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After Losing His Grandfather, He Took an 8-Day Road Trip Across America · Inspired Travels With Patti

0:00
SPEAKER_01: After losing his grandfather, he and his wife got in a car, took a drive from California to Tennessee, thirty-nine hours, eight days being on the road.
0:09
SPEAKER_01: Jacob, what inspired you and your wife, Maddie, to take this trip?
0:13
SPEAKER_00: Honestly, Patty, it's mostly just taking an opportunity when you're given it, right?
0:18
SPEAKER_00: We had a chance to to make the trip.
0:21
SPEAKER_00: We could have done it in two days and just like really bare knuckled through it, or we could actually like space it out and take some time and enjoy each of these beautiful locations we stopped at.
0:31
SPEAKER_00: So that's what we decided to do, and here we are.
0:34
SPEAKER_01: Here we are, and I'm glad to be able to hear your story.
0:37
SPEAKER_01: And for my audience, I want you to know this trip from California to Tennessee wasn't an epic, spare no expense trip.
0:46
SPEAKER_01: It was about seeing things, experiencing the country, just in a very low-key, easy-going, and enjoying the journey.
1:17
SPEAKER_01: When I heard about Jacob and his wife Maddie's journey, I knew I had to have him on the podcast.
1:25
SPEAKER_01: Now, truth be told, Jacob is my editor and producer.
1:30
SPEAKER_01: He and his wife are the backbone of this podcast.
1:33
SPEAKER_01: And I could not do this podcast without them.
1:37
SPEAKER_01: We share and have shared over the last over two years.
1:41
SPEAKER_01: I think we've been together now for over two years.
1:44
SPEAKER_01: This podcast would not be what it is without them and their ideas and their thoughts and we inspire each other.
1:52
SPEAKER_01: And I love this relationship.
1:54
SPEAKER_01: Jacob is the host of the podcast X Homeschoolers Club.
1:59
SPEAKER_01: We'll talk a little bit about that because if you are a if you were a homeschooler, if you're thinking about homeschooling or you are homeschooling, that podcast is something you absolutely want to listen to.
2:13
SPEAKER_01: Jacob Gooden, welcome to Inspired Travels with Patty.
2:18
SPEAKER_00: Thanks for having me, Patty.
2:19
SPEAKER_00: It's fun to be back.
2:20
SPEAKER_00: I'm excited.
2:21
SPEAKER_01: Yes, yes, you were on before, and we talked all things homeschool.
2:25
SPEAKER_01: Um and we talked about Tennessee.
2:27
SPEAKER_01: We had an episode where we talked about Tennessee and all the things to do.
2:31
SPEAKER_01: People should definitely check that out because you gave away a lot of good secrets to enjoying Tennessee.
2:38
SPEAKER_01: So, as I said in the beginning, your grandfather had passed and you flew out to see him.
2:45
SPEAKER_01: Give us the backstory there that then led to this road trip.
2:49
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so I am the oldest grandkid.
2:53
SPEAKER_00: Um, and so my grandfather is very special.
2:57
SPEAKER_00: I think when you're the oldest grandkid, there is a special connection uh between you and your grandparents, and it's you know, it's hard to explain and it doesn't take away from any other grandkid.
3:07
SPEAKER_00: Um, but there is a special connection there.
3:10
SPEAKER_00: And so um at the end of March, I got a phone call that nobody ever wants to get, and that was that my granddad was in um the hospital, and uh we call my grandfather Poppy, so if I say Poppy, that's that's who I'm referring to.
3:22
SPEAKER_00: But um he was in the hospital and he was having some heart issues, and we knew that we knew that he was gonna have to go in and and do some things, but there was some stuff on the calendar, and and you know, it didn't seem like it was gonna be that big of a deal.
3:35
SPEAKER_00: Uh turns out it was a big deal, and um, so he was in the hospital for about a week, I want to say, and it was kind of one of those like it would go between being very helpful to very dire situations um in order to do what they were gonna need to do on his heart.
3:51
SPEAKER_00: He had to recover, he had he'd gotten sick on top of that, and so it was just like a very complicated situation, and ultimately um he opted to kind of go more down like a comfort care route, and so he was just it's kind of life support um-ish, but it's just like putting yourself in a more comfortable position as you wait out the last couple days, and um so he opted to do that, and um which it it's hard to say, and it's hard, but he got to go out on his own terms, and I'm okay with that.
4:23
SPEAKER_00: Um, the last couple days he got to spend with his kids, they got to be around him, his siblings got to be around him.
4:28
SPEAKER_00: As grandkids, we did not get to be around him, but we got to send him nice messages and things like that, and so um, you know, it's tough and it's not the most ideal situation.
4:39
SPEAKER_00: He's my last grandparent um to lose, and so that's tough on top of it.
4:44
SPEAKER_00: But um, but I keep reminding myself back in October of last year, I got to go visit and stay with him and do a very traditional poppy trip.
4:51
SPEAKER_00: So we did all of the fun things.
4:53
SPEAKER_00: We ate good food, we went to the movies, we did projects at his house, like all of the things that I would have done as a kid with him.
4:59
SPEAKER_00: Uh, I did those as a as a 29-year-old.
5:02
SPEAKER_00: So it was it was just fun.
5:04
SPEAKER_00: Um, and so yeah, so we went out there for the funeral, spent time with family, dealt with some of the stuff at his house and things like that, and ultimately we ended up buying his car.
5:16
SPEAKER_00: So that's kind of where the road trip aspect fits into it, is that we had just flown out there not anticipating we were gonna buy a car, um, and they wanted to get rid of it.
5:26
SPEAKER_00: We've been car shopping, and it was it's a great car.
5:30
SPEAKER_00: So we were like, okay, maybe this is the time, and it gave us an excuse to road trip across the country.
5:35
SPEAKER_00: So win-win.
5:37
SPEAKER_01: And you said you've taken that trip from her Hanford, California to Tennessee a number of times, and you've taken a very quick couple of days to get from one place to the other.
5:49
SPEAKER_01: And on this trip, you decided you were gonna take your time and enjoy the journey.
5:55
SPEAKER_01: Let's what was the inspiration?
5:59
SPEAKER_01: What led you to say, okay, well, let's take some more time?
6:01
SPEAKER_01: Now you had the car, so of course that helps.
6:04
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so when I've done it in the past, it's always been go, go, go.
6:08
SPEAKER_00: Like, I just want to get there, kind of a thing.
6:10
SPEAKER_00: Um, when I moved to Illinois back for college, I drove to Illinois, did it in like three days, I want to say.
6:17
SPEAKER_00: So it was like, you know, a big like 14-hour day to begin with, and then, you know, and then another eight-hour day, and then another couple hours deal deal.
6:25
SPEAKER_00: And so I had always done road trips like that.
6:28
SPEAKER_00: And what I've learned as I've gotten older is that like I hate being in the car for more than probably like six hours.
6:35
SPEAKER_00: Once I hit that six hour mark, I'm very much like, I'm uncomfortable, I don't want to do this anymore, I get grouchy, um, those types of things.
6:42
SPEAKER_00: And so Maddie and I were talking had we've talked for a long time about let's do a road trip.
