Issue #45: Our Unexpected Roadtrip
An expensive and exhausting alternative to our canceled Delta flight
We love a road trip in our household. It allows us to bring the dog along for the adventure and see places that we would never get to if we flew to our destinations. We’ve made the trek back to Minnesota the last few years to spend extended time with family and friends and were planning to do it again this August for a mini family reunion, but then Monday morning, everything changed.
By now, you’ve probably heard about the technical issue that brought down the systems of Delta Airlines (and a few others), which led to a disaster travel day on Friday. Luckily, we were already enjoying time with my brother and his family in Rocky Mountain National Park.
When we woke up Monday morning at 3:30 AM, I checked the Delta app to see if we had moved up the upgrade list, and our flight showed canceled. There was no notification; everything looked on track the night before when we went to bed. A quick call to Delta to get rebooked and we realized that we were not alone and getting a hold of anyone would be impossible. Our rebooking options were non-existent at first, but with more searching, the only option I could find was a 14-hour travel day three days later with a flight to Phoenix, then Sacramento, and finally landing back in Seattle. Flights through other airlines were over $800 each, so we went down to say bye to our nephews and brainstorm what we were going to do.
It was likely the combination of our brain functions at 4 AM, the amount we missed our dog, our desire to find the most economical option, and our genuine love of a road trip that had us contacting Budget Car Rental to see if we could extend our reservation and return it in Seattle instead of Denver. That’s how this unexpected road trip came to be, and here is a little rundown of our “adventure.”
Total drive time estimate: 21 hr 33 minutes
Monday
4:32 AM - Checked out of our hotel and packed up the car. We instantly regretted not grabbing some hotel lobby coffee because we realized that even coffee shops weren’t open yet. I got a text from my sister-in-law that their Delta flight was on time, and they were heading through security to go home to Minnesota. I was so thankful because they were traveling with two little kids, and it would have been miserable to be stranded.
5:30 AM - Rolled into Starbucks the second it opened off the highway. The barista was incredibly friendly and outgoing for that early in the morning, which helped set the tone for a pleasant morning.
Around 5:45 AM - Passed by Buc-ee’s. I was a little bummed that we had just stopped for coffee because we’ve never been to Buc-ee’s, and ever since watching this hilarious video from our favorite YouTubers, I’ve been curious.
6:00 AM - The full moon is starting to fade, and the sun is coming up. It’s hazy, so we never had the bright rays in our eyes. Google had us cutting west through some strange backroads, but we had the roads to ourselves. We turned on some news podcasts and got caught up on the news about Biden stepping down.
6:40 AM - Cut through Laramie and had a full conversation about the Oregon Trail. The town wasn’t the cute little cowboy town we were hoping for, but we still would return if someone opened an escape room-type experience that is all about the Oregon Trail. We also filled up on gas for the first time and giggled at how cheap it was. Inside the gas station, I was the only person not wearing a cowboy hat and boots.
8:15 AM - We were incredibly hungry and wanted bagels and smoothies. That’s not really an option in rural Wyoming, so we settled on McDonald’s. Instead of doing the drive-thru, we went inside. It was nice to stretch our legs, and I cannot remember the last time I had Mickey D’s. We ordered Egg McMuffins and hash browns on a screen, and someone brought the food to our table. Who knew that there was table service?
9:00 AM - Justin took work calls for a while, and I drove. There was not much to look at, but the speed limit was 80 MPH, and I just cruised along.
10:15 AM - In the middle of nowhere Wyoming, we had a conversation about stretching and bad backs with the woman working at the gas station. She caught us doing some stretches outside of the car. Everyone else looked at us like we were nuts. I wonder how their lower backs feel today because I feel great.
1:00 PM - We pulled into Jackson for lunch. A friend of ours lives in town, and we tried to meet up, but the last-minute Monday drop-in made it impossible. We had good veggie tacos and then walked around the town to get some fresh air. I picked up this book, our next book club pick, at the local bookstore. We snuck a peek at the Tetons before heading over the pass into Idaho.
2:15 PM - Stopped and got 20 oz iced lattes in Driggs. I love that little town and was so excited to find a little local coffee shop. Four shots of espresso would be just the boost we needed to get across the rest of Idaho and into Montana. Justin was done with work calls, so we could do some more podcast listening. We turned on the Ilana Glazer episode of Armchair Expert and just giggled about how much we love her.
