Day 18 - Oregon Coastacular

Day 18
Cape Lookout State Forest, Pacific Sunset Inn, Brookings, OR
Splurged on a flash back to the 70's hotel for $60 tonight.  The owner Lydia is nice.  She has lived in this area for about 35 years.   She likes the weather.  Who wouldn't?  Love it.  I'm only 14 miles from the Redwood Forests.  I've wanted to see them since I first heard about them in elementary school.  I still can't comprehend how a tree can be large enough for a car to drive through.  Oregon coast is spectacular.  It took me forever because I couldn't pass up a viewpoint.  Visited a spot with sea lions.  Wow!Maybe I'll be rested enough to think of something witty to blog tomorrow night.  :-)

Day 17 - The Day of No Room at the Inn

Day 17
Hoh Rainforest Olympic NP, Washington - Cape Lookout Campground, Oregon
Milage:  5,071
Favorite State Ever:  Washington State

It has...Seattle, the ocean, average temps in the 70's in the summer, rugged coastline, mountains with snow & baby deer.  It has...Chipotle, fresh, sustainable food markets, elk, wildflowers and diversity.  It has...rainforests, national parks, moose (although well hidden), marmots and wildlife sanctuaries.  It has fresh seafood, scenic vistas, ferries, inlets, sounds, herons, eagles, osprey and cool breezes.  Tomorrow...Oregon!

Today started with a walk in the rainforest where I spotted a pileated woodpecker, a Stellars Jay and a dark-eyed junco.  Traveled the rest of the Washington coast, crossed into Oregon and realized it was Saturday.  This seems to be a day when everyone decides to go camping.  After several failed attempts to find a campground or a hotel I pulled into the day parking of Lookout Point State Park in Oregon.  After avoiding the sign that said no admittance between 10pm and 7am I found a quiet spot and squeaked in a few hours of sleep before waking up early enough to beat it out of there before the people who put the sign up got there.  I even successfully snuck a shower at the campground bathrooms before hitting the road for Day 18.  :-)

Day 16 - The Night Camped in the Rainforest (Okay, it’s a temperate rainforest, but still.)

Day 16

Seabeck State Park Campground, WA - Hoh Rainforest Campgroud, Olympia NP

Milage:  4,780

Clothing:  95% dirty 

Accidents: 1 - thankfully I wasn’t in it, I just had to find a way to drive around it or wait the estimated 1-2 hours for the road to be cleared.  I love my iPhone navigation feature!!

Herons:  24

Bald Eagles: 1

Ducks:  6

Robins: 2

Gulls:  5

Deer: 17

Moose: 0

I’ve hit my favorite area of the country so far!  Northwest you are the best.  Washington state is super great.  For Seattle I’d go to battle.  Route 101, you’re #1.  Excellent breakfast at Barbie’s Cafe in Seabeck.  An omelette with onion, shrimp, avocado and cream cheese with hash browns and a grilled english muffin.  Mmm...in fact that was lunch as well.  :-)  When I move to the northwest I will live in the city and have a weekend home on one of the bays or sounds southwest of Seattle.  

Day 15 - Seattle Public Market

6:45am - Time I left the campground

10:00pm - Time I rolled into tonight’s campground

Cheney, WA - Somewhere else in Washington on the other side of the state.  :-)

Time in car...about 10 hours.  My foot is starting to resemble a gas pedal.

Today’s spot to not sight a moose:  Turnbull Wildlife Refuge - I did see lots of great birds including a Canadian Goose that just stood in the middle of the road and then ran alongside the car when I would try to squeeze past it.  See video that I’ll post to my page later.  (Does anyone know how to rotate videos before uploading to facebook?)

Seattle’s Public Market area could be days worth of fun!  Also, there is a Chipotle only three blocks away.  Double score!  I think I could live in Seattle.  It has a great energy.