6:47
SPEAKER_00: We've really wanted to do a road trip down the West Coast.
6:51
SPEAKER_00: Um, and so, but we were like, okay, this is an opportunity to kind of kind of do a mini road trip in a lot of senses, because we would love to do maybe like a month or something crazy.
7:01
SPEAKER_00: Like, we really want to take our time and yeah, do the like no expenses, you know, just like whatever we want to do, we're gonna do it.
7:08
SPEAKER_00: Um, this is not that time, but but we were like, okay, we could we could break this out probably about it.
7:15
SPEAKER_00: Ended up being total about a week that we were on the road, and we just kind of were like, okay, let's just look at six days each day.
7:23
SPEAKER_00: Where does that get us to?
7:24
SPEAKER_00: Okay, we could go eight hours this day, we went a little less on some days, and so we just kind of plotted a course.
7:30
SPEAKER_00: Um, I also have family and friends that live throughout the country, and so we had kind of also factored those people in of like, well, that's a free place to stay, and um, you know, one less hotel we have to pay for, and we get to see people that some of those people haven't seen in 10 years.
7:45
SPEAKER_00: So, um, so that was kind of like the thinking that went into it was just like you know, can we take our time?
7:52
SPEAKER_00: What is taking our time look like?
7:54
SPEAKER_00: When do we truly need to be back?
7:56
SPEAKER_00: And we had determined that we were like, let's get back by April like 20th, 21st.
8:00
SPEAKER_00: And so that was the goal.
8:02
SPEAKER_00: That gave us a week.
8:05
SPEAKER_00: Let's do it.
8:06
SPEAKER_01: And that's an incredible story.
8:08
SPEAKER_01: And as people who have listened to the podcast know, I look to inspire people to get out and adventure.
8:14
SPEAKER_01: I talk about travel, but travel isn't just about those big trips, those expensive trips.
8:20
SPEAKER_01: They these are the kind of trips that I'm talking about, and whether somebody takes a day and does something or a whole week and is able to do something.
8:29
SPEAKER_01: So let's go through some of the things you've done.
8:33
SPEAKER_01: So for people that are listening, this isn't just okay, we want to inspire you to get out.
8:37
SPEAKER_01: Jacob is gonna share his stops and some of the cool things that he saw along the way.
8:43
SPEAKER_01: So you went from Hanford to Ventura, California.
8:46
SPEAKER_01: What were some of the things in that along the way?
8:51
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so let's start in Hanford, California.
8:53
SPEAKER_00: So if you don't know California at all, San Joaquin Valley, it's up, it's like near Fresno, um, kind of it's above Bakersfield, kind of a deal, but it's settled in like a basin of California, and it's where a lot of farmland is.
9:07
SPEAKER_00: And growing up, I always believed there really was like nothing to do there.
9:11
SPEAKER_00: However, that's not totally true.
9:12
SPEAKER_00: There's actually some really cool stuff uh there.
9:15
SPEAKER_00: It's heavily influenced by a lot of like immigration, railroads used to come through there and stuff like that.
9:20
SPEAKER_00: And so, anyway, in Hanford, my favorite thing to do is Superior Dairy.
9:25
SPEAKER_00: It's an ice cream shop, and when I say it's an ice cream shop, it is like old school soda shop, very cool.
9:31
SPEAKER_00: It's currently under renovation, but they still have their um, they have like a trailer that they parked outside, so you can still go get ice cream in even in the summer.
9:39
SPEAKER_00: It's some of the best ice cream I've ever had, okay?
9:42
SPEAKER_00: And also, a kid's scoop is three scoops of ice cream, okay?
9:46
SPEAKER_00: These are massive amounts of ice cream.
9:49
SPEAKER_01: Wow.
9:50
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
9:51
SPEAKER_00: So um definitely worth the stop if you're in the area or you're driving through uh Hanford.
9:57
SPEAKER_00: Hanford's also really close to like Sequoia National Park, it's only about an hour and a half to two hours away from there.
10:03
SPEAKER_00: Um, and some of the other national parks in California, that type of thing.
10:06
SPEAKER_00: But from Hanford, we drove to Solving, California.
10:10
SPEAKER_00: And so Solving is a cute little Danish town.
10:13
SPEAKER_00: Um, it's not quite on the coast, but it's very close to the coast.
10:16
SPEAKER_00: So you drive out from Hanford to San Luis Obispo and then down just a little bit, and you're in Salving.
10:21
SPEAKER_00: And when I say it's a cute little Danish town, it truly is a cute little Danish town.
10:25
SPEAKER_00: And I know my wife took some photos and videos, and so if you're watching, I'm gonna pop those up.
10:31
SPEAKER_00: But it is built in a Danish style, so you've got like the thatch roofs, and you've got like they didn't the Danish didn't really believe in um like screws and nails, they liked everything to like interlock, and so a lot of things kind of look almost like uh like a Lincoln Log cabin, right?
10:48
SPEAKER_00: And then they build with bricks and stuff like that, and so it's got this very cool feel to it.
10:53
SPEAKER_00: Solving is also kind of a melting pot because you have a lot of history in California from the Spanish coming and settling here, you have the Native Americans, and then you have the Danish ultimately ending up there as well.
11:06
SPEAKER_00: And so it's like a very weird mix, but very cool food, very cool little museums and stuff in the area.
11:13
SPEAKER_00: Again, if you're in that area, go stop there because it is just it's a cute place to like just take a break.
11:18
SPEAKER_00: Um, and then we drove from there to Cal to Ventura.
11:22
SPEAKER_00: Ventura is my hometown, and so I could talk about it all day, so I'll try to limit it.
11:26
SPEAKER_00: Um, but Ventura is on the ocean, and there is so much you can do.
11:31
SPEAKER_00: If you're there in the summer, the fairgrounds are amazing.
11:33
SPEAKER_00: There's a beautiful pier with a taco shack on it, there's downtown Main Street, this little historic downtown.
11:40
SPEAKER_00: Um, they've closed off the roads, so everything is a walkway.
11:43
SPEAKER_00: Um, lots of cute little like shops and restaurants.
11:46
SPEAKER_00: If you want a good cup of coffee, there's Palm and Boy.
11:49
SPEAKER_00: If you want a good place to eat, there's like a billion of them.
11:52
SPEAKER_00: You really can't go wrong with any of them.
11:54
SPEAKER_00: Um, good beer uh in downtown Ventura.
11:56
SPEAKER_00: I argue that it's some of the best beer in the world.
11:59
SPEAKER_00: I know that's not totally true.
12:00
SPEAKER_00: I'm a little biased.
12:02
SPEAKER_00: That's okay.
12:03
SPEAKER_00: Um, but um, yeah, and then right from there, you have you could easily get to places like Santa Barbara, Oi, California.
12:09
SPEAKER_00: You could drive down to LA is another two hours kind of a deal.
12:12
SPEAKER_00: So again, another great spot.
12:14
SPEAKER_00: Also huge for camping, lots of campgrounds in that area.
12:18
SPEAKER_00: So um, Lake Casitas is in that area.
