In early June of 2005 two intrepid explorers, Jon Suchecki and myself, embarked on a journey of conquest and discovery. We were to attempt driving non-stop from Hudson, Massachusetts to Denver, Colorado. We would rest there for a day or so and then complete the journey across the country with Los Angeles as our destination. They said it was a crazy idea. They said we would get tired and need to sleep. They said it couldn’t be done. They were wrong.

I’ve got some photo galleries associated with our trip. The thumbnails in the trip log below will go into the corresponding picture gallery, but if you want to just jump right to the albums, use these links below:

Part One: Hudson, MA to Denver, CO

Leaving on the morning of June 7th, Jon and I drove his 1998 Subaru Legacy GT straight into Denver, CO. This was the longest part of our journey and it took us a grand total of thirty-two hours and forty-five minutes from the time we first got on the road to the time we parked outside Kevin’s apartment in Denver. Along the way we kept a semi-detailed log of the major events, faithfully reproduced for you below. All of the times are according to the clock on Jon’s stereo, which was set to Eastern Standard Time for the whole first part of the drive.

Time Event
5:45 AM Leave from Hudson, Massachusetts
6:35 AM Enter Connecticut
7:30 AM Stop for gas in Connecticut
7:50 AM Back on the road
8:35 AM Enter New York
9:35 AM Enter Pennsylvania
10:50 AM Get on I-80 W
11:20 AM Stop for lunch and gas in Pennsylvania
11:50 AM Back on the road
3:10 PM Enter Ohio
4:15 PM Stop for gas in Ohio
4:30 PM Back on the road
6:15 PM Get on I-70 W
7:20 PM Stop for dinner in Ohio
8:05 PM Back on the road
8:20 PM Enter Indiana
10:35 PM Enter Illinois
11:25 PM Stop for gas in Illinois
11:45 PM Back on the road
1:15 AM Enter Missouri
1:45 AM Stop for coffee in Missouri
2:00 AM Back on the road
4:10 AM Stop for gas in Missouri
4:20 AM Back on the road
5:25 AM Enter Kansas
7:10 AM Stop for breakfast and gas in Kansas
7:55 AM Back on the road
11:10 AM Stop for gas in Kansas
11:30 AM Back on the road
12:10 PM Enter Colorado
2:30 PM Park in Denver, Colorado

Part Two: Denver, CO to Los Angeles, CA

After an eventful two days in Denver (seeing the White Sox romp the Colorado Rockies, checking out the many bars and restaurants, going to Rocky Mountain National Park) Jon and I hit the road again in the early morning of Friday, June 10th. This time, final our destination was in sight: Los Angeles. Compared to the first leg of the trip, this fifteen-hour and fifty-minute part of the journey was a piece of cake. Again, here is the trip log we wrote, this time with Jon’s clock set to Mountain Time for Denver.

Time Event
4:55 AM On the road in Denver, Colorado
5:30 AM Stop for gas in Colorado
5:40 AM Back on the road
6:30 AM Stop for breakfast in Colorado
6:50 AM Back on the road
9:10 AM Enter Utah
9:40 AM Stop for gas in Utah
10:00 AM Back on the road
10:40 AM Get on I-15 S
12:55 PM Stop for lunch in Utah
1:30 PM Back on the road
2:50 PM Enter Arizona
3:15 PM Enter Nevada
4:50 PM Stop for gas in Nevada
5:00 PM Back on the road
5:10 PM Enter California
8:45 PM Park in Los Angeles, California

Trip Summary

So there yout have it: our cross country jaunt. Unfortunately, we didn’t record the mileage for our waypoints, but I suspect that could easily be recontructed via Google Maps. We’ll leave that as an exercise for the reader. In the mean time, here’s a brief summary of our entire trip.

Total time moving 42 hours and 55 minutes
Total time stopped 5 hours and 40 minutes
Total trip time 48 hours and 35 minutes
Total states visited 14