My 10,000 Mile Journey, or A Cross Country Trip in Selfies - Part 6

James Griffiths August 8, 2017

Day 26 & 27 - Saturday June 24th & Sunday June 25th: The next couple of days were mostly focused on driving from Oklahoma to Tennessee. We left Elk City Oklahoma in the morning. On the way we stopped in Oklahoma City for a little sightseeing and made it to Clarksville Arkansas that night. The next day we drove across Arkansas, and got to my sister in Mount Juliet Tennessee that night.

Wolf River Harbor, from Memphis Tennessee. You can see the Mississippi River in the background.

Meeting up with my sister and her husband.

Day 28 - Monday June 26th: Today was my Dad's last full day on the trip, he was going to fly out of Nashville tomorrow and I planned to be home in under a week. We went to the Dickel Distillery in southern Tennessee in the morning, then we spent the afternoon hiking around Foster Falls. It was a really pretty area with some easy hikes down to the base of the falls and around the top. The picture at the top of this post was from the bottom there. After that we got some dinner and went back to my sister's place.

Day 29 - 32 - Tuesday June 27th - Friday June 30th: There weren't a whole lot of selfies on the last few days of my trip, sadly. We drove my Dad to the airport on Tuesday morning and spent most of the rest of the day relaxing, I felt I needed that and it was good to just spend some time with my sister and her husband. On Wednesday we left Tennessee headed for home, they came up with me to see everyone in New York so we were able to caravan and alternate cars on the trip. We spent one night in Virginia and on Thursday made it back home, it was the 31st day of my trip. I got to see my parents and brother for a bit that day but it wasn't until the next day that we were able to get everyone together for the final picture of my trip. It was without question the best thing I've done with my life so far. I feel truly blessed that I was able to work it out to go on a trip like this, I know most people wouldn't be able to quit their job and do something like this. If you ever do have the opportunity to do something like this, or just to do something you've always dreamed of, you won't regret it.

My Route: About 2,000 Miles

And the overall trip, roughly 10,400 miles.

My 10,000 Mile Journey, or A Cross Country Trip in Selfies - Part 5

James Griffiths July 24, 2017

Day 21 - Monday June 19th: Today was the first full day travelling with my Dad. We left Denver in the morning and drove over to Estes Park. After lunch and walking around the town a bit we drove into Rocky Mountain National Park. This was a really cool experience for me because it was my first time above the tree line. I could look out and see the tops of the surrounding mountains bare with patches of snow. My favorite picture from that day is the one I put at the top of this post, I loved the curving mountain ledges outlined in snow and how you can make out the road snaking over the top. We finished driving through the park and went down into Silverthorne for the night.

In the Rocky Mountains, my first time above the treeline. I'm also sporting my new hat :)

Day 22 - Tuesday June 20th: We left Silverthorne and took some of the minor highways southeast to Colorado Springs. We stopped in the Garden of The Gods and walked around through these awesome rock formations for a few hours. Then we drove around Colorado Springs for a big and headed down to Pueblo for the next night.

Day 23 - Wednesday June 21st: Today we were on our way to New Mexico. We honestly didn't have much of an idea of what we wanted to see there, I just knew I wanted to go. The original plan was basically to see the Santa Fe and Albuquerque, but looking into it I saw several cool looking places mostly in southern New Mexico, one in particular was the White Sands National Park. We decided to drive to Santa Rosa that day instead because that would put us on a better course towards the White Sands. Just after we crossed into New Mexico on I-25 we saw some signs for Capulin Volcano. I had never heard of it before so we thought it sounded like a good place to try out. It was about a half hour out of the way and definitely worth it. Basically it's an extinct volcano that you can drive almost to the top of, but it's also one of the highest points in the relatively flat landscape allowing you to see for miles in every direction. It was honestly a lot greener than I pictured New Mexico being, especially when standing on top of a Volcano, I guess that's a good reason to go and see these things yourself. We took the trail around the rim of the volcano, got attacked by swarms of ladybugs, and walked down into the vent itself. Overall my first time in a volcano was a good experience. We left there and made it to Santa Rosa that night.