12:20
SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of cool stuff uh in that area for campers as well.
12:24
SPEAKER_01: We um actually I see that you were an act in California, A-C-T-O-N, and I stayed there in a campground.
12:32
SPEAKER_01: I don't remember the name of it, but yes, when you say campgrounds, there are a ton of them out there.
12:37
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
12:38
SPEAKER_01: Okay, so you said something about a cool McDonald's.
12:42
SPEAKER_01: Like when I think McDonald's, I don't think cool, so you'll have to share that.
12:47
SPEAKER_01: Well what's with the cool McDonald's.
12:50
SPEAKER_00: So after spending a couple days in Ventura, again, it's my hometown, so spent it with my my folks there for a few days, just hanging out, playing cards, seeing seeing childhood friends and stuff.
12:59
SPEAKER_00: And then we headed out, we went to Las Vegas.
13:01
SPEAKER_00: So Las Vegas from Ventura is about a six-hour drive.
13:04
SPEAKER_00: And so, you know, you don't have to do it early in the morning, which is a great thing.
13:09
SPEAKER_00: I don't want to wake up at 4 a.m.
13:10
SPEAKER_00: Like, I don't mind hitting the road by 10 o'clock.
13:13
SPEAKER_00: If I can hit the road at 10 o'clock, like I'm good.
13:15
SPEAKER_00: So we hit the road, and Acton, California, yeah, is a couple hours away.
13:19
SPEAKER_00: We stopped there.
13:19
SPEAKER_00: That is where this very cool looking like Western McDonald's is, and they also have a water tower that's like a McDonald's-themed water tower.
13:27
SPEAKER_00: As far as I can tell, I Googled like Western McDonald's, and I think there's like two, maybe three of them, but it looks like a saloon, like it looks like something out of like a John Wayne movie or something.
13:37
SPEAKER_00: It's very strange.
13:38
SPEAKER_00: Um, and then you go inside and it's like a normal McDonald's, but the outside looks very cute.
13:44
SPEAKER_00: Um, and so you know, I I also think that McDonald's is a road trip staple of like when you're on the road, you have to stop and get a burger, milkshake, soda.
13:53
SPEAKER_00: Like it just kind of is.
13:54
SPEAKER_00: Also, like McDonald's Coke, can you beat it?
13:57
SPEAKER_00: I don't think so.
13:58
SPEAKER_01: And and I agree on all of that.
14:00
SPEAKER_01: It is funny because people who have listened to um, I did Hidden Gems in California with Pat and Liza Patterson, and they live in California, their family's been there since 1880 something.
14:16
SPEAKER_01: And we were talking about fast food restaurants.
14:18
SPEAKER_01: I'm on the East Coast, that's where I've lived.
14:20
SPEAKER_01: Um, and we talked about In N Out Burger, and I made the mistake of saying I didn't care for an In N Out burger, and Liza was ready to just she said, stop the podcast.
14:32
SPEAKER_01: So anybody who wants to hear more about California before we head out of California, check out there's a part one and a part two of that because there was so much information.
14:42
SPEAKER_00: I'm also gonna I write hard for In N Out.
14:45
SPEAKER_00: So if you are visiting California, like it's worth the try, it's worth the stop.
14:49
SPEAKER_00: There's also In N Outs now, like up and down the West Coast, all the way to Colorado.
14:53
SPEAKER_00: I even in Tennessee now, our head the headquarters for In N Out is now in Tennessee.
14:57
SPEAKER_00: So like they are everywhere.
14:59
SPEAKER_00: It's I I understand, Patty, like it's not the world's best burger, but it is like such a staple in my life that I it's a good burger, and so that's um and they have a whole secret menu.
15:11
SPEAKER_00: You can ask them about it.
15:12
SPEAKER_00: Right animal style and all the different ways you can get extra crispy fries, that kind of stuff.
15:18
SPEAKER_00: But um a little plug in there for for In N Out.
15:21
SPEAKER_01: There you go.
15:22
SPEAKER_01: As I'm saying, it's not my it's not my thing.
15:24
SPEAKER_01: I grew up with McDonald's and whatever.
15:28
SPEAKER_01: There was another one that was out here that I don't even remember.
15:30
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
15:31
SPEAKER_01: So now we're leaving Las Vegas and we're going into Nevada, and Nevada is how you say it, and they are very big on not saying Nevada.
15:41
SPEAKER_01: So just a little information there.
15:44
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so heading into Las Vegas, um, I have friends that live there, and they are like my I call them my adopted grandparents.
15:53
SPEAKER_00: They're like my church grandparents.
15:55
SPEAKER_00: I grew up with them.
15:56
SPEAKER_00: I grew up about the closest grandparents were four hours away, and so they were some they were an older couple at our church, and they just kind of took in all of the families who had kids that their grandparents lived far away, and they just were like, come over to our house, they had a pool, game nights, all that kind of stuff.
16:13
SPEAKER_00: And when I was about high school age, maybe a little bit before that, they moved to Las Vegas to be closer to their family, and so um we would go visit them and things like that, and so I knew that on this road trip I since we were gonna drive through Las Vegas anyways, why not stop and see Tom and Donna?
16:30
SPEAKER_00: And I I love them so much, and so it had been gosh, probably 10 years since I had seen them last.
16:38
SPEAKER_00: And so drove from Ventura, stopped in that that cool Western McDonald's.
16:43
SPEAKER_00: Um we also stopped that day at a place called Eddie World, which is it was very weird, it's very marketed to be kind of like a Bucky's gas station for those people who are familiar with that, um, which Bucky's gas stations are like massive, they have every snack under the sun.
16:59
SPEAKER_00: So it's a very similar feel, but on a smaller scale.
17:03
SPEAKER_00: Um I don't know, not anything like crazy special, but just a good spot to stop, um, recharge a little bit, and then on to Las Vegas.
17:12
SPEAKER_00: Didn't do anything really all that cool in Las Vegas.
17:15
SPEAKER_00: Um uh didn't hit the strip, nothing like that, but um, but stayed with some friends, spent the night, and just like got to visit, went out to dinner, kind of a deal, and and just had fun, you know, with with old friends.
17:26
SPEAKER_01: So I think that's a big part of the journey, and for me traveling full-time in an RV for over three years, being able to go out and see family that were scattered around the country and friends, that was a big part of it, and that I think you know is great.
17:44
SPEAKER_01: So when people are thinking about road trips, like who can you go visit that you haven't seen?
17:50
SPEAKER_01: It's again, doesn't have to be all the big epic things.
17:54
SPEAKER_01: Okay, where are we going from here?
17:57
SPEAKER_00: So from here we we drove from Nevada to Grand Junction, Colorado, and that was because we knew we wanted to stop.
18:04
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna jump a little bit ahead.
18:05
SPEAKER_00: We knew we wanted to stop in Colorado Springs, but to go from Las Vegas to Colorado Springs is a 12-hour day, and me being the grouchy little person that I am was like, no way, we're not doing that.
18:17
SPEAKER_00: I have done uh my hometown of Ventura to Colorado Springs in a day.
18:22
SPEAKER_00: It was the most brutal road trip I've ever taken.
