Corona Cross Country - Bay Area to Maine

TW fam -

On the heels of a tough breakup with little in the way of local support these days, I'm putting most of my belongings in storage and going to drive my stock '19 OR DCSB from the Bay Area to my home state of Maine to live with family and work remotely for the summer. I've never done a very long road trip like this, and not on my own - I anticipate it's going to be tough but hopefully cathartic.

I'm going to take a week off from work late May/early June to make the trip. While I don't want to just haul ass along the Google fastest route I80/90/95 for 4 days, I also don't want to add more than 2-3 days to deviate for sightseeing. I'll plan to make the trip back west longer and more exploratory.

I'll have a tent with me but am also planning to order a Softopper tomorrow so that in a pinch I can sleep in the bed on a mattress pad with the tailgate down (I'm 6'1"), and perhaps drape a tarp and/or mosquito net over the opening. I could stop at hotels in a double pinch but really prefer not to, so that I can worry less about c-19 exposure, even with a plan to self-quarantine when I get to Maine.

Would love to hear thoughts on:

• a route that will get me from Berkeley to Maine in ~5-7 days with a few beautiful sights or campsites along the way
• general or specific ideas for places I might stop to camp in my truck or tent, considering I might run into a patchwork of park closures.
• contingencies I might not be considering with the pandemic, e.g. special things to bring, locations/routes to avoid, etc. I've reviewed a few great threads here about general considerations for x-country road trips but am sure there are many people wiser than me who can think of things that I'm missing.

Thanks all.

 

cross Nebraska at night... you'll thank me when you dont have to look at that state in the day time

 

From personal experience, all I can say is that for those rough patches in life, sometimes it pays to take a few extra days and get off the ambiguous highways, with all it's same shitty box stores and chain restaurants at every exit.....and get on some blue highways and beaten paths. Take those few extra days for yourself, regardless of the cost.

I took a 3.5 solo backpacking and paddling trip once after it all fell apart, treated myself to what I needed and then moved 900 miles away for a new start.
Best thing I ever did.

Life is too short to just follow the dotted line from point A to point B.

Figure it out on the way.....or way back. But the journey is the cure. The more adventurous you make it, the better you heal.

Godspeed

 

Lots to see depending on the route, I liked staying more north. Rushmore is worth a stop if you go that way. Take some time and see the sights, lots of time to take stock. Safe travels.

 

Thank you for the thoughtful responses. I'll look to take a more scenic route, and could easily stretch the trip to 9 days without needing to take more work off. That puts so much more country in play.

@RatAssassin I'd never heard of Blue Highways - thanks for that, I now have a new book to read.

 

Have you thought about staying off the interstate as much as possible? Lots of beautiful country to be seen...Bridger Teton, Devils Tower,Black Hills. Ect...

 

Some thoughts:
1. Make sure your lug nuts are tight and bring something to tighten and ensure your spare tire equipment is ready.
2. Dont overplan the route, just drive.
3. Definitely bring healthy snacks/food as you cant always get what you want to eat when you're hungry, especially with the Covid.
4. Bring a jug for your piss. Its nice to know you can just piss in the jug and worry about stopping later.
5. Obviously check all the fluids and clean windows in/out. Visibility is important.
6. Bring a few gallons of gas in the bed, dont wait until the last minute to fill up. I filled up around half when I could.
7. If you carry a firearm, learn the laws and reciprocity laws.
8. Hows the battery? Check it.

 

Be ready for restrictions still in place for National Parks, restaurants, campgrounds, hotels closed, places requiring masks, etc. Hopefully it will be more opened up by then, but be ready just the same.

 

ROADTRIP!

Pick-up an old copy of a USA travel guide... that will give you some good sights to see..

Put an ad up on Graigslist 'Rideshare' section. - you might meet a nice girl you may actually consider taking along for company. (- Your schedule might not allow for Self quarantine time)... otherwise stay away from everyone... it's zombie country!

But really - consider this a trip worth looking forward to! You'll feel much better at the end!

 

@9th that wasn't my original plan but the responses here have me re-thinking and now I will likely make this more like 9-10 days - to make it more of an experience than an interstate slog.

@KVTaco and @pink_pony thanks for the practical considerations.

@OZ TRD you're so right, that's a great pick-me-up

 

Just drive. No plan except the destination. I do this every so often. My wife and I just did a 5K mile trip. Destination was Vegas for meetings on March 12 of this year. We left seven days before and drove interstate for awhile, back roads for awhile, stopped at meteor crater and petrified forest and grand canyon. Was going to stop more places on way back but by then it was full blown panic. I wouldn't worry about covid unless you have health problems. Wife and I spent every night in hotel. No big deal.

