Sawston Goes South

By Stacey Belser 

Sawston is branching out and opening an office on the East Coast. North Carolina to be exact. As a military family we knew moving was a possibility, but now it is a reality. A cross country drive was always on my bucket list, and this one was strange, fun, and one for the books! Come along as I take you along for the ride! 

My brother Zack and I embarked on the cross-country trip on a Friday morning and made it to Summerville, South Carolina on Sunday afternoon. We drove just over 3,000 miles and crossed through 13 states. Unfortunately, we were not able to try some of the famous food or stop at any landmarks because of the closings due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. Casey’s General Store in Higginsville, Missouri won the award for lowest gas prices at $1.04 per gallon. A few miles after this stop we saw another station that touted $1.02, but we did not stop there. 

Montana was beautiful and my brother was able to make his dream stop in Missoula. The mountains there were beautiful. I am so glad that part of the trip was during the day. 

We also stopped in St. Regis, Montana where we saw huckleberry everything! Soda, beer, vinegar, jam, and even a famous milkshake! We grabbed a couple sodas and some huckleberry lemonade. After looking at the label, the Americana Huckleberry Soda is from Mukilteo, WA. Washington has become my home so small reminders like this made me smile. 

South Dakota was the longest state to drive through and I have no desire to repeat that part of the trip. There would be 70 or more miles in between some stops when we were looking for food or coffee. We were tired and happy when we finally found coffee. 

We were constantly sending updates to our family and friends letting them know where we were on the road. We also listened to hours and hours of our favorite true crime podcast “Crime Junkie.” One other assignment we had from my ten-year-old daughter was to see how many different state license plates we would see along the way. She made an alphabetical list of all the states for us to cross off. We crossed off 37 of the 50 states! 

Driving through Atlanta was surreal. There were so few cars on the road that I could count them. If you have ever been to Atlanta you know that this is unheard of on any given day. Overall, our drive was easy because we never got into one traffic jam. Finding good food wasn’t the easiest, but we had so many snacks in the car that we were never hungry. While I do not want to repeat the drive anytime soon, it was such a fun experience to see some states I have never seen before. I miss you Washington, but here’s to an exciting new chapter for Sawston!