Road tripping USA 2023

A 43-day adventure by Paula Read more

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Road tripping USA 2023 Traveler
The beautiful city that is Boston
February 14, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 7 °C
Another big day exploring this beautiful city that is Boston. A total of 18.6km walked today …. we now understand why people say that Boston is one of the most walkable cities in America.

We headed out exploring about 9.30am today making our way to Acorn Street.

I think it was way back in about 2015 I saw a photo pop up on Instagram of Acorn Street, Boston. Many of the places I have visited come from seeing photos on Instagram and this was basically my inspiration for visiting Boston. Today I got to visit Acorn Street. Acorn Street is famous cobblestoned street in the Beacon Hill neighborhood was laid out in the 1820s. Originally called Kitchen Street because the small row houses were once occupied by the cooks and coachmen who lived close to their employers. Some homes were even used as horse stables at one time. Going by prices in this area I am guessing these houses sell for way over $2M. Here are my photographic interpretation of Acorn Street. There were wedding photos being taken so couldn’t get the perfect shot.

From here we made our way to Fenway Park, home of the Red Sox. We thought we may have been able to sneak a look inside but unfortunately we couldn’t. We headed into the Red Sox souvenir shop as the girls were wanting a hoodie …. well at a price of between $90 and $200 for a hoodie we soon left there and headed towards Target hoping they might have some. We walked around Target and just as I said to Dave that I didn’t think they had any we stumbled across a heap. Much better price of $40 each, plus Tommy got a Red Sox baseball t-shirt.

We headed back to the hotel to drop off the goodies and made our way to The Cheesecake Factory for a Valentine’s Day lunch. Amazing meal as always.

Back again to the hotel for a rest as we ate way too much for lunch. At about 4.30pm we got ready for a walk along Commonwealth Avenue Mall to see the trees lit up at dusk. We walked the whole Mall before heading down to the water to see this magnificent city by night. We sat along the water and just took everything in. After walking quite a distance along the water it was time to head back into the city, walking through the beautifully brownstone lined streets, making our way to Copley Square. A quick trip to the supermarket to get Dave something for breakfast in the morning as I still have yoghurts and then it was time to go to our room to pack our bags ready for our flight tomorrow.

A big day of travel tomorrow. Our flight is at 11.15am however we have to be at the airport 2 hours before so we have an Uber picking us up 8.15am. We fly to Phoenix via Atlanta, it’s a 3 hour flight to Atlanta, 1.5hr layover in Atlanta then a 4hr 15min flight to Phoenix arriving 5.45pm local time (which would be 7.45pm Boston time). We collect our car and drive via a Walmart to Sedona which is about a 1hr 45min drive. So after collecting luggage, getting our car and then a quick stop to Walmart just outside of Phoenix, we probably won’t get to Sedona until about 8.30/9.00pm.

Let our road trip begin, so many amazing places to see and explore.Read more
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Road tripping USA 2023 Traveler
Fenway Park and Cheesecake Factory
February 14, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 7 °C
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Road tripping USA 2023 Traveler
Boston by night
February 14, 2023 in the United States
TravelerWOW impressive at night alright!
2/16/23Reply
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Road tripping USA 2023 Traveler
Goodbye Boston
February 15, 2023 in the United States
A wake up alarm at 6.30am to shower, have breakfast and pack the last of our stuff ready to meet our Uber out front at 8.15am.

Ronald, our Uber driver. was there when we got down at 8.00 so we loaded our luggage in then headed to the airport. It only took 20mins to get to the airport so we were very early for our 11.15am flight but better to be early than late.

If you are ever in Boston, stay near Copley Square in Back Bay, so central to everything and just a beautiful part of the city. Copley Square Hotel was great though the rooms were very small but that’s staying in a city for you!

We checked in, printed our boarding passes as well as our bag tags and handed in our luggage. Through security and off to find our Delta gate.

We were sitting at our gate and Dave went to look at his watch which was the one we bought him in NYC in 2016 and it wasn’t on his wrist. He had trouble going through security and remembered he took it off but forgot to pick it up again. He made the long trek back to security hoping someone had handed it in and they had!

We can’t get over how beautiful and peaceful Boston is. Yes given it is winter it is going to be quieter than summer I suppose.Read more
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Road tripping USA 2023 Traveler
Hello Atlanta
February 15, 2023 in the United States
Flight left on time of 11.15am and we arrived at Atlanta at about 2.15pm. We disembarked and headed into the airport to find our next gate (which was only 2 gates down) for our flight to Phoenix at 3.30pm. During the flight, I watched a great movie, American Underdog and read more of my book, while Dave listened to music and slept.

