Summer 2007 Road Trip: One girl. One car. Over 8,000 miles.

I’m ba-ack… I left Dayton, OH this morning at 10:30am and rolled into Nashua, NH around midnight.  Now that was a LOT of driving for one day.

But I am not through with this blog.  Make sure to check back in the next few days for various posts with more photos, more driving stories, etc.

I think I have an impressive list of states that I’ve visited and/or driven through:

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34 states (the ones in red I have visited)… not bad.

I have plans for another road trip in September, when I go back to Tulsa, Oklahoma to look into moving there. This time, however, I will be taking a new route… a route that will take me through several states I have yet to visit. More on that later!

Unfortunately, my camera’s batteries are dead and I am not near a store right now to replace them, so I will have to wait to post the photos I took of Branson, Missouri yesterday. Check back on Monday for them.

For now, here are a couple of quick pictures of Texas and Oklahoma. I didn’t get too many exciting photos, although I had a lot of fun in Tulsa, visiting relatives.

Texas Landscape:

The biggest cross in the Western Hemisphere, according to the sign (located in Groom, TX:)

Oklahoma:

And now, my foot next to a huge dog paw:

The paw above belongs to this dog:

Isn’t this dog the cutest thing ever?! I just had to put these two photos in here… the dog is a mastiff, and belongs to my cousin. He is one of the biggest dogs I’ve ever seen - and the cutest. The photos do not show how big he really is.

I will arrive home tomorrow (Sunday) night. Right now I am in Dayton, Ohio, enjoying yet another plush and somewhat expensive hotel experience!

No, I’m not back in California! However, I forgot to post these back when I was there last week. My sister, niece and I went to Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills and walked around. We saw a couple of models in front of one of the stores, shooting what looked to be a commercial, but it didn’t look like anyone super-famous, so I didn’t get a photo.

However, here are a couple of pictures, showing you what Rodeo Drive looks like! (For all of you out there who have never seen it).

Here is a list of hotels/motels I have stayed at so far along with a rating and comments for each. The scale goes like this:

1/5 - Wouldn’t recommend the hotel to even my worst enemy.

2/5 - Would recommend the hotel, but only to my worst enemy.

3/5 - Decent, would stay in again if necessary but not high on priority list.

4/5 - Very good, would happily stay in again and recommend to friends and others.

5/5 - Highly recommend to friends/others and would definitely stay in again!

Days Inn, Plattysburg, NY - 5/5 (very friendly staff, clean rooms, well-priced)

Days Inn, Erie, PA - 2/5 - (overpriced, room and hotel lobby smelled of vomit and other unmentionable odors)

Hilton Garden Inn Chesteron, IN - 5/5 (friendly staff, nice rooms, great room service)

Radisson Hotel Minneapolis, MN - 5/5 (very friendly, luxurious rooms, extremely comfy beds, great room service)

Days Inn, Dickinson, ND - 4/5 (very friendly, 2 bars and a ballroom within hotel, nice room but window overlooked indoor pool)

Holiday Inn Express, Butte, MT - 2/5 (way overpriced!, no body towels in room, room service would not answer phone, their free wireless internet didn’t work)

Doubletree Hotel, Seattle, WA - 4/5 (luxurious room, great room service, decently friendly staff but way too expensive)

Super 8, Grants Pass, OR - 5/5 (for the cheap price, I couldn’t have asked for more than I got, plus very friendly staff)

Homestead Suites, Brea, CA - 4/5 (nice rooms, nice staff, but constant problems with room key. Stayed for 11 days)

Super 8, Redlands, CA - 3/5 (comfy bed with terrible pillows, flies in room, maids wake you up too early on weekends, but fast wireless internet)

Super 8, Holbrook, AZ - 3/5 - (internet rarely worked, had to walk up 3 flights of stairs to get to room, but friendly staff)

La Quinta Inn, Amarillo, TX - 4/5 (very nice rooms and beds, fast wireless internet, friendly staff)

Hilton, Branson, MO - 5/5 (extremely nice rooms, extremely nice staff, extremely delicious food & drinks, but confusing parking situation)

Crowne Plaza, Dayton, OH 5/5 (nice rooms, good food from room service, free parking, friendly staff)