After nearly a year back in Newport Beach we are finally making our way back to New York City where we’ve lived and worked for the prior two years. When we came out in June of 2020 we flew from Newark to LAX on United Business Class with Frasier as an emotional support animal. Unfortunately, all of the US airlines have removed that as an option so we decided to take our Mercedes and drive from California to New York. This post will chronicle each day of the move, including our move day to commemorate the journey back.

Day 1 (April 9) - Newport Beach, CA —> Costa Mesa, CA

Miles: 7 miles
Listened To: NPR News
Hotel: Westin Costa Mesa

One of the most stressful days of any cross-country move is when your stuff gets picked up. Although moving is always stressful there’s an extra level of preparedness that you need to have when your moving cross country. You have to make sure that all of your boxes are packed, labeled, and inventory is set a few days before the movers come.

We booked the same movers as we’ve done the last two moves, MoveEast, who have done a great job so far. Before they arrived on April 9th, Jake and his friend Kyle came at 8 AM to pick up some of the furniture that Jake bought, which included our big TV, rugs, and king mattress. Within an hour they had packed their Uhaul and were off just as the movers arrived right on time to pick up the rest of our stuff. They were phenomenal, finishing our packing in less than 2 hours, never really saying much, but working incredibly hard and doing a great job. When they left Jenn finished cleaning the apartment and I grabbed us our last In & Out lunch for our time out here in California.

After dropping off our keys and saying goodbye to our beautiful apartment we were off. We fueled up, visited Jenn’s mom’s memorial, and made our way to the Westin Costa Mesa where we would be spending a night. An hour after checking in we walked across the courtyard to have an incredible farewell dinner at Vaca one of our favorite tapas places. Just like our meal over the summer this one was for the ages with a half dozen tapas and meat/seafood paella along with incredible drinks, I am a big fan of the “Vacatonic” a dangerous but delicious drink.

It was an amazing goodbye dinner and one that was the perfect send-off for our road trip across the United States. It’s always tough to say goodbye, but its easier when you know you’re going to be seeing everyone again soon.

Day 2 (April 10) - Costa Mesa, CA —> Phoenix, AZ

Distance: 361 miles
Listened To: A Study in Scarlet (Sherlock Holmes), /Filmcast, NPR News
Hotel: Westin Downtown Phoenix

And so the journey begins. We woke up this morning after a rough night's sleep. Unfortunately last night, Frasier didn’t enjoy all of the noise around our hotel room so after finally getting some sleep we wearily left the Westin Costa Mesa and made our way to Philz coffee, and were on our way. We went straight from Costa Mesa to Blythe where we stopped in at McDonald’s and filled up on gas before making our way to Downtown Phoenix.

We arrived in Phoenix a little after 2 PM, checked into our room which is on the top floor, and after taking a video tour we took Frasier for a brief walk in the heat of the afternoon. After all of that, we came back and I started working on this post while watching the 3rd round of the Masters while Jenn and Frasier rested. I even grabbed an Americano at a nearby coffee shop called Cartel Coffee Lab that wasn’t bad. We went and grabbed us Mexican takeout at Blanco (we went to the Scottsdale one a few years back). We both got tacos and split the Mexican corn and warm queso. It was the perfect dinner after our drive into Phoenix.

After dinner we went for a walk through the ASU campus and downtown Phoenix to let Frasier spread his legs and get ready for the drive to Albuquerque tomorrow.

Day 3 (April 11) - Phoenix, AZ —> Albuquerque, NM

Distance: 416miles
Listened To: A Study in Scarlet (Sherlock Holmes), Tipping Point, Sway (Podcast), Songs to Sing in the Car
Hotel: Hotel Chaco

After a slightly better night of sleep (Frasier still was not happy with any noises in the hallway) we made our way out of Phoenix a little after 7 AM this morning. We stopped at a Starbucks in the Renaissance around the corner from us and jumped on the freeway. I gave Jenn bad directions so we had to make a quick u-turn and then we’re on our way. We made our way up to Flagstaff and then east and didn’t stop for a little over three hours, with Jenn driving and me navigating. We finished our first book of the road trip, A Study in Scarlet, Jenn’s pick, and moved on to Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell.