After leaving Seattle I punched in my next destination and hit “go” on the GPS.  It let me to a ferry instead of giving me land directions to my next location.  An hour and a half through rush hour traffic both ways.  I think I may need to shut the GPS off and just use my spidey sense instead!  Worst news:  The ferry was in the opposite direction of where I was actually trying to go.  How did I not notice this?  I believe I had ceased to think at that point.

Oh, forgot to mention the guy who came running toward my car waving his arms last night when I got off an exit in Spokane to look for a park.  Luckily the light turned green and I sped off...only to have two people on the highway honk at me.  Doggone those headlights!  At least I didn’t have another run in with the men in blue.  

Tomorrow:  Olympic National Park - Hoh Rainforest, Oregon and maybe Northern California

Day 14 - The Vortex

At The Vortex ;-)

Day 14
West Glacier, MT - Cheney, WA
296 miles + detours

After sleeping in a tshirt, fleece, long pants and thick socks...under a sheet, down blanket and sleeping bag...I awoke to rain.  Nix the hiking idea.  Warmed up the breakfast I prepared the night before.  Stopped at a few more overlooks.  Saw a warbler of some sort.  Took Route 2, the road less traveled.  Saw lots of interesting little towns.  Visited the vortex, an area with some sort of special energy that makes people shrink and tree branches grow funny.  I think it may have been optical illusions...but I'm not so sure.  Stopped at lots of pull-offs that threatened to have wildlife viewing.  Ha!  Found the Kootenai Wildlife Refuge and did see some white tail deer, a kingfisher, three new kinds of hummingbirds, red tailed hawks and 2 bald eagles.  I also met a guy who recommended I go to Turnbull Wildlife Refuge, so I'm camped 3 miles away and checking it out in the morning.  He guaranteed a moose sighting.  ;-)  Tomorrow my toes should touch the Pacific.

Day 13 - The Day I Decided I Don’t Really Care If I See Wildlife (Reverse Psychology)

Me standing beside a huge wall of frozen snow.  Brrr!

Day 13

Caldwell, MT - Glacier National Park, MT Avalanche Campground

Travel Time:  5 hrs to park and 2 hrs driving half way through

What I can see as I type this:  my campfire and my breath...it is freezing!!

Yesterdays Temperature Span:  33 degrees in the morning to 88 degrees at noonish...tonight I think it’s colder.  I actually ran the heater in the car this morning.  So, in the past 13 days I’ve been at 33 degrees, 116 degrees, at sea level & at 6640 feet above sea level.  

Total Miles:  3763

With each new park comes a realization I might have made earlier had I researched any of the parks I’m visiting before departing home.  :-)  Here’s what I’ve learned about Glacier.  It’s all trails with one road cutting through the middle.  Although the road is called Going-To-The-Sun Road, it rained during 90% of the time I was driving on it today.  I think the mountain lions, moose, bighorn sheep and grizzly bears forgot their raincoats because there wasn’t a one in sight.  However, I’m sure they all have their designated spots along the hiking trails for people who take to the woods to have exciting wildlife sightings.  In the morning I am going to hike a trail near my campsite.  Before I leave I’m going to rub myself down with some good smelling food and not make a sound as I round blind corner and bushes, in hopes to see something terrifying.  I’ve already burned some paper towel with butter on it in my campfire in hopes of luring one in tonight.  Actually, I am just out of fire starters and had to come up with the next best thing.  

Tips for Travelers  

• Remember the marshmellows. 
• Altitude is nothing to shake a stick at.  It’s harder to breathe, things cook funny and it feels like winter after the sun goes down.  
• It’s good to find a campsite by 7:00pm, even if you could drive a couple more hours.
• When passing through a National Park in 24 hours it is best to choose 2 things to focus on instead of driving through trying to stop indiscriminately and making yourself nuts
• Gas up before you have less than half a tank...there are a lot of corn fields and cow pastures between you and the next gas station. 
• Most of the northern half of the US is less developed than MA.  Forget finding a Whole Foods or a Chipotle.  You’ll feel like you’ve struck the lottery when a gas station has mini vegetarian pizzas ready in 8 minutes.  Today I ran across a market that sold organic and locally grown products...it’s the first one I’ve seen since leaving MA.  
• Have plenty of Wet Ones
• A clean & organized car is a happy car
• Figure out some way to be ready to take a photo of a pheasant as it flies out of the grass in front of your car...because that would be a really cool looking picture to post on facebook.  
• And last but not least...sometimes the quickest way to get somewhere is to slow down.

