Los Angeles, CA to Westerly, RI
December 11 - 21, 2024
A mostly pictorial recap of my only (to date) cross-country trip.
Tuesday, December 10
Westerly, RI to Los Angeles, CA
Mid-day flight to the west coast to help Matthew pack and start the trip home, after his completion of grad school.
 |
| Starting off the day in TF Green Airport. We must have among the cleanest airport bathrooms in the country, if not the world. |
 |
| As long as I'm going to be on airplanes for much of my day today, I might as well make it comfortable and not arrive tight from sitting in cramped quarters. Worth it to spend a few extra dollars, as I've got my legs stretched out completely here and still a few feet to the seats in front of me, nobody else sitting in my row, and a bathroom conveniently at 10 o'clock in pic. |
 |
| The airplane cheese and fruit trays were actually pretty good! |
Wednesday, December 11
Los Angeles, CA to San Bernardino, CA
Drive: 74 miles, 2.5 hours
Run: 12 miles, 2,400'
Lodging: Hilton Garden Inn San Bernardino
After a hilly run in Griffith Park that kicked my butt, we finished cleaning up Matthew's apartment and packing his car, and we were off for the short drive. Very short drive today, as we needed time for packing as well as Matthew taking his final exam remotely that evening from the hotel.
Thursday, December 12
San Bernardino, CA to Tucson, AZ
Drive: 466 miles, 8 hours
Run: 12 miles, 1,150'
Lodging: DoubleTree Tucson Reid Park
First of many long drives. Broke up today's drive with a visit to and run in Joshua Tree National Park! 800' climb, but unlike yesterday at Griffith Park, the climb today was over about 5 miles.
 |
| First time visit to Joshua Tree National Park. Really cool terrain and views! |
 |
| And here are the Joshua trees, which technically are not trees at all, but rather succulents. Who knew? Not me. |
Arrived our hotel in Tucson at 9:30pm. Tiring.
Friday, December 13
Tucson, AZ to El Paso, TX
Drive: 465 miles, 8 hours
Run: 7 miles, 900'
Lodging: Tru El Paso
Today's run was in Saguaro National Park. 900' climb in less than two miles, then downhill to flat for the rest of the run. My second time here, the first being about 35 years ago when I visited my brother Scott stationed in nearby Fort Huachuca at the time.
 |
| Started out just after sunrise. |
 |
| Saguaro cactii! (or do you say "cactuses"?) |
 |
| Returned to the hotel for shower, breakfast, and a quick dip in the outdoor pool before today's drive. Must be one of the few outdoor pools I have ever gone in during the month of December. |
 |
| The hotel grounds were attractive as well. |
Crossed into New Mexico for my 43rd visited state. My highlight today, and one of the highlights of my trip, was visiting White Sands National Park. The deep 30' layers of gypsum sand was like nothing I had ever seen before. The temperature was a comfortable 63°F during our visit, and December is a good time to visit, as the mean high temperature in July is 106°F!
 |
| At first glance, it looks like snow-covered slopes. But it's not! |
 |
| Wind driven gypsum dunes. Trails marked by these orange and white posts. |
 |
| Opted to go barefoot on our 2-mile walk. Otherwise, would have had shoes full of sand. |
Saturday, December 14
El Paso, TX to Carlsbad, NM
Drive: 168 miles, 4 hours
Run: 10 miles, 900'
Lodging: Hampton Inn & Suites Carlsbad
Long day today, not so much in terms of driving, but rather activities. Arrived at our hotel after 8pm, pretty beat from a full day.
 |
| Started out at sunrise in Franklin Mountains State Park, El Paso. Exceeded my expectations. |
 |
| Really neat views running on the desert trails. |
 |
| Post-running and breakfast, it was an hour and a half drive from El Paso to the Guadalupe Mountains NP Visitor Center, my first time ever to this National Park |
At the trailhead, a park ranger tried to discourage us, saying we would be descending in the dark, as the average time to hike to the summit and back is 6-8 hours. I told him we are both marathon runners and he let us go.
 |
| Very interesting terrain on this hike |
 |
| We didn't see too many trees during our hike, which made this Ponderosa Pina all that much more special. |
 |
| At the summit, and high point of Texas at 8,751' |
Even with a few stops and lingering at the summit to refuel, we still made it up and down the mountain in less than four hours. The same park ranger was still there, so I made it a point to tell him we were back down in under four hours. I realized he was just doing his job to warn hikers of potential issues, so hopefully I didn't come across as pompous.
