Published
From the Gateway Arch to Arches National Park
Looking back at our six-month road trip across the United States
Wow, what a whirlwind adventure the last year and a half have been. We’ve been on the road for 6 months, but this journey began much before that.
Table of contents
- Our Road Trip Begins
- Oh the Places You’ll Go
- St. Louis, Missouri
- Branson, Missouri
- Baldwin City, Kansas
- Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
- Fort Worth, Texas
- Canyon Lake, Texas
- Carlsbad, New Mexico
- Albuquerque, New Mexico
- Anaheim, California
- Flagstaff, Arizona
- Moab, Utah
- Back Where We Started
- Next Stops
Our Road Trip Begins
We started this journey with an extended vacation in Florida. We enjoyed it so much that we started getting a stirring in our hearts that it might be time to leave our home in Pennsylvania.
After Florida, we spent some time in an RV in South Carolina. While there we explored the possibility of living full-time in an RV. It ended up not being for us, but we did get some inspiration from a coworker of mine. He and his family had a similar idea with a twist. They stayed in Airbnbs rather than owning and traveling in an RV.
Oh the Places You’ll Go
Heading back to PA we resolved to sell our house and hit the open road. Actually, before we even made it back to PA a couple we went to school with reached out about the possibility of buying our house. Katie had posted on Facebook about the possibility of moving and they jumped right on that.
It really worked out great for us (and hopefully them as well!). We didn’t even need to put our house on the market, we already had a buyer lined up. After spending some time getting the house into a sellable shape we reached an agreement with them.
We then proceeded to sell a ton of our extra stuff and furniture. What we kept we transferred to a storage unit. Finalizing that we started loading up our vehicle with everything we thought we would need. While loading our vehicle and preparing to leave our home for the last time, some good friends from out of state popped in while they were in town. They sent us off with prayer and blessings. We couldn’t have asked for a better send-off.
St. Louis, Missouri
Leaving Pennsylvania, our first stop was in St. Louis, Missouri. On the way, we stayed overnight with another old friend in Ohio. It was great to catch up with their family.
Arriving in St. Louis meant changing time zones. One of the many things we learned while traveling was the joys of changing time zones and dealing with time differences when contacting family.
St. Louis was a fantastic first stop on our journey. It is a really great place for a vacation. We got to go to some really cool places, saw a hot air balloon, visited the iconic Gateway Arch, and discovered a love for locally made Fitz root beer. It encapsulated everything we wanted out of our journey and really set the stage for the rest of our trip.
Branson, Missouri
In contrast to our suburban life in St. Louis, our stay outside of Branson, MO was much more rural. With 45 minutes across state lines to the nearest Walmart, it was really rural. While there we got to do some cool touristy things, but discovered that all the windy back roads made the kids a bit car sick at the time.
We also met a really nice older couple that lived down the street from our Airbnb. They brought us a fresh zucchini bread and invited us to church. We went a few Sundays while staying there and were really welcomed in by the community there.
Baldwin City, Kansas
Kansas was a bit of a let-down. We didn’t stay long, but unfortunately, most of the trip was marred by sickness, poor weather, and a crummy Airbnb.
It served as a reminder that this trip wasn’t always going to be amazing, it was still real life and real life has a way of dragging you down. Just because you change locations doesn’t mean you are magically a better person or a better family unit. These things still need to be worked at every day to be maintained.
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Heading to Oklahoma City was a literal whirlwind. While traveling down we were tracking several tornadoes that were affecting the area. Thankfully an old high school friend has been living there for years and was able to help us navigate the situation. We did end up having breakfast in the closet the next day due to tornado warnings.
If you take away the tornadoes, Oklahoma seemed like it would be a nice place to live. There was a mix of rural and city, giving you plenty of options for things to do and places to go.
We celebrated our first major holiday while there, Thanksgiving. It was different being away from family and hosting dinner. But we started adjusting and focusing more on our immediate family.
