My 1st Cross Country Move: Virginia to California

Today marks the 10 year anniversary of my first cross country move. On this day 10 years ago, I packed up my Xterra and started driving from my hometown in Virginia to my new home in California. I cannot believe that it has been 10 years! It seems just like yesterday. 

I had just turned 19 and was not only moving out of my parents’ house but moving across the whole US! From the East Coast to the West. I was so young and naive. So full of life and excitement for my new adventure. 

It was bittersweet knowing I was leaving my family but I was mostly just excited. I had been dreaming about this move my whole life. As long as I could remember it was my dream to move to California and become an actress for movies and TV. I had never even set foot in California before but that didn’t scare me.

I had been working fulltime since age 17 and after buying my first car, I had been saving up for this very move. I was stepping out into the great unknown. I had only just lined up a place to live about a week before moving. My dad was driving out with me to help me get settled in and acclimated to California for a couple of days then, he would fly back home. 

I was always the shy, quiet, homebody out of my siblings. I was probably the last of my 8 siblings that you would ever think would move far away from home. I always just had a daring and adventurous spirit underneath. Most people probably thought I was crazy but that didn’t stop me. 

I remember my dad asking me a couple of times if I wanted to take any detours to stop at any landmarks along the way and I said no. Now looking back I kind of wish I would have taken some extra time to do that, just to have those memories and experiences. But at the time, I was so excited to get to California that I didn’t want to do anything that would delay it any longer then it was already taking. 

So we literally just drove. As much as we could in one day, we drove. We only stopped to get gas, grab a quick meal, and sleep. If we weren’t doing one of those three things we were driving. Although we didn’t make many pitstops, we still saw some cool sights.

As I’ve been reminiscing about this move I have been going through my old posts and photos from this time so I thought I would share some of the specific details with you all. It was quite a road trip!

Day 1

Our goal was to start driving around noon on July 25th, but that didn’t happen. Packing what was left in my room and loading the car took longer than expected. We ended up leaving around 5 pm (EST) instead. By the time we left my car was jam-packed full from floor to ceiling.

We wanted to drive as much as possible that first day and since we were feeling ok we ended up driving about nine hours. We stopped at 1 am (CST) for the night in Dickson, TN, a town between Nashville and Memphis.

I did most of the driving on the first day of the trip so I didn’t get many photos. Despite it being dark, we still saw some cool sights. We caught the I-40 and took that the whole way across the US.

Some of my highlights from Day 1 were:

• Driving past Nashville at night. I just love city lights! It is just so magical. Seeing Nashville all lit up at nighttime was so beautiful!
• Driving along “Music Highway”. On the I-40 from Nashville to Memphis, the section of the highway is called “Music Highway”. Makes sense right? The signs were so cool with music notes and all. I thought it was a neat thing to see.

Day 2

After what felt like a very short night’s sleep and a quick breakfast, we begin driving again on July 26th. We left our hotel in Dickson, TN around 8:30/9:00 am (CST). I took a lot more pictures on this day since my dad drove a lot of the way and it was daylight outside.

We drove through Memphis. I saw a couple of billboards for Graceland but never a sign directing where to go. We drove over the Tennessee River/Kentucky Lake.

We crossed over the Mississippi River as we passed the Arkansas state line. Arkansas was very green and pretty with lots of water and swaps around.

We passed into Oklahoma and everything began to look dryer and not so colorful. We drove over Lake Eufaula which was very large and pretty. The sun was out and the sky was very blue with clouds. Driving at 70/75 MPH everything comes and goes so fast, if you don’t know it’s coming you miss it. We saw an Air Force Base and passed through Oklahoma City.

We passed into Texas and hit a short but heavy rainfall. After about 14 hours of driving, we stopped for the night in Amarillo, TX.

Highlights from Day 2:

• Driving over the Mississippi River while crossing the Arkansas state line at the same time.
• Driving through Checotah in Oklahoma. This is Carrie Underwood’s hometown and they have a sign saying it’s her hometown and that she was the American Idol winner.
• Driving through Yukon, OK. This is the home/hometown of Garth Brooks.

Day 3

After what felt like another short night’s sleep (but a little longer than the night before) we got up and began driving again on July 27th, leaving Amarillo, TX. I made a point to try and take more pictures this day as well.

We continued on in Texas, then crossed over into New Mexico. Everything was dry and brown looking all the way through New Mexico. There were a lot of ranches lining all of I-40 through both Texas and New Mexico. We did see some neat hills and mountains too. After a while, everything looked the same though.

According to my GPS, we would have arrived at our final destination at around 11:00 pm that night. We decided to just get a hotel that night. We thought of making a detour to the Grand Canyon but in the end, I decided I would rather just get to a hotel early and relax.

After a good dinner, we got a hotel in Kingman, AZ at around 8:00 pm (MST). We were able to relax and unwind a bit and then I hit the hay around 11:30 pm (MST).

Highlights from Day 3:

• Seeing the mountains in New Mexico.

Day 4

We had a late start on July 28th but we were only about 4 hours away from our final destination. We got up late, were slower-moving, had breakfast, and left the hotel in Kingman, AZ around 10:00 am (MST).

As we continued to drive through Arizona I began to see more palm trees which were so exciting! We drove over the Colorado River (it was gorgeous) and then right after we passed into California.

There was an inspection station where all vehicles had to stop about a mile into California. They asked us where we were coming from, we said Virginia. Then they asked if we were carrying any fruits, vegetables, plants or animals. We said no and then they let us through. We continued on and went over the mountains and in valleys.

Around 2:00 pm (PST) we stopped to grab some lunch and I got final directions to the house I would be living in. After eating, we continued on and arrived at my new home around 3:00 pm (PST).

Highlights from Day 4:

• Seeing all the palm trees.
• Driving over the Colorado River.
• Seeing the “Welcome to California” sign and crossing the state line.
• Driving through the mountains and valleys. It was so cool seeing the difference between the two back-to-back.
• Making it to our final destination, my new home!