Joey M.D.

It was a long time ago. I was fresh out of college and applying for medical school when my parents decided to take us on a trip to the USA. We were very excited because this was gonna be our first time there!

After a 25 hour flight (with 2 stopovers) we finally landed at the Los Angeles airport. My dad promptly rented a minivan before even checking into a hotel. We spent the night in a Holiday Inn near the airport but the next day looked out for a cheaper alternative and booked into a Best Western motel. We promptly slept off our jet lag and woke up later to a sunset drenched sky. Imagine our surprise when we learned that it was already 8:00 in the evening! Back home, it would have been dark.

While we were still in LA, we went to the usual places — Disneyland, Universal Studios. Though I was already far from being a kid, the fact that this was my first time there MADE me feel like a kid!

We went to USA with no set itinerary. Dad wanted us to have a road trip.

After LA, it was off to Death Valley. It was my first time to actually see a desert. Why Death Valley? Well, we were going to the more cosmopolitan Las Vegas, but it was on the way, and we wanted to see something different. It was very hot (well, at least coming from the cooler LA area, it was, but no hotter than the present Manila weather). There’s something about the desert that’s so unique. Desert plants and desert fish. Yes, fish! Swimming in about 1 cm deep of water. That’s survival!

We didn’t stay long though and headed for the lights of Las Vegas, where we got to play slots and video poker and got to see David Copperfield live. We stared in awe at the big grand hotels, the man made volcano at the Mirage, went to see Ripley’s believe or not. And bought some cheap souvenirs too.

Next stop was the Grand Canyon. It was truly an awesome sight. Miles and miles of the great gouge, with a swiftly running river underneath. Wow!

We then proceeded northwards, our ultimate destination up north being the Yellowstone Park. Along the way, we experienced the different forms of precipitation which we’ve only read about in class but never seen — hail and sleet and finally snow. We were like excited children with the first view of snow.

Yellowstone Park is all that it promised to be and more. The first thing we did, of course was to check in. And we did, at the historial Old Faithful Inn. This old fashioned, charming inn is located in front of the geyser aptly named Old Faithful, since it spews out its contents every hour, on the dot. It was the first time we ever saw a geyser, and it’s wonderful that there’s a “reliable” geyser that could show you its wonders.

Since it was almost nightfall when we arrived, we didn’t really go out except to see Old Faithful. We had a snowball fight just outside the inn. I tell you, we were like children! It was really fun!

The next day saw us going around the Park. We saw part of the Falls, a few more geysers, the molten cauldrons (I think that’s what they call them). We were also able to see some bison. It’s a very unique place! Very out of the way but certainly a must see. Unfortunately, we couldn’t see all of the wonders of Yellowstone Park since it was snowing and some places were closed off at the time.

We then proceeded to Reno, also a gambling city in Nevada, then passed by Lake Tahoe. Then proceeded to Yosemite National Park. The image that stands out in my memory is the big, big sequioa trees. They are so majestic, so old. You actually feel puny standing under one of them.

Next stop was San Francisco where we went to visit our Aunt and her family. This is one charming city. We went and took pictures at Lombard Street, the most curved street in the world. Although in the same state, it’s more quaint than Los Angeles.

We lingered a few more days at LA, before heading back to Manila, stopping by Hawaii for a 3 day stopover :).

Would you believe we went through all those places in only about 3 weeks? It was the best family bonding activity we ever had. We were together 24/7 for the whole 3 weeks! We didn’t have a fixed itinerary, just went via a map, a guide book, telephoning motels the night before for our next stop. Even looking for laundries was an adventure in itself. Another good thing about this trip was that we went to places that we never would have gone to if we had followed a tour. We found a charming motel in an obscure city in between Yellowstone Park and Reno. We stopped by other National Parks but only for daytrips. It’s hard to put everything down. Suffice it to say that the memories last me a lifetime. My dad passed away 7 years ago, but I will always remember the image of him driving that minivan, my brother beside him navigating. My mom is in charge of our supplies and my other brother is the photo/video man. My duty was to look for the next motel where we have to stay.

Unfortunately, I don’t have digital files of the photos and videos. It was 1991, our video was in Betamax format and our photos are on film.

I am hoping that we’ll have a road trip like that when my kid/s grow old enough. I hope my husband and I won’t be too old by then. It can be a road trip here in the Philippines, since there are so many beautiful places here. I just wish we had better roads and more accomodations along the way. I hate long car trips with nothing to do in between, our trip didn’t have that. There was always something we can do in between our destinations.

(Will try to post some pics of the place we visited, although not OUR pics. Sorry)