We stopped in Holbrook, AZ to have two crunch wraps at Taco Bell, refill gas, and walk Frasier. From there we switched spots and drove straight to Albuquerque, another three hours of flat nothing. When we arrived to Albequerquie we got off the freeway, refilled gas for tomorrow, and went to our stunning hotel, Hotel Chaco. We checked in and got a corner room that should be nice and quiet for Frasier tonight. We dropped off our bags, took and a room tour, and went off to explore.

Lucky for us our hotel is a ten-minute walk to Old Town so we walked down there. We both went into a Breaking Bad store which was a beautiful love letter for one of the best shows ever. I stopped and got coffee at Black Bird Coffee Shop and then we walked around before heading back to our hotel. We ordered dinner at a beautiful new food court across the street called Sawhill Market where we had some amazing empanadas and other delicates from a small eatery called Cachos Bistro and then split a banana waffle for dessert from XO Waffle.

After dinner and eating dessert on our balcony we did another walk through old town before coming back to our hotel and calling it a night, watching Wedding Crashers and falling asleep.

Day 4 (April 12) - Albuquerque, NM —> Oklahoma City, OK

Distance: 543 miles
Listened To: Pride & Prejudice, The Daily, Sway (Podcast), Songs to Sing in the Car, Disney Hits,
Hotel: Omni Oklahoma City Hotel

Today will probably be close to if not the longest drive of the trip. We woke up at 5:00 AM and were out the door after taking Frasier out to do his morning business and eat his breakfast. A little before 6 AM we grabbed Starbucks right before hopping on the I-40 eastbound for 540 miles. The directions were literally a right turn out of our hotel and hop on the I-40, that was it.

Luckily we were in good spirits. We had filled up gas the night before so we jumped on the freeway and Jenn drove for the first four hours. We decided to change books and go with something lighter and started the classic Pride & Prejudice. When we started to wane a bit we switching over to music and started singing for nearly two hours. A mix of some of our favorite tunes along with some Disney classics. By the time we arrived in Amarillo, Texas to stop for lunch (Sonic) and gas my throat was a little hoarse.

We had a quick lunch, took Frasier for a quick walk to stretch his legs, braved the 40-degree weather, and were back on the I-40 for another 3 and half hours, this time with me at the wheel. Both Frasier and Jenn slept for an hour while I listened to podcasts. We finished the drive into Oklahoma City with a bit more Pride & Prejudice and Jack Johnson before arriving at the beautiful Omni Hotel across from the Chesapeake Arena (where the OKC Thunder play).

We checked in without any issue and toured our beautiful room on the 4th floor before going right back out to the nearby Scissortail Park. We had seen on the map that there was a dog park a few minute walk from us so we walked through the park and made our way to this beautiful little dog park where Frasier was able to stretch his legs, play a little fetch and enjoy a half-hour outside. On our way back through the park I stopped and got a coffee at Public Coffee Co and we went back to our room to rest for dinner and the evening.

Day 5 (April 13) - Oklahoma City, OK —> St. Louis, MO

Distance: 499 miles
Listened To: Pride & Prejudice, Pivot Podcast, /Filmcast
Hotel: Hyatt Regency St. Louis At The Arch

We’ve now reached a little over halfway to our journey back to New York City. This morning we woke up in Oklahoma City a little after 5 AM and after taking Frasier out and feeding him we were in the car a little after 6 AM and on our way to St. Louis. This is the first morning that I could feel both Jenn and I start to feel the length of the trip catching up to us. Luckily about an hour into our drive, we found a Starbucks, got a mug and some coffee/hot chocolate, and continued on the I-44 towards St. Louis.

This was our first time hitting a toll road since leaving Orange County but luckily we had the cash and were able to get to Springfield, MO for lunch. We had Wendy’s and filled up on gas and taking Frasier for a walk and were back on our way. We officially decided to give up on audiobooks for the rest of the trip. Jenn tends to fall asleep and with only a few drives left there’s no way we were going to finish Pride & Prejudice. So instead we spent most of our drive today talking and listening to podcasts.

