned later there was a fatal accident that caused that. We got dinner at a Fazoli’s in Morehead and then made it to the Days Inn in Shelbyville around 9:00 that night. I was probably the most tired after this day than any of the others.

The second day we went from Shelbyville, Kentucky to Nebraska City, Nebraska. The Days Inn wasn’t the best place to run, but I managed to get in about 5 miles around the hotel and along US 60 in Shelbyville. The humidity was insane. US 60 parallels I-64 the entire way to St. Louis and they intersect countless times. It seemed that every other exit was for US 60. Along the way, we passed through Louisville before entering Indiana and then Illinois, which were mostly farms. The farther we went, the fewer trees there were and the less like home it looked.

We got to St. Louis, crossed the Mississippi and got off to see the Arch. It was really hot and humid but there were tons of people around. The arch was a lot taller than I expected but wasn’t very big around. We headed back to the car and I took over driving for the rest of the day, going through Kansas City, stopping for dinner, and then continuing north on I-29 until we passed into Iowa. We got to Nebraska City not long afterwards and checked in to a Super 8.

With the hotels, we booked everything one day in advance. The night before, I looked up driving distances on Google Maps to see how far we could get in 9 – 10 hours of driving. Then, I looked up hotels in that area on Orbitz or Expedia to find ones with the best price. I also made sure they had internet access so I could book a room for the next night the same way. It worked out pretty well.

The next morning I tried to run into Nebraska from the hotel, since the hotel was actually still in Iowa. It wound up being too far and I had to turn around. The wind was insane and there wasn’t much around to stop it. What few trees there were had all grown slanted due to the wind. It was also a lot cooler than the previous day.

The third day was from Nebraska City to Rawlins, Wyoming and consisted mostly of endless miles of I-80 in Nebraska. I-80 covers nearly 500 miles in Nebraska, but we didn’t do all of it since we cut over on NE 2 from Nebraska City. Still, it was pretty bad, just straight and flat with nothing interesting to look at. The wind was rough, too. We did a quick turn off into Colorado and then came back just to say we went there. That part of Colorado was nothing like Denver or the mountains near Steamboat Springs I had visited before. Instead, it was just like Nebraska: mostly flat and covered with farmland.

Towards Wyoming, the terrain got hillier and some small mesas started to appear. There was also a huge cluster of nasty thunderstorms. Somehow we managed to escape most of it. Mainly, I was worried about hail since I had heard there was golf ball sized hail in Denver the day before. There were also auto body shops along the way that had signs proclaiming “Hail Repair”. That wasn’t a good sign, but the storms only gave us rain.

We stopped in Cheyenne for awhile and walked around. It was a nice town, but it seemed really deserted considering it was only 4 PM. Some of the parking spaces had signs indicating “Horse Parking”, which was interesting. I wonder who would take a horse to work instead of a car. We walked in front of the capital and took some pictures. It was really weird with almost nobody around, but if I remember correctly, the entire state has a population of about that of Virginia Beach but has an area about twice the size of Virginia. There was a pizza place off one of the main streets that we ate at that had an interesting combination of cheeses. I think it was similar to what I’ve heard to be called St. Louis-style pizza, but I’m not sure. It was really good, but also much different than anything I’ve had before. Going back to the car, a little girl made some comment about the Virginia license plate on the car. I guess they don’t get too many visitors in Cheyenne.

After dinner, we hit the road again and made it to Rawlins just as it got dark. Along the way there were some snow covered peaks, the first big mountains in the trip. We also passed a few large refineries, which may explain why the gas prices got cheaper. The other weird thing I noticed about the gas was that in Wyoming, Utah, and Nevada, the octane rating for regular gas was 85 instead of the usual 87. I’m thinking it has something to do with the altitude.

Rawlins was more or less a no-frills town. It seemed the people there just wanted to survive and didn’t care too much for aesthetics. I could easily see it being an old west town with muddy streets and saloons with the swinging doors. There weren’t any trees, just dust, scrubby little weeds, and mountains. Definitely nothing like Steamboat Springs, which was only about two hours to the south. The hotel I got wasn’t any better. Everything else I found was way expensive or overbooked. The lady working the front desk said that Rawlins was one of the few towns along I-80 with hotels so everyone wanted to stay in what few hotels there were. She also said that some places in the next town (150 miles west) were booked three weeks in advance. The place didn’t have internet either, but I had written down the numbers for several hotels for the next night in Fernley, Nevada and managed to get a reservation.