Before we knew it, we were lining up to go back onto yet another plane for our 4hr 15min flight to Phoenix. During this flight Dave again listened to music and slept and I watched another movie called Ambulance which wasn’t as good as the movie I watched on the other flight but it wasn’t too bad. The rest of the time I watched some Season 10 episodes of Friends and I think the guy sitting next to me thought I was crazy as I was laughing so much. One of the episodes was Ross getting his fake tan, always cracks me up!Read more
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Road tripping USA 2023 Traveler
Hello Phoenix
February 15, 2023 in the United States
Arriving in Phoenix on time, disembarking was quick and we made our way to the baggage claim. Once at baggage claim, a quick look at the monitor showed our luggage would be at carousel 3.

Dave bags came out quick, but mine didn’t and we were starting to think mine had gone somewhere else but alas they must just have been in a different section of the plane.

Air Canada broke wheels on 2 of our bags with the one with 4 wheels loosing a wheel and the one with 2 wheels having one hanging but it still working. Well Delta completely wrecked this bag and we have a big hole in the bag where the wheel has come off. We will try and get another bag at the outlet shops in Vegas at the end of our road trip.

Once we got our bags, we headed to the skytrain to take us to car rental area which was about a 6min ride. Made our way to the Sixt car rental, paid for our car which was to be a Jeep Grand Cherokee however we got a Toyota 4Runner instead.

Loaded our luggage (I need to learn to pack less but it’s so hard to know what you will need for such a long trip that goes from one side of the country to the other), a quick get to know the car and where everything was and we were off, our first time driving in the States for this holiday. Both Dave and I hate getting out of cities we don’t know and Phoenix is no better with 6 lanes at times, the navigation system speaking in miles and just both being stressed.Read more
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Road tripping USA 2023 Traveler
Quick trip to Walmart
February 15, 2023 in the United States
We made our way to a big Walmart about half hour out of Phoenix to get some groceries, an esky so we can take packed lunches on our exploration days, a pillow for me (as I hate the hotel pillows) and a cheap toaster.

Back in the car, to make our way to Sedona which was about 1hr 15min drive and on much quieter roads, thank goodness.Read more
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Road tripping USA 2023 Traveler
Hello Sedona and road tripping
February 15, 2023 in the United States
We are staying at the Village of Oak Creek which is just south of Sedona and the complex is amazing as is the room.

We arrived, unpacked and at 10.15pm local time (which is 12.15pm Boston time which we were used to) we got to have something to eat for lunch/dinner.

Tomorrow is adventure time.Read more
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Road tripping USA 2023 Traveler
Beautiful Sedona
February 16, 2023 in the United States
Our first night in Sedona was their coldest night on record this winter. It was pretty chilly when we got out of bed at around 8.30am. Dave tried to brave the cold to sit on our deck for breakfast but it was just way too cold.

After a long hot shower, we set off exploring the resort we are staying in. It is a really beautiful resort with many pools, spas, a duck pond, golf course and a sunset viewing swing seat.

Being on the go for the last week and a half as well as travelling so far in such a short amount of time, after our walk around the resort this morning I lay on the bed and before I knew it I had slept for 1.5 hours. Could have slept longer but adventure and exploration awaited.Read more
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Road tripping USA 2023 Traveler
Exploring Red Rock Trails
February 16, 2023 in the United States
We went to Red Rock Country trails which encompasses Bells Rock, Courthouse Butte and Lee Mountain. The views, as you can see from the photos, are nothing short of spectacular. We walked about 10kms between the walk around the resort and the trails this afternoon.

Before heading back to the hotel, we stopped at a local grocery store to get some steak to cook for dinner. When we went to cook our dinner and the power went out. Maintenance came but he couldn’t get the power back on. So a change of rooms was in store for us which I wasn’t looking forward to until he said it was the adjoining room which had a connecting door. And what is even better, we got an unexpected upgrade to a king one bedroom apartment with a full kitchen, and one massive bath tub - I’m in heaven!!Read more
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Road tripping USA 2023 Traveler
Exploring Sedona
February 17, 2023 in the United States
Sedona was always going to be a bit of our downtime part of the adventure as it is such a beautiful place just to sit and take in all the beauty. And as it has worked out, it was lucky that it was as my good old anxiety kicked in this morning, not sure why just all things new like driving on the other side of the road at night, having to move rooms and a few other things - yes only little things but that’s me 😂

So today we went for a drive into downtown Sedona and looked at the shops, bought a few souvenirs before heading out into the back roads to have a good look around. Sedona sure has grown since we were here 6 years ago which is a bit of a shame as it was just a small magical country town but now is getting more like a city.

