East TN to California, and back, in a total of 6000 miles.

We left on the 7^thof September, and we returned on the 24^that 1:30 that night, so technically, it was the 25^th, but you get the idea. It was about two and a half weeks of traveling cross country, literally coast to coast. We had been in Tybee Island, Georgia a couple weeks before we left for our road trip to California. Bighead, kitty #1, boy, who is black and white and about two years old. Also we brought our second cat, girl, whose name is girl; she is about for years old. We got her last year on Brennen’s birthday, which is today, (the day I wrote majority of this blog post) September 27^th2019, he turned 21. I just turned 20 a couple months ago. It is Friday today.  Still recouping all the information, experiences, and memories of traveling with our two cats, and each other.

We traveled through eight different states on our journey. 

And before we go any further, HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRENNEN BLUE, (YouTube.), (always going places.) I can not believe I have celebrated three birthdays with you!! You are so special, creative, and by for the most interesting person I have ever met. 

Of the eight states, it was the last of them, Nevada, that I loved the most. Arizona, too. We went through that one, twice, as well as all the others, except Nevada. We went through Nevada one time for a day, for 24 hours straight, and night nonstop. Brennen drove for about 24 hours straight one day, and night. Ugh, I sadly will admit right now I do not know how to drive a stick-shift vehicle, so Brennen drove literally the whole six thousand miles in round trip. That is many, I mean many miles, and states. Before I left I had not been past Nashville. Like wow, what an adventure, and so much more than that, too, to say the least. 

I divide the journey there into the first half, and then the second half. The beginning half consisted of getting out of Tennessee, by going through Nashville, and then Memphis. Our first stop was Little Rock, Arkansas. We didn’t arrive there until about 3am. The next day we drove to Oklahoma, through a good handful of road tolls for the roads construction on the interstate. Only a dollar, or $1.50, compared to San Francisco’s $7.00 toll fee. We stayed outside of Oklahoma City, in a town called Stillwater just a little north of the city. It was our second stop, almost halfway there. We stayed in the most beautiful Airbnb we had ever stayed in, in the past three years. I remember telling the host that I felt like I was on the set of HGTV or something. The third day we made it to the northwestern part of Texas in Amarillo. We were trying to stick to “the blue line”, or I-40 from Tennessee to California, and we mostly did it. 

We stopped outside of Albuquerque, New Mexico at a place called, ‘Blue Hole, New Mexico’. It is a 90-foot crystal clear swimming hole filled with natural stream water, consistently remaining super cold, around 62, or so, degrees. This was a beautiful little sweet spot, just a mile, or two off of the interstate in the desert coming into Arizona, so it was convenient to the road trip. Brennen jumped off one of the rocks into the super cold refreshing water, but I did not. We soon got back in the car, made a quick stop to a gas station overlooking the sunset headed West into Arizona, where we would later see signs for exits to Las Vegas, and got back on the interstate.

On our fourth day we made it to Flagstaff, Arizona, about 2am that night. We arrived, and I thought maybe because it was so late at night, that was why it felt so cold, but no. I check the weather early around dawn the following morning, and it was in the 30’s for sure, I believe lower thirties honestly. When we woke up the next morning, elevated high in the mountains, the last leg of our trip was conquered on the fifth day. We made it to Los Angeles California on the night of the 11^th, and it was also another late night arrival making it into California. Now going to California, our trip was divided at Amarillo, Texas, and honestly that was about the halfway point, but I kind of go on to say that the first half of our trip was divided when we made it to the west coast. You have to remember when going somewhere, or doing something, that going is only half of the journey, because returning has its place, too, on the adventure scale. 

I had no idea we would journey to Cupertino, and San Jose, California, too. Let alone San Francisco and all around the “Bay Area” going north up the coast. We passed Yosemite National Park, The Grand Canyon, and we drove past the Hoover Dam, too. Expectations are illusions they say, or in better understanding for me, ‘Expect the unexpected.” That really is the easiest way to say it, because as much as you could plan a trip somewhere, you must know, if not known already, that rarely does anything go exactly as planned, or expected. I learned it’s not all a negative thing either, for unknown occurrences to take place. 

I could probably write a short story on the state of Nevada, and Arizona, too, but I will in short say how the western parts of the United States that I saw was nothing I had ever imagined it would be in person. It’s a cliché, but it was only images, or scenes, I had seen in the movies, or on TV before. I would take the advice on driving, at least for the majority of, the desert in the night. Leaving San Francisco, we went east over the mountains, past Sacramento, and into the state of Nevada. We saw the sunrise just a couple hours before Las Vegas. Funny thing, we had no idea the ‘Area-51 raid’ was happening on the day we were driving past the training military base. We stopped in Death Valley before passing Area 51 to eat at a Denny’s located in the back of a Casino, which were both connected to the hotel. There was also a gas station next to all of these stops. This was the specific day we stayed up from the time we left San Francisco, until we stopped in Kingman, Arizona, right next to Route 66, and I-40. It felt like we had not seen that interstate in figuratively speaking, forever. This is where we stayed out in ‘the middle of the desert’, in a tiny little cabin that was listed on Airbnb. I had missed at some point how bumpy and rocky the back roads were about 10 miles from the location. This was one of our final stops before focusing on the journey back to our families in East Tennessee. This was a super surreal, off the beaten path, place to sleep for the night. Wild donkeys, solar powered energy, an outhouse with a hand pump shower as well. Might I just add, very dusty. This is most definitely the place to wear a scarf, bandana, or piece of clothing around your mouth, and nose if possible. 

To be honest, the ride back, once we were back on interstate 40, went by much more quickly than any other part of the trip. Thankfully had no legal, or road trouble the whole time, up until we were leaving Oklahoma early into the night, about to cross over into Arkansas. Brennen had gone over the center white dashed line just for one, maybe two seconds, and just like that, the next thing you know, a police has on his red and blue lights. We stopped, and he questioned us both, and took a look into the car, and at our two kitties, ‘Bighead’, and ‘Girl.’ It was a blessing the officer let us go, without giving a ticket, so that night we stopped a little early to sleep, and get as well rested as we could for the next, and surprisingly, last day before returning into Knoxville, and then Brennen in Sevierville. 

Through the miles and miles on the blue line, to the tolls, an In-and-Out trips, along with the Jack-In-the-Box trips, to the countless stops at gas stations and rest areas, it sure was more than words could describe. From state to state, it truly was a journey in the adventure, and memories in every moment, I couldn’t be more thankful for the trip that Brennen took me and our two kitties on to the west coast and then back home to Tennessee. I hope this blog post is a snap in time with my words, and helps you understand where I am at, and where I have been since I last posted. I did post my last blog, my ninth, in Stillwater, at that medieval-styled, Hogwarts labeled Airbnb, that we stopped at after leaving Little Rock. Anyways, thank you for reading. Listen to the song ‘Always Wear Sunscreen’, and travel as much as you can- it will do you more good than you may think. 

Chloe Aiken

Blog 10. September 30 2019.