Crazy Cross-Country Roadtrip

We’re ten best friends who had one summer left before we all went off to college—we wanted it to be a memorable one. What could possibly be more memorable than cramming into a bus we renovated ourselves and driving it all the way across the country? The idea was simple: we go coast to coast, from Boston to Seattle. After countless late nights building the bus and accidentally going viral along the way, we were ready. We had argued for days about planning—do we go the northern route or do we go the southern route? Having spent soooo much time figuring out the trip and reassuring the parents, we packed our bags and embarked on a trip of a lifetime. 

First stop: Times Square, New York. We were up bright and early after a short, short sleep (or in Justin’s case, no sleep at all) to make the perilous drive into the city. Surrounded by massive semi trucks, the bus slowly made its way into the iconic skyline of imposing buildings. After a stressful adventure driving through the Big Apple, we arrived at destination one, Times Square Studio, for a segment with Good Morning America! Though Michael Strahan was off, we had an absolute blast. And, after a morning of exploring the city and seeing our own billboard, we were off again, although not before a small “love tap” with a cement truck…

The next stop was a random parking lot somewhere in New Jersey, where we readied ourselves for a painful 14 hour overnight drive. But first, we had to teach everyone how to drive, and what that entailed was a single lap around the parking lot. One lap around a Walmart and Matty was ready to go right ahead and hit the highway for a night of driving. After a whole night of heroic driving from Matty, Thatcher, and Ben, we made it to our next stop: Detroit, Michigan. 

We were in Detroit to help with a fundraiser for Friendship Circle, an incredible organization helping individuals with special needs. We visited their awesome facilities in Detroit, including a whole town built underground to create a safe environment to learn life skills. After a round of karaoke, abstract splatter paint with adult artists with special needs, and lunch, we headed to The Yard for the evening, where we gave a try at axe throwing. That night, we headed off again to Milwaukee to meet up with some family friends. 

Along the way, however, tragedy struck. While driving, suddenly we heard a clanging and sputtering sound come from the engine and we started to lose power. We pulled over on the side of the road and sat there as massive trucks hurtled past us on the highway. Our resident mechanic, Ben, popped the hood and did some diagnosing (with the help of ChatGPT, of course). He came to the expert conclusion that something was wrong with either the fuel pump or the turbocharger. 

Amazingly, after a quick Google search, we discovered that we were actually broken down just two miles from a specialized bus auto shop—you just couldn’t script it any better. After slowly crawling there on the bus at a measly 10 mph on the highway, we set up camp in the parking lot for the night. 

In the morning, after talking with Rick the mechanic, we hopped on a train headed up to Elkhorn, Milwaukee, just a few hours behind schedule and without a bus, where we met up with family friends. While in Elkhorn, we went boating, wake surfing, and tried Culvers for the first time, before we all headed down to Chicago for Lollapalooza. We watched Fisher and Hozier put on incredible shows as a picture perfect drizzle finished out the night.

The next morning, back in Hammond, Indiana, we were reunited with Perry! The bus was all fixed and ready to hit the road again. Our next stop on the itinerary was Mt. Rushmore, roughly a 20 hour drive away—nothing we couldn’t handle! And so, we were off! Along the way we crossed the Mississippi, saw some great views in Minnesota, and had an amazing dinner at the Division 2 best Pizza Ranch. 

At 2am in the morning, however, it happened again. Suddenly, we began to lose power; panic set in and the grim realization of what was happening. Again, at a speedy 10 mph we crawled our way to a Walmart parking lot in Sioux Falls, South Dakota for the night. After a hot and rough sleep in the bus, we had the bus towed to a mechanic in the morning. Turns out, it was the turbocharger again. 

Stranded in Sioux Falls with no bus, we improvised to make the most of our time. We got our hands on the next best thing: a bright red soccer mom minivan! Armed with tents, sleeping bags, and the bare essentials, we headed off towards Mt. Rushmore and Badlands National Park. A smooth 4 hour drive later, the chiseled faces of Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson, and Roosevelt emerged from the gorgeous mountainous scenery, while only half an hour away was seemingly a completely different world: Badlands. We explored the most incredible red rock ravines, gullies, pinnacles, and sand dunes. Hordes of elk, bison, and other animals roamed just feet from the roads. 

That night, we set up camp and began to cook ourselves dinner over a campfire. All was seemingly going swimmingly: the steaks were cooking, the tent was rising, and the vibes were high. Then, out of nowhere, the craziest rainstorm hit us. 50 mph gusts of wind attacked us while lightning lit up the night sky with its constant flickering. We all escaped to our tent, abandoning our half cooked steaks on the fire top. However, Ben made the ill mistake of taking his open container of cheese dip with us into the tent, where the wind was throwing us around. With the cheese spilled everywhere and rain pouring into the tent, we had to abandon ship and make a perilous dash back towards the car through the waterfall of rain and glitter of lightning. With our camping equipment ruined and spirits broken, we resorted to staying in a hotel for the night. 

The next day, we headed back to Sioux Falls to be reunited with Perry! The bus was once again ready to hit the road, and it was no short drive: 27 hours straight to Salt Lake City. And, honestly much to our surprise, the bus made it all the way with no hiccups and no breakdowns. In SLC, we picked up Ainsley and Katherine, otherwise known as Girls with the Bus. 

We headed to the Bonneville Salt Flats, where it was absolutely stunning and unreal. What a sight it was to see our bright blue bus parked on the blank white plains! We finally got to use our smoothie maker, and boy were the smoothies incredible—mango, berry, and banana perfection. Next stop was Grand Tetons National Park, a bucket list landmark from the beginning. Adorned with stunning mountains in the background, we crashed through the Snake River waves white water rafting and hiked up to Delta Lake, where we were greeted by stunning water and the most incredible view. 

Next on the docket will be a few more national parks and, at long last, Washington, where we will finally hit the West Coast. Our journey going from Coast to Coast has been unforgettable, unpredictable, and chaotic. Much has not gone to plan, yet we’ve loved every moment of it. Make sure to follow along as we meander our way towards the coast!