18:25
SPEAKER_00: It was non-stop, and um literally we were 30 minutes away from our destination, and we were pulled over on the other side of the road, and I was pointing at a best western, being like, Can we just like stop there, please?
18:34
SPEAKER_00: Like, I was just done.
18:35
SPEAKER_00: Um, so I knew that I didn't want to do that this trip.
18:37
SPEAKER_00: So so Grand Junction it was.
18:39
SPEAKER_00: So Las Vegas to Grand Junction.
18:41
SPEAKER_00: Again, didn't do a whole heck of a lot.
18:43
SPEAKER_00: It was mostly just a driving day.
18:46
SPEAKER_00: Um, but we did stop and saw some beautiful views in Utah.
18:49
SPEAKER_00: The thing about road tripping, especially if you take some of the main highways, is like there's always the scenic lookout points, there's always the visitor centers, and um, and those are so worth the stop.
19:00
SPEAKER_00: I would as a kid, I would have I would have told you like there's no point in stopping there.
19:04
SPEAKER_00: Like but as an adult and somebody who's now driven across the country four times, um, totally worth it.
19:10
SPEAKER_00: And so you see some beautiful spots in Utah specifically, they have like massive plaques that explain all of the hills you're seeing, all the mountain ranges, the valleys, all that kind of stuff.
19:20
SPEAKER_00: And so it's really cool.
19:21
SPEAKER_00: Um, and it costs you nothing to stop, you know.
19:24
SPEAKER_00: So there's that.
19:25
SPEAKER_00: We did stop at a visitor center um in St.
19:28
SPEAKER_00: George, Utah, and we were just going specifically just to go to the visitor center because it's always clean bathrooms, there's flyers of stuff to do, you know, you can ask questions, that kind of a thing.
19:39
SPEAKER_00: But this one was connected to I'm gonna make sure I don't butcher this name, the Rosenbrutch World Wildlife Museum.
19:48
SPEAKER_00: And so this again, we had no clue this was there.
19:52
SPEAKER_00: Um, walked in, it was a couple bucks to go in, it was under$10, and that was kind of our threshold was like if we find cool stuff, like$10 and under is like an immediate yes.
20:02
SPEAKER_00: Um, anything above that, we gotta really think about it, was kind of our thought process.
20:06
SPEAKER_00: And so it was like an immediate yes.
20:08
SPEAKER_00: We walked through it's a lot of taxidermy to animals.
20:11
SPEAKER_00: Kind of creepy if you're not into taxidermy, like I get it.
20:14
SPEAKER_00: Um the lifeless eyes can be a little bit much.
20:17
SPEAKER_00: Um, but um, but it was very cool.
20:20
SPEAKER_00: They have a a wide variety, and I mean wide everything Africa to the jungle, um, native stuff, they have stuff from Japan.
20:30
SPEAKER_00: Um weirdly, I don't know about you.
20:32
SPEAKER_00: I have never thought of Japan as as having like insane wildlife, but like they have like beautiful deer and stuff in Japan, and I just again maybe I'm stupid.
20:42
SPEAKER_01: I I didn't know that either.
20:43
SPEAKER_01: I'd never thought about it.
20:45
SPEAKER_01: So I I never thought Japan and deer exactly.
20:49
SPEAKER_00: Um, and so big wide collection, really cool.
20:53
SPEAKER_00: Again, my wife's got photos, probably pop them up somewhere in here.
20:57
SPEAKER_00: Um, if you're watching on video, or I'll show this with Patty and maybe she could put together a little carousel or something for Instagram.
21:03
SPEAKER_00: But um, a really cool place, again, a great stop, a great stop for like stretching your legs and just like getting a move on.
21:11
SPEAKER_00: And so, yeah, from there on to Grand Junction, stopped in a hotel that night, went out to dinner, like went to a normal spot.
21:20
SPEAKER_01: Right.
21:20
SPEAKER_01: And before we get to Grand Junction, I just want to bring up a couple of things.
21:24
SPEAKER_01: As people are thinking about traveling, some great tips.
21:28
SPEAKER_01: Know your limit on how long you could be in a car.
21:31
SPEAKER_01: I you said six hours, that is too long for me.
21:35
SPEAKER_01: For me, like I know my limit.
21:37
SPEAKER_01: I want to stop every two hours and stretch my legs, get a snack.
21:41
SPEAKER_01: Snacking is a big thing for me.
21:43
SPEAKER_01: You could keep me happy if you make sure I have snacks and chocolate.
21:47
SPEAKER_01: We're good.
21:48
SPEAKER_01: Um, but for people who are looking to take a road trip, no matter how far, knowing what the limit is, if you're driving with kids, uh, your suggestion about the welcome centers or the Service centers.
22:02
SPEAKER_01: They are a wealth of information.
22:04
SPEAKER_01: And you're right.
22:05
SPEAKER_01: When I was a kid, if if my parents were like, oh, we're going to stop here and we're going to look, I would have thought it was strange and what are we doing?
22:12
SPEAKER_01: And would have kicked and fought it every step of the way.
22:16
SPEAKER_01: But now that I've gone into them, they are an incredible wealth of information.
22:21
SPEAKER_01: They're fun.
22:23
SPEAKER_01: You're saying they don't cost anything unless you buy some of the stuff that they have because they have all these cool things.
22:29
SPEAKER_01: I always go in and get my sticker for my sticker board.
22:32
SPEAKER_01: So that those are some great tips.
22:36
SPEAKER_01: The other tip is know who you're traveling with.
22:39
SPEAKER_01: There are certain people that I'll travel with, and I can go all day for days, no problem.
22:44
SPEAKER_01: Certain people, I know I have to limit it.
22:47
SPEAKER_01: So just for my listeners to keep that in mind as they plan a road trip.
22:52
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
22:52
SPEAKER_00: And that's something too that Maddie and I had to talk quite a bit about because she grew up in a family that road tripped.
22:59
SPEAKER_00: I grew up in a family that didn't.
23:00
SPEAKER_00: And so she's used to 10 hours in the car.
23:04
SPEAKER_00: Like she can do it.
23:05
SPEAKER_00: It's not a problem for her.
23:06
SPEAKER_00: She doesn't she sleeping in the car, not a thing for her.
23:09
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't bother her the way that it does for me.
23:13
SPEAKER_00: And so that was another kind of conversation point that we had to have.
23:16
SPEAKER_00: And this is a conversation we've had for quite a while in our marriage.
23:20
SPEAKER_00: We've been married for seven years.
23:22
SPEAKER_00: And so like we we have talked about this before, but it but it is one of those things where it's like, yeah, you're okay with it, but like I'm not.
23:30
SPEAKER_00: And so who's gonna win out on that circumstance?
23:33
SPEAKER_00: And so we did have some days in here that were longer travel days where I kind of was like, okay, I'll I'll suck it up for an extra two hours, or I'll suck it up for you know, whatever.
23:42
SPEAKER_00: It's it's worth it to get to where we wanted to be.
23:45
SPEAKER_00: And so, yeah, so I agree with you.
23:48
SPEAKER_00: Knowing your travel partner, right?
