On the broiling hot morning of Monday, June 29,2020 TotalAdventure departed Miami at dawn – for a 3 to 4 month journey – crossing – actually circumnavigating the United States.

In May, at the height of the COVID panic, I traded in my 2013 BMW X1 with 120,000 miles ( plus a considerable amount of cash) for a 2020 BMW X2 with 19 miles. Technological advancements had been considerable in the last 7 years and now, with all the navigational and entertainment needs I was set to cruise the Nation in what was like a jet on the ground. Driving was a pleasure even on the most boring stretches of I-95 up the East Coast.

At the start of the trip there were 2300 miles on the odometer and at the end over 17000 – a 15000 mile journey in all. I did almost all alone – though others were invited. There was no timetable ( which made it difficult for others to join) and no interstates except for some segments, especially up the East Coast. The first day I did 1000 miles to Fredericksburg ,Virginia, stopping only for gas and and excellent BBQ lunch in Georgia. The next day, I arrived in my hometown of Bay Head New Jersey, where I spent the next 10 days seeing friends and family, with one day trip into ghostly New York.

On Friday, July 10, just ahead of an approaching hurricane, I took a sunrise swim in the Atlantic and headed west to the Pacific. The first stop was New Wilmington, Pennsylvania to visit an ancestral graveyard. With the help of the caretaker, I was able to find the grave of my Great-Grandfather who died early, and that of my Great Great Grandparents as well.

I spent the night in Massillon, Ohio where my Father grew up. My Grandfather,Blaine Zuver, was an industrialist who supplied hundred s of jobs in the town. Enterprise Aluminum Company developed the Percolator – first at home coffee maker, as well as cookware. In World War II the factory went on war production, making canteens and mess kits for the army ,as well as bomb fins and crates, and bullet cannisters.

That afternoon I drove Highway 30, the Lincoln Highway, as there would be no more interstates for a long time. The idea was to see the real America. I spent the night in Auburn, north of Ft.Wayne.

At the beginning of the trip I had been to 43 States. The route was also planned that I would visit the 7 remaining states I had not been to. On Sunday morning July 12, I entered Michigan, my 44th State.

There’s a lot of corn in the Midwest, so much we can’t eat it all. That’s why 10% of the gasoline you put in your car is actually ethanol from corn. And the corn tortillas of Mexico -made with American corn. Pigs in the US and China eat corn too.

West of Kalamazoo, I reached Lake Michigan. I even caught a rideable wave. From there it was off to Whitehall to stay with old friends in their compound overlooking Lake Michigan and Whitehall Lake.

10 PM Sunset, very far west in the Eastern Time Zone while my hosts served delicious Scandinavian meals and many libations.

Watch The Video Above To Cross Into All The 33 States !