How to travel 5317 Miles in 7 Days

A spur-of-moment cross-country trip may not be for everyone, but I like the idea of an unplanned adventure. So when my daughter called to say that she was moving back to Savannah, Georgia, from Olympia, Washington, I started packing. The idea of letting her drive alone pulling a U Haul was more problematic than hopping on a flight, spending the night in Seattle, and co-piloting the road trip back home. Heading out of Savannah International Airport on a Delta flight to Atlanta and then on to Seattle, is so easy.

Flights on this route run hourly, and it’s quick, typically arriving ahead of schedule. However, I prefer to have a two-hour layover at Hartsfield Jackson because I like to walk to my connecting flight terminal. As the world’s busiest airport, there is always an exciting exhibit, good food, and shopping.

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The five-hour flight from Atlanta to Seattle did not offer lunch but did provide a snack box. The media screen is big and clear and had a good selection of entertainment. I watched “The World To Come” and would give it three stars. The plane was sparkling clean, and there were no unruly passengers aboard. So happy about that, after all the disturbances I’ve been reading about.

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After arriving in Seattle, I made my way to a hotel near downtown Olympia. There I stayed for two days and got a chance to rest up and do some sightseeing. Here is a photo of the State Capital building, close to the waterfront.

Back at the hotel, I worked out the route for the next five days. I used fire maps to avoid the areas affected, weather maps for upcoming storms, detours for delays, and since we would be hauling a trailer, I looked at getting out of the mountains without adding mileage.
Here is our route for the first day, which we made our longest driving day.

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Day two was exciting because we left Salt Lake City at 5:30 am to allow enough time to visit Laramie, Wyoming, and still arrive in the Denver, Colorado area before dark. We also found plenty of rest areas and travel stops along the way.

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Old town Laramie has a small historic area and the Union Pacific Depot.

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Interstate 80 passes Laramie and the drive through Wyoming is beautiful.

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On day three, we headed to Oklahoma City, which took us through the great state of Kansas. I kept thinking about flying houses and witches, and we did see signs for a Wizard of Oz museum but had to pass on it.

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We planned Memphis for the next destination, but our timing, even with the Interstate 40 detour, was ahead of schedule, so we bypassed and drove to Tupelo, Mississippi. Since I had my mindset on Memphis barbeque, we ventured into the Historic area and found this great restaurant. Kermit’s Outlaw kitchen had a menu of southern favorites, and the barbeque was great.

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The historic city of Tupelo is the birthplace of Elvis Presley, and reminders are everywhere. It also has a Civil War history, with monuments and markers in the area.

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The birthplace of Elvis is a big attraction, with a museum in a park setting.

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On the final day, the drive was a breeze. The maps all suggested a route through Atlanta, which would have saved one hour. But instead, we chose to go through Montgomery, Alabama, and into Georgia. Any minor traffic glitch in Atlanta could cause hours of delay.

For all my road tripping readers, the route we took was perfect for this route during the summer. The winds were strong in some areas and the elevation was up there. With that being said I would research this for travel in the winter months.

As much as I love my country and the change of landscape and scenery, it’s always a good day to get home to my hot, humid Savannah and the low country of South Carolina.

Ragtag Daily Prompt/adventure