23:50
SPEAKER_00: Great suggestion.
23:52
SPEAKER_00: Yes, yeah.
23:54
SPEAKER_01: So now we're in Grand Junction.
23:56
SPEAKER_00: So woke up in Grand Junction, and then it was kind of an early morning, and we were off to Colorado Springs.
24:03
SPEAKER_00: Um, each day we kind of aimed to try to get to where we were going by dinner time, and so again, that's another personal preference thing.
24:13
SPEAKER_00: I don't like driving at night.
24:14
SPEAKER_00: My wife doesn't mind driving at night, but I also don't want to put the bulk of all that on her.
24:19
SPEAKER_00: And so both of us just in general prefer driving during the day.
24:24
SPEAKER_00: Um, and so so we had just opted, hey, we're gonna do our best to make sure we're we're everywhere we need to be by 7 p.m.
24:30
SPEAKER_00: at the latest, kind of a deal.
24:31
SPEAKER_00: So Grand Junction, beautiful.
24:34
SPEAKER_00: I mean, are you kidding me?
24:35
SPEAKER_00: Colorado is like, I think, the prettiest state in our country.
24:39
SPEAKER_00: Um, it is so stunning, especially that first section, that western section of Colorado with the hills and the mountains, there was still snow.
24:49
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I was gobsmacked.
24:51
SPEAKER_00: We're driving through like I the road is beautiful.
24:54
SPEAKER_00: Like, I I don't know how to describe it other than like it is the most stunning place I think I've ever been.
24:59
SPEAKER_00: I was like driving through being like, I need to just like move here, I want to be here um at all times.
25:05
SPEAKER_00: Um, and so anyway, again, did a lot of the same thing as like Utah.
25:09
SPEAKER_00: We stopped at a lot of like the scenic overview type stuff.
25:12
SPEAKER_00: Um, and then we did stop at a a park, and it was called, let me make sure I get this right, Two Rivers Park.
25:18
SPEAKER_00: It's in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, and it's where uh two rivers come together, and you can actually go.
25:23
SPEAKER_00: There's a bridge that goes spans above it.
25:26
SPEAKER_00: You could go stand above it um and see where they connect finally.
25:30
SPEAKER_00: But it's a cute little park.
25:32
SPEAKER_00: Great for like I wish we had stopped and grabbed lunch and then gone there, um, kind of a thing, but like people were out reading their books and eating lunch, and there's a bicycle path, and people were walking their dogs and fishing in the river, and like it was just really a cool place.
25:46
SPEAKER_00: Um, and then it's also Glenwood Springs has a cute little downtown area.
25:52
SPEAKER_00: They have um a gondola ride that goes up to the top of I forget what the mountain's called, but up to the top of one of the mountains, and there's an amusement park at the very top.
26:02
SPEAKER_00: And so, yeah, so I we did not opt to do that.
26:06
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna maybe have to go back and do that at a different time.
26:09
SPEAKER_00: Um, but it does look really cool.
26:11
SPEAKER_00: And some of those rides do like hang over the edge of the mountain, so you know, you can imagine.
26:17
SPEAKER_00: I'm not a big heights person, so me neither.
26:20
SPEAKER_01: But I would take the gondola ride up.
26:22
SPEAKER_01: I've done that in different places, New Mexico and um uh Lake Tahoe, they have a gondola thing.
26:29
SPEAKER_01: That's fine, but going on a ride and hanging over a mountain, not so much.
26:34
SPEAKER_01: It's weird what I'll do and and not do hot air balloon, yes.
26:38
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so yeah.
26:39
SPEAKER_00: So I've got some hike things don't really mess with you the same way that other things do.
26:43
SPEAKER_00: And I'm normally game for an amusement park ride, like you're strapped in, like I feel a lot safer.
26:48
SPEAKER_00: Uh, but the idea of like already being on a roller coaster that's extremely high on top of a mountain that overlooks all this other stuff, I I don't know.
26:58
SPEAKER_00: I I maybe, maybe.
27:00
SPEAKER_01: It's a hard path for me.
27:02
SPEAKER_01: It's a it's a hard no, but yeah, you know, beaches, so people like that kind of thing.
27:06
SPEAKER_01: There you have it.
27:07
SPEAKER_00: So, and then down the road from there is Edwards, Colorado, and that's where we stopped for lunch.
27:12
SPEAKER_00: We just went to a little deli called the Belmont Deli, and um really good like sandwich place, like you know, way better than a subway.
27:21
SPEAKER_00: Um, but you know, nothing fancy.
27:23
SPEAKER_00: And then it was just on the road to Colorado Springs.
27:26
SPEAKER_00: Colorado Springs again was visiting family.
27:29
SPEAKER_00: My great aunt lives there with her husband, and so um got to see my Aunt Joyce and my Uncle Ron.
27:35
SPEAKER_00: That was uh fantastic.
27:36
SPEAKER_00: Again, haven't seen them in oh my gosh, 10 years, something like that.
27:41
SPEAKER_00: The last time I had seen them in person, I had stopped at their house on a different road trip on the way to college, and so uh so it was good to reconnect with them, and you know, the best part about road tripping and seeing family and friends, specifically family, is everyone has that one family member who's like the keeper of all of the family knowledge, right?
28:02
SPEAKER_00: They have all the pictures, they have all of the like history behind every little thing.
28:07
SPEAKER_00: That's my Aunt Joyce, and so her house is I'm gonna say museum, and I mean this in the best possible way.
28:13
SPEAKER_00: It is a museum in and of itself, and so she got to walk us through the whole Campbell family uh history.
28:21
SPEAKER_00: Got to see pictures that I have never gotten to see before of my mom and my or not my mom, my dad and my aunt.
28:27
SPEAKER_00: Um, and just like a really fun time just to see them and hang out and talk about life, and we went and got in an Alberger and just like spent time with them.
28:38
SPEAKER_00: And so it was definitely a great, great stop.
28:41
SPEAKER_01: And that's a big thing.
28:42
SPEAKER_01: We already talked about it being able to visit friends and family on these road trips.
28:48
SPEAKER_01: I mean, for me, that is definitely one of the great parts of having traveled across the country.
28:55
SPEAKER_01: So now we're in Colorado Springs and we're going to Kansas next.
29:01
SPEAKER_00: Is that we're headed through Kansas, yes.
29:04
SPEAKER_00: So I'm let me mention one other thing about Colorado Springs that um I found out while I was there.
29:09
SPEAKER_00: So where we stayed in Colorado Springs is right near the Air Force Academy.
29:14
SPEAKER_00: And what's cool about that is the Air Force Academy does technically have a part that as a civilian you can go visit, and it's kind of a museum history welcome center type of thing.
29:28
SPEAKER_00: And for many years it's been behind the gates, and so if there's any type of emergency, they have to escort all the civilians out.
29:35
SPEAKER_00: But I found out that while I was there that they are actually building a welcome center or visitor center in front of the gates, and so even if there is an emergency on base, because it technically is like a military construct, um visitors will still be able to go, um, even on days when the base is like on shutdown kind of a thing.