 |
| We had one more activity today, as that was a short mile+ hike inside Carlsbad Caverns National Park. We didn't get to go into the cave (Slaughter Canyon Cave) itself as that's only for guided tours, but we did get to peer in (photo above). |
 |
| Unlike at Guadalupe Mountains NP, here we were truly pushing the envelope with running out of daylight as it was dusk as we finished under moonlight. |
Sunday, December 15
Carlsbad, NM to Fort Smith, AR
Drive: 718 miles, 10.5 hours
Run: 11 miles, 90'
Lodging: Hampton Inn Fort Smith
Long, long day of driving. I have been on longer drives for sure, but I really don't do well or enjoy drives that are this long.
 |
| Today's run was on a mix of quiet roads (like here) and bike paths in pancake flat Carlsbad, New Mexico. Legs were pretty beat on this run, maybe left over from yesterday's activity-laded day. For only the second time ever, I hit 3,000 annual miles during this run. |
 |
| Oklahoma became my 44th state I've visited, as we stopped and walked around at a visitor center here. |
Monday, December 16
Fort Smith, AR to West Plains, MO
Drive: 336 miles, 7.5 hours
Run: 7 miles, 350'
Lodging: Airbnb - 2 bedroom private home
Legs were just shot after yesterday's long day in the car, but fortunately no drives remaining will be that long. Fort Smith was nice, and then the rest of Arkansas that we were in was like a third-world country to me, between rednecks, trash, and rundown villages.
 |
| Really nice running paths in Ben Geren Regional Park, Fort Smith. Unfortunately the legs were beat up and I ended up going much shorter than planned. |
 |
| Unfortunately the rest of the visit to Arkansas didn't go so well. After walking to the state highpoint (2,753'), we stopped at this gas station to refuel and it was all an uncomfortable mix of Duck Dynasty rednecks and ATVs. |
The rest of the drive through Arkansas was pretty depressing through run-down towns. Lots and lots of Trump signs and dilapidated houses with piles of junk and rundown rusty pickup trucks in the front yard.
We stopped at a bigger town for lunch. The only other customer in the restaurant was probably 300+ pounds and drove a big pickup truck with a gun rack and a bumper sticker, "Get your heart into our country or get your ass out.". Yikes. That's a great solution, right? Don't even try to fix or improve anything; just get out. Well, getting out of Arkansas was my only priority, and though just a political subdivision, crossing that state line into Missouri was a breath of relief that I was no longer in Arkansas.
 |
| Hmm. Shocker. |
Tuesday, December 17
West Plains, MO to St Louis, MO
Drive: 186 miles, 6 hours
Run: 6 miles, 400'
Lodging: DoubleTree St Louis Forest Park
Two quick notes on lodging:
- When I went out to California/Oregon in September, my Scottish blood cheapness came through and we stayed in a $99 Days Inn in Bend, OR instead of a $250 Hilton brand. The place was run-down, sketchy, and breakfast was plastic-packaged items. You get what you pay for! Had huge regrets, so this time just made it easy and booked all Hilton properties.
- The one exception was this stay in West Plains, Missouri, where we rented a house solely to take advantage of a mid-trip usage of washer and dryer to get some clean clothes!
 |
| Ran on a mix of paved and dirt roads from our Airbnb, through fields and farmlands. A few rolling hills. |
 |
| Mina Sauk Falls at Tam Sauk Mountain, highest point in Missouri (1,772') |
 |
| An afternoon visit to St Louis Zoo ... |
 |
| was followed by a late afternoon / evening visit to the famous Gateway Arch, where we rode inside to the top of the arch and walked around the grounds |
 |
| Looking from top of arch windows down onto the city of St Louis |
 |
| One of the best dinners of the trip was at Hitea Ramen, in very close proximity to our hotel |
Wednesday, December 18
St Louis, MO to Lexington, KY
Drive: 422 miles, 9 hours
Run: 9 miles, 400'
Lodging: Embassy Suites Lexington University of Kentucky
 |
| Along this morning's run in Forest Park, St. Louis |
 |
| I've heard and read that there are some pretty rough areas in St Louis, but I also read that Forest Park is one of the best and safest place to run. I booked a hotel adjacent to Forest Park and our run almost entirely in the park was indeed very nice. Nice paved paths, fountains, and stately homes and a university. |
 |
| Highlight to today's trip was clearly was our ranger-led tour in Mammoth Cave National Park (Note: Kentucky became my 47th state visited) |
 |
| Huge atrium inside our hotel in Lexington, Kentucky |
Thursday, December 19
Lexington, KY to Morgantown, WV
Drive: 350 miles, 6 hours
Run: 10 miles, 400'
Lodging: Hilton Garden Inn Morgantown
 |
| Paved bike path in Lexington, Kentucky for most of today's run. Some parts were fine like this shot; others in not so great sections of the city. |
 |
| Pay phone in the West Virginia visitors center. How often do you see this? --- Of course this wasn't nearly as weird as being in the restroom of the visitor center and seeing a guy with a long white beard washing a sack of potatoes one by one in the public sink. Who does that? Only in West Virginia ... |
