Best of Our Summer/Fall 2022 Road Trip
/David provided the stats and a recap of our 15,343 mile road trip this past summer, but I prefer to think of the trip in terms of experiences and images. He’s the analytical engineer; I’m the non-statistical romantic, looking for beauty, uniqueness, or sometimes absurdity wherever we travel. As always, we were amazed and sometimes overwhelmed by the beauty, majesty, vastness, and diversity of the USA.
Here’s David’s map of our trip displaying the route. I’ve gone through the thousands of pictures I took along the way and reviewed my notes to come up with the Best of Our Summer/Fall 2022 Road Trip with the highlights and most memorable aspects of each segment of the trip.
Connector 1 – Las Vegas to Everett, WA
Our route took us from Las Vegas up through northwestern Nevada, into Oregon, and then to Everett, Washington to the western terminus of US-2. The highlights of this trip were all in Oregon. All the rhododendron were in bloom and the coast was lush, green, and very, very wet. Our fondest memories were a rainy day walking in the riverport town of Siuslaw and visiting Oregon lighthouses.
Great Northern (US-2) - Everett, WA to Houlton, ME
It was a long, long trip broken into two sections and interrupted by our Lake Superior Circle Tour. The first section included the western half of US-2 and the highlights were an underground tunnel tour in Havre, Montana, a visit with our friends at Lake Pokegama in MN, and an incredibly captivating visit to Mackinac Island and time on Michigan’s UP (Upper Peninsula).
The Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island
Main Street on Mackinac Island - By town ordinance, No motorized vehicles are allowed on the island.
The eastern section of the Great Northern took us from Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan, through Canada, and back into the States, ending in Houlton, Maine. The highlights?
Canada Day in Canada’s capital city of Ottawa, camping on the shores of Lake Champlain’s Grand Isle, and a thoroughly enjoyable drive through the northern New England states culminating with the best lobster roll we’ve ever eaten in Maine all made the ‘best of’ list.
Ottawa’s Parliament Hill on Canada Day 2022.
Side Trip 1 – Lake Superior Loop
As David indicated, “we have a penchant for circumnavigating things” and Lake Superior was there and kind of in the way, so why not? Lake Superior is so large, it’s more like an inland ocean. It rained most of the trip and was raw, wet, and soggy camping on many days, and still, it was a pleasant experience. A visit to the Grand Portage National Monument on a beautiful, sunny day was probably the highlight of the trip along with splendid views of the lake.
Connector 2 – Houlton, ME to Pittsburgh, PA
We traveled unhurried for a couple of days along the Maine coast, indulging in another lobster feast at a local lobster shack and stopping in the seaport of Camden which we’d visited with Nine of Cups for old times’ sake, then headed directly to Pittsburgh. The GART was waiting and for once, we were anxious to get to our destination. No big side trips, no detours, but rather a direct path. How unusual!
GART 1 – Pittsburgh to D.C. via the GAP, C&O Towpath
Oh, wow! If there was a highlight of the entire summer trip, it was probably bicycling the Great Allegheny Path and the C&O Towpath from Pittsburgh to D.C. From beginning to end, this was an unforgettable journey. Each day on the bike paths offered new experiences, new sights, and certainly new challenges. We saw wild animals galore, enjoyed neighborly hospitality, endured rain, storms, wind, heat, and cold, and relished perfect days. The highlights of this stretch are hard to single out, but one, in particular, remains in our mind: our arrival at the Capitol Mall in Washington, DC.
The end of the C&O Towpath at the Capitol Mall.
Side Trip 2 – D.C. to Pawtucket, RI to Pittsburgh, PA
The trip from D.C. to Rhode Island was pretty direct. Lin was scheduled for hip surgery and we volunteered to help out. At the last minute, the surgery was canceled and rescheduled for three weeks later. We wanted to make the best use of those three weeks so we headed back to Pittsburgh to continue bicycling the GART. Along the way, a couple of diversions really stand out. A visit to the Carousel Capital of the World, a walk on the Kinzua Skywalk, and of course, a meet-up with Punxsutawney Phil.
GART 2 – Pittsburgh, PA to Sunbury, OH
Back on the GART again, we cycled several trails and delighted in riding them all, but perhaps the highlight wasn’t a bike trail at all, but the time we spent in Ohio’s Amish country. It was enlightening, educational, and certainly enjoyable.
Side Trip 3 – Sunbury to Pawtucket to Richmond to Sunbury
After three weeks of wandering and bicycling, we headed back to Pawtucket to spend a couple of weeks with Lin, then headed to Richmond to visit Brennan and Hannah for a few days before returning to the GART in Ohio. En route, we stopped at the Flight 93 National Memorial… an unforgettable, heart-wrenching visit.
The Tower of Voices monolith at the Flight 93 National Memorial.
GART 3 – Sunbury to Indiana/Illinois state line
Our final bicycling days on the GART for 2022 were characterized not so much by the trails, but by the sights we saw along the way. Of all the trails, however, the Cardinal Greenway and the Sweetser Switch Trails were the most memorable. Some of the silly ‘superlative sites’ like the World’s Largest Paint Ball lacked excitement, but the visit to Kokomo and the Circus Hall of Fame were quite entertaining.
Connector 3 – Munster, IN to Las Vegas
The 1,800 mile road trip from Indiana to Nevada could have been accomplished in ~26 hours of straight driving if we were in that much of a hurry. We weren’t… we never are. Instead, we stretched it out to several days and lots of stops along the way for walks and oddities like the World’s Biggest Nickel, Iowa’s Trucking Museum, Ogallala’s Boot Hill, and Doc Holliday’s gravesite. Instead of a long, boring drive, it was a pleasurable, interesting trip back to Las Vegas.
So ends the Summer/Fall 2022 Road & Cycling Trip, now just pleasant memories with thousands of photos to help remind us of just how wonderful it was.
We have so many upcoming plans, it’s hard to sort them out and certainly, no decisions have been made yet. Options, so many options… and so little time!