2000 Road Trip Summary
Back in 2000 I took a 30 day, 10,000 miles road trip across America. Last year a good frien, Kuo-Yu, was driving from New York to Seattle and wanted to know what there was to see. So I wrote him the following email. Seeing as I have some more friends doing the same trip I thought I would post this for them to see. I hope they find it useful. Go Timmay! Go Leslay!
And so………….
You asked so I shall brain dump. My trip from Seattle to Main crossed much of the same path that you *may* use one your route from New York to Seattle. At a minimum it’s a 3 day driving only trip. At a maximum it can take as much time as you want. I’ll let you know all the places of interest that I saw that were near I-90, which is what I spent most of my time in. Going in reverse here’s what I saw.
In New York I saw little as the last vestiges of Hurricane Ivan were dumping as I crossed from Canada into Niagara Falls and drove on to Maine. What lies between you and Buffalo/Niagara is unknown to me, you’ll have to look on a map and see. Niagara Falls was very cool to see, if you haven’t seen it make sure you stop here. Of course this means I forgot to mention route options first. Leaving New York you’ll have two route choices to get to the mid-west, either by cutting across Candada (New York to Michigan) or via I-95. The former is a slower route as you can just get on 80 outside NYC and head almost directly west where you’ll hook up with 90 in Cleveland Ohio. I took the Canada route because I drove into Michigan to see Blake Williams, Todd’s old girlfriend. She lives in Lansing, or may still live there, so that’s an option to stop by and say hello. If you decide to skip the extra miles to see Niagara/Detroit (it’s rusting, violent and beautiful to drive through I hear) then you’ll have some serious corn fields to check out in Penn/Ohio. If you drive through Michigan watch out for cops, I saw the most speed traps in this state. You’ll love the cop cars though, they have a single gigantic red light on top of the cars, it looks like an oversized nipple. I couldn’t help but laugh every time I saw them chasing down a speeder.
Our trail now meets up in Chicago, the next interesting spot. You probably already know about the city so I’ll say little except that you should take photos in the industrial rust belts off I-90 near the southern end of lake Superior, or is it Michigan? I forgot, but it’s the area just east of Chicago. A huge wasteland of rusting plants and polluted rivers, our nation’s lurking past. Chicago has great Italian beef sandwiches, don’t not try one if you haven’t before. I have no clue where to get good ones, I’ve only found them drunk while on a business trip.
My next stop was Madison, a worthwhile college town to stop in and check out. It’s a liberal oasis in the mid-west. A good friend lives there and would probably put you two up for the night, just let me know if you’ll be stopping there. There’s good food, interesting capitol history and nice geography, the city built on an isthmus. Check it out. Note that I’m still on I-90 here. Make sure to stop at the bigger gas stations, the ones with mini-marts, and buy the big bags of cheese curds. They’re cheap, salty and SO good. You’ll get sick to your stomach eating them and probably really gassy while you try to finish the entire bag before it gets too warm after a day in the car, but it’s a treat nonetheless.
No I’m blasting in the car from Madison through flat flat flat flat flat flat flat lands, prairie lands, heading west towards South Dakota. I’m driving fast and long again because I’m stuck in a mid-west thunder, lightning, wind and rain storm, four storms in a day. It was beautiful and frightening, I’d never seen anything like it in my life. The first city of interest is Mitchell which is home to the Corn Palace. You won’t believe it, a building covered in corn, http://www.cornpalace.org. Take a bite. Keep going West and you’ll wind up in Chamberlain, interesting because I spent the night there, on the western bank of the Missouri river. I spent the night here, meeting some great campers, spending a nice night reading, writing and sipping tea, thinking about those who came before and had no idea just how big and far this river went. In the morning I awoke to the storm I told you about yesterday, my tent being lifted off the ground, all belongings left out over night being swallowed by the river. She giveth life and taketh your lamp, food and towels.
Farther west, much farther, you need to get off at Highway 240 and head south into the Badlands. DO NOT MISS THIS. If you’ve been there before do it again, I love the Badlands. Make sure to read Even Cowgirls Get the Blues before visiting, then look for the Rubber Rose. Exiting the Badlands (the highway is a loop) you’ll find the town of Wall, home of Wall Drug, no relation to Walmart. Stop in, get a doughnut and coffee, be amazed at all the crap, buy some funky ass bottle openers, get a little crazy and finally drive off into the Black Hills. Honest, the Black Hills, home to Mt Rushmore, Wind Cave and the Crazy Horse Monument. You will be amazed, I think, at how small Rushmore is and of the quality. You will be equally amazed at the size of Crazy Horse. The Black hills are beautiful, I camped near a lake and could feel ancient spirits surrounding me all night. It wasn’t as intense as it was in Nepal but still, there are spirits here.
Coming out of the Black Hills, trying and come out in the town of Speakfish which is home to I-90 again. Here head north on I-85 to Belle Fourche, turn left and head West on 34 to Hulett Wyoming. I think you’ll find this road a pleasing drive. Very remote, very nowhere, very nothing. Head south from Hulett to get to Devil’s Tower. It’s SO cool, look for climbers around the tower and make sure to walk the trail around, the short one stays closer and is more rugged, the longer I didn’t do. When you leave look at the prairie fields, you’ll hopefully see hundreds of prairie dogs. Name them all and talk to them, they’ll let you take as many pictures as you want. Don’t feed them, never feed animals, not even Francois.
