Epic Road Trip Guide: Driving from Akron to Long Beach

Early in the morning for us, we collected the rental from Budget on Market Street.

Then, I headed over to Parrot Hope Rescue to drop off the fids. I'm confident they'll be well taken care of there, and she's got a pretty big flock of birds now. A lot of folks are being turned away for boarding, so I'm really glad I booked my spot months in advance.

Now let's talk about packing up the Mazda CX5. I had to cram all my stuff into a small SUV, which was quite the challenge. I wanted to bring art supplies, jewelry-making supplies, and a sewing machine. Spoiler alert: the sewing machine didn't make the cut. Plus, I had to save space for Eric's suitcase and backpack for a month's worth of stuff, and of course, his vanilla coke.

I planned to pack everything neatly in containers, but that idea quickly went out the window. Now, the car's crammed with stuff in every nook and cranny. At least I managed to squeeze in my cooler, which is awesome because it keeps our energy drinks cold. Definitely a must-have for this long drive.

Packing the car wore me out and I was as hungry as a bear! I needed a salad and a power nap just to gather up energy to wake Eric. We both smelled like a pair of gym socks and still needed showers, plus Eric hadn't even started packing his suitcase. Finally, around 5pm, we managed to hit the road. This is not unusual—punctuality is not our strong suit! Aside from work. I'm always on time for work.

The trip is more than 2,300 miles. Google Maps says it takes about a day and 10 hours if you're lucky. I was aiming for 3 days, but it ended up taking us four. The route was simple, 71 to 70 to 40. On 40 we were for over a thousand miles. The weather was amazing, sunny and dry. And boy there were sunsets!!!

There really wasn't too much construction, and most states had a speed limit of 70+ miles per hour and there was a stretch in Oklahoma that even had signs for 80 mph.

By the way, Texas has windmills. Lots of them!

When we arrived in Arizona, we thought it would be more fun to add some stops along the way. First we decided to check out the Petrified Forest. But, surprise surprise, it was closed because of the government shutdown. So, no national parks for us on this trip. But what about a privately owned meteor crater? Done. Next stop. On the way way we stopped at Winslow Arizona to Stand at a Corner.

The meteor crater was impressive—nearly a mile wide! But stopping by wasn't exactly cheap at $25 per person. The wind was crazy strong, hair was whipping around, and we were honestly worried our sunglasses might take off! Since we wanted to get to California the same day we didn't spend too much time at the museum that was attached. But we learned a bit regardless.

With the last stretch upon us I definitely became more anxious. I couldn't wait to see the boat. For Eric to see the boat. We decided to head there first. Robert, the previous owner had left the parking passes and the keys to the bathrooms on the boat during the day. Because of marina policies we have to keep ownership change on the DL. So things are pretty unofficial right now.

Once we finally made it we were in for a disappointment. The electricity wasn't working properly. We couldn't turn on the lights. We figured it must be a switch or something somewhere, but weren't able to figure it out. I was worried that something might have happened during the repairs. It was already dark when we got there at almost 9pm. All we could do is book another hotel for the night and try to figure it out in the morning. After we stopped at In-and-Out Burger. Naturally!