In Search of Blue Highways, Great Road Food, Good People, Fantastic Scenery, and Cheap Gas

Welcome to our trip journal! As a retirement gift, my husband and I rewarded ourselves with an open-ended cross-country road trip. I was looking forward to traveling Route 66, sampling the best in barbecue joints and diner food, and talking to whoever was willing to talk back. Jim was especially keen on visiting New Mexico, Arizona, and Yellowstone.

Here was an opportunity to ignore schedules, take wrong turns, abandon our Type A personalities, and open ourselves up to surprises -- those adventures that remain with you long after the details of the trip are forgotten.

So on May 24, 2008 we hit the road in our new Toyota Prius, equipped with a GPS, enough trunk space for two large suitcases, and an electric motor that kicks in when you drive at slow speeds (easy when you’re a codger) and downhill. Our essential travel guides were “Road Trip USA” by Jamie Jensen, Jane & Michael Stern’s “Road Food”, and all the AAA guides we could cram into a shopping bag.

So here’s our journal. I tried to leave out the boring parts, but if you find any of those in the narrative, we won’t be insulted if you skip them.

Feel free to send us a note any time via the "Leave a Message" link or email us at nat.dyen@verizon.net.
We hope you enjoy the journal.

Natalie and Jim Dyen