Day 24 - Thursday June 22nd: We went to the White Sands today. It was about a three hour drive from Santa Rosa to Alamogordo which is the closest town to the park. I had been getting used to cooler weather, yesterday was one of the hottest days of my trip getting into the 90s, but today it got to about 110 when we got into the White Sands in the middle of the day. That with the blindingly white sand reflecting the suns rays made this the hottest place I've ever been to. It was also one of the more surreal places I've ever been to. It kind of reminded me of the Salt Flats in Utah, an endless white landscape. It was nearly as quiet too, the main difference is this white landscape formed hills that were difficult to judge the height of with the way the sun illuminated them. There were a few times when I was walking up the dunes trying to get to the top that I realized I couldn't tell where the top was, or figure out how high I was or how steep the side of the hill was. At least it was a dry heat, we were able to spend a couple of hours there without heat exhaustion, but I was reminded of how hot it was every time I tried to get a low angle photo and felt like I was burning myself on the sand. After that we drove to Roswell so we could look for aliens the next day.

Day 25 - Friday June 23rd: We got up in Roswell and went to one of the alien exhibit/museum things. I don't know if I was convinced, but at least I can say I've been there. The next couple of days I didn't have too much planned, we were just trying to get to my sister in Tennessee by Sunday or Monday. We left Roswell in the early afternoon, stopped off at the Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo Texas, and ended up in Elk City Oklahoma that night.

The Cadillac Ranch. Basically 10 old Cadillacs stuck halfway in the ground and covered in about 6 inches of spray paint graffiti. It was interesting.

My Route: About 1,400 Miles

My 10,000 Mile Journey, or A Cross Country Trip in Selfies - Part 4

James Griffiths July 17, 2017

Day 16 - Wednesday June 14th: I finally got my car back today. I got the call in the late morning while I was still in Coo's Bay Oregon (about 4 hours away). So I drove straight over to make sure I was able to get there and return the rental car before everything closed. I actually made it in plenty of time and was down into California before sunset. I got to see Mount Shasta along the way, which my mom actually pointed out. She was on the phone with me looking at where I was and asked if I saw a big mountain coming up in front of me. It was pretty cool because my route took me around it so you could see it pretty clearly for about an hour. Then I continued on to Red Butte California where I spent the night.

Finally back in my car, with my crazy wide eyes on my way to California.

Day 17 - Thursday June 15th: I left Red Butte in the morning and headed for San Francisco. A pretty uneventful trip down central California brought me into the area around lunch rush hour and my first traffic jams since Chicago. I had my first experience of In-N-Out Burger (which sadly didn't impress me much) before getting to an overlook of the Golden Gate Bridge. I hiked up to the top of the overlook and took it all in while catching my breath. It was a lot warmer (mid 90s I think) and much more humid than I had been getting used to, so I'll use that as my excuse for feeling out of breath on the half mile hike. After I hiked back down I drove over the bridge and into downtown San Francisco. I really loved the feel of this city, and just the layout with everything on these steep hills was really cool. I went to the touristy things like Fisherman's Wharf as well as just driving around the hills. I spent a few hours wandering around, then tried (and failed) to beat traffic when I drove south through San Jose then East to Modesto. It was basically the turning point in my trip, I was done heading west and was sort of on my way home.

My first In-N-Out Burger, because I needed a selfie.

The Golden Gate Bridge. Which is red for some reason.

Alcatraz from that big curved pier in San Francisco.

San Francisco from that big curved pier in San Francisco.

Day 18 - Friday June 16th: Today's plan was Yosemite National Park. I originally was going to have enough time to spend a few days here, but because of my car issues in Oregon I was really only going to have an afternoon. It might have made more sense to skip it and come back in the future when I had more time, but I'm overall glad I went to at least see some of the famous sites for the first time. I drove out later than I originally planned and got there in the late morning. By this time the park was already pretty full and I spent nearly an hour trying to find parking to take the buses there, buses which I think I was finally starting to get the hang of by the end of the day after constantly getting confused and not knowing which way I was going. The major thing I wanted to see was half dome, so I went to half dome village first. I started walking down a path which turned into a 2 mile hike that had no view of the half dome, but had some beautiful views anyway. I went back to the bus stop and spent the next few hours getting on and off buses and wandering around, going on random trails, and occasionally finding things I was looking for. Finally I was on the bus and saw a really convenient spot to see half dome, which turned out to be the same stop I went to at the beginning of the day, of course when I had been there before I went down the one obvious trail instead of turning around and walking across the parking lot to a big open field with a great view of half dome, north dome, and glacier point. I was happy now, I got to see everything and it didn't require much more walking, I had done a lot of that today already. I was ready to go after seeing those and taking my selfies but I knew I'd regret not going to the iconic tunnel view overlook, and yes I would have. It really was so cool to see so many famous landmarks all together in one spot. It really kind of looked like someone photo-shopped a bunch of famous stuff into one picture, except it was right there in front of me. I called it a day and drove up to the outskirts of Sacramento for the night.