Head south back to I-90 and start the long red drive west. I say red as I remember that many of the roads were surrounded and tainted by red clay, or something that looked reddish. It looked tres cool. Try and head west at such a time that you will hopefully arrive near Sheridan WY or just north, nearer Montant, just as the sun is setting in the West. You will be treated to a fabulous sunset, your first glimpse of the Northern Rocky Mountains. You ain’t in prairie land no mo! Behind those mountains lies YellowStone Park. I spent the night in Sheridan at a terrible campground, only because I was too far from my next destination. I would keep driving north into Montana. As you cross into Montana you will go by Custers Last Stand. I didn’t stop there on the advice of a friend who had visited recently. His only comment was “its a whole lotta nothing where a lotta people died.” See for yourself and let me know. We’re now in Montana, Big Sky Country.
The next major city you reach is Billings which isn’t anything to write home about. If you have the time I would recommend heading south from here along 212 which will take you through Bear Tooth pass, the highest pass in North America, and into Yelllowstone via the NE entrance. The drive is absolutely breathtaking. With this years dry and warm Winter you can hopefully cross Bear Tooth pass. If you cannot (check with the weather service and DOT) then either keep heading West until you get toLivingston where you can again drive south and enter YellowStone. Better yet, you could also take a different route that I didn’t try by heading due east from Ranchest WY which is just north of Sheridan WY (note that I’m backtracking here) instead of entering Montana. This is highway 14 methinks. You’ll be on a slower back road and will cross the mountains into Yellowstone via either the east entrance if you go through Cody or the NE entrance, connecting again with highway 212, the same one that goes from Billings through Bear Tooth pass. If Bear Tooth is closed then 212 and the NE entrance are also probably closed.
In a rush you can do Yellowstone by car in one day. Obviously that precludes any camping or deep hiking. I did this and enjoyed a great breakfast, Old Faithful, geysers, stinky sulfur pools, enormous ravens, black bears, brown bears, water falls, noisy tourists and both Buffalo and Bison (Buffalo are on the left side of the car, Bison on the right). It’s doable and this time of year should be quiet. If you’re really feeling adventurous then head out the south entrance of Yellowstone and down to Jackson Hole Wyoming. Hell, even if you don’t go to Jackson Hole head out the south entrance until you get to Jackson Lake where you can behold the magestic Big Titties…errrr Grand Tetons. The mountains are breathtaking, the drive south to Jackson a quick jaunt. Jackson is really a richer Sun Valley with lots of high end shops and cowboy bars. It’s not much to see outside of that and the big ski mountain.
Now that we’re out of Yellowstone we can concentrate on Montana. If you do Yellowstone then when you leave via West Yellowstone or the North Entrance you’ll be near Bozeman. I have some good friends who live here, let me know if you’ll be staying over, I can hook you up with them as they have a small guest house and, if around, I’m sure would put you up. Bozeman is a cool little college town, full of high-tech cowboys. I found it strange to be around such super smart truck driving red-necks who drink beers while driving 90 miles an hour with the dog in the back and at least 3 guns within reach. Buy yourself a cowboy hat and some Wranglers.
East of Bozeman, I can’t remember how far, is the head water of the Missouri river. Stop here to feel where all that power originates from, it’s humbling, or maybe not, but nonetheless you can say you saw the start of the river. Contuing east I’m going to skip all the way to Spokane. Why? Because I boogeyed between Spokane and Bozeman. From Spokane I head north towards Springdale, worming my way West from here until I get to Grand Coolee dam. On the way you can visit Fort Spokane, a somewhat interesting stop. Or you can just enjoy the quiet scenery as you drive along the lakes formed by the dam. I camped here for a night, a very quiet, very alone night, my night on the road in fact. If you do stay over, watch the laser show on the dam, it’s a hilarious old piece of propaganda from the 50s I guess. From here you keep heading west until you get to Pateros where you turn south toward Wenatchee. There’s a few state parks here, Fort Okanogan and Bridgeport, neither or which I visited. Could be worth a quick look. Stop over at Lake Chelan for lunch on your way south. At Wenatchee you hit Highway 2. From here you’re almost home. If you’re in for a last scenic drive take 2 all the way to the other side of the Cascades. If you’re tired or out of time or it’s going to be dark when you arrive in Seattle then just take Blewitt Pass, aka Highway 97, south to I-90 and come straight to Seattle.
So that’s the quick and dirty brain dump. Oh yeah, if you stay over in Spokane let me know, I have good friends here as well who can put you up. Here’s some alternate ideas for the above guide, if you can call it that. Let me know if I can clarify anything. Good hunting!
Alternate Ideas:
1) If you visit Jackson Hole you could take a longer detour to Seattle by heading east from Jackson across through central Idaho. This could be rewarding as it offers you the chance to see Craters of the Moon state park, Sun Valley and few other places I can’t remember. Look at the map for I-30 that runs through Idaho. This would definitely add some time to your travels but would show you Eastern Oregon as well, high mountain desert, pretty cool place.
2) Spokane to Seattle – If you have the time I would highly recommend heading far north from Spokane, all the way into the Okanogan, then heading west. You’ll see some pretty rugged and beautiful country. It’s supposed to be the up and coming white wine area of Canada and Washington. There’s all sort of cool little towns to check out. Never been there myself but I wish I had gone further north into this area.
3) Walla Walla – it’s in the SE corner of Washington and is home to our best wineries hands down. If you can, figure out a route that gets you down here in lieu of alternate #2 above. You’ll be rewarded with fabulous wine tastings and a glimpse of a fledgling industry that Napa probably resembled 30 years ago. You could get here via alternate #1 above or by cutting off I-90 to Highway 12 in Missoula MT.