Cross-Country Trips

While it's fun to organize one's travels by state, that doesn't provide a place for major trips that cross one or more state lines. That's what this section is for.

My 14-make-that-17 Day Tesla Road Trip

By: Paul S. Cilwa	Posted: 11/1/2023		Page Views: 557
I intended to spend two weeks driving from Arizona to Virginia to Florida. It took a little longer.

I felt really old and crotchety as I planned this trip. I really didn't want to go. But at 72, and with forever-young-but-also-aging sisters in Florida, I felt like this might be my last chance to see them. And with two daughters in the Virginias, of course I couldn't not see them along the way. Then there were friends along the way with whom I wanted to connect, if possible. So the itinerary grew as I planned, along with my dread. But then, once I went on my way, something strange happened…

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Sky Photos

By: Paul S. Cilwa	Occurred: 5/29/2017		Page Views: 1139
Topics: #Places #NorthAmerica #UnitedStates #Cross-Country #SkyPhotos #Clouds
Pictures of the sky, from above.

I had to make a trip to New Jersey to help a relative who'd had a death in the family. That was a sad occasion, of course; and, perhaps as a result, I spent a lot of the trip looking out the window of the plane. There was a lot of weather on the East coast and into the interior of the country, and the clouds were so impressive I couldn't help but take some photos. I didn't really expect them to come out—I mean, cellphone pics through a scratched airplane window??!—but it turned out that, with just a little editing, they came out good enough to share.

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Driving A Boat To Key West

By: Paul S. Cilwa	Occurred: 2/2/2017		Page Views: 1666
Topics: #Places #Cross-Country
The time my son, John, and I drove my daughter's boat from Arizona to America's southermost point.

Okay, so I had just returned from a wonderful trip to Key West to celebrate my daughter Karen's wedding. Keith and I had flown there for that, and I joked at the time that I had never expected to return, certainly not so soon after last year's road trip there. So, imagine my surprise when, less than a week after returning home, I was asked to help my son John drive my daughter Jenny's boat from her home in Arizona to her new vacation home in Key West (bought while she was there for Karen's wedding).

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My 65th Birthday Trip

By: Paul S. Cilwa	Posted: 5/7/2016		Page Views: 2198
Topics: #Places #Cross-Country
How Keith and I crossed the country in search of relatives.

My fiancé, Keith, has been to the Northeast (specifically, Boston) but has not otherwise traveled the East Coast. When I turned 65, I decided to celebrate with a nice, long road trip. So my kids got together and, with their help, we drove cross-country to visit my daughters in Virginia and West Virginia, and my sisters and some of their kids in Florida.

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The Terminals

By: Paul S. Cilwa	Posted: 12/31/2008		Page Views: 1751
Topics: #Cailey #Travel #Virginia #Chicago #GreyhoundBusLines
In which I take the bus trip from hell after my flight is cancelled.

Here was my intention: To make a quick, overnight visit to Florida to visit my sisters, Joni and Louise, and their families at their post-Christmas get-togethers. Even my nephew, Tim, was flying in from California.

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My 40th High School Reunion

By: Paul S. Cilwa	Occurred: 7/16/2009		Page Views: 1161
Topics: #St.JosephAcademy #St.Augustine #Florida #Travel #Cross-Country
All about the East Coast trip I made with Michael and Zachary on the occasion of my 40th high school reunion from St. Joseph Academy, St. Augustine, Florida.

My 40th class reunion was scheduled—somewhat abruptly—for July 17th and 18th. I wanted to go. I wanted Michael to go, because he's my husband and the other kids from high school would have their spouses there. And of course my ex-wife and current friend, Mary, should go because she was in my high school graduating class and it would be her reunion, too.

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The National Parks of the West

By: Paul S. Cilwa	Occurred: 8/17/2004		Page Views: 1179
Topics: #WesternStates #NationalParks #Travel #Cross-Country
All about the trip on which Michael and I took Mom to the last of the'48 states' she hadn't yet visited, by way of National Parks.

It's hard to hit a moving target, but Mom decided years ago to visit "all 48 states". Now, at 92, she found she was missing just three: South Dakota, Montana, and Idaho. Michael and I decided to take her to visit them for this year's trip. But of course, there's no point in "going just to go." So I mapped out a route that would, in addition to moving us through each of the three states, would allow us to visit National Parks all along the way.

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New Hampshire to Arizona

By: Paul S. Cilwa	Posted: 1/26/2016		Page Views: 1324
Topics: #Places #Cross-Country #EdnaMaeCilwa
All about the move we made from New Hampshire to Snowflake, Arizona.

By September, 1997, I was living in Manchester, New Hampshire, with my fiancé, Michael. Michael had quit his job and Manhattan life to move in with me; but we'd both wanted to move to Arizona for a long time. After a preliminary trip on which we found and bought property in the town of Snowflake, he and I packed up our stuff; and he and I and my Mom (who stayed with me during the Summer) hopped in the Toyota SUV (purchased for the occasion) with trailer attached, and headed westward. Ho. Ho. Ho.

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Chris' and Paul's Trip to Vermont

By: Paul S. Cilwa	Occurred: 9/21/1969 Posted: 5/5/2024		Page Views: 2277
Topics: #Places #Cross-Country #Travel
All about my very first multi-state trip — without parents!

In mid-September, 1969, in accordance with the plan we'd made during my visit to him, my friend Chris and I carefully saved our money until, in September, 1969, we were ready to make the journey of a lifetime (so far!): From Florida all the way up to Vermont (where I had lived as a kid) and back again.

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