We arrived in St. Louis a little after 2 PM and checked into the Hyatt Regency St. Louis at the Arch which as the name suggests is literally steps from the arch. Of anything here in St. Louis, the arch is by far the best part of our stay here. It’s massive and stunning and feels more science fiction in person than over pictures/video. We walked Frasier around the park as well as through the city and came back to our room. Unfortunately, a lot of the top places to eat in the city have been closed since the start of COVID and neither of us wanted to get back in our cars so we just ordered dinner from the hotel pub downstairs. Jenn had a burger and I had a cheesesteak which was not great.

After dinner, we did a little work and then did the walk around the Arch with Frasier before calling it a night. Tomorrow we leave bright and early for Columbus, OH our second to last long drive.

Day 6 (April 14) - St. Louis, MO —> Columbus, OH

Distance: 415 miles
Listened To: /Filmcast, The Daily, Jenn’s Personal Playlist, Jack Johnson, Elton John
Hotel: Hotel LeVeque, Autograph Collection

Before we went to sleep last night Jenn and I couldn’t get over how far we’ve come on the Maps app on our iPhone. It doesn’t feel like we’re over halfway to the east coast but here we are. We went to sleep after watching Chopped last night and woke up this morning at 5:30 AM and were out the door an hour later. Our hotel in St. Louis had a Starbucks attached to it so Jenn grabbed a mug and some drinks for us before we took off just as the sun was rising.

The drive from St. Louis to Columbus was pretty anti-climatic. We got a little outside of Indianapolis before stopping to get lunch at Taco Bell (we’re hoping for breakfast but they were out of eggs) and fill up on gas. From there I took over the wheel from Jenn and made it from lunch to Columbus, OH. The drive was beautiful, far more scenic than any of our previous drives, and it was nice to spend most of the drive talking and enjoying music while driving on wide-open roads.

We arrived in Columbus a little after 2 PM and checked in. Once we took a room tour video we took Frasier for a walk past City Hall and across to Scioto River and then back to Downtown Columbus. The city was far more beautiful than we could have ever expected. We did stop and grab me a coffee and then came back to our hotel room to rest before dinner.

On our walk, we passed Tiger + Lily a small Asian restaurant that we ended up grabbing dinner from. I had a chicken and rice bowl while Jenn had ramen and we split some fried dumplings. It was the perfect dinner after a lot of burgers and fries over the past week. We let our food settle a bit before walking back down to the Scioto River for a beautiful evening walk before calling it an evening and falling asleep to The Internship.

Day 7 (April 15) - Columbus, OH —> Philadelphia, PA

Distance: 470 miles
Listened To: Sway (Podcast), Songs to Sing in the Car, Decoder
Hotel: Le Meridien Philadelphia

It’s hard to fathom that when we got to our car this morning that we had driven over 2,000 miles already and were narrowing in on getting back home to NYC. We woke up this morning and in full honesty, we were starting to feel it. I’d compare it to getting to the last stretch of a race, we could see the finish line but we had one big leg left. We left this morning a little after 6 AM and went in search of a Starbucks. Unfortunately, the first two Starbucks that Waze directed us to were closed so we left Columbus and about an hour into the drive found one off the freeway that we got a mug and some drinks for the road.

Later in the morning we once again tried to get Taco Bell for breakfast and yet again it was closed for breakfast. We used a nearby McDonalds for a bathroom break and were back on the road and headed towards Philadelphia. About two hours later we stopped at a Burger King and gas station service area to have lunch and give Frasier a chance to stretch his legs. From there we went straight to Philly arriving a little after 2 PM and a little traffic.

After checking into the Le Meridien (the same hotel we stayed at a year ago) we walked 30 minutes from our hotel to the “Rocky Steps” right below the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Being there a year ago right before COVID began and now with Frasier and vaccines only a day away, it was sort of surreal. It was such a beautiful day (even though it called for rain) and Frasier and I had a great time running up the steps and taking tons of pictures in front of the Rocky Balboa statue.

