the oregon trail, day three: belgrade, MT

It's the 4th of July and that is very apparent here on the outskirts of Bozeman, MT. We got into town kind of late and it took us a while to find a place to eat that wasn't closed for the holiday. Now we can see lots of fireworks. The fun kinds that are illegal in Michigan. It doesn't matter out here. The city we are in is on a large plain between some mountains - someone could blow up a brick of TNT and nobody would notice.

Today we started in South Dakota. We slept in and visited Mount Rushmore (which was neat) so we didn't get on the road until about 11 AM local time. Wyoming came after that, and now we're in Montana. Wyoming was pretty good. We started seeing some mountains there, but I-90 swung north so we could avoid them for the moment. I guess Montana is OK, but they have their share of idiot drivers.

We're getting to the point where we gas up wherever we can. We found in South Dakota that the midgrade gas was actually cheaper than normal unleaded. The pumps said the midgrade had ethanol, so we figure the locals have some strange aversion to ethanol gasoline. We pumped it in happily, seeing as all of Michigan's gas has ethanol added.

I think we're going through the mountains tomorrow. We're going to try for another 550-mile day tomorrow that should put us in Washington right on the border of Oregon. So we'll be out of the red states soon, which is good. (Side note: on Day One we saw a pickup with the license plate 'I 4 BUSH'. It explains a lot.) That means we should be cruising into Corvallis midday Wednesday. I can't wait, because I want to set up my apartment and this driving thing is starting to get old.

B-29 Superfortress

B1-B Lancer

the jolly green giant

In Minnesota, someone has gone to the trouble of erecting a 55' statue of the Jolly Green Giant.

the oregon trail, day two: hill city, SD

We only drove a little over 500 miles today, but we're pretty tired all the same. Part of it is that we stopped at some touristy places today. Wall Drug and the Corn Palace were things to visit just to have visited, but the air & space museum outside of Ellsworth AFB was pretty cool. There was quite a bit of rain when we left Minnesota this morning. Minnesota did have some power windmills, which was cool to see. Most of the day was spent driving through South Dakota.

We're staying at a hotel less than ten miles from Mount Rushmore for the night. We wanted to see the fireworks show at the memorial but it was insanely packed. We would have had to park somewhere far away and hike a couple of miles to find a good vantage point. We decided to bail and had a late dinner. I caught a glimpse of the B-1 flyover.

Things are starting to get kind of desolate in this part of the country. Cities seem to be getting smaller and further apart. At least we don't really have to worry about traffic. Tomorrow we're going to see Mount Rushmore and then drive another 500 miles or so. There's really no reason for us to push ourselves so it's looking like we'll be getting into Corvallis on Wednesday morning.

the oregon trail, day one: albert lea, MN (supplemental)

For dinner we had some pizza that was quite good. Unfortunately we really can't bring leftover pizza so we just left what we couldn't finish. We're back at the hotel now. My dad is checking maps for tomorrow and I'm taking advantage of the hotel's free Wi-Fi broadband. Once I let dinner digest a little I might go check out the pool. I think my dad is just going to sleep. He's earned it.

the oregon trail, day one: albert lea, MN

We made it to tonight's hotel after over 12.5 hours and 730 miles of driving. Bleh. I'm a little worn down, and I think my dad is really beat. Here's a brief summary of the day.

Michigan: Detroit is a little bad because of Superbowl construction, but otherwise driving as usual.

Indiana: Only in the state briefly, it was short and sweet.

Illinois: Driving sucked here. We managed to skirt around Chicago OK, but we then got caught in stop-and-go traffic for over an hour just because of a stupid toll booth catching everyone trying to get the hell out of Illinois. We then got the privilege of paying $0.80 for the holdup, to add insult to injury. Traffic just evaporated after that toll booth. The toll roads in general slowed things down - especially when the lanes coming out of the toll booths either disappeared or crossed each other. Thanks, Illinois.

Wisconsin: Not too bad, especially after Illinois. Lots of billboards for cheese. I missed the end of this state because I was dozing and only caught a glimpse of the MIssissippi River.

Minnesota: Hilly and pretty at first, but that gave way to seas of corn. All of the rest areas in the state are closed because of some silly budget mishap. Overall not terribly exciting and we'll put it behind us tomorrow morning.

the oregon trail, day one: clarkston, MI

I'm outta here. We're aiming to get past Chicago by lunchtime, which will probably be the most difficult part of the whole trip. I think we're going to end up somewhere in Wisconsin tonight.

hitting the trail

Somehow, everything managed to fit in the car. I leave in about 7 hours. I guess I should get some sleep.

packing

I leave tomorrow morning. I'm frantically trying to get everything packed. This drive out to Oregon seems a bit like the Mars rovers - launch first and send instructions later. Hopefully everything will end up OK.