Coast to Coast in 5 Days

Earlier this month Nate and his two brothers flew out to New York to drive his parents and their moving truck from Mastic Beach, NY to Seattle, WA. They took their time and made their way from coast to coast in 5 days!! Nate fulfilled my request and took a ton of awesome photos with his phone on their cross country drive!! (A few of these photos are also from Tom - thanks Tom!!)


The Route


(map courtesy of Google Maps)

New York

Besides Nate's parents getting stopped by the NYPD to have the moving truck searched and getting separated from Nate, Joe & Tom for a bit, the drive through (literally) the city went pretty well!






New Jersey

No photos from this State, but as a result of the separation that happened in NY, they got to spend some quality time in the ghettos of Paterson, NJ! After determining that they wanted somewhere safe to sleep, they drove on for a while and found a hotel in a safer place!

Pennsylvania

Nothing really exciting happened through PA, but here are a few beautiful photos!




Ohio

The drive through Ohio was much like the drive through PA!




However; if you're forced to stop in Rossford, OH for the night, Nate suggests that you avoid this hotel (unless you enjoy finding bloodstains on your sheets and nasty black smudges on your pillow):


(photo courtesy of www.knightsinn.com)

But, if you are away from your wife on Mother's Day and want her to know that you're thinking of her - they do have a really nice flower shop:


The other positive thing about Rossford, is that Denny's makes a really nice breakfast to take your mind off the disease carrying hotel you just slept in!

Indiana

The exciting things about Indiana were seeing a 60 ft Jolly Green Giant and the top of Notre Dame through the trees - both of which were un-captured due to the fact that Nate was driving and not able to get photos!

Illinois

Apparently, Mother's Day is not the ideal time to drive through Chicago! The crazy traffic allowed for some good window shots as it took 1 1/2 hours to get through the city!




Wisconsin

Besides lots of billboards about cheese, Wisconsin was uneventful - which is why all the hotels must have the awesome water slides you'll see below. However; although uneventful, it is a gorgeous State!






Minnesota

Nate enjoyed crossing the Mississippi River as they drove from Wisconsin to Minnesota! Other than that, just more photos and a beautiful sunset as they were driving in the evening!






South Dakota

According to Nate, South Dakota is pretty flat, has poisonous snakes, sculpture gardens and really cool rock formations! They did stop for lunch close to Little Bighorn Battlefield (where General Custer died) and got to see tepee memorials for the Sioux Indians at all the rest stops.






Wyoming

True to form, Wyoming greeted Nate with lightening and thunder! They stopped for the evening and when they work up the next morning, they were able to drive through this:




Montana

It took Nate & his family several hours to travel through 500 miles of Montana! At this point on their trip, they were ready to push through and just keep going - so much so that Nate had to take advantage of the outdoor facilities and ended sinking up to his knees in snow while trying to do so!






Idaho

The drive through Idaho was quick - just 60 or 70 miles, but Nate came home raving about Couer d'Alene and thinks that we need to take a vacation there because it is beautiful! Here are the few photos that Tom took while Nate was driving:




Washington: Destination Reached

Nate said that the sign for Seattle popped up pretty early as they entered Washington State! The knowledge that they were close made the drive seem to last forever! After hours of driving 40 mph uphill and in the pouring rain, they finally made it to Seattle! Once they reached Seattle, what should have been a 10 minute drive to the hotel took almost an hour due to rush hour traffic! Here are some photos of the drive in:






After they got settled in at the hotel, they headed to a restaurant on the bay for some fish and chips! After dinner, they did a little shopping and a little sight seeing!






Coming Home

Nate flew home the next morning to a wife who was very happy to see him!! He shot these photos from the airplane (shhh, don't tell the stewardess that he had his phone on when he wasn't supposed to)!!







After over 2900 miles, they arrived to Seattle with one burned out CD Player, days of eating at truck stops, sore bums and a bad case of restless legs syndrome - but they arrived safe and sound! Nate had a great time and we're happy that his parents are a little closer to home!!