Road Trip 2016: Fun Facts




I was on the road for 23 weeks. Not only is it the longest road trip I've ever taken but it's the longest I've ever been away from home.  During that time I made stops in the following 85 different cities. I stayed in each city for only one night unless indicated otherwise in parenthesis.

Seaside, OR
Coos Bay, OR
Arcata, CA
Santa Rosa, CA (2)
Santa Barbara, CA (2)
Carlsbad, CA (2)
Marana, AZ
El Paso, TX
Del Rio, TX
Rockport, TX
Corpus Christi, TX (2)
San Marcos, TX (2)
Dallas, TX (2)
Houston, TX (3)
Slidell, LA
Destin, FL
Bessemer, AL
Tucker, GA (2)
Venice, FL (4)
Pompano Beach, FL
Gainesville, FL
Florence, SC
Charlotte, NC (3)
Harrisonburg, VA
Sandston, VA (2)
Edgewood, MD
New York, NY (6)
Altoona, PA
Columbus, OH (2)
Aurora, IL
Woodson, MI
Springfield, MO
Oklahoma City, OK
Amarillo, TX
Albuquerque, NM
Holbrook, AZ
Flagstaff, AZ (3)
Kingman, AZ
St. George, UT
Glendale, UT (3)
Las Vegas, NV
Barstow, CA
Gardena, CA
Santa Barbara, CA
Mammoth Lakes, CA
Auburn, CA
Klamath Falls, OR
Bend, OR
Springfield, OR
Portland, OR (5)
Seattle, WA (9)
Richland, WA
Boise, ID
Pocatello, ID
Salt Lake City, UT
Midvale, UT
Grand Junction, CO
Thornton, CO (3)
Omaha, NE (2)
Kansas City, MO
Cedar Rapids, IA (3)
Indianapolis, IN (2)
Pittsburgh, PA
New York, NY (4)
Nashua, NH (4)
Brattleboro, VT
Albany, NY (2)
New York, NY (6)
Buffalo, NY
Macedonia, OH (2)
Kalamazoo, MI
Mackinaw City, MI
Green Bay, WI (2)
Brookfield, WI
Roseville, MN (2)
Sioux Falls, SD
Rapid City, SD
Billings, MT (3)
Jackson, CO
Helena, MT
Kalispell, MT (2)
Coeur d' Alene, ID (2)
Baker City, OR
Twin Falls, ID
Nephi, UT
Farmington, NM (3)
Santa Fe, NM (4)
Grand Junction, CO
Chubbock, ID
Pendleton, OR

In the majority of these cities, I stayed in Motel 6 and blogged about my experiences here. 



The places I didn't use Motel 6 are:

Santa Barbara, where I stayed with my Aunt Dorothy
NYC, where I stayed with my friend, Michael
Seattle, where I stayed at home
Mackinaw City, where I stayed at Super 8 Motel
Boise, where I stayed with my friend, Cheryl.

I taught Nia classes in the following 64 cities. Usually I taught one class in each city unless more is indicated by the number in the parenthesis.



Walnut Creek, CA
Calistoga, CA
Campbell, CA
North Hollywood, CA
Carlsbad, CA
San Diego, CA
Rockport, TX
Austin, TX
San Antonio, TX
Dallas, TX (3)
Houston, TX (2)
Cullman, AL
Decatur, GA
Sarasota, FL (3)
Venice, FL
Pompano Beach, FL
Gainesville, FL
Myrtle Beach, SC
Charlotte, NC (2)
Durham, NC
Richmond, VA (2)
Baltimore, MD
Highland Park, NJ
Woodbridge, CT
Manhattan, NY (2)
Columbus, OH
Naperville, IL
Edwardsville, IL
Albuquerque, NM
Flagstaff, AZ
Sedona, AZ (2)
Santa Monica, CA
Nevada City, CA
Bend, OR
Springfield, OR
Portland, OR (5)
Centralia, WA
Leavenworth, WA
Walla Walla, WA
Boise, ID
Evanston, WY
Salt Lake City, UT
Evergreen, CO
Lyons, CO
Boulder, CO
Lincoln, NE
Kansas City, MO
Coralville, IA
Greenwood, IN
W. Concord, MA
Portland, ME (2)
Albany, NY (2)
Cornwall-on-Husdon, NY
Avon Lake, OH
Hubertus, WI
Minneapolis, MN
Minnetonka, MN
Billings, MT
Red Lodge, MT
Helena, MT
Hayden, ID
Durango, CO
Santa Fe, NM (5)
Pendleton, OR

We visited 42 states. The only states in the contiguous 48 that we didn't visit this year are:

Kansas
North Dakota
Delaware
Kentucky
Tennessee
West Virginia

We visited 37 different National Parks, Monuments and/or Recreation Areas, including:



Redwood National Park, CA
Painted Rock Petroglyph Site, AZ
Big Bend, TX
Aransas Wildlife Refuge, TX
Padre Island National Park, TX
Shenandoah National Park, VA
Petrified Forest National Park, AZ
Walnut Canyon National Monument, AZ
Grand Canyon National Park, AZ
Wupatki National Monument, AZ
Sunset Crater Volcano National Park, AZ
Zion National Park, UT
Bryce Canyon National Park, UT
Canyonlands National Park, UT
Grand Staircase - Escalante National Park, UT
Cedar Breaks National Monument, UT
Yosemite National Park, CA
Crater Lake National Park, OR
Mount Rainier National Park, WA
Craters of the Moon National Park, ID
Rocky Mountain National Park, CO
Green Mountain National Forest, VT
Allegheny National Forest, PA
Manistee National Forest, MI
Pictures Rocks National Lakeshore, MI
Mount Rushmore National Monument, SD
Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, SD
Yellowstone National Park, WY
Grand Teton National Park, CO
Glacier National Park, MT
City of Rocks National Reserve, ID
Capitol Reef National Park, UT
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, UT
Natural Bridges National Monument, UT
Mesa Verde National Park, CO
Colorado National Monument, CO
Arches National Park, UT

We also visited several local and state parks, but I didn't keep track of those.

Along the way, I ate burgers (or BBQ) at 98 different places and blogged about all of them on this page. 

I gained about 10 pounds during the five months I was on the road. I attribute that mostly to the fact that I spent most of my days sitting in the car and that I dined almost exclusively on burgers and pizza. I didn't eat many vegetables at all and had dessert almost every night from the vending machines at Motel 6.  My eating habits were atrocious, so I'm not surprised I did gain weight and that I even got sick a few times because my usually-robust immune system relies on my healthy diet to be so strong.

I lost track of the exact mileage because when I had the car serviced in Manhattan in August, they reset my trip odometer to zero, but the nearest I can figure is that I put about 32,000 miles on the car between April 30 and October 6.

I learned a lot on this trip about myself and about teaching Nia and making the most of being efficient while on the road. I will be re-assessing the approach I take and when I hit the road again, I'll have a totally different plan.

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