29:54
SPEAKER_00: So if you're into military history, welcome center, want to go support the troops, that's coming very soon to Colorado.
30:02
SPEAKER_00: But anyway, on to Kansas.
30:04
SPEAKER_00: I have successfully avoided Kansas up until now.
30:09
SPEAKER_00: And like I said, I have done road trips to and from the Midwest um multiple times, and so I've hit every state except for Kansas Mainly because I had someone in college who told me that Kansas is the most boring drive they will ever experience, and I was like, I'm never doing that.
30:28
SPEAKER_00: Um and it was boring, I will say that it's very flat.
30:34
SPEAKER_00: Um when people say flat as a pancake, it's it's very flat.
30:37
SPEAKER_00: Um, but it was not that bad.
30:40
SPEAKER_00: I've also driven through Nebraska, it's no worse than Nebraska, um, type of thing.
30:44
SPEAKER_00: And so again, it was another day where we were like, okay, the main goal was to get to Kansas City, Missouri.
30:50
SPEAKER_00: We were staying on the Missouri side, but um, but let's just see what there is.
30:55
SPEAKER_00: Now, this was a great day for audiobooks um and podcasts, okay?
31:00
SPEAKER_00: Because again, very boring, not as many like stop centers and like visitor center type stuff.
31:06
SPEAKER_00: Um, however, we did stop at a gigantic Van Gogh painting, okay?
31:12
SPEAKER_00: If you just Google giant Van Gogh painting in Kansas, it will pop up, it'll tell you where to go, and that's what it is.
31:19
SPEAKER_00: It's a gigantic easel on the side of the road with a Van Gogh copy on it, and it's just massive.
31:26
SPEAKER_00: It's like part of, you know, there's obviously like the gigantic like twine ball, and there's you know, the gigantic this and that across the country.
31:33
SPEAKER_00: I guess this is one of those things, and so um again, really weird, very obscure thing that we just kind of like saw on the map as you know, because as you do, right?
31:44
SPEAKER_00: You scroll out of your Google map and you kind of scroll and you ask it like points of interest kind of a thing, and so um, yeah, definitely like a weird one, but uh, but definitely again worth the stop.
31:55
SPEAKER_00: It's part of a cute little park.
31:56
SPEAKER_00: There's a dog park right there as well.
31:58
SPEAKER_00: So if you've got pets, there were some good parking spots, that kind of a thing.
32:02
SPEAKER_00: Um, but yeah, and then it was just on to Kansas City.
32:05
SPEAKER_00: Again, I'd never been to Kansas City, so um went, hotel, um, and then uh we went out for barbecue.
32:14
SPEAKER_00: Um, I am a barbecue person.
32:16
SPEAKER_00: Um, and so we went to a place called Q39 in Kansas City, and I gotta say, I don't pride myself in being a barbecue snob, but Kansas City barbecue is not really my thing.
32:30
SPEAKER_00: I don't know what it is, it's just different.
32:32
SPEAKER_00: Texas barbecue, really great, Arkansas's got great barbecue.
32:36
SPEAKER_00: I think Tennessee's got killer barbecue.
32:39
SPEAKER_00: I don't know what it was, Kansas just did not deliver, unfortunately.
32:43
SPEAKER_00: So, you know, take that with what it is.
32:46
SPEAKER_00: If you're a Kansas barbecue fan, I'm sorry.
32:48
SPEAKER_01: For my audience listening, if you have a favorite type of barbecue or a state that has the best barbecue, let's talk about it.
32:56
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
32:57
SPEAKER_01: Give us, you know, share with us in the comments, go on social media for both of us and and share about barbecue across the country.
33:06
SPEAKER_01: We will make that a thing now.
33:08
SPEAKER_00: Yes, please.
33:09
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm always looking for good spots.
33:11
SPEAKER_00: So, you know, and what uh whatever your regional thing is, too, because everywhere's got their own thing.
33:16
SPEAKER_00: If you go to California, you get tri-tip at a barbecue spot.
33:19
SPEAKER_00: Most of the other country, most parts of the other country, they have no idea what tri-tip is.
33:22
SPEAKER_00: So you know, stuff like that too.
33:25
SPEAKER_00: If you've got something that's like your uniquely state thing, let us know because I want to try it.
33:31
SPEAKER_00: Right.
33:32
SPEAKER_01: So I I'm not a big barbecue fan myself.
33:35
SPEAKER_01: I'm still looking to go to a pet steak and get me a steak sandwich being here in Philadelphia.
33:40
SPEAKER_01: So, okay, barbecue, share with us.
33:43
SPEAKER_01: Where are we off to next?
33:45
SPEAKER_01: And I just want to tell people before you continue, for anybody listening that thinks, hey, that's a cool place, or watching that thinks that's a cool place, all of the information that Jacob is sharing will be in the show notes.
33:56
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for Jacob for putting them in the show notes.
34:00
SPEAKER_00: You're welcome.
34:03
SPEAKER_00: Um so yeah, so last day, day I have it listed as day six on my thing.
34:08
SPEAKER_00: However, I'm not taking into account we spent a couple days in my folks' house.
34:10
SPEAKER_00: So we're like day eight, um, roughly, final day.
34:14
SPEAKER_00: This was a Monday, and uh, we're driving Kansas City, Missouri to Nashville, Tennessee.
34:19
SPEAKER_00: And we knew so when you so this particular drive, we're gonna drive through St.
34:23
SPEAKER_00: Louis, Missouri, out into Kentucky, and then down um, or actually, we're gonna drive out of St.
34:30
SPEAKER_00: Louis, Missouri into Illinois, down into Kentucky and to Tennessee.
34:34
SPEAKER_00: And so we had we went to college uh about 45 minutes over the border in Illinois from St.
34:41
SPEAKER_00: Louis.
34:42
SPEAKER_00: And so we kind of had some ideas of like what we could stop and do in St.
34:45
SPEAKER_00: Louis.
34:46
SPEAKER_00: The great thing about Missouri, a lot of stuff is state funded, and so the the uh the zoo is state funded, it's free for everybody.
34:54
SPEAKER_00: They have a beautiful art museum, it's free for everybody.
34:56
SPEAKER_00: Uh, the arch is not free for everybody, it's free to go.
34:59
SPEAKER_00: Um, it's not free to go into the museum, but it's still relatively inexpensive.
35:04
SPEAKER_00: And so we kind of were like, what do we want to go do?
35:07
SPEAKER_00: Now, the one thing I will say, Missouri, for some reason, everything is closed on Monday.
35:13
SPEAKER_00: And I don't totally understand why.
35:15
SPEAKER_00: I get I get to some degree like you just come off the weekend, you know, but I was very surprised that it was like it felt like half of everything was closed on Mondays.
35:24
SPEAKER_00: Um, and so we're trying to decide what are we gonna do?
35:27
SPEAKER_00: We're stopping in St.
35:28
SPEAKER_00: Louis, what are we gonna do?
35:30
SPEAKER_00: And I'm looking on the map, looking on the map, just trying to find something of interest, and something piques my interest.
35:35
SPEAKER_00: There is a soda museum right outside of St.
35:38
SPEAKER_00: Louis, um, in St.
