Revisiting: Our New York City to Los Angeles Road Trip
Ben Ashby
Our 2016 road trip from New York City to Los Angeles | All Photos by: Paige Denkin
These days I am absolutely desperate to travel. After a year inside the wilderness, cities, mountains, deserts, and waters of California are calling me. I am convinced I will get a rental car and set out for the wild blue yonder and the Wide Open Spaces like I’m a 90’s country classic. My One Way Ticket time to shine will be standing on the border and looking out into the great unknown. Until then I wanted to take a look back a few of my favorite trips from the past five years.
Our Route:
New York City — Hershey — Pittsburgh — Cleveland — Chicago — Davenport, Iowa — Lincoln, Nebraska — Denver — Arches National Park — Canyonlands National Park — Moab, Utah — Monument Valley — Horseshoe Bend — Paige, Arizona — Zion National Park — Las Vegas — Big Bear, California — Los Angeles
Important Stops: Milkshakes at Hershey, that Mexican restaurant next to the John Deere dealership in rural Iowa, the worlds largest truck stop, that big Dutch wind meal somewhere of Interstate 70…
We will begin with one of the very best. Back in 2016 Paige and I decided we would drive to CAMP (a camp for creatives in the mountains outside LA). We would start in Chelsea and head west stopping in towns and cities along the way to visit with creatives that inspired us. We set out with two friends, a Cadillac, and a whole bunch of cameras.
Our trips first stop was in Pittsburgh, PA by way of interstate 76….a number selected to celebrate Pennsylvania’s legacy of being the birth of America’s independence. Paige had carefully plotted and charted our route to really maximize the number of states we’d travel through and allow us to stop in spots with great photo spots. The Pittsburgh stop was brief as it allowed us to prepare for a day in Cleveland visiting with our friends at Stash Style and FOUNT. A tour of FOUNT’s workshop, Stash’s store, and of course ice-cream were all called for. Sunset on the lakes was especially beautiful and a starting point for all the landscapes to come.
From there we headed west towards Chicago for another brief stop. We quickly took in the zoo, met with friends, and stopped at Frontier…my favorite restaurant in Chicago. If you love meat with an Oregon Trail theme this is a must stop place.
The next day took us deep into the midwest. Paige had arranged for us to stay in Davenport, Iowa. The landscapes soon changed from the mountains of Appalchiia into the flat lands of the Midwest. Farmland stretched for miles and we headed towards a Texas Roadhouse in Des Moines…because every roadtrip must include a Texas Roadhouse, a Waffle House, and a Cracker Barrel.
Continuing west we stopped to see Yoni and the Buffalo in Lincoln, Nebraska and headed towards Denver. Denver would be our transition from the Midwest to the West. We spent a bit of extra time in Denver to visit several shops and a Cheesecake Factory. The snow covered mountains were next. By now we had gone from the city lights of Manhattan to the Appalachian mountains of Pennsylvian, the Great Lakes, the Midwest, the Mile High City, and now the Rockies. We were about to head abruptly south and get into the red rocks of Moab, Arches, and Canyonlands. Sites I am absolutely desperate to revisit. If you go looking for me in the coming weeks you may find me hidden in an arch at Arches. If you’re looking for nature and to get lost in it I would highly recommend taking whatever highway goes directly through Moab. I would also recommend a drive through Monument Valley. I have been rusty with my writing for far too long to properly articulate the scale that is Monument Valley. Just make a point to go there at least once.
From Monument Valley we began a race against the clock to get to CAMP on time. BBQ in Paige, Arizona after seeing Horseshoe Bend was a must. If you’re keeping track we have dropped from The Great Lakes down to Arizona. We’ve gone from Interstate 80 to down about Interstate 40 (the higher the EVEN interstate number the further north it is). From Paige we did a very brief stop in Las Vegas and a sunset run through Zion. Zion is probably my favorite National Park and I regret that I haven’t gotten back.
The journey now takes us from Las Vegas into the backrounds of the mountains outside LA as we head to Big Bear. The windows are down and we are screaming Come Pick Me Up by Bryan Adams.
After CAMP Paige and I completed our trip in LA. I don’t remember exactly what we did, but I do know we intentionally drove to Santa Monica to touch the Pacific after driving from the Atlantic.
I could go on and on about why I love this roadtrip, but there was something truly magical about taking an American made Cadillac and driving it out of a garage in the center of New York City and going west. Going from such a large and dense city to absolute stretches of nothing in the West was something everyone really must experience. We went from tiny single stop light towns to massive cities. A theme I will mention in each of these posts is the importance of seeing the country to really understand the people of this country.
The journey now takes us from Las Vegas into the backrounds of the mountains outside LA as we head to Big Bear. The windows are down and we are screaming Come Pick Me Up by Bryan Adams.
I hear this KAO has a great creek we must get photos of