Back to our room for a bite to eat for lunch and to decide what we would do in the afternoon. As Oak Creek Village has grown also since we were here last, we decided to go for a long walk around town and find a place to fly the drone.

Back to the room to pack ready to head to the Grand Canyon tomorrow. A quick trip to fill the car up and back to do a couple of loads of washing and have some chill time.Read more
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Road tripping USA 2023 Traveler
Breathtaking Grand Canyon
February 18, 2023 in the United States
We got up around 8.00am today to pack the last few things into the car, have a quick bite to eat, take the keys back to reception to check out and then it was time to hit the road Grand Canyon bound.

At around 10.30am, we made our way to I17 towards Flagstaff. We had to make a turn off the interstate outside of Flagstaff to 89A then onto I40. Well we took a wrong turn here as we thought surely we wouldn’t have to take the exit to Los Angeles but yep we did. A few re-routings on the gps and we were back on the right road.

Much easier drive today as most of the way was only a dual highway. We stopped off at Tusayan which is the little township outside of the park for some lunch before making our way into the park.

As it’s the President’s Day long weekend here, there were many people coming into the park so it took about half an hour to get through the pay station.

It wasn’t long before we were at the Bright Angel Lodge hoping we could get an early check in as it was only 2.00pm and check in wasn’t until 4.00pm. We were in luck and we were soon in our cabin. The cabin is less than a 2 minute walk to the canyon rim!

As it is a historical lodge, the cabins are very basic but have everything you need.

We rested for a couple of hours before rugging up and going on an 8km walk around the rim in the gorgeous snow. The photos posted here are only ones I took on my phone. I will post more from my camera when I upload them.

We got back to the cabin at around 6.00pm for a basic dinner of toast before resting watching a bit of TV.

More exploration awaits tomorrow.Read more
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Road tripping USA 2023 Traveler
Relaxing …..
February 19, 2023 in the United States
And what better place to relax than at the Grand Canyon.

We set off this morning walking away from the rim to explore the village. We came across many buildings we didn’t know were here including a courthouse. We walked passed the mules who don’t seem to be working at the moment as the trails down into the Canyon are way too icy. This, however, doesn’t stop all the people taking to the trails. My heart is in my mouth the whole time watching them as the trails aren’t wide at all with a sheer drop off and lots and lots of ice on the trail. My heart is also in my mouth when Dave goes too close to the edge of the rim.

While we were out walking, we decided to take a short cut through the glorious white untouched snow. Oh my what a laugh, the snow was so deep that it came half way up my thigh! We then had a snow fight as the snow was so soft and fluffy.

We came back to the room to get ready to go out to lunch. We saw that since we were here back in 2016, a burger place had opened so we thought we would try it out. What a big disappointment, our dinner tonight back in our room of 2 minute noodles for Dave and toast for me was a lot my appetising.

Back in our room for some relaxation before heading out this afternoon for our walk around the rim. Oh my it had got a little chillier than this morning so I ducked back to the room to get Dave’s beanie and off we went.

After 2 hours of walking and exploring the shops, heavy clouds started to come in bringing with it icy cold winds so we headed back to the room and had our dinner. We bought some chocolate treats for after dinner on our way home.

We were going to walk to the rim tonight to take in the beauty of the night sky as they say it is spectacular over the Canyon, however with the heavy clouds we didn’t think it would be clear enough so we have put that off until tomorrow night.

There is a free shuttle bus that runs all year round here in the village, so tomorrow we are going to catch the shuttle to have a look around the village plus it stops at their grocery store. As we head to Monument Valley on Tuesday, we will stock up on some groceries for that part of our adventure.

Here’s to another amazing day tomorrow.Read more
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More Grand Canyon photos
February 19, 2023 in the United States
TravelerWOW!
2/20/23Reply
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Exploring Grand Canyon Village
February 20, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 1 °C
Today is President’s Day in the US and we thought that everyone would be up really early to get the last little bit of exploring in before they had to head home and therefore not get a sleep in. We were wrong and we got the most wonderful sleep in, it was amazing!

