I’m in the middle of my three-week vacation for a half-cross-country solo road trip to hike, visit friends, and break up the usual routine. My first week was spent primarily in the mountains in several states: Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Tennessee. The second week was spent traveling further west towards the Rocky Mountains.
My first destination was Kansas City to visit an old friend. We went to a vegan restaurant for dinner called Café Gratitude, a 100% organic and plant-based restaurant supporting local farmers, sustainable agriculture, and environmentally friendly products. I had the Mexican Breakfast Bowl. It had brown rice, black beans, salsa fresca, guac-style chickpea hummus, and cashew nacho cheese topped with roasted pumpkin seeds and cilantro. It was absolutely delicious. I also treated myself to dessert and had their vegan cheesecake. Yummy.
Before leaving town the next day, we had lunch at the Blue Nile Café. It’s been a while since I’ve had Ethiopian food. We had the veggie combination for two. The food was fantastic. It was a satisfying meal before hitting the road and heading to Colorado.
I decided to visit Pikes Peak, the highest summit on my road trip at 14,115 feet. You can drive to the summit, but they also have a shuttle service. Their shuttles are school buses, and it is about a 40-minute ride to the top.
After spending the previous day in 101-degree heat in Kansas City, it was a very cool 51 degrees at Pikes Peak in the afternoon. What a beautiful day to escape the heat and take in some spectacular views.
A few miles from Pikes Peak is the Crystal Creek Reservoir. Chipmunks are pretty common around the area.
The next day, I headed to Wyoming and spent an afternoon hiking around Curt Gowdy State Park, about a half hour from Cheyenne. It was another beautiful day to spend outdoors, with temperatures mainly in the 70s.
It did get a bit windy, but the geese took it in stride and rode the little waves in the lake. I also saw plenty of chipmunks here, too. They are such adorable little creatures.
Cheyenne is the only town in the entire state of Wyoming to have a Panera Bread, so I could still enjoy a couple of cups of (almost) free coffee in the morning before hitting the road. Wyoming has the smallest population of any state, and nearly one-fifth of that population is the county of Laramie, home of Cheyenne, the state capital.
While in Wyoming, I took advantage of staying in Bighorn National Forest in the north-central part of the state with a couple of nature-loving friends. They had a primitive cabin at an elevation of about 7,650 feet. We woke up to a chilly temperature of 38 degrees at sunrise. I enjoyed the sounds of birds and the nearby creek. Such a peaceful, quiet, and beautiful area removed from the hustle and bustle of industrial civilization.
We went on a morning hike after having coffee and a light breakfast. What a fantastic area to experience the beauty of the natural world.
This would be the furthest west I would travel. I was now past the halfway point of my road trip, and it was time to start heading back east. I loved Wyoming and the Bighorn National Forest and will make an effort to return to this area in the future.
I drove to South Dakota, where I had a close encounter with Devils Tower. It is a popular tourist destination and was absurdly crowded the day I arrived. It felt like I spent more time sitting in traffic waiting to get in than I did at the actual site. Still, it was worth the wait, and I enjoyed my visit.
I visited Chimney Rock in western Nebraska. White colonizers always give boring names to natural wonders. The Native Americans refer to this feature as “elk penis.” Colonizers name it after an object; the Indigenous refer to a living animal in the natural world.
This brings to mind what historian Vine Deloria Jr. said: “the primary [difference between Western and indigenous worldviews] is that Indians experience and relate to a living universe, whereas Western people, especially science, reduces things to objects… The implications for this are immense. If you see the world around you as made up of objects for you to manipulate and exploit, not only is it inevitable that you will destroy the world by attempting to control it, but perceiving the world as lifeless robs you of the richness, beauty, and wisdom of participating in the larger pattern of life.”
Be open to a different way of perceiving the world.
Besides spending a lot of time experiencing various natural wonders, I also have to spend some time doing the usual mundane tasks and errands of daily life.
I decided to stop for a day in Kearney, Nebraska, where they have a 24-hour Walmart Superstore where overnight parking is allowed. Just 1000 feet away is a Planet Fitness and a Panera Bread.
After a restful sleep in the Walmart parking lot, I headed to Planet Fitness after sunrise. After showering, I went to Panera for coffee with my computer to catch up on everything, including writing this article.
After lunch, I filled the gas tank and purchased a 7-lb bag of ice for my cooler. It was also a good opportunity to clean the windshield of my car — it needed it.
My next stop was the grocery store to buy food and essentials. I filled my cooler and headed to a local park in town. Yanney Heritage Park had several miles of walking paths, and I enjoyed my walk on this surprisingly cool day. The temperature only reached mid-70s in the afternoon. The high temperature for the next day was projected to be 95, but I left town after dinner to head to Missouri, so I’ll miss out on the heat (again).
I stayed overnight at several rest stops in Kansas, Colorado, and Wyoming during this second week of my road trip. They allowed overnight parking and had all the necessary facilities, including free wifi.
I especially enjoyed my overnight stay at the Wyoming Welcome Center, just a few miles from the Colorado border. There were plenty of other car, van, and RV campers there, including this tiny Subaru Domingo minivan about 2 feet shorter than my car. My car is just over 14 feet long, compared to just under 12 feet for the Domingo.
Regarding showering on my car camping road trip, I’ve been taking advantage of my black card membership with Planet Fitness, which allows me access to any gym in the country. The $25 monthly fee is definitely worth it.
One of the things I’ve noticed on my trip is the difference between tourist-centered destinations and what I consider to be relatively undisturbed destinations.
A case in point is my hike to Mount Rogers in Virginia. The only way to get there was a 4+ mile hike from the closest parking area. There are no structures, gift shops, restaurants, or any accouterments of human civilization. It’s just you and nature. It’s a wonderful feeling. I was the only person there when I reached the peak. I only saw a handful of other hikers on the trail. It’s just you, the forest, and the sounds of nature at that summit.
Contrast that with Pikes Peak, where you can drive to the summit. It was packed with people, buildings, cars, pavement, concrete sidewalks, a restaurant, gift shop, and other assorted sterile human-made structures. The same applies to Mount Mitchell in North Carolina and Clingmans Dome in Tennessee. I enjoyed visiting these locations and seeing the spectacular views they offer. You still get to see and feel the inspiring awe of the natural world surrounding those summits. But I will always prefer the Mount Rogers of the world, where it is just you and nature.
On the second week of my trip, I spent time in Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, and Nebraska. So far, I have traveled through twelve different states.
Amazingly, I’ve barely seen any rain during the first two weeks of my road trip. I experienced no rain the first week and only two rain showers during the second week, one in Cheyenne and the other in Kearney, both lasting less than an hour. I did experience a wide range of temperatures, ranging from the 30s in Bighorn to 101 degrees in Kansas City. My day in Kansas City was the only time I experienced an oppressive heat wave. I experienced 90-degree weather in Colorado Springs briefly while I was there. Otherwise, most other days, temperatures ranged from the 50s to 70s. I’ve been blessed with great weather for most of my trip.
As I enter the final week of my road trip, I plan to make stops in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Three weeks for a vacation seems like a long period of time, but I’m discovering it just isn’t long enough to reach all the destinations I originally planned to visit. Work (wage-slavery) gets in the way of everything important in life. My worst days out in nature are far better than my best days at work. This trip reinforces it.
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I have lived in my car since August 2023. You can follow my adventures on Facebook and Instagram
Fabulous travelogue and photos! We live in a remote area way out west, a wilderness area practically out our back door, and I can relate to your comment "where it is just you and nature". Safe travels!