Cross-Country Road Trip: New Jersey to California

March and April were pretty crazy months. We came back from South America, I took my North Carolina trip, completed a big work event in San Francisco, flew back to the east coast to pack the car and grab the dog, and a day later we started driving to San Diego. I’ll share here about the route we took. There might have been some questionable map choices, but it worked for us this time. We took six days to do it, which was the maximum we could squeeze between work travel.

Here’s where we stopped:

Knoxville, Tennessee

We powered through days one and two, with the goal of making it to Austin and spending some time there. We kicked off the road trip with about 13 hours of driving, unfortunately for Bailey in the back seat. Of course, we had to stop for barbecue in Tennessee.

Austin, TX

I lived in Austin for five years, so I always want to spend ample amounts of time visiting. We rented an Airbnb for two nights, and I was able to do many of my favorite things like yoga, Juiceland, Tacodeli, Epoch coffee, and Alamo Drafthouse. We got to visit the troll statue, and I was so sad to learn it burned down shortly after our visit. I was expecting the city to feel different, since I’ve heard it’s changed so much, but it still felt like the place I used to call home.

San Angelo, TX

Since we were working, we only planned a short drive after Austin. We stopped at San Angelo State Park to camp for the night. It felt pretty, quiet, and remote. We picked up groceries from an HEB not too far away, and there was a gorgeous Texas sunset.

Roswell & Albuquerque, New Mexico

At this point, we were ready to see some alien stuff, and Bryan had never been to Albuquerque, so we decided to start heading north again. New Mexico is always enchanting, however in my opinion, Albuquerque is one of the least enchanting parts. We ate some burgers and drank some beers at a brewery, and that was about it.

Mojave National Preserve, California

This was probably the best part of our trip (besides revisiting Austin). The Mojave National Preserve is amazing! There was beautiful desert scenery, wide open spaces, and the trails are much more dog friendly than Joshua Tree nearby. The desert was just starting to heat up without being too hot, so we were able to do a six mile hike. It was the perfect, peaceful place to spend a couple of nights.

Carlsbad, California

We ended our road trip in Carlsbad, California. Our longer-term Encinitas rental wasn’t quite ready, so we stayed in my friends’ guest house for a week (Carlsbad Beach Getaway), which is in the perfect location for bike riding, beach and surfing, tacos, and any of your Southern California desires! We were all ready to unpack our bags and car and quit driving for a while.