Road Trips

North America is made for road trips. When we married, an hour-long drive for Peter was significant! On road trips with lots of distance to cover, hotels are quick and convenient accommodation. We undertook five significant hotel-based road trips in North America. They were tremendous adventures, and we learned that hotels and dining out got old, inspiring us to buy our pop-up camper. Here are our major road trips, which includes some overseas ones:

• Sugar Land to West Texas in March 1999
• Sugar Land to Newfoundland in July 1999
• Austin to Arizona in March 2005
• Houston to Washington D.C. in July 2013
• Houston to Niagara Falls in July 2016
• New Zealand at the end of 2023 / beginning of 2024
• Exploring the Greek Peloponnese in October 2024

Sugar Land to West Texas in March 1999

After much local exploring during our first year of marriage, we were ready for a more significant trip in March 1999 over Spring Break (as Janet was teaching). Our trip to West Texas and Big Bend is described in detail here, and complemented by the scrapbook pages below. The 1500-mile journey was longer than the full length of Britain. We rode horses into the desert from Lajitas and did an overnight guided canoeing trip down the Rio Grande. We explored Big Bend National Park by road, enjoying Santa Elena canyon, bluebonnets, and roadrunners. We enjoyed a Star Party at the McDonald Observatory in the Davis Mountains, which is known for its clear skies and absence of light pollution. We learned about Judge Roy Bean controlling the law west of the Pecos out of Langtry, named after his hero, Lily Langtry. Our last stop was staying at the Landmark Inn State Park. We had planned more but Janet developed a sinus infection, which we have since learned was most likely triggered by cedar allergies. Our amazing first road trip sowed the seed for further road trips and visits to Big Bend.

Sugar Land to Newfoundland in July 1999

When Peter had a business trip to St John’s, Newfoundland, Janet suggested making it a road trip. After a while, Peter realized Janet was being serious! St Johns was 2,500 miles away; more than half the distance to England! It was an epic trip, inspiring its own 30-page scrapbook (scanned pictures below).

On the way to St John’s, we stayed with family in Louisiana, friends in Alabama and Georgia, family in Pennsylvania and visited Gettysburg, Hershey, and Amish country. We stayed with our friend Pat in New York and saw him play Gaston in Disney’s production of Beauty and the Beast on Broadway. After crossing into Canada, we headed to Prince Edward Island to experience Anne of Green Gables country. We took the overnight ferry from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland. In between working in St John’s, we went iceberg spotting and whale watching, visited Cape Spear, and enjoyed a fun dinner theatre showing Paddy McGuinty’s Wake. We visited a salmon interpretation center on our way back to the overnight ferry and continued with visiting family around Cambridge, Maine, where Joyce and Scott joined us. We enjoyed fun times with family and a visit to Bar Harbor before driving Joyce and Scott back to Boston Airport. Then, we (foolishly?) drove back to Sugar Land continuously for about thirty hours. The twenty-four day trip had been amazing and we were justifiably exhausted. It would be several years before we attempted such an epic trip again.

Austin to Arizona in March 2005

With two kids and the knowledge that we were moving to China in July, we planned a nine-day road trip to the Grand Canyon. We enjoyed Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, and our Arizona highlights were the Rawhide Western Town in Phoenix and the Chapel of the Holy Cross overlooking Sedona. Unfortunately, Peter got sick so we had to turn to go home before making it to the Grand Canyon. We only have a few photos from this trip and memories are faint, so I expect it was somewhat overshadowed by the imminent move to China. Not all trips work out as planned, but we returned many years later and successfully made it to the Grand Canyon in 2014 with our pop-up camper.

Houston to Washington D.C. in July 2013

We were back in the US, and Peter had a business trip to DC which presented another road trip opportunity. This memory was captured in a photo book which is shown below. Our trip’s focus was National Parks and it did not disappoint. Our kids discovered and embraced the Junior Ranger program, leading to their inclusion on National Park website! This was another epic trip where we saw so much. We stayed in many Holiday Inn Express hotels, and I fear that this trip developed in our kids a lifelong dislike of their breakfasts! While the hotels were convenient for such a fast-paced trip, we yearned for something other than hotels. This trip inspired our pop-up camper purchase and the next phase of our family adventures.

Houston to Niagara Falls in July 2016

Our next bucket-list destination was Niagara Falls. We considered travelling with our pop-up camper, but it did not suit our itinerary. My one regret is not properly sorting out the 100s of photos after the trip and making either a photobook or a scrapbook! Here is a summary of what we visited. It was another amazing jampacked trip.

• Elvis’s Graceland in Memphis
• Nantahala Outdoor Center for a ropes course and a rafting trip, with an evening show about the Trail of Tears in Cherokee
• The Smoky Mountains and the Blue Ridge Parkway
• The Smithsonian in DC and Liberty Bell in Philadelphia
• Valley Forge and Gettysburg
• An Amish village, Hershey’s Chocolate World, and Flight 93 National Memorial
• Cuyahoga National Park and the Kinzua Bridge State Park
• Niagara Falls!

New Zealand at the end of 2023 / beginning of 2024

Our list of road trips would be incomplete without our two week tour of New Zealand in a couple of rented cars. I covered this trip with daily blogs here. I also made a photobook which is shown below. While many do this trip with a campervan, we felt our jampacked itinerary suited hotels better. Indeed, one aspect of RV life that we are looking forward to is slowing down! However, we certainly have no regrets about our New Zealand adventure.

Exploring the Greek Peloponnese in October 2024

After a group tour with Liberty University following in Paul’s footsteps in Greece, we hired a car for a week to explore the Peloponnese independently. It allowed us to get away from the crowds and explore on our own terms, but the frequent change in hotels with unpredictable facilities made us look forward to exploring in our own RV! This trip was blogged here.