Seconds With Steff

So with at least thirty‑five hundred miles under our belt, give or take, because after changing cars four times and taking countless side trips there is no way of knowing the official mileage and with thirteen states including our dip into West Virginia, it is time to sit back and think about everything.

Somewhere in the middle of each trip, I say we are never doing a road trip again, and by the end we are ready to plan the next route. And sure enough, while we were literally on this trip, we started talking about next year. I do not know how many more roads there are. I can promise I will never do another off‑road adventure. Following an original alignment does not hold the allure I thought it would. The second or third generation is totally fine, but I do not feel the need to drive dirt roads in Nebraska ever again. If we had followed 30, 40, and 50 the whole way, I think instead of being a nine‑day road trip, it would have been ten.

🚙 Jeep People – How do you do it? I’m looking at you, DeModnas! My back is never going to be the same again. The Jeep Compass was fine, but when the Wrangler replaced it after the tire blew, my back started hurting within two hours of driving. Why do they not believe in lumbar support? I had a blanket shoved behind me nonstop. Every night, I was annihilated. On the plane home, I had to throw said blanket behind me because it was tweaking so badly. Now I am sitting on my couch, and it is pounding. I have a massage set for Thursday, and I do not know if I will make it until then. I do not know how or why you drive Jeeps!

🏨 Hotel Strategy – Another point I have made before but will say again… you cannot always be loyal to one hotel brand. You have to diversify. Finding a budget chain you are comfortable with matters. I chose Choice Hotels for the Comfort Inn and took out their credit card to get free points (and stayed for almost five nights last summer for free). When you try to stay in smaller towns, Hilton is not always an option. I learned on Route 66 that I do not hate a really nice motel. The Lincoln Motor Court was gorgeous, and I love having my car right outside my front door. It’s fantastic. That does not mean motels are nice. Very few are. You have to do your research. But the historic ones tend to be wonderful. If you are going to do Route 66, really consider historic motels.

🧳 Packing Upgrades That Actually Worked – Two new things I did on this trip that I have never done before. Instead of packing enormous medicine organizers, I used tiny dime bags from Amazon. I labeled them morning, noon, and evening, then put each day into a separate labeled Ziploc snack bag. It was perfect.

I also bought a cheap but sturdy laundry bag. I will link it. It sat in the back of the car and could be mushed in with other luggage, but it held all of our laundry until I was ready to deal with it. And because I do not bring all of our luggage into every hotel every night, I used one of Hunter’s larger T‑shirts as a laundry wrap. We layered all of our dirty clothes into the shirt, folded it over like a little bundle, and brought that outside each morning. By the time I was ready to pack all the dirty clothes, they were already sorted into little rolls. It was great.

🔌 The Cords. The Cords. The Cords – I have bought so many different kinds of ties for cords. I genuinely think I finally found the ones I will stick with forever. Linking… I abused them. They never wavered. I am sold. And I recommend bringing extras because some got left behind and I wished I had more.

🧦 Sock and the Perfect Pajamas – I also found new socks I think I am in love with. I will link these too. I desperately needed new socks because Hunter often uses mine, and I am always short. My Vans are usually very low, but my travel Vans are higher, so these socks worked perfectly. PLus they tell which are the Left and which are the Rights!!!

🧳 Let us Discuss Luggage – My wonderful sister and brother‑in‑law got me Beis luggage for Christmas. The overnight bag is the most brilliant thing ever, and I will tell you why. First, it has a spot for your laptop, which I have to bring. Yes, I can post the blog from my phone, but it is torture. Being able to slide my laptop into that bag and not think about it is perfect. Second, it has a slide‑through so it fits on the handle of the carry‑on or suitcase. Third, it has outside and inside zippered pockets, plus a small pocket for extra reading glasses. And lastly, it has a zippered bottom compartment where I stored our pajamas and cords.

For years I have been on the search for the perfect pajamas. What do I consider perfect. Shorts with a short‑sleeve shirt that match pants with a long‑sleeve shirt, and I have finally found them from Nautica… and although linked through Amazon, I double checked and they really are from Nautica. I rolled the shorts set, rolled the pants set, rolled Hunter’s set, and put them in the bottom compartment along with all of our electronics. Every night, everything we needed came inside with us. No thinking. No sorting.

For the electronics, I used a hard‑sided makeup bag. It fit everything perfectly.

In the outside zipper compartment, I put all the hotel tips in a little envelope. Every night when we arrived, I put the labeled envelope on the nightstand and never had to think about it again.

I also learned last summer to travel with toothpaste in a Ziploc bag. Last summer it exploded and made a huge mess. I take a separate toiletry bag that hangs on the back of the bathroom door. I have done that for a couple years now and it has made a huge difference.

🏨 Hunter’s Hotel Setup System -During this trip, Hunter was fully in charge of the hotel setup. As soon as we got to the hotel, he would unpack my laptop first while I got into my pajamas so I could immediately get to the blog. Then he continued with the overnight bag, the electronics, and the toiletry bag. He laid out our clothes for the next day and made sure the wrinkles were out. He set up the toiletries — I like to put out a towel folded in half and place everything on it — and he did exactly that. He set out the toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, and the three pieces of makeup I use almost every day. He set up all the equipment that needed charging, even my hearing aids. It was a system, and it worked.

