“You know, I never get to Birmingham/You know, gettin’ there ain’t the plan/I just like the feel of goin’ home.”
The folk singer John Hiatt (and one of my favorite bands, Cross Canadian Ragweed) had it right, there’s nothing quiet like the feeling of heading back home after a long, rewarding trip. After fishing with Morgan Promnitz of Hobie Fishing out in San Diego Bay, and some time visiting family and seeing the sights around Southern California, it was time for Jennie and me to head home. But that doesn’t mean we still didn’t have some things to see first.
The plan before we left California was to hit the Grand Canyon, the Four Corners Monument and then fish here and there until we hit New England again. It wasn’t until we hit 6,000 feet in elevation in the Arizona desert that I realized that plan might not work. Regardless, we headed for the Grand Canyon, after stopping at a perfect little cabin at a KOA campground (shown at the top of the page).
After walking around the Grand Canyon and drinking in one of the 7 Wonders of the World, (though we googled what those were and apparently there are a few different lists), we pointed North and drove 4 hours to stand in four different states at once, at the Four Corners Monument. After getting back on course, we spent the night in New Mexico and plotted our route for the rest of the trip.
After thousands of miles on the road and countless hours pent up inside a mid-sized truck cab, and of course sleeping in the truck bed, you get a little stir crazy.
I think that’s how we decided, after we hit the halfway point of Texas, to drive through the night and not stop until we made it home. I wasn’t going to be able to fish in the snow anways. After nearly ten cups of coffee, 22 hours of driving and one four hour power nap in a busy truck stop, we found ourselves in Pennsylvania. We couldn’t go any farther, especially since we still had another eight hours to drive.
Even though I have a few freinds in Pennsylvania, and was planning on giving them a call and taking a break from the road to spend a few hours fishing, we woke up and were face to face with three inches of fresh snow, with more coming. I bagged the final chance at fishing on the road trip home and we hit the road, hoping to get ahead of the winter storm before we got stuck somewhere. After another ten hours on the road (yes, the eight hour trip took ten) we finally made it home, with plans to pass out in a familiar bed. That is, until we got a call from our friends and we decided to celebrate the trip with a few beers instead.
If you’re thinking of planning your own cross country adventure, you can’t waste time in hesitating. Go right now. Stay tuned for the next episode of Kayak Angler’s web series Hook, Line & Paddle, coming out next Thursday, (12/17) to find out the details of the trip, tips on how to plan your own, and of course, a detailed recap of what fishing out in California with Hobie Fishing is really like.
