Day 25 - Westlake, Ohio to Brownsburg, Indiana

July 15, 2015

Today was our last day of this amazing trip. We had breakfast with my boss this morning then hit the road headed home. We got home a little after 3pm. 

I cannot believe we actually took a coast to coast trip. We drove west then east. We drove across the US twice. It took 25 days. There were only 4 days that we did not drive. Those days we were visiting friends or exploring a city. Had we wanted to really see more sites and spend more time in each place then we would have needed more time for the trip. We just didn't have that many more days to travel. 

One would think that after 25 straight days of being together every minute that Cody and I would have gotten sick of each other but honestly it was amazing. I love spending time with Cody and I feel really lucky that we got to take this trip together.  He did all of the driving. He set up and took down camp every day. He is so good to me. 

This coast to coast road trip was such a great experience and I feel blessed that I had the opportunity to take it with my best friend. 

One more thing crossed off my bucket list. I still have a ways to go before I complete my list but I'm well on my way. 

Day 24 - Portersville, Pennsylvania to Westlake, Ohio

July 14, 2015

Today I was up early because we had to drive to Pittsburgh so I could have lunch with a customer.  After my lunch meeting we packed up and headed to Westlake, which is outside of Cleveland so that I could have a dinner meeting with my boss. We are at Pier W, which is a ship that is overlooking Lake Erie. My boss was gracious enough to allow us to park out RV in his driveway and sleep there. Although the day mostly consisted of work for me it was a nice day. 

Day 23 - Scranton, Pennsylvania to Porterville, Pennsylvania

July 13, 2015

Once again today there wasn't much excitement. We drove to a cute campground about a half hour from Pittsburgh. We set up camp and went swimming. The swimming was much needed. We have been sitting in the truck not doing much not seeing anything exciting so swimming was nice. 

Day 22 - Portland, Maine to Scranton, Pennsylvania

July 12, 2015

On the road by 9:30am. Nothing exciting today. Lots of driving. 

Cody got his baby lobster from Maine. 

Day 21 - Portland, Maine

July 11, 2015

Cody woke up super early and ran a 5K. Yesterday we were on a lobster boat and a lady told him about it and on a whim he decided to wake up and run it.

After Cody's run we went to the ocean. So today we marked the official day that we traveled from coast to coast. From Portland, Oregon to Portland, Maine. 

From the beach we walked to a lighthouse. It was very cool because to get to the lighthouse we had to walk on big boulders that made a path in the ocean to it. 

We originally had a half day tour scheduled for food tasting in the city. It was canceled so we signed up for a drinking tour. The drinking tour was very cool. We stopped at four local places and tried various food and drinks. One in particular that we liked was Vena's Fizz Shop. Originally it was a soda shop that decided to start serving alcohol. They put bitters in the alcohol to change the flavor. I never heard of bitters before so it was interesting to learn about them. We snapped a pic of Cody with the owner. 

After the tour we went and did something a bit crazy for our personalities. We got matching white tattoos on our fingers. Mine says "His" and his says "Hers". 

Lastly we went to the waterfront. We ate at a place called Porthole. It was recommended to us on the tour. It was very busy. It took almost an hour and a half to get our food. The lobster was cold. I only ate the potatoes and roll. Can you tell I was not thrilled about this place? Anyways after dinner we went back to the RV and crashed from our long day. 

Day 20 - Willington, Conneticut to Portland, Maine

July 10, 2015

Written by Cody 

It was the final jog away from home. The last stretch of road before hitting the big Atlanta ocean and the big city of Portland. We rolled into a very nice campground in the Scarborough area around 3 which gave us plenty of time to get some evening activities in. 

We found a lobster boat that took riders out to help. The crew was around our age and very nice. They gave us great suggestions about beer and food for the evening. Portland has an amazing craft beer scene and a good food scene as well. The night life seemed to be bussling as well, with live music and good specials all over downtown. 

We took suggestion on a local beer bar a block over from the tour and the beers were excellent. The eatery we went to was j's oysters and it was a bit of a disappointment, the food was okay and the place was too small to deal with.  Tomorrow we have a full day in Portland. Should be a good time. Stay classy my friends. 

Day 19 - Hatfield, Pennsylvania to Willington, Conneticut

July 9, 2015

Post written by Cody!

Headed north from the philly area to the Hartford CT. When I started the truck this morning I noticed it was idling very rough and possibly missing on a cylinder. This was even worse as we hooked up and headed out. My lovely copilot found us a dealership just a few miles away. We high tailed it as quick as the ole stroker would go. 

As I am sure Natasha would tell you, I am very particular about my vehicles. Now that we were going to spend money on someone else fixing my truck, I was a bit uneasy. My fears were realized when I got the news that the number six injector was bad and my frame fuel pump was going out. We replaced both and were on our way. The staff at the dealership were extremely friendly and the mechanic that did the work was informant and made me feel at ease while working on my baby. 