And we also discovered that Airbnbs have a real lack of oven mitts! Like really guys, it’s hard to cook a turkey without proper oven mitts to take it out of the oven.
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth was a lot of fun for us. We took the kids to our first rodeo. We didn’t really expect them to like it as much as they did. We hope to be able to go to another in the future.
We also had a terrible time with the mail. While ordering gifts for Christmas a ton of packages got held up in the post office. Amazon, FedEx, and UPS didn’t have any issues delivering to our Airbnb, but USPS apparently did. The postal workers were probably sick of me by the time Christmas arrived. But we had a lovely Christmas in the same spirit as our Christmas traditions.
Canyon Lake, Texas
Our time in Canyon Lake was much slower than our previous stay in northern Texas. Access to the lake was all shut down and the only place that was supposed to be open was closed for refurbishment. It wasn’t a great season to stay there.
But after a time of doing things and going out, we turned inward and focused on the family again. We played games, rode scooters, had campfires, and got balls stuck in trees (that one ball is probably still there 😅).
Carlsbad, New Mexico
New Mexico surprised us. It was quite beautiful and we went to several National Parks. We only stayed in Carlsbad for a short while. It was more of a stop on our way to Albuquerque (apparently Texas is quite long to travel across 😂).
Despite a short stay, we had a good time there: exploring the Carlsbad Caverns, visiting the local zoo, and expanding our love of local “dirty soda” shops. On our way between Carlsbad and Albuquerque, we had a lot of fun at White Sands National Park. Sledding in warm weather was awesome!
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque was a beautiful place to stay. The sunset on the mountains was pretty every night. We even got to go up to the mountaintop and get a full view of the city and surrounding areas.
Unfortunately, we had to cut our trip short and return to PA because Katie’s grandfather was having health issues. He is doing better now, thankfully. We put on quite a lot of miles going back to PA and then leaving for CA.
Anaheim, California
We had only a week in California, but we packed it full of fun. We drove a boat, visited Disneyland, and hung out with the co-founder of my company and his family. We’ve worked together for years, but this is the first time we’ve been able to get our families together. It only took a little push, but our 9-year-old daughters quickly became BFFs.
Flagstaff, Arizona
Our time in Flagstaff was a bit of a bummer. We started off with a round of stomach sickness and by the time we recovered from that and went out to do something, we caught it again for another round. And when we weren’t sick we got snowed in (literally, the highways were closed).
But we made the best of it and got to go to the Grand Canyon among other things. Our timing wasn’t great because of the weather.
We also found out that Katie was pregnant with number 6! Thankfully we bought the big van to fit all these kids 😂.
Moab, Utah
Our last stop before returning to PA was Moab, UT. And, wow, was that a beautiful place to visit. We really wish we could have spent more time there. But Katie’s morning sickness was starting to come in (and it gets really strong). We hope to come back and vacation there someday.
We hiked national parks and state parks. We enjoyed the local cuisine and hunted for dinosaur tracks. We even got dirty sodas and ice cream from a small shack-looking place.
Back Where We Started
Our final hike was in Arches National Park, fitting since we started this journey at another famous arch in St. Louis. We’ve come a long way and learned a lot. We’ve met new people and had new experiences. We’ve discovered new loves and grown together as a family.
We are back in PA for the time being. Katie’s morning sickness, or should I say all-day sickness, has been keeping her down. This wasn’t what we were expecting after we set off on this adventure. But this is just another twist in our story line. We’re sad to end this chapter, but the next one is fresh and exciting.
Next Stops
As for that next chapter, we’ll be heading down to Florida to live for a while. We’ll be having our first baby outside of Pennsylvania. Much like this journey, everything will be new. New neighborhoods, new stores, new church, and new weather patterns (hurricane season?!?).
We are cautiously optimistic about moving. We’ll be leaving behind everything we knew, but we also did that 6 months ago. We hope to find community there, a home there. We might be stationary, but the adventure never stops.
