Road Trips

Argentine Pass

First, a few words about walking. It is hard to say with great accuracy where I am on the American Discovery Trail, because Google Maps and the Trail website have a profound difference of opinion regarding the walking distance between Denver and Winfield, Colorado, but a little calculation suggests that, maybe, I am about 5 miles short of the Argentine Pass, highest point on the trail. It is in the thirties there now, at least during the warm part of the day. Cold at night.

I noticed that I forgot to mention an important milestone on the trail. This may be a bit of review of earlier posts, but there are two ways to cross the country on the American Discovery Trail. Just west of Cincinnati, the trail splits into two routes, one more northern, the other more southern. The northern fork goes through a bit of Ohio, then Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska, then into Colorado, and that is the route I took. The southern route goes about one mile in Ohio, then through more southern Indiana and Illinois, then Missouri, Kansas, and into Colorado. The two forks meet in Denver, and then there is only one trail the rest of the way to the Pacific Ocean. I passed Denver about 80 miles back, so now the people who took the southern route are walking with me, probably walking past me since I am slow.

Jackie and I both like to travel, and we both enjoy road trips. It's good to be compatible, at least in some manner. Road trips are comfortable, and there is a lot to see across the country, and we have fun. It is not the most climate-friendly option; that would be something like walking or biking, but a bus or train is a good option too. Driving is better than flying though, maybe. The Internet seems a bit conflicted about that, especially for long trips.

Anyway, we're driving, to Washington for a medical appointment and Thanksgiving, to San Francisco for a bridge tournament, back to Washington, then back to New Mexico. 23 days total.

On our trips, Jackie does the driving. She does not like being in the passenger seat all day, and she gets impatient with my driving because I do not drive more than about 10 miles per hour over the speed limit. She drives faster. I, on the other hand, do not mind being a passenger and do not mind Jackie's driving. Look at me, so easygoing.

We have determined a favorite path from here to Washington and back, based on a few trips. It is not what Google Maps or our car's navigation recommends, which would be through Utah, Idaho, and Oregon. Instead, we will take Interstate 40 from Albuquerque to Barstow, California, then some smaller highway from Barstow to I-5 near Bakersfield, then I-5 all the way to Lacey, WA, so just under 1,000 miles on I-5. The reason for that route is that the more direct way, especially through Utah, involves smaller roads, getting stuck behind slow traffic and trucks trying to pass each other, and Jackie doesn't like those roads. When you are driving all day, it helps to be relaxed, and smaller roads stress her out.

A little more detail about how we split the driving: in a typical 9-hour day driving, the driving time will be split about like this:

Jackie: 9 hours

Me: Maybe a minute.

I usually drive a little because when we stop for gas, usually at a big stop like a Love's, Jackie goes inside to use the bathroom, while I pump the gas. Then I get in and move the car from the pumps to the front of the store. And that's pretty much it for my driving. Maybe a minute if we stop a few times.

I will try to take pictures.