After the long morning at the dealership we were back on the road. Traffic was a huge factor in the drive north and let me tell you it was not fun. Our gps took us onto routes that were not made for the height of our rv. With a couple reroutes we were good to go. We pulled into our spot at the usual 8pm-ish and putting it up for the night. Hopefully no truck issues tomorrow. 

Day 18 - Hatfield, Pennsylvania to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

July 8, 2015

Today's post is written by Cody!

Woke up in Hatfield PA early ready to put our tourist hats on and grab the selfie sticks. The park we stayed at was nice and the staff was extremely friendly. We jumped in the truck and headed south into the city of brotherly love. We began the tour with the bell and visitor center. Both were very visitor friendly. After the historic tour on sixth street we grabbed a cab and headed to flag way, well that is what I called it. We were dropped right at the iconic love statue, which was bussling with activity. Once we got our in love selfies in with the statue in the background it was food time. 

I have had the dream of eating a Philly cheesesteak in Philly since I was very young. Now that we were eating in philly I would make this dream a reality. That and a shandy beer on a hot day hit the spot. This was probably not the smartest idea right before concurring the rocky steps. We took the pics at the steps like true tourists and we were both shot for the day.

We hopped a cab again back to the truck. I may have grabbed another cheesesteak from a street vendor on the way. I had forgot to mention above the parking situation we ran into. The truck is 7 ft tall, this is a problem in most parking garages, but we found a very tall one that was underground. It seemed very sketchy and dark, but the valet that took care of us was very friendly and seemed first class. 

Driving back out to the RV seemed like forever, but we arrived and napped like true vacationers. Once awake it was time for Natasha's favorite activity.... Shopping! we hit the local stores then the mall. Didn't buy much and it was worth the suffering. We hit hibachi and sushi after to close the day's activities. 

Day 17 - Donegal, Pennsylvania to Hatfield, Pennsylvania

July 7, 2015

Today we paid $44.50 for the turnpike. We drove on it for maybe 4 hours. That's the biggest toll I've ever had to pay. We got to Hatfield around 4pm. We stopped by Walmart to pick up some supplies and made camp for the night. Tomorrow we plan on exploring Philadelphia. 

Day 16 - Brownsburg, Indiana to Donegal, Pennsylvania

July 6, 2015

We left Brownsburg a little after noon due to errands we had to run this morning before we left for the second half of our coast to coast road trip. Today was the first day that Cody had to drive through any rain. 

We arrived to the campground around 8pm. Cody made burgers for dinner. We watch a movie called Horns. It was a good evening. 

Day 15 - Homer, Illinois to Brownsburg, Indiana

Today we drive only a couple hours from our hometown to our new home in Indiana. We stayed the night at our home. It was amazing to sleep in our own bed. We got caught up on Hannibal and Big Brother. We had to stop to get mail and mow the grass. I missed our home. 

Day 14 - Onawa, Iowa to Homer, Illinois

July 4, 2015

It was a late night last night and an early morning today. We were on the road by 7:45am. 

We stopped at the worlds largest truck stop.  

We picked Micah up from Champaign for the night. He got to ride the new 4 wheeler we bought him in Riverton. 

We went to the parade in Homer. Micah got a lot of candy. 

We grilled dinner at the Clem farm. After dinner Cody set off fireworks. It was a great holiday. 

Day 13 - Sheridan, Wyoming to Onawa, Iowa

July 3, 2015

We hit the road around 8am because today was the longest drive of the trip so far. Over 10 hours of driving. We stopped in Keystone, South Dakota to see Mt Rushmore. 

Cody let me lay in the backseat with Gunner so that I could take a nap. He's so good to me. 

We stopped and bought a ton of fireworks. Seriously, who needs almost $200 in fireworks?  Cody does. I'm sure they will be fun to watch tomorrow when we get to light them off. 

Then we stopped in Wall, South Dakota. It is a cute little famous town. We ate lunch at Wall Drug. We ordered a regular burger and a buffalo burger. When they arrived we didn't know which was which and they tasted the same so we each tried both. I guess I can say I ate buffalo now. 

Cody drove until a little after 10:30pm. We ate dinner late and went to bed right afterwards. 

Day 12 - Missoula, Montana to Sheridan, Wyoming

July 2, 2015

We got on the road at 10:30 after waking up a little before 10. Cody is getting very fast at hooking and unhooking camp. 

Not much to say about today other than we drove all day. 

Cody is such a good driver. He pulls the fifth wheel like its nothing. 

We drove to Sheridan, Wyoming and made camp for the night. I made salmon patties for dinner (my mother's recipe). We relaxed and went to bed early because we had to get up really early in the morning.