It's going to be so fun!

Let's go. Come on.

Alrighty.

♪ MUSIC ♪

Going on another cross-country road trip with Kuma, my dog of course.

This will be my  third cross-country road trip this year.

It's November 18th and I'm going to be going along I-10 again, going straight there

but making some different stops this time.

I thought I would change it up and this time, still the same amount of miles, about 2,500 miles

and I'm going to take five days to get there

so the plan is Baton Rouge today,

then the next day is San Antonio,

then Van Horn, Texas,

then Phoenix, Arizona, and then finally California.

Woke up super early this morning -- well, I always wake up at four in the morning anyway because Kuma likes to get up super early for whatever reason

but it's great on days like this when I want to wake up early anyway.

We left a little before 6 a.m. and since today is going to be the longest drive -- about 10 hours, I wanted to get up as early as possible anyway.

Of course, I'll stop at my usual places like Busy Bee's and Whataburger and probably Buc-ee's.  

Kuma's already sleeping and she's a real trooper on road trips

I think the longest drive she's done was like 12 hours and she was superb.

No complaints, no whining, nothing.

She was just such a good companion as a road trip dog.

This will be another fun cross-country drive.

I'm familiar with a lot of things now, so it'll be a little bit different in that sense.

Alright, well I'm going to concentrate on the drive and listen to some podcasts.

♪ MUSIC ♪

Okay I'm at my halfway point now -- five hours into my drive and five more hours left.

So far, enough not that bad at all, but I kind of had an idea that I would do okay just from the last two cross-country road trips that I did

and I knew how Kuma would be too because I know she's really great in the car.

I'm still in Florida and I've done three stops so far.

One, of course, at Busy Bee at exit 283. I filled up on gas there, I took out Kuma and I also used the restroom.

I also got some coffee at Dunkin Donuts there. It's within the Busy Bee convenience store.

And then after that, I stopped at exit 194's rest area  

and just went in to use the restroom real quick.

And then like right after that, I had to go use the restroom again. Probably because I had too much coffee

and that was at exit 162

which I actually stopped at that exit -- that rest area  last time -- the first time I did the Florida to California road trip

and that exit is really nice actually -- there's lots of picnic tables there, nice restrooms, and lots of grassy areas for the dogs to walk in.

So yeah, 10 hours is doable for me. On the first day at least.

In about 100 miles, I'll hit Pensacola and then right after Pensacola will be Mobile, Alabama

then Biloxi, Mississippi and then I'll enter Louisiana and hit Baton Rouge.

♪ MUSIC ♪

Hello, baby! You doing okay?

Yeah? Alright, let's get you out for a walk.

Always balancing.

Alright, well, I'm in Louisiana now.

It's always amazing that in -- what is it? In less than 10 hours, you'll cross four different states.

Florida the longest and then Alabama and Mississippi go by really fast.

The drive wasn't bad at all.

Yeah, I did get tired towards the end or the last couple of hours, I feel like I've just kind of been zoning out a bit

but I wasn't sleepy or anything.

I'm still doing great, so I think 10 hours is good -- I could do 10 hours and Kuma's been doing great as well.

She's been sleeping the entire time back there.

♪ MUSIC ♪

GPS: Use the right lane to take exit 160 on to Louisiana Highway 364

Oh there it is. Drury Inn and Suites, but...

What? How am I supposed to get over there?

There's no way I can make a left right now.

Okay, I'm going to have to do a U-turn.

GPS: Turn left onto Constantine Boulevard, then make a U-turn.

Wow, this place is crowded. This is a crazy, crazy intersection here.

GPS: Turn left into the parking lot, then arrive at your destination.

Okay so we have arrived in Baton Rouge, Louisiana at Drury Inn and Suites.

Getting in here after I exited the interstate was insane.

I didn't like that but hopefully the hotel is okay.

You excited baby, huh? I saw you shaking your butt. There it is! There's that wiggle butt, hahaha.

I'm hungry. How about you? Are you hungry?

This room is nice. It's pretty big.

This is the first time I've heard of Drury Inn and I'm actually staying at two Drury Inn hotels along the way

so my first stop is here in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and then my next is in San Antonio.

Okay, there's so many pillows.

Good night, baby.

So early. It's only 3:50 a.m., but I've been up since 3am.

♪ MUSIC ♪

Day two on the drive and today I am heading to San Antonio.

Staying at another Drury Inn Suites.

I'm very tired today. I didn't really get great sleep last night.

I'm not sure if it's because of the bed or not or if I was just feeling restless.

When I left Baton Rouge, there wasn't that many rest areas, but there were a lot of exits with full service

from like gas and food to restaurants and hotels.

Once you enter Texas, there's a whole bunch of exits with lots of good options.

Since I'm in Texas, Whataburger is everywhere, so I'm super excited to have that for lunch.

One thing I have been doing this time around on my cross-country trip is taking a hand towel with me

because a lot of the restrooms -- even though they have those air dryers, it doesn't really dry your hands very well

and then you're just like sitting there forever trying to dry them

so having this hand towel, I can just like wipe after I'm done and I can just go.

♪ MUSIC ♪

I just stopped at exit 623, the last exit for today or the last stop for today, before I reach my destination.

That's where Buc-ee's is, but I didn't want to go to Buc-ee's because I didn't want to deal with the crowd

because last time I went, it was super crowded  

and the bathroom -- there was like a line in the bathroom to wash their hands

so I didn't want to have to deal with that, so I went to the gas station next door 

which was Love's and everything was great there.

♪ MUSIC ♪

Alright, so we're here at Drury Inn and Suites.

