Notes on travelling west to the SW USA

Today was the first day of my winter trip to the Southwest USA.  I'm not posting any pictures with this, simply because I was behind the wheel for the last 11 hours (with breaks) , but today fell into a well recognised familiar pattern that I seem to have developed over the years.

Many might ask why I am crazy enough to drive to the southwest instead of taking an airplane and renting.  The main reason is simply that I want to spend a lot of time there, so this eliminates the cost of a rental car, which is absolutely necessary to be mobile, once you are past the hitchhiking stage of life.  

cooking in the mid west at a picnic area

As a vegan/ vegetarian, I also want to eat well and appropriately when travelling.  Doing my own driving allows me to stop at places where I can make my own meals, rather than depend upon roadside restaurants for good vegetarian food.  A small camping stove is the only thing I need, and a picnic bench and some matches.





The drive from Guelph to the Detroit/ Windsor border takes about 3 hours plus a break for coffee.  Anyone who has driven this stretch of the 401 will  know how fatigue on the long straight stretches can be a big problem.  I avoid this four ways:  a cup of coffee or water in the cupholder, some tunes on the ipod or the radio (especially CBC talk radio) and open windows every so often, and some snacks.   Nobody falls asleep with their mouth full. Check it out.

The Canada / US border was busy, as usual.  And, I arrived 30 mins before the NEXUS lanes opened (later on the weekends) so I had to sit in line with all of the people who didn't go through the process of applying and paying for one of these cards.

The Canada US border line up 

If you travel into  or through US airports, a NEXUS card is absolutely worth going through the application process. Note that you must be Canadian or American to apply.

A GPS system is a huge plus for travelling anywhere, especially when you don't know the roads.  For the relatively small amount of money, it will save you a lot of time, frustration (and money) if you can go directly to where you want to go, and even help you work around traffic jams and complex interchanges.  Mine is a Garmin, which comes with a North American map and automatically upgrades every year.  You can also buy maps for other continents, which just slot into the side on an sd card.

The stretch between Detroit and Toledo, Ohio is an eyesore.  I caught the irony of the billboard advertising for funds for cancer research next to the chimneys pouring out toxic yellow smoke (lots of it) and wondered if there would be as much need for the research if people didn't get air poisoned on a daily basis.  I need to lighten up.

The rest of the drive (to Indianapolis) is a bit of a blur, as this region, and what is to come next day is basically lots of flat farmland with a few cities in between.  If you travel the southern routes, like through Missouri, scenery is a lot more interesting. My son took his kids across the midwest to the southwest, but his strategy, as he had kids, was to make it a longer trip with stops planned to keep the kids interested and happy.  Usually my goal is to get where I am going, and then take it easy once I get to the interesting bits.

A road stop in the lone star state

It is also possible to do some 'touring' on the way.  Although I don't usually stop in Texas, some of the sights are pretty good from the roadside

The almost there shot - crossing the Mojave desert 

Hotels are all booked through a service like Hotwire, which charges slightly less by not telling you the name of the hotel until you pay, telling you only the facilities that are available. They guarantee that all of the hotels they offer are major chains, so you get no surprises. So far, I have not been disappointed.  On one stop over, I stayed at an Extended Stay America hotel  ($47.00 via Hotwire.com), which had a kitchen in the room,