Best of: 7 Month U.S. Roadtrip
For those just tuning in, we just got home from spending seven months on the road trip of a lifetime. In October 2017, we packed up our stuff, turned our Honda CR-V into a camper, and toured thirty-five U.S. states!
Since arriving home, everyone's favorite question for us is... "What was your favorite place?!" ...It's an impossible question, really, as most every place we visited held something unique, something to be amazed by, and something we'll never forget. We've done our best below, though, to hand out the U.S. "superlatives" per our experience... Despite what you may think after the first few answers, we DID fill these out separately! We'd love to hear what you agree and disagree with – Comment below!
WORST DRIVERS
Alyssa: CALIFORNIA OH MY GOSH. Or Connecticut
Ray: Anywhere in California.
WORST ROAD
Alyssa: Twenty-mile gravel road into Devil's River State Natural Area
Ray: 22 Mile unpaved road into Devil's River
BEST ROAD
Alyssa: Pacific Coast Highway through Big Sur, California
Ray: The 1 along the coast of Big Sur (Where is wasn’t closed because of landslides.)
BEST FOOD (PURCHASED)
Alyssa: Street Tacos in Southern California
Ray: Al Pastor tacos from food truck in San Francisco
BEST FOOD (HOMEMADE)
Alyssa: Cous-cous & Veggies
Ray: Probably burgers in Florida or fried rice in Big Bend NP
STRANGEST MEAL
Alyssa: Tortilla with Bell Pepper & Mustard
Ray: Chili Peppers
BEST CITY
Alyssa: San Francisco (After NYC, of course)
Ray: Still NYC
BEST BIT OF WILDERNESS
Alyssa: Devil's River State Natural Area in Texas
Ray: Gosh, so many…
FAVORITE NATIONAL PARK
Alyssa: Zion
Ray: Again, so many… Arches because of the hike we took, Grand Canyon because of the size.
MOST SURPRISING NATIONAL PARK
Alyssa: Death Valley
Ray: Hot Springs
LEAST FAVORITE NATIONAL PARK
Alyssa: None. Honestly!
Ray: None
FAVORITE STATE
Alyssa: California, Colorado, & Maine
Ray: Vermont, Colorado, or Tennessee
LEAST FAVORITE STATE
Alyssa: New Mexico
Ray: New Mexico
BEST SUNSET
Alyssa: Anything over the Ocean, but San Luis Obispo, CA's were the best.
Ray: Anything from TV Tower Road (San Luis Obisbo)
BEST SUNRISE
Alyssa: Cadillac Mountain, Acadia National Park
Ray: Only saw one… Acadia
BEST CAMPING SPOT
Alyssa: Chisos Mountains, Big Bend National Park
Ray: Gotta say SLO. It felt like home after a month!
WORST CAMPING SPOT
Alyssa: Some random forest in Arkansas
Ray: Some random forest in South Carolina
BEST COFFEE (TASTE)
Alyssa: I wouldn't know!
Ray: Scout or Kreuzberg (San Luis Obispo, CA) Presta (Tucson, AZ)
FAVORITE COFFEE SHOP (ATMOSPHERE, EXPERIENCE)
Alyssa: The Starbucks Roastery in Seattle.
Ray: Vivace (Seattle, WA) Cat & Cloud (Santa Cruz, CA) Corvus (Denver, CO) Presta (Tucson, AZ)
LOWEST MOMENT
Alyssa: After a string of events gone wrong over a 48 hour period between New Mexico & Arizona, I just remember having a pretty big meltdown in the worst smelling porta-potty of my life.
Ray: Any time I saw Alyssa crying.
CRAZIEST MOMENT
Alyssa: Driving along that "worst road" mentioned earlier... We were suddenly SWARMED by a giant heard of sheep! They just stared at and followed us down the road a ways... It felt like a weird dream.
Ray: Probably every time we saw a new animal (moose, elk, mountain lion ect.) They didn’t seem real, and I was just stunned by them.