Today we planned to catch the free shuttle bus to the General Store to top up our groceries and that is what we did. The shuttle stops at many different places around the village so we got to see the lay of the land so to speak.

The grocery store was quite large, a lot bigger than we thought. It also has a souvenir shop so we got a few souvenirs as well. The prices of the groceries were very hard to follow. Some things we thought would be super expensive were super cheap and vice versa. Anyhow, we are stocked up again to continue our adventure tomorrow onwards to Monument Valley.

We got back to the cabin and had some lunch before going for a walk around the rim, taking time to just sit and take in the view and people watch. Each time you look at the view, you see something different and you really appreciate how old earth really is. What the photos don’t show is the sheer depth of the Canyon, it just goes down forever! Plus at times, you go extremely close to the edge which is heart stopping at times.

We also ventured into the trees where there was some beautiful untouched white snow. Yep you guessed it the snow was extremely deep again and we nearly vanished. Another snow fight before making our way out the deep snow. Definitely a workout and so much fun.

While we were sitting, we overhead people say that the Grand Canyon train was going to leave at 3.30 so we made our way down to the train track to watch it, Dave was in heaven and I am nearly deaf from how loud the horn was.

We did a little more walking before heading back to the cabin. I read more of my book and Dave had a snooze.

As it was such a clear day today, we ventured out after dark to try and capture some night sky photos. I got a couple of good ones.

Grand Canyon is truly a magical place and one that has our hearts. If you ever get a chance to visit here, don’t pass up the opportunity, you won’t be disappointed.Read more
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Road tripping Arizona & Utah
February 21, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ -1 °C
We continued our road tripping today leaving the Grand Canyon at around 10.00am. Before leaving we had to have one last selfie at the rim, a look around the History Room which wasn’t open when we went to look yesterday and then it was on the road.

Dave drove out of the Canyon. You drive along the rim for about 30kms with many amazing view points along the way. This was the way we came into the Canyon back in 2017 as we were coming in from Page. You are definitely driving on the rim as you look to your left and the rim of the Canyon is just there.

Once we got out of the Canyon and the winding road, it was time for me to take the wheel. Dave finds it better for his vertigo if he drives the winding roads and me drive the long straight stretches.

What an amazing drive it was, views that went on forever, long stretches of straight highway and hardly any traffic. I loved every minute of it.

We stopped for petrol at a little roadhouse and it was like Ti Tree in the Northern Territory, dogs everywhere however these ones must have had homes as they were very fat.

Onwards towards Kayenta which is the closest town to Monument Valley. We stopped for McDonalds, yes McDonalds as there isn’t much to choose from in the desert! At the same strip mall was a grocery store so we got a few more supplies that we couldn’t get in the Grand Canyon. Again there were fat dogs everywhere and oh so beautiful (mostly Kelpies and Cattle Dogs). I wanted to pat them but the little voice in the back of my head saying rabies soon had me not patting them!

Another 30kms and we were at The View Hotel. Within this 30kms you duck into the State of Utah and as quick as you are in that state you are back into the State of Arizona.

This year the number 5 is very significant as I turn 50 on the 5th of the 5th.

So to help me celebrate, I wanted to go somewhere very special and memorable on this adventure, so I booked The View Hotel at Monument Valley. To say the views are breathtaking is an understatement - this is the view from our room.

Happy early 50th birthday to me!

There are views from every room in the hotel, from the hotel rooms, to reception, to the trading post and the restaurant. I couldn’t have picked a better place to start my early celebrations.

Another truly magical place.Read more
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The View Hotel
February 21, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ -1 °C
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Road tripping USA 2023 Traveler
The View Hotel
February 21, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ -1 °C
TravelerAmazing views & luv the fireplace!
2/24/23Reply
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The beauty that is Monument Valley
February 22, 2023 ⋅ 🌬 1 °C
Last night wasn’t the best night on our adventure. We had some very inconsiderate neighbours who talked very loudly way past midnight (quiet time in the hotel is 10pm to 7am). I’m not one to normally take action but as we had to be up early for our horse ride I had to do the old knock on the wall so they got the hint. They were very gracious and stopped talking but then went for a long shower and the water pipes in the hotel are very noisy 😂

Anyway long story short, Dave and I didn’t get much sleep last night. I think I got about 2 hours and Dave about 4!