The next morning I got my first experience running “at altitude”. Rawlins was at 6800 feet, so I don’t know exactly how that weighs in with high altitude training, but I’ve heard that anything over a mile can get to you. I ran from the hotel along a paved bike path and then onto some BLM dirt trails outside the town and then back. It was freezing outside, too, in the 30s, which was a huge change from the 90s in St. Louis and at home. I felt a little lightheaded and maybe a little tired during the run, but that was about it. I bet if I was racing it would be a lot tougher.

The fourth day was from Rawlins to Fernley, Nevada. Sarah drove the rest of Wyoming, which was extremely barren. No towns for 200 miles, except for Rock Springs, no trees, and almost no vegetation, either. I thought Scotland was desolate, but this took the cake. Road signs periodically announced there were no services for 60 or 70 miles. Run out of gas out here and you’re toast. Very few cars, either – most of the traffic was trucks. There weren’t many mountains, either. There were some snow-covered mountains out in the distance at one point, but that was about it.

The real mountains came when we entered Utah and went into a big canyon. The road wound around large, towering peaks, and continued to do so even as we approached Salt Lake City and the traffic became heavy. We went by Park City and saw what appeared to be the ski jump facilities from the Olympics. We also made a quick stop in Salt Lake to get gas and wash the car. The car was a huge mess after several days of travel and was covered in dirt and bugs.

Then began the trek into the desert. Salt Lake City dropped away as quickly as it had appeared and then we passed by the Great Salt Lake. That too soon disappeared and we were driving down an endless stretch of road in the middle of a flat, barren desert. There were mountains lurking in the background and the whole thing seemed like some kind of old video game where the road and cars move, but the background doesn’t. Eventually the mountains got closer, and upon reaching them, we entered Nevada.

Nevada was just like Wyoming in terms of desolation, except that it was hotter. Again there were plenty of signs indicating that you better get your gas or food now or you may regret it. There were a few small mountain ranges to cross and a few small towns. Like Wyoming, there were no radio stations. Sometimes we got NPR or some random country station, but they all faded out quickly with all the mountains. Occasionally there was a house or building with trees surrounding it, which was obviously irrigated at a hefty price. At a truck stop, another person made a comment when seeing the car about how far away from home we were. Indeed.

The speed limits for all these western states were 75 mph, starting in Nebraska. I found that to be plenty fast, since the car could barely handle 80 with all the stuff in it, including the bike mounted to the back. Most cars and trucks didn’t seem to go that fast, so we did a lot of passing. Occasionally, someone would blaze past us, and they were almost always from out of state. I didn’t see but a few cop cars in those western states, either.

We stopped in Battle Mountain at a diner type place, which wasn’t too bad for the price. Half of the place was filled with slot machines. Tumbleweeds blew across the street as we ate. Another two hours and we were in Fernley, which had the nicest hotel we stayed at for the whole trip. It was also the most expensive.

The next morning I went out past some industrial warehouses, including one for Amazon, and found another BLM trail network that went out into the desert. It was probably at least 80 degrees but it felt much cooler than that because there wasn’t any humidity. It was strange running in such a place with the mountains, sand, and scrubby weeds. Someone had turned part of the trail into a shooting range, which was covered in hundreds of pistol and shotgun shell casings. I ran into some power lines that were low hanging and sizzling. The trail went underneath them, but I turned around, not wanting to decrease my life expectancy by going near those things.

The fifth, and last day was from Fernley to Mountain View, California. The terrain stayed desert-like and mountainous until we reached Reno. From there, it was into the Sierra Nevada, where there were plenty of snow covered mountains. A sign announced we entered California and the mountains began to sprout trees and finally began to resemble more of Northern California than the desert we left behind. On top of the mountains, we took an exit for the Pacific Crest Trailhead and stopped to look around. We hiked a small trail that led to the PCT that still had snow on the ground, despite it being over 70 degrees. It must have taken a ton of accumulation for the snow to still be there. Horsefly sized mosquitoes attacked from all directions as we hiked, but it was really nice with the large fir trees and views of nearby mountains.

A thousand miles to the south, Dan and his friend are making their way up the entire length of the PCT. Here’s to hoping they will make it to where we were and beyond to Oregon and Washington.