 

Hey bud,

I know all about driving it out to process different life events. After getting T-boned by a car on my bike in 2016 and recovering from all that fallout, I drove my old FJ62 Land Cruiser from Austin to Alaska, after a big jaunt up Northeast all the way to Maine. I digress, except to say that Maine is beautiful and I'd love to spend this corona summer isolating up there.

The way Google tells you to go from SF to Portland, Maine isn't bad, but you can definitely make it more interesting by picking some waypoints along the way that you're curious about.

For example, parts of South Dakota and Nebraska are gorgeous and have unreal hiking/mountain biking/paddling, while other sections are indeed where most of America's food comes from (flat and fertile!). All is interesting in its own right.

Even if you stuck to interstates, dragging your map through Boise and then Spearfish, SD already makes the drive more interesting.

That said, with the state of the world right now and how tenuous the morality of traveling from place-to-place is, I highly encourage more solo meandering in the wide open west and then some smarter, faster traveling as you get closer to the more densely populated midwest/northeast.

You could make a heck of a trip out of Boise - Stanley - Sun Valley - West Yellowstone - Big Sky then linking up with 90 in Bozeman and heading towards Spearfish. Of course, a lot of those towns are going to be shut down and potentially asking the public to refrain from visiting, but those general map dots should put you near a lot of BLM and NF land which is okay for dispersed camping.

You drive a modern Tacoma, you have nothing to worry about mechanically. Pack large jugs of water so you can camp off-grid and stay hydrated without relying on gas stations which may or may not be open for customers 24/7 right now.

Badlands, Black Hills, Oglala all make the NE/SD region a lot more interesting than most people realize. Wisconsin will be one of your last opportunities to camp back country before you get into the dense part of the midwest.

If you choose to go way south first, there's beauty all over Utah, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, and then on up into Appalachia.

Just depends what you're curious about and where the wind blows you. Listen to the Liturgists podcast. Find me on Spotify and listen to lots of sad (real) country songs that will make you feel more understood and the road look more full of promise right when it starts to feel boring.

Hit my website if you want to read me pour my guts out about living out of a truck, processing grief and trauma, and even just the random stuff I think about on a daily basis.

The world is a weird place; I love all the likeminded people I've met through Toyota trucks over the years and the way Tacomas seem to be a gateway drug for many.

Let us know if you need anything and enjoy the drive. Don't worry about yourself, just worry about the impact of your visit on the small and removed towns you pass through along the way. You can stay in a Holiday Inn or Motel 6 and be totally fine!

Take care.
John

 

I highly recommend the roadside america website when you have your route roughly planned. It's kind of fun to go see the largest ball of twine or a building shaped like a coffee pot. Makes for a nice change of pace.

Also, I always preferred the northern route across the plains to the middle route. Definitely choose the Dakotas over Kansas or Nebraska or whatever. If you go that route, the black hills are really nice and somewhat lesser known. Good luck and sorry to hear about your rough patch, it gets better.

 

The Badlands are Badass! Also the more north you stay the better the scenery for sure

 

Storage prices are high, unless you have some really valuable stuff I would sell off before leaving. Or at minimum downsize so you can get a real small storage unit.

 

I wouldn't avoid staying in motels just because of covid concerns. If you want to camp, that's one thing. But if you wear a mask and wash your hands after checking-in, I'd expect a motel to be fine.

As for safety stuff, I'd say just put on a mask when you leave the vehicle to go into a store, and keep a bottle of hand sanitizer in the cup holder to use each time you get back into the truck.


Only place I can think to stop would be Bonneville, but I don't know if they're doing speed week this year.

 

Good luck on your trip buddy. Wife and I are planning to do a cross country trip/move in a few years back to her home state (Jersey). I'm from Berkeley too but currently reside in Brentwood (Norcal). Stay Safe out there and keep us posted!!!

 

sounds like a blessing in the skies...California<maine

 

Don’t offer rides to axe wheeling hitchhikers unless they have Bud Light
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nwUQD_DMPMo

 

Whatever else you do avoid the 'rebound' girl/lady-friend - get your head on straight first. For every 5 years together you need 1 year separation before getting involved in another relationship they say.

Be sure to have PPE (masks, gloves and sanitizer) with you. Pick it up before embarking because you might have difficulty finding it on the road.

Remember - check the tire inflation on all FIVE of your tires before starting on your sojourn east. Good luck.