We were up, showered, dressed and down at the breakfast room at 7.00am for the complimentary breakfast. Unfortunately, I am finding the further we go into the ‘outback’ on our trip, the less and less gluten free food I can find. I am quickly running out of things to eat. Breakfast this morning only had tinned peaches and yoghurt that I could eat, Dave on the other hand had a great breakfast. I should have enough food until Saturday when we move onto Moab. I have already checked their grocery store out and it seems to have a lot of gluten free goods.

The more we sat at breakfast and watched the wind and the dusk, we knew that horse riding would not be very pleasant today so when we got back to our room, I telephoned the company and they were happy to reschedule until Friday at 11am.

As there was a winter storm warning in place and warnings to say don’t drive unless necessary due to high winds, we decided to have a slow day. I read and slept and Dave slept and took in the view.

After lunch we thought the wind had dropped a little and got ready to go for a short drive. We went outside to see what the temperature was like and I said to Dave ‘look snowflakes’. So, being Aussies who never get to see snow fall, went about filming and standing in the snow. Though it was only flurries, it still snowed for us!

About an hour later, it started to clear so we went down to the Trading Post as we had $80 worth of gift vouchers to spend on Native Indian artwork. Each night you stay, you get a $20 voucher. Well we got 3 amazing sand paintings framed. They will look absolutely beautiful on our travel wall at home. We also got a mug, shot glass, sticker and magnet of Monument Valley.

Back to the room to drop these purchases off before braving the high winds and -9 degree temps to go for a walk to look around. It was all worth it as we got some amazing photos. Our faces and hands took a while to get feeling back in them after we got back though.

Tomorrow we are hoping the wind has dropped and we can do some driving around.Read more
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Braving the winds and -9 degrees
February 22, 2023 in the United States ⋅ 🌬 1 °C
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The adventure continues
February 23, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ -4 °C
What an amazing way to wake up, sit up in bed, look out our door which looks out onto the Valley and there it is, in all its glory, the red desert covered in a fresh blanket of crisp white snow.

You can tell Dave and I are the crazy Aussies who never see snow as I was out on our balcony in just undies and singlet in -3 degrees taking photos and videos. Lucky no one can see onto our deck 😂

Then we went out into the corridor and just stared out at the falling snow. I had got dressed by this time. I felt the urge just to go out and walk around in the snow so that is what I did. After about 15 mins I went back up into the corridor and just looked out. An older couple came passed and said ‘I bet you are happy to be looking out at the snow falling and not in it’. I said to them that I was a crazy Aussie who never sees snow so I was actually out in it enjoying every minute of it! We spoke for a while about where we were from (as their brother-in-law is originally from Queensland), about where we had been and where we were going. They were from Southern California.

After breakfast we set off into the valley to the Valley Loop Drive which takes you around all the buttes, mittens and monuments in the valley. A truly magnificent drive and one we feel blessed to have been able to do. The views just go on for miles.

The drive took about 2 hours and by the time we had finished, it was time for lunch. Back to the room for some ham and cheese sandwiches.

We weren’t going to do anything for the afternoon but as it was only 1pm I said to Dave, get ready we are going to Forrest Gump Hill and then onto Four Corners Monument. Four Corners Monument is where the Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado borders meet.

First stop was Forrest Gump Hill for photos and selfies. There was quite a few people there doing the same thing. Oh my was it cold and windy. We couldn’t feel our faces or hands when we got back into the car.

Onwards towards Four Corners Monument which took us through Mexican Hat, a small Indian reservation as well as Teec Nos Pos and Red Butte.

After driving for 1.5 hours we had made it into New Mexico and could see the Four Corners Monument in the distance. Got to the turn off to go in and it was bloody shut! I checked all the websites this morning to see if it was open and it said it was but no it was closed. I rang just to make sure but all they said was ‘yes we are closed for the whole day’.

We came a different way back to the hotel which took us through Kayenta where we stopped for dinner, fuel and some milk before making our way back to the hotel.

Although the monument was shut, we had a truly amazing afternoon out adventuring and saw some spectacular countryside.Read more
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Monument Valley Scenic Drive
February 23, 2023 in the United States ⋅ 🌬 3 °C
Traveler WOW!
2/24/23Reply
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Road tripping USA 2023 Traveler
Monument Valley Scenic Drive
February 23, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ -3 °C
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Monument Valley Scenic Drive
February 23, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ -4 °C
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Forrest Gump Hill
February 23, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ -4 °C
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