35:39
SPEAKER_00: Charles, Missouri.
35:40
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, okay, soda museum, interesting, different, under$10 to go.
35:47
SPEAKER_00: Let's go do it, right?
35:49
SPEAKER_00: And it turned out to be one of the coolest things I think I've ever experienced on the side of the road.
35:55
SPEAKER_00: And St.
35:56
SPEAKER_00: Charles, Missouri, just in general, is a hidden gem in and of itself.
36:01
SPEAKER_00: Like I said, I lived 40 minutes outside of St.
36:04
SPEAKER_00: Louis for three years of my life.
36:06
SPEAKER_00: Never once did anyone ever mention St.
36:09
SPEAKER_00: Charles, which is another 20 minutes outside of that.
36:11
SPEAKER_00: And so it if they had, totally would have gone and done weekends there, hung out.
36:17
SPEAKER_00: It is a cute, it's built in a French style, so it has a little bit of a New Orleans feel to it.
36:23
SPEAKER_00: Um, and I say that lightly, um, because I'm probably gonna get roasted for that, but I say that lightly.
36:29
SPEAKER_00: Um, but cobblestone streets, cobblestone pathways, like just really, really cool.
36:35
SPEAKER_00: They've restored a lot of the history there.
36:38
SPEAKER_00: Um, and some of the coolest little like shops, right?
36:42
SPEAKER_00: Bookstores, boutiques, um, candle shops, like all these little like unique little spots, cool restaurants, all up and down this um Main Street area in St.
36:54
SPEAKER_00: Charles, Missouri, and then the soda museum.
36:57
SPEAKER_00: So the soda museum, and I think we have some photos of it.
37:00
SPEAKER_00: The soda museum was really, really cool.
37:02
SPEAKER_00: A lot of it was Coca-Cola history.
37:05
SPEAKER_00: Um, obviously, Coca-Cola is a it's American staple, it dates back to the 1800s, but in general, he had lots of soda memorabilia.
37:13
SPEAKER_00: So there's Pepsi, there's Dr.
37:15
SPEAKER_00: Pepper, Seven Up, he'd stuff for Tab and Surge and all these other sodas that you've never heard of before.
37:22
SPEAKER_00: Um, and so in addition to having just a bunch of Coke memorabilia that's like, you know, Coke has made plates and they've made this and they've got cigarette lighters and they've got pocket knives and all these other things.
37:34
SPEAKER_00: Their brand has been on literally everything.
37:36
SPEAKER_00: He also has a whole collection of uh vending machines dating back to like the OG vending machines where it's like a wash bucket that's cut in half, you would fill it with ice, you'd stick your glass bottles in there, and it would sit outside um of your of your shop, right?
37:51
SPEAKER_00: So it's cool to watch the progression of that.
37:54
SPEAKER_00: He has some really cool historical pieces if you get the chance to go in there.
37:58
SPEAKER_00: Again, it's 10 bucks, and it's you know, that's nothing.
38:02
SPEAKER_00: Um, we were there for probably an hour, hour and a half, I want to say.
38:07
SPEAKER_00: Like, and the only reason we were there for so long was the uh the owner was there that day.
38:12
SPEAKER_00: He stopped and chatted with us, he he showed us his favorite pieces, um, and talked about the history of Coca-Cola, their influence in um like different world wars, like how the how it's impacted history, right?
38:26
SPEAKER_00: And Coca-Cola's history in general.
38:29
SPEAKER_00: Um super cool signage, bottles, they have a bunch of um sodas you can buy and and taste as well, and then underneath um there is an arcade with like vintage pinball and vintage arcade machines.
38:44
SPEAKER_00: That's a different um cost.
38:46
SPEAKER_00: I think it's like I think if you want to do all of it, it's like 20 bucks, still not a terrible thing.
38:50
SPEAKER_00: Um, but like I said, we were there for an hour and a half, just in the top level.
38:54
SPEAKER_00: And so I would imagine if we had gone for both, we would have been there for probably four hours.
38:59
SPEAKER_00: But very cool, very cool space.
39:02
SPEAKER_01: So I want to emphasize that you lived an hour from these places that you never knew about, and this is the point of this podcast is encouraging people to find what is within an hour.
39:16
SPEAKER_01: And I'm gonna challenge people to do that.
39:19
SPEAKER_01: And please share with me on social media, Instagram, Facebook, I'm doing a little bit on TikTok, all at Inspire Travels with Patty, because sharing these things will help other people to discover these cool places.
39:33
SPEAKER_01: I don't know that I would have thought to go into a soda museum, but after having traveled, I realized that there are so many things I thought, oh no, that wouldn't be interesting.
39:44
SPEAKER_01: That turned out to be super cool places to go.
39:47
SPEAKER_01: And again, doesn't have to be expensive.
39:50
SPEAKER_01: You had your$10 limit, doesn't have to cost a lot of money.
39:54
SPEAKER_01: There's so much to do.
39:56
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
39:57
SPEAKER_01: Okay, where are we at now?
39:59
SPEAKER_01: Where are we going?
40:00
SPEAKER_00: So from there, we spent about four-ish hours.
40:04
SPEAKER_00: Um, it was kind of last day of the trip.
40:07
SPEAKER_00: Again, we had we had made the decision of like we're gonna try to like be everywhere at the end of the day, like by 7 p.m.
40:14
SPEAKER_00: This day it kind of went out the window.
40:16
SPEAKER_00: We were like, we're enjoying ourselves, let's just enjoy it.
40:19
SPEAKER_00: And so we really took the time to like walk up and down the streets of um St.
40:24
SPEAKER_00: Charles and enjoy the food, go in a bunch of shops.
40:28
SPEAKER_00: Like that was kind of I guess like the biggest day of the trip in a lot of ways, because we just decided let's take the time.
40:35
SPEAKER_00: Um, but from there, got back in the car and pretty much just did a straight shot to Nashville.
40:41
SPEAKER_00: And so again, you're driving out of Missouri into Illinois, down through southern Illinois, um, through Kentucky, and then down into Tennessee.
40:50
SPEAKER_00: And so again, we stopped at like some gas stations and things like that.
40:53
SPEAKER_00: There is a cool stop along that route as well.
40:56
SPEAKER_00: When you're in Illinois, there's Metropolis, Illinois, they have a gigantic Superman statue and a comic book uh museum.
41:04
SPEAKER_00: Very cool place to stop.
41:06
SPEAKER_00: I did we didn't stop there this time, but I have been there in the past.
41:09
SPEAKER_00: Um, and driving by it, I was like, oh yeah, we could stop and see Superman.
41:13
SPEAKER_00: Um and when I say giant, I mean it is four or five stories tall, Superman.
41:18
SPEAKER_00: It's it's really big.
41:19
SPEAKER_00: So um, but yeah, that was basically the trip.
41:22
SPEAKER_00: Um we ended up getting home super late.
41:24
SPEAKER_00: It was like 10 p.m.
41:26
SPEAKER_00: Um, but that was again like we had decided like we're enjoying ourselves.
41:30
SPEAKER_00: Let's just like sit and enjoy and and get lunch in a patio and you know just enjoy this hidden gem that we had found.
