Travel-Cross Country: Day 1

So I thought I would take a break from some of our Asian travel adventures, although there are many more stories to come (so stay tuned) and today, I would post about a travel story from the U.S.

Last summer, my husband and I took a cross-country trip across America before we moved out here to Malaysia.  We visited 22 states in 23 days!  It was one of the best trips I have had in my life and certainly filled with adventure!  It’s amazing how many Americans plan trips outside of the US, but never actually see how beautiful our own country truly is.  Here is an excerpt from our travel log on the first day of our cross-country trip – leaving Washington D.C. and heading to Erie, Pennsylvania.


Time Traveled: 10 hours, 40 mins
Miles of Road Conquered: 455 miles

So on our way out of DC and into much of Maryland we were caught in the regular 270 traffic all the way through Fredericksburg and up to our first stop – the United 93 Memorial/Crash Site of 9/11.

Winding through the roads high in the Allegheny Mountains (which are the oldest mountains in America – little fun fact), you start to realize how small you are in this big world.  Tons of towns sprawling across the plains, cattle, horses, farms…it’s so great to get out of DC and just see the countryside.

So, my husband offered and took the first leg of the trip and drove four hours there and when we reached the spot, after a couple of changes in the roads and detours, we saw the memorial ahead of us on a hill in the middle of a huge field.  I kept saying how sad this was and tried to remind myself why I wanted to see this memorial in the first place, but when we got out of the car and approached the site, we were so glad we came.  The stillness of the memorial completely envelopes you and we became immersed in the photos, dedications, memorabilia and words of love, sorrow and remembrance.  We wrote a message on the wall ourselves – “Our lives have been changed forever by your bravery.”

There were benches lined in about 5 rows, each one painted with the names of the 40 passengers and crew members that had been lost, in addition, each person had their own little painted angel.  What a touching memorial…we were very glad we got to see it.

So back in the car and on to our next stop – the Space Acorn of Kecksburg, PA.  Yes, that’s what I said, a space acorn, ha!  Legend has it, that back in 1965 a “UFO” landed here and was quietly recovered and taken away by the military.  For years, it was forgotten about, but then Unsolved Mysteries came to town and the legend was once again surfaced.  The town is now working to gain more publicity and money from this “UFO landing” by opening a UFO shop and eventually expanding the business.  So I guess I should back up and tell you where we first discovered all of these crazy spots, huh?  So months and months ago when we first started planning our cross-country trip, we came across this website:  www.roadsideamerica.com.  This site gives you the ability to plot out your trip and also details each funky, crazy, “gotta-stop” place/attraction along your route.  For instance – the biggest ball of twine and the biggest non-stick frying pan – which I am sad to say we did not see because both were not on our route!  However, after much research, we picked the most interesting and exciting places along our route to stop at and see each day.  The Space Acorn was one of them!

Back to the journey, now it’s my turn to drive.  So after leaving the memorial we got a little turned around and since it was starting to get pretty dark, we decided to pull over and call the number listed for the Space Acorn to get directions.  We spoke to a lovely lady on the phone who informed us we weren’t very far away.  So we hung up the phone and turned off the car light to head back on our way.  But just as we were about to pull back onto the road, I heard a tap, tap, tap on my window!!!  (Remember we are on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere, now in the pitch black darkness!)  I completely jumped out of my skin and looked up to see a policeman glaring into the window.  We hadn’t even noticed that a police car had pulled up directly behind us!  I slowly rolled down my window as he asked, “Are you both okay…did your car break down?”  After we assured him that we were fine, he looked on my lap to glimpse the binder I had made for our trip labeled “Exploring the USA”, and then commented, “Oh, on a cross-country trip, huh?”  I smiled as we both explained that we were from DC and heading on from the 9-11 Memorial.  He somberly smiled and stared off in the distance as to remember that day, almost 9 years ago (at that time).  He explained to us how he was on scene after the plane crash and ended up spending 10 days camped out on the land assisting with the recovery.  He finished his story and began walking away.  Then he turned back and asked, “Where are you headed next?”  My husband and I shyly said, “The town of Kecksburg to see the Space Acorn.”  After the words came out of our mouths, we knew this guy must think we were crazy and he did; I have never heard a police officer laugh so hard.  We quickly added, “Well we know it’s probably not even worth it but…” and he interrupted, “Not really, haha.”  Regardless, he began giving us directions anyway, wished us well and said to be safe and have fun.  We were back on our way.  Space Acorn or bust!

Twenty-five minutes later, we pulled up to a small town with no street lights and there, illuminated, up on a small hill, perched like a ugly piece of poop, shaped like a beehive or a bird’s nest, sat this brown-colored acorn.  This was it?!  The Space Acorn?!  Very anticlimactic!  Of course we had to get out of the car.  We couldn’t have come all this way and not take a couple pictures!  It was very dark outside, so we could hardly take in the “beauty” of this “man-made” creation, however, the small flood lights that illuminated its glory, gave us a little help with our photography.

Already on edge from the police officer encounter, we were taken back again when as we stood in the dark taking pictures of this piece of poop, a car pulled up next to us and a woman approached me.  She said in a friendly, neighborly tone in her upper-PA accent, “Were you the ones that just called and asked about directions to the Space Acorn?”  We looked at each other, then back at the lady and nodded.  She smiled and said, “I’m so glad you are here, I just finished my shift for the night, but now that you’re here, I will take you to the UFO shop!”  Um, UFO shop?  What could we do, of course we had to follow this lady and check the place out, even if it was just to be courteous.  After all, this is the town’s “main” attraction!  And all the proceeds went to their local fire department.  How much more Americana could it get?!  After I spotted my husband’s face full of surprise, I quickly glanced away and smiled back at the lady.  “We would love to see your shop, where can we park?”

My husband and I jumped in the car together and just kept our smiles on our faces, as I quietly murmured to him, “Just go with it.”  We parked and I grabbed my wallet before heading into the dark building ahead.  The nice lady approached the door and began dialing in a code to open the latch.  I turned behind to face my husband as I thought…maybe we are getting led into some sort of vault with crazy UFO skeletons.  I grabbed my husband’s hand and suddenly the door swung open…

To be continued next Thursday…