We got back in the car and began a long descent towards Sacramento. It seemed the downhill was much longer than the uphill. Nevada must have been at a much higher altitude to begin with. The traffic became worse as we approached Sacramento. Despite the 65 mph speed limit, everyone was hauling past us.

We passed Sacramento and approached San Francisco on 580, going over the San Rafael-Richmond bridge, and then onto 101 and the Golden Gate. The bay and the city were covered with clouds and fog and it was a cool 50 degrees. We stopped on the San Francisco side of the bridge and walked around for a bit and took some pictures. It was so weird to be here with the car and to realize that we drove here. All the other times I’ve flown. There seemed to be a disconnect between places I’ve been in a car and places I’ve flown and now that gap has been closed. All that driving can be cancelled out by a five hour plane flight. The car started with over 41,000 miles and now it had well over 44,000.

We drove into San Francisco, passing through the Presidio. Giant Russian Hill loomed in front of us. The hill got worse and worse as we approached the top. The manual gearshift didn’t help, but I made it without flying backwards down the hill. I also managed to parallel park the car on the hill too, even with the bike and all the other junk in it. We walked over the top to the crooked part of Lombard and took a few more pictures. The place was crammed with tourists, which made me wonder what all the residents think of living there. I guess they knew what they were getting into when they moved in.

By then it was about 4PM on Friday and the 101 to Mountain View was a parking lot. It took an hour or more to get to Moffett Field, but checking into the lodge proved easy. There were some other interns hanging around the base, reading in a grass field, and walking around the lodge. The room was much nicer than I expected, with a TV, microwave, and full-sized fridge. My main complaint is that I can’t get a signal for the NASA-provided wireless internet from my room. I can get a crappy signal from Google’s free Mountain View wifi if I put the computer against the window, but it works great if I go outside.

Sarah and I went to Buca di Beppo in Palo Alto for dinner, which has provided me with leftovers for the past two days. It was nice to go back there again. It was also weird since all the other times I had a big race coming up, but this time was different. I have no idea what to expect since everything is new. After that I tried in vain to find a grocery store, but just wound up driving in circles for 30 minutes. In the morning, I ran loops around the base, exploring. It wasn’t as big as I thought it was, mainly because parts of it are restricted. It was also really deserted.

That afternoon I drove Sarah to the airport and waited for her flight back home to leave. It was strange going to that airport and not going home. Every time I’ve been there I was always coming from home and going home, but yesterday I wasn’t doing that. This is now my home, at least for a few months. This is basically the first time I’ve moved anywhere, since going to school in Williamsburg isn’t that far from home and I was already pretty familiar with the area.

Driving back, I stopped at a Fry’s, the first time I’ve ever been to one. They need to open up a couple in Virginia – they have everything. I got a high gain wireless antenna and extension cable for a USB wireless adapter that I ordered on Newegg today. I finally found the grocery store and a Trader Joe’s and wound up blowing over $100 on food. I got as much non-perishable stuff as I could as well as things that I could easily make. After getting back, I got the whole room organized and found it hard to believe that I had actually made the trip and everything was actually happening. It’s a huge change from being at school or at home.

Overall, the trip probably ran over $800 including gas, hotels, and food for the two of us. It came in well under the $1000 I had expected, mostly due to lower hotel and gas prices. Gas mileage was spot on 24 mpg, which is the government estimate. I paid as much as $3.40 in Illinois and as little as $3.05 in Covington, VA. I don’t think many places have cheaper gas than at home. Yesterday I paid $3.47 in Los Altos.

This morning I ran outside the gate to the Stevens Creek Trail, which was really cool – it went along the bay and has plenty of dirt sections that parallel the bike path. There seem to be a lot of these type trails in the area and I hope to explore all of them. I also want to drive to a couple of the nearby parks and run there, as well as possibly bike from here to the coast.

The base is really weird. Most of it is vacant since most of the NASA stuff goes on at the Research Park, which is its own little area. There are large airship hangars and some planes on the tarmac. The buildings look like they are right out of Black Mesa in Half Life. I went looking for the laundry room, but it’s actually more of a laundry “bunker”. The building is recessed into the ground and three sides of it are sloped and covered in grass. It’s surrounded by abandoned living quarters with asbestos warnings.

Well, tomorrow is the start of my first day of work. I’m sure it will be an experience, no matter what happens. This whole trip so far has been a real change of pace and nothing like anything I’ve ever done before. It’s exactly why I decided to do this. Something new and exciting.