A pretty cool view on the hike I accidentally went on.

Day 19 - Saturday June 17th: There wasn't much that I knew of in northern Nevada, but there were a few things I wanted to see in Utah (actually there are a lot more things I'd like to see in Utah, but I'd need a whole trip just for Utah to get into all of that). I drove out of California and straight across Nevada on 80. I do like the scenery there for the first few hours, but it starts to get a little old around hour 4 or 5. As I was just about to the border with Utah I passed over some hills and could see the salt flats stretching out in front of me. This is something I'd been wanting to see for a long time so I made sure I took some time to stop and wander around here. I got off in Wendover and drove down to the Bonneville Salt Flats. After walking out for a mile or so I stopped to take in the vast landscape. It was so weird seeing such a flat area surrounded with far away mountains. One of the coolest things I noticed was how quiet it was. When I was far enough away from everyone else I couldn't hear anything, it was weird because I could actually see I-80 a mile or so away with trucks passing by but they were all silent. I took a few photos, tasted the ground to make sure it really was salt (it is), and got back on the road. I made it to Salt Lake City a little after dark and spent the night.

Day 20 - Sunday June 18th: I started out the day in Salt Lake City, and because I had arrived in the city after dark I wanted to get to an overview of it before heading out. I Googled overlooks in Salt Lake City and found Ensign Peak which was apparently in the downtown area. It wasn't a very long hike, I'd blame the altitude this time for getting out of breath (I still can't believe I didn't get in much better shape after this trip), but it was worth it for a really great view of the city. I climbed down and drove straight to Denver through Wyoming. I got there just after sunset, checked into a hotel, and picked up my Dad from the airport. He was coming along on my trip for the next few days and we were starting tomorrow with the Rocky Mountains.

My Route: About 2,300 Miles

My 10,000 Mile Journey, or A Cross Country Trip in Selfies - Part 3

James Griffiths July 11, 2017

Day 11 - Friday June 9th: I left Washington (on the Idaho border) in the morning and headed southwest towards Oregon. It was kind of surprising to me when it started to turn into a desert kind of landscape, not what I envisioned for Oregon. It really is a diverse state, everything from the desert to the mountains to the coast can be found there, and I got to see a lot of it. I made it to Madras a few hours before sunset and headed to a nearby park called The Cove Palisades. I loved this park because it was beautiful, in the bottom of a canyon, and I only saw a handful of people the whole time I was there. I found a nice spot on the water and just hung out there with my camera waiting for sunset. I don't know if it was the most beautiful sunset of this trip, but probably the most peaceful one. I headed back in to town when it was getting dark and spent the night there in Madras.

Also The Cove Palisades, but with some rocks in the water.

Day 12 - Saturday June 10th: I had started noticing a small exhaust leak that I had in my car getting bigger, and much louder. It started getting really bad the night before when I was in the park, so I figured it would be smart to get it taken care of now before I went too much farther. I was planning on staying a day in Bend Oregon and being it was one of the larger towns in the area I decided to try to find a place there to get it fixed, if it was going to take a while I could walk around the town or something. Unfortunately by the time I got there (around noon on a Saturday) almost every shop was closed. I finally found a Midas that was able to take a look at it, and they told me it was a crack in a forged piece which meant they couldn't weld it. They called for the part and found out that the closest one was on the other side of the country - I think they even said Long Island where I came from, which I thought was kind of funny. So I was going to get the pleasure of enjoying Oregon for a few more days than I planned. I had pretty good spirits about it, a little inconvenient but it could have been worse, and it definitely could have happened in a worse spot. I think my resolve to be okay with everything was being tested because then I couldn't get a rental car (it was now 3 in the afternoon on a Saturday and everything was closing), so I took an Uber to a hotel and figured I'd just relax for the rest of the day. Of course the thrifty hotel I chose because I was trying to save as much money as I could was very depressing. I was fine all day with everything that was going on until I got into that dungeon feeling hotel that smelled way too much of cleaners. So I got another Uber and decided to be a big spender at the Quality Inn instead.

