I've spent quite a bit of time on the road these last 2 months. I drove 10,000 miles across 11 states, using 4 different rental cars. It wasn't cheap, but it was so worth it.

We like to name our cars, even if they are rentals. These are the 4 vehicles that powered my most recent road trip.

Sonora

This was my first car of the trip. I had it for 24 days and put more than 6,000 miles on it. From LA to Portland, stopping by Phoenix, Santa Fe and Salt Lake City in between.

It brought me to beautiful places like Saguaro National Park, Arizona, the Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado, a lot of Pueblo towns in New Mexico or Moab, Utah.

Sonora II

I know, I wasn't very original with this name but I mean, same car and same color...

I only had Sonora II for a couple of days, enought to drive more than 500 miles to beautiful spots of the Oregon and Washington Coast and, of course, the stunning Mt St Helens.

Big Bertha

This one was as big as a boat! A very smooth drive and awesome choice for more than 3,000 miles. I took it to Mt Hood, then down to the Bay Area where I explored the Sonoma Coast and San Francisco, and even to a wedding in Nevada City (east of Sacramento).

It was an old model (it had an iPod -that's an O- connector), but I really liked this car.

Rafael

We flew to Detroit from the West Coast, and there's really no other easy way to get from there to our final destination here in Indiana other than driving.

It was a short drive and just a few hours, but Rafael still deserves to be mentioned as part of this story.