3150 miles

…of driving and camping across the country brought us to Connecticut yesterday afternoon. Our route wound through northeast Oregon, western Washington, the Idaho panhandle, Montana, northeast Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Connecticut. Whew!

As much as I would have liked to take scenic back roads across the western states, it was just more practical to stick to the interstate. We enjoyed the ever-changing landscape, frequently rolling down a window to get photos of mountains, rivers, fields, cattle, clouds, and the occasional billboard we found ironic or comical.

We passed the time by studying road maps, listening to NPR stations along the way (making good use of The NPR Map), and scrolling through Joel’s ipod to create a road trip soundtrack. Frank Zappa’s “Montana” was in my head for the entire state. We also read to each other from Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, by David Sedaris. This lead to many bouts of laughter and provided us with an arsenal of jokes for the rest of the trip. With a little background knowledge of the Sedaris family (after having previously listened to his books on tape), we attempted to read the dialog sections with the appropriate voices, our favorite being that of his brother, “The Rooster.” It was a sad moment when the final chapter was finished.

The best drive-by birding was in South Dakota. Even in the rain, the grasslands were full of red-winged blackbirds, meadowlarks, red-tailed hawks, kestrels, goldfinches, and others. Two states stood out as having the most impressive scenery: Montana and Wyoming. Another had the nicest people, and that was Minnesota. We would have liked to stay in these places for longer, to hike in the snow-capped mountains, learn to fly fish, paddle along rivers, and ride our bikes around little towns. But our bikes stayed locked to the roof rack, and the closest we got to fishing was stepping into a fly shop and outfitter after getting coffees in downtown Missoula. Next summer we can go back. We have already started planning the trip, and it includes a little cabin at the edge of the Gallatin National Forest just north of Wyoming.

Here’s a little of what we saw along the way. The full set of photos is here.

Sapphire Mountains and cattle, western Montana

the Absaroka Range and hay bales, southern Montana

storms over the Bighorn Mountains, from MT-WY border

Buffalo Gap National Grassland, South Dakota

sunset in southeast Minnesota

more pictures…

You will notice there are no photos after Minnesota. As soon as we entered Wisconsin, the view from the interstate became less impressive and the traffic more frustrating. In fact, for day 4, I would have liked a do-over. What should have been a 9-hour drive from Wisconsin to Ohio, wound up taking us 18 hours because of holiday traffic and insane construction projects. Illinois was more like Illinnoying, and Ohio (“the birthplace of aviation”) seemed to be “the birthplace of aggravation.” Day 5 had some interesting scenery through Pennsylvania and Connecticut, but when I was not driving, I was sleeping, so the camera stayed in the bag.