Driving Across America
Oh man. The big one. LA to NY, in a Tesla. One week. Here’s how my buddy and I did it.
Day 1: Drive from LA to St. George
We stopped in Vegas, of course. Did some supercharging, won a few hundred in roulette, had a burger at Gordon Ramsey Pub, and continued on our way. We checked into the Hilton Garden Inn, ate dinner at the Cliff Restaurant, went to Dutch Bros (their milkshakes slap), got rear ended by a drunk driver on the way back (everything would be fine thankfully), got some sleep, and woke up for Day 2:
Day 2: To Moab
We stopped and did the Overlook Hike for sunrise (after getting pulled over for speeding at 80 in a 65 at 5 am…whatever). After another quick hike in beautiful Zion (which I highly recommend), we booked it for Moab. We stayed at the Under Canvas Moab, which I was very excited about. It’s a glamping spot (the brand is dope - highly recommend) just beside the famous Arches National Park. There’s no restaurant, so we ate dinner outside the hotel, but had some free s’mores before we went to bed.
Day 3: To Denver
We woke up early in the morning and got a few hours to explore Arches National Park, which was cool, but not necessarily anything super super special. After seeing Arches and grilling some burgers for lunch at the hotel, we headed to Denver. Once we arrived in the Mile High City, we, well, got high, and headed out to explore the town with an old college friend (who we also stayed with). Denver is honestly a very cool city, I was pleasantly surprised.
Day 4: To Omaha
Well kind of. We had some breakfast burritos and smoothies, then started to go to Omaha. Just before getting out of Denver, we hit a pothole (everywhere in CO), and both left tires popped. So that lead to a 2 hour delay. Then, I found out a friend coincidentally was staying en route to Omaha, in the lake town of Ogallala. So we stopped there while supercharging and hung out with her family, had some burgers and margaritas, and long story short, ended up getting into Omaha at like 2 in the morning, which was brutal.
Day 5: To Chicago
We woke up early and decided to skip Omaha and booked it straight to Chicago. We got there in the afternoon, checked into the Sheraton 9great value hotel in my opinion here), and went to a Michelin starred dinner at Sepia (highly recommend). We met up with a friend and partied a bit (Escobar is a dope spot), before drinking a bit too much and calling it a night.
Day 6: To Cleveland
We woke up, somehow, and did an architecture boat tour of the city (something everyone should do in Chicago). We then had a wonderful lunch at Gibson’s on the River (double check on this name), and headed to Cleveland. We checked in to the Hyatt Regency (lobby here has to be one of the best in the world) and decided to call it a night early.
Day 7: To Buffalo
We spent the whole morning exploring Cleveland, which was actually shockingly beautiful. There are tons of museums, beautiful lakefront parks, solid food, and just an overall well sized and scaled city. I would easily say that Cleveland was one of the more pleasant surprises I have had traveling in America. After a great day of exploring, we went to Buffalo, and of course, had dinner at Anchor Bar, home of the buffalo wing.
Day 8: To Ithaca
We tried to see some of Buffalo, but it honestly sucks. Avoid it. So then we went to Niagara Falls and had a nice day exploring one of the most spectacular natural wonders in North America. Highly recommend visiting, but the Canadian side is probably the better option, if you were choosing between sides. After seeing the falls, I dropped my buddy off at the airport in Buffalo, and headed to Ithaca, my new home for the next year and a half.
AND SCENE.
And there you have it. Driving all the way across this beautiful country. The Tesla, through all the troubles, held up wonderfully, and most charge stops were honestly necessary to grab some lunch or go pee or just stretch the legs! Would I do it again? Nope. But I am incredibly happy to have experienced it!