Kuma's pretty excited to get out, so we're gonna go.

Enjoying that carpet?

It's nice in here, huh? Very spacious.

It's nicer than the last Drury Inn we stayed at.

♪ MUSIC ♪

Wow, the clouds are so pretty right now.

It's like 7:30 in the morning.

Earlier, it was kind of gloomy and I thought it was going  to rain, but that all cleared away

and now the clouds are picking up the sun's pink colors.

Today, I am going to Van Horn, Texas and I haven't heard of Van Horn, Texas before but they did have a pet friendly hotel there.  

Originally, I wanted to go to El Paso for my next stop but  then I changed my mind because El Paso has been in the news lately

about having a rise in COVID cases -- actually, a lot of states have been having that kind of news lately

but El Paso specifically, that one city, has been in the news a lot

so I decided to not stay there and either go a little  bit further or keep it a shorter drive

so I went with the latter and kept it a shorter drive

and I booked it at a Holiday Inn and their pet fees are pretty fair too.

I think it was $35, so I think all my hotel stays this time -- the pet-friendly hotel stays were all under $50.

Drury Inn was $35 at both places, Holiday Inn is I think $35 as well

and then Kimpton in Phoenix that I'm going to be staying at

they actually have no pet fee, so your pets can stay for free.

I actually really liked Drury Inn in San Antonio.

The Baton Rouge one was okay. I think it was a little bit run down.

They do have free dinner and breakfast.

They also give you three free cocktails which is like ridiculous but awesome

and the customer service there is really great.

Both of those hotels were very nice and very helpful so yeah, I highly recommend Drury Inn.

♪ MUSIC ♪

Approaching our exit in Van Horn.

What do you think, Kuma?

GPS: The destination is on your left. Holiday Inn Express and Suites Van Horn.

We are here.

There's a McDonald's, a Super 8, Holiday Inn, Red Roof Inn, and a Dollar Store -- or Dollar General

and I think that's about it.

Okay...

Smells nice.

Why is this door here?

Oh whoops.

Oh, I like this little bench thing here.

♪ MUSIC ♪

Going into inspection in New Mexico.

Always makes me nervous for whatever reason.

Even though they just flag you on by.

I don't know if they're still gonna do that.

Morning. Thanks.

We made it, Kuma. We made it past New Mexico's inspection.

Ugh, it just makes me nervous going through that thing.

Well, this morning, it was a tough night for me and Kuma

Kuma just kept on waking up last night.

Woke up about 4:45 and after that, just started getting ready and left.

We left about 5:20 a.m and now I'm in New Mexico.

So I'm driving in November -- like mid-November -- and so far, the temperature has been the same everywhere that I've stopped .

It's been in the mid 50s in the mornings and then

by the time it's in the afternoon, it's usually in the high 70s or early 80s -- haha -- low 80s

so it's been like really nice weather

and today I'm heading to Phoenix, Arizona.

I'll be there probably around 1 p.m. and it's about an 8 hour drive from where I was, which was Van Horn, Texas.

That Holiday Inn -- it was great, the room was awesome, the decor and everything.

I loved how they set up everything -- the bed was fine...

But the noise level with the highway right next door,

it did bother me a little bit

so if things like that bother you hearing the highway right next to the room,

I probably wouldn't stay there or ask for a room on the other end.

Another thing I didn't like about that place was that I did not get hot water or it was very lukewarm water when I was taking a shower and I hate that.

I need hot showers.

So yeah, I don't know if I would stay there again, but it is a pet-friendly hotel

and if you need to make a stopover, that is an option

and the pet fee was $25.

♪ MUSIC ♪

Alright, one more hour left on this drive.

It wasn't too bad today. I am getting a little bit tired but not terrible.

So I'm staying in downtown Phoenix.

I'm a little bit nervous about driving in downtown in any city unless it's a small town.

I just don't like driving in downtown anywhere so I just hope that I can find my way okay

and everything will be fine.

On the last drive that I did with my sister from California to Florida, anytime we got into a bigger city or in a downtown in a big city, she would always drive.

But you know what? I can do it! I have faith in myself.

I think.

In two and a half miles, I'm going to exit.

I'm like already nervous, like super quiet.

I'm just like dead serious.

Hey, it's Wickenburg. Candy and I passed by Wickenburg when we were driving to Sedona. It's a cute little town.

GPS: Use the right three lanes to take exit 158 onto East Maricopa Freeway and US 60 West toward Flagstaff.

Seriously? I get stuck behind the slow-ass truck.

I mean, it's like 65 and this guy is going like 40.

So dangerous.

Alright, not as hectic as I thought but I still have half a mile to go before I hit the street I'm supposed to be on.

It's like a small downtown.

Almost there. It's on the right, I think.

Where?

Oh, it's right here.

GPS: Arrive at Hotel Palomar Phoenix.

GPS: Arrived.

I love this room! What do you think, Kuma?

Cool wall painting there.

Nice. Very spacious.

Is that your souvenir from Phoenix? Somebody's tag?

Let's go.

♪ MUSIC ♪

Alright Kuma, are you ready for the last day on the road?

High five!

Thank you.

Good morning! This is my final day of driving on my 5 day road trip from Florida to California.

I really loved my stay at the Kimpton hotel in downtown Phoenix.

Also, downtown Phoenix is great. It's not even as big as I thought it would be. It's actually quite small and it's laid out really nicely.

There's a lot of construction going on  right now but it's still easy to navigate around there.

We're going to be coming across that California inspection soon and I'm sure I'm going to get nervous again

but I'm sure it'll be fine

and I should just go through it without panicking.

♪ MUSIC ♪