I didn't take a selfie this day, kind of weird because I think I took one every day of the trip up to now. But I did have a nice view of the sunset from my much nicer room at the Quality Inn (I realized later that you could also see The Sisters from… — I didn't take a selfie this day, kind of weird because I think I took one every day of the trip up to now. But I did have a nice view of the sunset from my much nicer room at the Quality Inn (I realized later that you could also see The Sisters from my window which was pretty cool.)

Day 13 - Sunday June 11th: I didn't want to waste the day today, but I did sleep in a bit. Then I got a rental car and headed into the mountains. I drove through Sisters and into Willamette National Forest where I stopped by Clear Lake and Sahalie Falls. This is a very beautiful area, the colors in the water are just awesome, I was there on a somewhat overcast day so clear lake mostly looked like a lake to me (apparently when it's clear you can see a flooded forest below the water, I could make out a few trees but it was pretty cloudy at the time). Then I went back into Sisters to walk around a bit, and found a really good view of the Sisters (the three mountains that the town is named after). I headed back to Bend around sunset and called it a night.

Not Sahalie Falls (it was one of the other falls in the area but I couldn't remember which one)

A kind of creepy formation in a dead tree.

Sahalie Falls with pretty bad foreground light.

I'm at clear lake and I thought I needed a close up of what may or may not pass as a beard.

Clear Lake, not as clear as I envisioned but in retrospect I should have actually gone out on the boardwalk that was there to see it better, it was a little overcast at the time though.

Day 14 - Monday June 12th: I decided to go see the painted hills today. It's something that I've wanted to see for a while but actually hadn't planned on going to on this trip, so breaking down in Oregon helped me get there. It was about 2 hours from Bend so I left in the mid morning and got there in the late morning. It really was one of the coolest areas I had seen so far, the reds and yellows in the clay on the mountains is so vibrant it looks a little unreal. I was wearing polarized sunglasses so that probably added to the effect, but either way they were really cool. I walked down a few paths around the park taking a few overlook shots (including the one in the top of this post). Then I left and headed back towards Sisters and Clear Lake because it was only the mid afternoon and the sky was clear, so I was hoping I'd be able to see the forest underneath Clear Lake. By the time I got there it was lightly raining and foggy, so I again wasn't able to see the underwater forest. I drove back to Bend and by the time I got over the mountains it was clear again.

The Painted Hills (It looks a lot more washed out in this photo than it really was)

"The Bridge To The Hills" I just really liked this perspective, it was near the Red Rock.

Back at Clear Lake, and on the boardwalk, but on a much more overcast day.

Day 15 - Tuesday June 13th: I was supposed to get my car back either today or tomorrow, but I really didn't want to waste the day. If I stayed around Bend for another day I would probably have to cut some of the things I wanted to see out of my trip (I was picking up my Dad in Denver in a few days). I headed south to Crater Lake, which was really awesome to see. At the time there was some pretty deep snow covering the paths at the top, it definitely felt weird walking through that much snow in June. It's a gorgeous lake with a really unique blue color sitting in the vent of an extinct volcano. I was going to just see this and head back to Bend, but I really wanted to see the Redwoods and if I didn't go today I would probably have to cut it out of my trip. So I drove another 4 hours south into northern California to see them. I honestly never really thought that much of seeing them, I figured it would be cool to see and to say I was there but really thought they would just be big trees. When I finally got there it was a surreal experience, it felt like walking through an ancient forest (which I guess it was) and just looking at this gigantic trees that have been sitting here for hundreds or even thousands of years was such a weird feeling. I headed out towards Crescent City to try to make it to the coast before sunset, I made it with an hour to spare and touched the Pacific Ocean. I didn't realize how much that would mean to me, I knew I wanted to make it to the the coast but the feeling of completion when I knew I had driven across the entire continent was much more than I thought it would be. After watching the sunset and talking a few photos I headed back into Oregon along the coast and spent the night in Coos Bay.

A better perspective (I blend in a little bit, but I'm in there).

Setting up my camera for the previous image.