3:30 PM - Pod Save America finally released their Kamala discussion, so we listened to that. They covered all the open topics I was curious about, including VP picks, campaign transitions, and updated messaging. Here is a link to the episode I’m referring to.
5:45 PM - The wildfires outside of Missoula were worse than we thought. Pulling into town, we could immediately feel the smoke in our throats. That explained the increased haziness as we moved west. Missoula is a great town with incredible restaurants, but we wanted to push further and didn’t want to stop long. We settled on Subway sandwiches.
Evening hours - Driving from Missoula to the western border of Montana involved mostly wildfire smoke and watching for deer. We started an audiobook on Spotify called The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins. It definitely helped the time go by. I made hotel reservations for Spokane Valley, trusting we could drive for about an hour in the dark. There isn’t much between Wallace and Coeur D’Alene, so we just powered through.
10:15 PM - We checked into the Hilton in Spokane Valley. The person checking us in was full of energy and cheer, but we could barely muster words at that point. A quick request for toothpaste was about all I had the energy to say before heading upstairs. I washed my face, brushed my teeth, and assessed if I had a clean outfit for the next day before crawling into bed. The room had two queen beds, so we each slept on our own to effectively stretch out our bodies while getting some rest.
Tuesday
4:30 AM - Alarms went off so we could get on the road again. Six hours of sleeping like the dead and a quick shower and we were ready to roll. On the road, we realized again that it was a pre-coffee shop opening, so we got about an hour outside of Spokane before stopping for coffee. We added smoothies and cream cheese danishes to the order this time.
5:30 AM - 9:00 AM - The drive on I90 across Washington is familiar to us. There isn’t much to see until you spot Mt Rainier on the horizon. We passed the Gorge and crossed over the Columbia River. We wrapped the audiobook right as we hit Snoqualmie Pass, so at least I added another book to my 2024 list. Seattle has decent carpool lanes, so we sped passed all the stopped traffic on our way to the airport.
9:30 AM - Arrived at the rental car section at SeaTac. It was a quick checkout, and then we waited for what felt like hours for the shuttle to the terminal so we could get our actual car. We paid the balance due for the extra day and went to pick up the pup.
11:00 AM - Finally pulled into our driveway. 31 hours later, we were home and exhausted.
I’ve filed all the necessary receipts with Delta, but I don't know if we will get that money back. We used a companion flight, so we definitely won’t recoup that value. At the end of the day, I know that we are lucky that we are home and that we have the means and flexibility to find a different way. I’ve seen the photos and videos of families stuck in airports all over the country who are still stuck or just getting home.
Travel can be a mess sometimes. You just have to be prepared to roll with it. We spent a lot of hours enjoying mountain views and catching up on podcasts and an entire audiobook. We listened to all of our favorite playlists in between work calls and spent a lot of time just laughing about the situation. We made the best of it all.
I’m happy to be home, but we had the best weekend in Colorado with family and friends. The juice was worth the squeeze. Now, let’s just hope that Delta pays me back a little.
Here is a list of our road trip essentials. It was obvious that we were not prepared with our usual items on this trip, but if you’re heading out on the road, use it.
Rent a campervan for your next road trip. Escape Campervans has a ton of options to choose from, and you can create an incredible adventure without having to check into a Hilton in Spokane Valley at 10 PM.
This was the awesome camping-inspired Lego set we gifted our nephew on this trip. Lego is getting so damn cool, and I love that kids are still loving it.
Need some inspiration? Here are the US Road Trips that top our list of favorites (and we have a lot of experience.)
I joined this call on Thursday night and donated. It’s always helpful to listen to people who are fired up and passionate instead of just exhausted and overwhelmed. There’s another one on Sunday if you’re interested.
Do I need to purchase this game to play? I’m considering it after this road trip.
I’m still crushing my slow summer. It really was the best decision ever. Are you moving fast or slow this season?
I’ll be back next week with my monthly roundup of favorites. In the meantime, I’ll be singing Willie Nelson in preparation for my Saturday night concert and enjoying being out of the car for a while.
Cheers!
Steph