41:37
SPEAKER_00: And so um, and then Tuesday we woke up and pretty much went back to life as normal.
41:44
SPEAKER_01: Right.
41:44
SPEAKER_01: With incredible memories.
41:46
SPEAKER_01: And one thing I also want to add here for tips for people taking trips, it is great to have a plan.
41:53
SPEAKER_01: And sometimes that plan needs to be solid plan.
41:57
SPEAKER_01: If you're needing to get somewhere by a certain day and time, you need to plan that road trip and the travel and the time you're taking.
42:06
SPEAKER_01: But there's also in the midst of trying, I'm a planner.
42:09
SPEAKER_01: So when I got in the RV, I wanted everything planned.
42:13
SPEAKER_01: Where were we going to stop, making sure we had reservations?
42:16
SPEAKER_01: And I quickly realized that being in that box was not working.
42:20
SPEAKER_01: So I had to loosen that up and be able to be a lot more flexible and then just enjoy it.
42:27
SPEAKER_01: Figure out, like I said, where you have to make those solid plans.
42:31
SPEAKER_01: I have to get to an event at a certain place, but where you could just say, we're enjoying this, let's just do it, let's break our quote unquote little rules that we had set for getting somewhere by seven o'clock, and being able to really go with the flow and embrace change, which is something I honestly had to work on.
42:50
SPEAKER_01: So other good tips for people planning their trips.
42:56
SPEAKER_01: In the end, you took this incredible journey.
43:00
SPEAKER_01: What did this trip would you what would you say to the audience after taking this trip?
43:06
SPEAKER_01: What kind of words of inspiration?
43:09
SPEAKER_00: I would say if you're thinking about it, just do it.
43:13
SPEAKER_00: I have sat for I think way too long.
43:15
SPEAKER_00: I'm like you, I'm a planner, and I sit for way too long thinking about oh, I want to go here and I want to do this and I want to do that.
43:23
SPEAKER_00: And I was even telling my wife the other day, you know, my my grandma used to used to she used to piss me off a little bit when I was a kid and I learned to drive because she would she would say, Let's go for a drive, and I'd say, Well, where are we going?
43:37
SPEAKER_00: She goes, I don't know.
43:38
SPEAKER_00: And I'd be like, But there's no point if we don't know where we're going.
43:41
SPEAKER_00: And she would always say, Yeah, there is, because we don't know what we're gonna find.
43:45
SPEAKER_00: And it's taken me a very long time, I think, to fully kind of grasp that idea of like it's okay to just like get in the car and drive and not really know, get lost, you know, and like see what you're gonna see, and sometimes you see nothing, and sometimes you see something.
44:00
SPEAKER_00: Really cool.
44:01
SPEAKER_00: It's taken me a very long time, I think, to get there.
44:04
SPEAKER_00: Um, and I'm still maybe not totally there, but I'm opening up to it, and like you were saying, throwing the plans out the window, doing something that's a little bit off the bean path, right?
44:13
SPEAKER_00: Seeing a sign that's like for something that you're like, this is stupid.
44:17
SPEAKER_00: Well, maybe it's not stupid, maybe like it is worth the stop.
44:21
SPEAKER_00: Um, I think a lot about I drove the upper states and wall drug is in one of the top states, maybe the Dakotas.
44:29
SPEAKER_00: Um, you see billboards for wall drug for hours before you ever get there, okay?
44:35
SPEAKER_00: To the point where when you first see it, you're like, this is the dumbest thing I've ever seen.
44:39
SPEAKER_00: They're advertising free ice water and 99 cent coffee.
44:43
SPEAKER_00: Like it's like you're like, this is dumb.
44:44
SPEAKER_00: There's nothing here.
44:46
SPEAKER_00: And then by the time you get there, you've spent hours looking at billboards for it and you're tired and you stop, and it's actually worth it.
44:52
SPEAKER_00: It is a tourist trap, it's it is dumb, but it also is like really cool.
44:57
SPEAKER_00: And so, I don't know, like, like to your point, I think just take that adventure, just do it.
45:02
SPEAKER_00: And even if it's in your area, like there is cool stuff within an hour of you.
45:07
SPEAKER_00: You can find it, you just have to go looking for it.
45:10
SPEAKER_01: I love what your grandmother said.
45:12
SPEAKER_01: That is words of wisdom.
45:15
SPEAKER_01: That if my audience doesn't take anything out of this entire conversation, that is it.
45:21
SPEAKER_01: Just get in the car and drive.
45:24
SPEAKER_01: No plan, no idea.
45:26
SPEAKER_01: Keep your mind and your eyes opened, and you will absolutely find something.
45:32
SPEAKER_01: And so thank you so much for sharing that.
45:35
SPEAKER_01: I wanted to share again where people can reach out to you, how they can find your podcast that anybody thinking about has ever thought about homeschooling, or just or has kids in school, in a public school.
45:48
SPEAKER_01: You there's so much value on what you put out.
45:51
SPEAKER_01: So, where can people reach out to you and find your podcast?
45:55
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
45:56
SPEAKER_00: So I host the X Homeschoolers Club, and that's EXHyphen Homeschoolers uh club.
46:01
SPEAKER_00: And basically, yeah, we talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly of growing up a homeschool kid.
46:06
SPEAKER_00: A lot of it is homeschool alumni like myself.
46:08
SPEAKER_00: I did it for 10 years.
46:09
SPEAKER_00: Um, and we talk about our experiences, right?
46:12
SPEAKER_00: So, what worked, what didn't, how the the culture shock of getting into college, that kind of stuff.
46:18
SPEAKER_00: Um, there's some bad stories, there's some good stories.
46:20
SPEAKER_00: Um, Patty's been on to talk about like being a public school teacher.
46:23
SPEAKER_00: I've had other public school teachers on.
46:25
SPEAKER_00: Um, I have people who now advocate for better legislation come on the show.
46:31
SPEAKER_00: We talk about education in general, and I'm of the mindset that I think public education, private education, and home education all are valuable and have their places and can be well funded and well organized.
46:43
SPEAKER_00: Um, but we have to like work together to make that happen.
46:46
SPEAKER_00: And so that's kind of what the show is about.
46:48
SPEAKER_00: Again, you can look it up on your favorite podcast platform, EXHyphen Homeschoolers Um Club, or you can find me on social media at exhlub.
46:57
SPEAKER_00: And um, yeah, that's kind of that's the best places to find me.
47:01
SPEAKER_00: So, or DM me at the JacobGoden and I'll make sure you find it.
47:04
SPEAKER_01: So and any questions they have about road trips or anything you've talked about, they could reach out to you.
47:10
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
47:11
SPEAKER_01: Love hearing from you.
47:13
SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Jacob, so much for being on the show.
47:17
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for having me.
47:19
SPEAKER_00: It's always a pleasure.
47:20
SPEAKER_01: And when you're listening, if you hit that follow or share button, it means so much to me and this podcast, and it helps us to keep going.
47:30
SPEAKER_01: And I hope for you, my listeners, this episode inspired you to travel because living fully starts with one simple step.