 |
| Famed New River Gorge in New River Gorge National Park, West Virginia |
 |
| Turnaround point on 3-mile OAB easy walk |
 |
| The park itself was fine, but unfortunately just outside the park was this trash-ridden rundown mobile home. If only this were the exception. But unfortunately we drove through town after town in West Virginia with coal mining processing plants spewing gases, dilapidated houses with garbage-strewn lawns, and consistently being ranked the least healthy state in the country. |
Friday, December 20
Morgantown, WV to Baltimore, MD
Drive: 200 miles, 4.5 hours
Run: 8 miles, 200'
Lodging: Hilton Baltimore Inner Harbor
 |
| OAB on the Monongahela River Trail The trail itself was fine and pretty deserted. |
 |
| But the industrial blight on the opposite shore of the Monongahela River was certainly a detractor |
---
 |
| As with leaving Arkansas, getting out of West Virginia felt so good mentally --- This pic is in the Inner Harbor Baltimore where we would be staying the final night. Now being five days until Christmas, I really felt a longing to be "home for the holidays". |
 |
| I've heard a lot of bad things about Baltimore, and certainly there were some bad parts we drove through, but the Inner Harbor where we were staying was very, very nice |
 |
| Our evening consisted of visiting the National Aquarium, and then dinner, both downtown |
 |
| Some pretty cool specimens, including this moray eel |
 |
| When in Rome (or in this case Maryland) ... it's best to try the local features. This is how my cajun crab boil came to the table. |
 |
| Very messy, but tasty! |
 |
| View from the 20th floor of the Hilton Inner Harbor, where we were staying |
Saturday, December 21
Baltimore, MD to Westerly, RI
Drive: 270 miles, 6 hours
Run: 14 miles, 550'
Final day of the trip. It's been an enjoyable 12-day trip overall, but I'm looking forward to getting back home. I'm trying to remember the last time I was on a trip of this length. I think the closest was 2013, when I went on a 10-day business trip to India. Prior to that, probably the 1990s when I went on many trips to eastern Asia for multiple weeks at a time.
 |
| Along today's run in Baltimore |
 |
| Matthew in front of the river / skyline view. We actually saw a lot of runners out today. |
 |
| Post-run the breakfast buffet back at the hotel was just fantastic! |
 |
| Similarities with European breakfast buffets of having smoked fish and cheeses |
 |
| On our way home, our final stop: Fort McHenry National Monument |
 |
| Most famous for Francis Scott Key during the War of 1812 writing what would later become the Star Spangled Banner, it was interesting to learn that the fort was used for many historical purposes, including as a military hospital |
 |
| Exterior of fort |
Arrived home Saturday night, December 21. Nice to sleep in the next morning. Nice to be home for Christmas.
Miscellaneous musings:
- Miles driven: ~3,800
- States visited: 17 (four new states!)
- National parks visited: 8
- State high points hiked: 3
- Miles run: 110
- States run in: 9
- It took me sixty years to make a cross-country driving trip across the USA. Enjoyable [mostly] for sure, and glad I did it, but not sure I have another one in store in this lifetime.
- It reminds me to of that old joke that if you're going to run cross-country, you should start with a small country. Of course I didn't actually "run" across the country, but I didn't pick a small one either given the USA's position as 4th largest country by land area in the world.
- I suppose this was the 2nd "cross-country" drive I made this year, as I drove across Ireland (Dublin on east coast to Cliffs of Moher on west) in August.
- Favorite national park: Joshua Tree National Park (honorable mention to Guadalupe Mountains National Park, and I did love White Sands National Park).
- Favorite mountain peak: Guadalupe Peak
- Favorite run: Joshua Tree National Park 12-mile trail run.
- Best surprise: Baltimore's Inner Harbor far exceeded my expectations on how nice the area was.
- Lowpoint: Arkansas. Rednecks, obesity, rundown houses and entire towns. "Honorable" mention to West Virginia, having many of the same characteristics and also the dubious distinction of being the least healthy state in the country.
- This marks the second consecutive December where I've spent more than a week away from home. Both were great trips, but I did miss being away from home during the Christmas season. Christmas is cold weather (hopefully but rarely snow) and New England to me.
- Rethinking running a marathon in all 50 states: Not that I ever committed to it, and I've only completed 13 to date, but I periodically consider it. But after this trip, do I really ever want to go back to Arkansas or West Virginia?
- Ending this post on a positive note, I am now at 47 of 50 states visited, with only three to go: Kansas, North Dakota, and Idaho. Unfortunately, none are even close to being contiguous to each other, and I have no specific plans to visit any of them, but I certainly aim to cross this goal off the bucket list!
