Road Trip 2012 – The Map!
So here’s the map, sketched on Google Maps, which shows the proposed route of this mega road trip. Note the map isn’t 100% accurate (and you can read why here
Day 1: Galway to Dublin
After a 1am bus ride to Dublin Airport, I’ve arrived at the new Terminal 2 building. It’s pretty and easy get around but sadly a long way from more efficient airport buildings such as my personal favourite, Düsseldorf. A distinct…
Day 1: An Evening in Chicago
Well after a longer than expected journey, I arrived in Chicago at almost 3:30pm and navigated my way to the CTA station to take the 45 min train ride to downtown. Emerging into the 33°C heat was a shock after…
Day 2: Morning in the Windy City
This morning I crawled from my air-conditioned slumber to face the world at 7am. Breakfast of corn flakes and CNN devoured, I headed back to what I thought would be a damp dull morning as the tail end of tropical…
Day 2: Afternoon among the Skyscrapers
During my blogging session at Ghiraradelli’s ice cream heaven – yes I have a problem – a friend of mine iMessaged me from New York telling me to go do the boat tour of Chicago. I had looked into this…
Day 3: The Streets of Chicago
This was going to be my last day in Chicago before heading west (and north, south and east!) so I wanted to see as much as I could in what little time I had left. With that in mind I…
Day 4: Finally on the Road
This morning I slipped quietly out of bed, freshened up and walked across the lobby to the airport terminal to my awaiting giant yellow Hertz bus. José Rodriguez drove me to meet Julie at the service desk and I picked up the…
Day 5: The Mile High City
This morning I left the Motel6 behind and headed across the Missouri River into Omaha and the state of Nebraska. I was on the hunt for ‘The Egg & I’ restaurant and found it among the still sleeping suburbs. Refreshed…
Day 6: Over the Rockies
Waking up in the Mile High City slightly ‘high’ on the thin air, I began the day with what has now almost become a custom; in search of a hearty breakfast of rich soft-poached eggs, sitting on a slice of…
Day 7: Arches and Canyons
So the plan hatched the night before (after a botched attempt due to being stupid thinking I could hike after 12 hours of being awake, spending 9 of them driving), was to hike to the Delicate Arch – probably the…
Day 8: Church and State
This morning I woke early in Salt Lake City, Utah. I didn’t have to get up early but I did. I was confounded by questions about whether I’d actually make this journey work given the financial constraints involved. When you…
Day 9: Sunrise to Sunset
It’s amazing how the early mornings seem to just happen from force of habit. I’m now waking up earlier than normal and getting out of bed with a sense of purpose. Today I woke up to the cold air of…
Day 10: Washington to Canada
I woke as usual this morning, to the wretched sound of that stupid ‘Tik Tok’ song that’s so annoying it’s an excellent alarm tone. Where was I today? Spokane, Washington. I’d remarked to myself coming into the city last night…
Day 11: Vancouver to Seattle
After tempting the gods yesterday with talk of getting used to waking up at 6am, this morning the alarm and I had a huge falling out. Needless to say the comfortable marshmallow like bed in Burnaby kept me asleep far…
Day 12: Crossing Washington and Oregon
After a comfortable night’s sleep, I awoke in Seattle cold. The window I’d left open instead of using air conditioning (don’t get me started on how much I loathe A/C from an environmental and health perspective) allowed the cool morning…
Day 13: California
Today was a big day for me, but doesn’t make for much reading for you. So, time to ‘fess up’ somewhat. In addition to the map, I also have a calendar that tells me roughly where I should be at…
Day 14: San Francisco
Today was the first time along the trip I’ve been able to take a break. The reason? I’ve been here many times before. So when I awoke late in the morning, I didn’t fret about lost time – I’ve visited…
Day 15: Yosemite
The long days of driving are starting to eat into my sleeping pattern and today, despite being rested during the previous day, my morning began early in Oakland with the complimentary breakfast. One of the more disgusting things I’ve had…
Day 16: Vegas
So, Las Vegas. What can I say about this city? It’s in the middle of the desert, it’s pretty much always hot and runs at high speed 24/7. This is the 3rd time visiting the City of Lights and I…
Day 17: Leaving Las Vegas
After many phone calls to Hertz McCarran Airport last night, I decided this morning to go straight there and plead my case that the Dodge Journey was just a gas guzzler. After packing up and checking out of the north…
Day 18: 900 miles
Yeah, you read that correctly – 900 miles. Think about that for a minute. 900 miles is the Irish equivalent of travelling from Dublin to Galway SEVEN TIMES! IN ONE DAY! This was the task ahead of me this morning as…
Day 19: Austin
So today I’m happy to report a two-day headway on the journey so far. I woke early-ish in Austin at a strange hotel that I didn’t really care for – one of those, nice till you scratch the surface and…
Day 20: Diarmy Does Dallas
So as the days become melted into one long journey, I woke late this morning after arriving late in Plano, a suburb of Dallas but a city in its own right. My plan for the day was to go walk…
Day 21: Galveston, Oh Galveston!
No, before you ask, the Glen Campbell song isn’t why I came to Galveston last night – it was mostly because of the price of hotels in Houston. Anyway, today I got up pretty late after an uncertain night’s sleep…
Day 22: New Orleans to Savannah
So after a stroll through the exciting Bourbon Street and a beer from an ignorant barman, I woke this morning at 7:15am to put some change into the meter for the car’s on-street parking. After returning to the hotel and…
Day 23: Savannah, Georgia
So today was technically my first day off since San Francisco, but really it wasn’t to be much of a productive day. I allowed myself to sleep in late this morning for the first time since back in August before…
Day 24: The Road to Washington
I mean it when I say I have VERY little to report today. Basically I got up with no particular plan in mind – and reluctantly dragged myself into the shower in an effort to wake up. It was only…
Day 25: Washington, D.C.
So today was both a good and a bad day. Let’s start with the good. I woke early to find myself in the Nation’s Capitol (given I drove myself here, that was a pretty lucid realisation!) and in a very…
Day 26: Leaving D.C.
Today was one of those days dedicated to driving. And after the day I had yesterday what with being flipped from pillar to post by Hertz and burning myself to a degree not seen since the holidays of my childhood,…
Day 27: Toronto
Today I woke early to begin a pretty long day behind the wheel which was going to involve two border crossings – the only time at which my heart seems to run in top speed. I’m not sure what it…
Day 28: Driving Down the Clock
So I’ve come to the almost end of the journey. I’m due to hand back the keys of the car (I won’t yet commit to the car still being the Dodge by then) to Hertz at Chicago O’Hare International Airport…
Day 29: Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas & Tennessee
So today was day two of the ‘bonus days’. And much like years ago when you took a few dodgy photos of a dog or the back of the house to spend out the film in your disposable camera before…
Day 30: Memphis, Tennessee
So this is the penultimate day of the FourWeeksInAmerica adventure. I woke and indulged in a little snooze until close to when breakfast would stop being served downstairs. I was in Memphis, Tennessee. I find as I get further along…
Day 31: Mission Accomplished
Well it took long enough, but today marks the end of the FWIA adventure. And without standing on an aircraft carrier in flight gear with a banner saying ‘Mission Accomplished’ to the world, I feel a little like George W….
Awards: Funniest thing I saw in America
Many people wonder where the best place I visited in America was, and while I’m working on an answer (there are many), here’s a photo I stumbled upon showing the funniest thing I saw in America. I was on the…