⛽ Gas Strategy – Something else I did was prepay for my gas at drop‑off. I never do that, but I prepaid the New York price for the drop‑off in California. California is somewhere around $5.60 a gallon right now, so I was in good shape. I returned the car on fumes. I was literally putting one gallon in at a time at the end.

🍽️ Favorite Meals – Overall, on this trip, we had some amazing times. Hunter asked me what my favorite hotel and favorite restaurant were yesterday and I really had to think. I said I needed to review everything because it is so much information. Trying local food is important even if it is something you never eat again. Even if I moved to Nebraska, I will never eat another Runza again, but that salad dressing with the woman’s name, Dorothy Lynch, was kind of good.

Now… onto our Top Tens…

🧭 Hunter’s Top Ten
1. Eastern and Western Terminus

2. Finding markers, murals, and Lincoln statues

3. Meeting Kina at the Pittsburgh Zoo

4. Trolls: Dambo and Omar

5. Indiana Dinosaur Museum

6. Omaha Zoo

7. Gambling in Ely: Slot

8. Gambling in Ely: Keno

9. Middlegate: Shoe Tree and Monster Burger

10. Tahoe boat ride

💛 My Top Ten
1. Lake Tahoe – Stopping at the pull‑off and having my picture taken, staying at Zephyr Cove, and the boat ride all meant a great deal to me. When we got out of the car, I told Hunter to stop, close his eyes, inhale, and smell. It is different and wonderful. When we were checking in, I said I waited eighteen years for this. It was true. It was special. I told Captain Jay this was more than a boat ride for me.

2. Teaching Hunter how to sit at bars, handing over his ID, and gambling – I have waited twenty‑one years to walk into a restaurant and not have to get a table. This alone made it the greatest road trip of all time, but sitting next to Hunter as he concentrated on Keno was just amazing. Just too much fun!

3. Eastern and western terminus. This is the fourth road trip we have done, but the only one with a distinctive beginning and end. The Grand Circle is whatever you want it to be. Pacific Coast Highway is debated — does it start in the Olympic Peninsula, does it start in California, does it end in Dana Point, does it end in San Diego… everyone has an opinion. Route 66 has a start and finish, but the official end versus the pier is always argued, and now the ceremonial start is at Navy Pier versus across from the Art Institute. But the Lincoln Highway is different. There is an official start and an official end, but no one knows about it. You have to explain it constantly, and that made it ours.

4. Starting the trip with a friend. This is the fourth time I have been able to see a friend during a trip, and it was wonderful to start with my best friend from high school.

5. It may sound ridiculous, but the Middlegate Shoe Tree was just amazing. I felt so accomplished when those shoes hit that branch. It was an unbelievable high. But then seeing Hunter’s reaction when his shoes caught a branch… NOTHING was better than that!!!!! It was pure joy — the kind you can’t fake, can’t plan, and can’t recreate. It was just perfect.

6. We ate so much good food. The standouts were Taylor’s Maid‑Rite sandwich, the Omaha burger, dinner at the Jailhouse in Ely, the salad at McDuff’s in Tahoe, and In‑N‑Out. Judge me all you want… In‑N‑Out is amazing.

7. Talking to people. Meeting people and hearing their stories. I didn’t tell this story during the blogging, but in Cheyenne I was sitting next to a woman who was having a very intense phone conversation and when she was done took a few moments and turned to me, and said, “I just bought a house.” I was the first person she told. And she just had to share! It was amazing! Then there was a cattle rancher from Florida who refuses to cook his own steaks more than medium-rare because he knew the cow.

8. Ok… I can’t believe I am going here… The Omaha and The Fort Wayne Zoos were amazing. Truly and really… If I am saying that zoos were good, they must have been.

9. The unexpected moments… the fire at The Lincoln Motor Court, George Preston’s granddaughter Mary coming out to talk to us, the organist playing at the Mormon Tabernacle, getting into Buffalo Bill’s barns at Scout’s Rest, the story behind Cabela’s taxidermized animals, Hunter walking into the closed‑down Potter Sundry, the people at Little America helping me with the oil situation, the waitress at The Jailhouse getting Hunter spaghetti from their sister restaurant because it wasn’t on their menu, seeing the Bonneville Salt Flats (even though I didn’t get to drive through Skull Valley), Jen at The Hotel Nevada who could not have been kinder to us, the man at the Nevada Northern Railway who told us everything about every train, the lovely owner of This and That in Ely, NV (I really loved that town), watching Hunter staple his dollar bill to the ceiling at Middlegate Station, being given a seat inside the train car at The Spaghetti Factory, the nice comped breakfast in San Francisco… and most of all, meeting Captain Jay, who made my boat ride in Tahoe more special than I could have ever dreamed.

10. I don’t know if this is a top moment, but the few minutes I took to go to Matthew Shepard’s bench were deeply meaningful to me. I was honestly scared that when I got there the bench would be completely bare, with no sign of him at all. But there were several tributes and flowers. I took my time, left a small token I had made, and then continued with the day for Hunter — but I will never forget standing with him for those moments.

💲 By the way, for any of the Amazon recommendations I made, I don’t make a single penny. I honestly don’t think anyone will actually buy any of these things, but if you do, I still don’t get a dime. I don’t make money off this website — in fact, it costs me money. You have to sell a certain amount through Amazon to keep an Amazon storefront, and I don’t qualify. I’ve set it up twice, and I refuse to set it up a third time. So there you go.

So that is it.. all our reflections… any thoughts as to what we should tackle next?