My Route: About 1,200 Miles

My 10,000 Mile Journey, or A Cross Country Trip in Selfies - Part 2

James Griffiths July 6, 2017

Day 6 - Sunday June 4th: I left Buffalo Wyoming in the morning and headed towards Yellowstone. It was about a 3-4 hour drive (depending on whether you count the entrance or the first spot I pulled over, it is a pretty massive park). I checked into my campsite, which was about a half hour north of the main village area, and went to set up my camp. When I got there it had about 4-5 inches of snow in a pretty tight area, so I changed my mind and decided to get as much out of the day as I could and just sleep in my car. I was in the Canyon Village section of the park which is right next to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, so I spent the late afternoon going to the different overlooks around that. Then I spent the rest of the day until sunset going around to some of the springs and the Yellowstone River.

Powder Pass in Wyoming on my way to Yellowstone.

The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, it was starting to rain.

Sulphur Cauldron, it had stopped raining, and it smelled like sulpher.

Mud Volcano, apparently it used to shoot mud up in the air and now it just bubbles.

Yellowstone River, here's where I took the picture that's at the top of this post.

Day 7 - Monday June 5th: I got up around sunrise this day (not before but close enough that the light was still golden when I headed out). I decided to spend this day driving to see some of the more well known sites in Yellowstone like the Prismatic Springs and Old Faithful. I saw a lot of bison along the way (I saw one chasing a truck in kind of the same manner a dog chases a car) and ended up getting in all that I had planned by the early afternoon so I headed south towards the Grand Tetons. I spent some time at a few points along the way just taking in the awesome view of the Tetons, but I was honestly pretty tired today, and a little sun burned, so I didn't stay too late. I drove the rest of the way through the Tetons and out into Idaho where I spent the night in Rexburg.

A bison, I got out to take some photos of him and he started to wander over.After seeing how fast they can run when they want to I decided to get behind my car.

Jackson Lake, I thought it was weird seeing a half frozen lake in June.

Day 8 - Tuesday June 6th: Today my plan was to more or less take it easy and get close to Glacier National Park in Montana. I got to Missoula in the early afternoon, bought myself a hat so I could stop burning my head in the higher elevation sun, had some dinner, and went for an evening hike up Mount Jumbo. It was a pretty easy hike (although I probably shouldn't have eaten a whole pizza a half hour before it). From the concrete L laying on the side of the hill (I am still confused about what the L is for) you have a great view of the city, so I just sat there watching the sun set and the lights come on while taking a few photos.

Day 9 - Wednesday June 7th: I drove up from Missoula to Glacier National Park in the morning. It was a really beautiful drive, especially along Flathead lake for the last half of it before actually getting to the park. Once inside I got to see Lake McDonald and McDonald falls, both very beautiful with gorgeous glacial water running through them. I found a kind of beach on the lake with a bench where no one else seemed to be, and besides it being much hotter than I expected for a park named after a giant ice cube it was a perfect spot to just sit back and enjoy the landscape around me. The rest of the road through the park was closed at the time because at the higher elevations there was still a lot of snow, which was disappointing because most of the things that I was looking forward to seeing were on that road. At least I have a good reason to come back again. After a few hours around the lake I drove down into Kalispell where I spent the night.

This is another view of Lake McDonald, the color of the water was so cool and the front facing camera on my phone that I take all of these wonderful selfies with doesn't do great with colors, so this is still a cell phone picture but at least you ca… — This is another view of Lake McDonald, the color of the water was so cool and the front facing camera on my phone that I take all of these wonderful selfies with doesn't do great with colors, so this is still a cell phone picture but at least you can see the colors that I saw.

Day 10 - Thursday June 8th: I left Kalispell Montana and drove to Coeur d'Alene Idaho. I actually spent the night just over the state line in Washington but I wanted to explore this town a bit. It's a very pretty area, I walked around the beach and the boardwalk (which is apparently the world's longest floating boardwalk). I went a little west to Post Falls where one of the dams on the Spokane River is (which I guess is what creates the lake), and then drove into Washington to relax at the hotel until sunset. My plan was to go back to Coeur d'Alene to take some sunset pictures over the lake and boardwalk but when I got back there it was raining. I felt I really couldn't complain because the weather on this trip had been awesome so far, and the rain wasn't so bad so I still walked around for a while and found this moose. After that I went back to my hotel in Washington before heading to Oregon the next day.

A beach on the lake in downtown Coeur d'Alene.

Coeur d'Alene in some light rain, still pretty though.

My Route: About 1,200 miles