An All-American Road Trip (Part 1)

A few weeks ago, my brother and I embarked on a grand adventure: driving across the country from Seattle, Washington to Durham, North Carolina. My husband moved to North Carolina for a new job a few weeks ahead of me, so I was tasked with packing up the final pieces of our personal life into our Ford Escape. Not one to waste a trip, I decided to take advantage of the move by planning out a series of stops along the way.
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First stop: The Teapot Dome Service Station in Zillah, Washington. I discovered this little gem on the Roadtrippers app and knew we had to check it out. Apparently whimsical gas stations were a thing in the 20’s and 30’s, as we drove by a few on the trip.
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Our first two days were spent driving through much of Idaho and Nevada. We often drove for more than hour before reaching any major signs of civilization. This was a little store set on the side of the highway in Nevada. It was the only bathroom within at least a 45 minute drive in either direction.
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We made it to Vegas in the afternoon of day two. After checking into our hotel, we did a grand tour of the biggest and flashiest casinos. We had to stop by The Venetian for a little shopping along the canal. It was hard to capture a good shot of the ceiling, but the whole thing was painted to look like the sky. It was beautiful.
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I think my favorite casino may be the Paris. I mean, look at that Eiffel Tower! The property was just beautiful and really stood out as classically beautiful amongst all the flashing neon.
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The Paris has a great little bistro called Mon Ami Gabi. While it’s known for its brunch, they serve a mean steak frites. This is me post-dinner. Happy and full.
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The Bellagio was decked out for the Chinese New Year with an unbelievable display in their lobby. It was so busy and opulent it was a little hard to capture. If you’re ever in Vegas around January or February, I highly encourage checking it out. The Bellagio is also home to the world’s largest chocolate fountain at Jean-Phillippe Patisserie. It was all I could do to not lick the glass.
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Vegas was interesting because it really transformed at night. During the day a lot of it looked kind of cheap, but at night, when those lights started shining, it really was beautiful. This is a view of the city skyline from the Bellagio fountain.
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After our night in Vegas, we head to the south side of the Grand Canyon, one of my bucket list destinations. The canyon definitely did not disappoint. It was jaw dropping. We walked around the rim trail for a little bit to see a couple different views before we had to get back on the road.
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One of my favorite parts of the trip were the mornings. We left early to make sure we had enough time to explore each stop along the way. There’s a peacefulness to the road at 7am and a few days we caught some pretty morning color.
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Stay tuned for part two of my trip. I had too many pictures and stops to share everything in one post!
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Have you been to Vegas? What are your favorite things to do or see there? I may want to go back to see a few shows since we didn’t have time.
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XOXO,
Jules