We left the Rocky Steps and walked back to our hotel where we ordered dinner. Jenn ordered pasta from Gran Caffe L’Aquila and I got a Philly Cheesesteak from Cleavers. Both hit the spot and were nice dinners to wrap up our road trip. We walked Frasier after dinner and then came back to rest and look forward to the 2-hour drive into Manhattan tomorrow. It’s sort of crazy to think we are so close to getting back home!

Day 8 (April 16) - Philadelphia, PA —> New York, NY

Distance: 96 miles
Listened To: Jenn’s Playlist + Welcome to New York (Upon Arrival)
Hotel: New Apartment

I am not sure how we did it, but we did it! After nearly 3,000 miles of driving, we arrived this morning at our final stretch. For the first time since leaving Costa Mesa, we weren’t in a massive rush to get going. We couldn’t get our keys to our apartment until 9:30 AM, so we woke up a little before 7 AM, took Frasier out, and then packed our bags for the final drive to New York. It was a pretty uneventful drive to be perfectly honest. We stopped and grabbed gas about halfway through, which was a serviced gas station in New Jersey which was a bit odd. At this stop, there was also a Starbucks so we grabbed drinks and were back on the road.

Jenn drove the last hour and into New York City which by our own metrics was far busier than when we left it. Driving through the Lincoln Tunnel and out to Midtown felt like we had never left. We arrived at our apartment a few minutes after 9:30 AM and parked on the street. Before we got our keys we dropped Frasier off at his old daycare (which he was thrilled about) and then we got our keys to our new two-bedroom apartment. I try not to brag but the views from this apartment are stunning. As I am writing this post right now if I look over my left shoulder I can see the Empire State Building peeking above ten other buildings, while straight ahead I see the Hudson River with the sun gleaming over it. I am still pinching myself a bit.

After recording a video and seeing about 25+ packages placed in our second bedroom it was time to get to work. We grabbed the car and drove about forty blocks to grab a modem from the Verizon store and then came back and unloaded the car of all the suitcases and boxes that we transported across the country. From there we dropped off the car at a parking structure across the way and got to work unpacking and opening all the new stuff we bought for the apartment. We did stop to have some Five Guys that we got delivered but outside of that it was non-stop work.

By around 3 PM we got as far as we were going to without having our move delivered so we picked up Frasier and let him visit our new apartment. At first, he was a bit hesitant especially with all the windows but quickly that changed to pure excitement running around the apartment smelling everything. By 3:30 PM it was time for me to walk to Javits Center to get my first Pfizer vaccine. The week before we started the drive the COVID vaccines in New York dropped the age requirement to 30 so after days of searching, refreshing, and scrambling to find an appointment I lucked into finding two appointments on the day we arrived. Mine was at 4 PM and Jenn’s at 6 PM. Both of our appointments went incredibly smoothly and it was a marvel to see what great organization and structure can do. I’ve never seen something better run than the vaccination site of Javits. I was in and out with a shot in my arm and a 15 minute observation period in less than half an hour. Everyone was very friendly and helpful, and the spirit in the room was that of something important being done. I got a bit emotional sitting during my 15 minute observation period thinking about the last year and how much I’ve been looking forward to my vaccine.

Jenn’s appointment went just as smoothly and when she arrived back home we had our favorite Bengal Tiger delivered for dinner. We ate on our brand new dining table with the lights of all the nearby buildings glowing all around us. It’s weird being back. In some ways, we never left and in others, it’s all brand new again. When I look back on the last week I have to admit that I will actually really miss the drive. It’s the most time I’ve been able to spend uninterrupted with Jenn maybe ever. We had such an incredible time singing songs, laughing at Jenn’s lack of patience with audiobooks, and praising Frasier for being a complete champ the entire ride. I still cannot believe how smooth of a trip we had. I will cherish the 7 days of driving through the country as one of the most tiring but fulfilling and memorable weeks of my life.

New York City we are back and better then ever!

Cross Country Road Trip Time-lapse

Over the course of the drive from Newport Beach, CA to New York, NY we filmed a time-lapse of the entire drive. Jenn was gracious enough to forgo the use of her cellphone in order to capture the entire drive over a week and nearly three thousand miles.

If this version is too long there is this version which is normal speed.

The Road Back Home - CA to NYC (April 2021)