Day 12 - The Day I Met Lee and Tiva

Day 12
Yellowstone NP - Lewis & Clark State Park, Montana
Total Miles:  A lot
Total Bison:  Probably more than miles
Total Bug Bites:  About 15
Hours to Glacier NP: 4.5

Today's highlight was meeting Lee and Tiva...man and dog.  They are traveling from Oregon to Arkansas together...on a bicycle with an attached cart for Tiva to sit on as Lee pedals!  I caught up with them during a water break.  Apparently lots of people have been enjoying the photo op, even Tiva was looking great for the camera.  Yesterday they were being tracked by a wolf until someone in a truck came by and gave them a ride out of harms way.  Very interesting fellow.  I think I should have invited him to have some lunch with me and stolen a bit more time to talk.  The side of the road with bugs circling like vultures is not the best spot to chat.

Tomorrow it's off to Glacier where I am determined to see a moose, mountain goats a bear or two and bighorn sheep (I think they have those.)

Animals, new to me, I'm pretty sure I've seen so far: bison, elk, mule deer, marmot, pica, black wolf, pronghorn & lots of new birds I haven't IDed yet.

Day 11 - Here Moosey moosey...

Day 11 Yellowstone

Grand Teton NP - Yellowstone NP

Drove around all day stopping at various thermal features and animals sightings.

  

Realization of the day:  Yellowstone is huge and full of turnoffs of all sorts

Realization #2:  It is overwhelming to try to figure out what to do if you only want to spend 1.5 days in Yellowstone.

Realization #3:  This feeling of being overwhelmed is multiplied by lack of internet to research the sights you’d most like to see.

Solution:  Visit gift shop and purchase a cool mug and a bumper sticker and just keep on driving

Problem of the day:  Everyone else decided to camp in Yellowstone tonight, too.  Had to drive out of park and stay at a spot that only allows hard sided vehicles...no tents, no pop-ups...due to grizzly bear activity.  I’ll believe it when I see it.  

If had a photo of an animal in the roadway for every sign that said, “Caution:  Animal in Roadway” I’d have a lot of photos.  So far I’ve seen one deer cross the roadway.  I think they paid him just to make the signs not a total lie.  

Deep thought of the day:  “There are not enough warning signs in the world to account for stupid.”  After reading a huge sign about the importance of staying on the walkway at the thermal features, including statistics of people who have been burned to death in their acidic grips, I still saw people hopping off the boardwalk for photo ops, touching the ground to see if it was really hot and sticking their hand in the streams of boiling water.  Most of these actions sent the ranger on duty into a complete state of panic as she ran toward the people screaming.  I say there’s a lot to be said for survival of the fittest.  Let’s take down the signs and just let common sense be our guide.  

Day 10 - The day the mighty moose continued to elude me

Day 10

Lusk, WY - Grand Teton National Park (last possible campground before hitting Yellowstone)

Driving Time:  10 hours...including 2 hour drive through park

Found a great coffee shop in Lusk for a bagel and tea.  Successfully dodged a deer wandering into town and a pick-up adorned with Sarah Palin bumper stickers.  Considered myself off to a good start.  You might be small town if...funeral home notices are hung in the window of your only grocery store so people know when calling hours are.  Although earlier in the day I passed through Lost Springs pop. 4, so I guess Lusk is    kind of a big city with 844.  Continued on with a long drive.  Stopped at a Wyoming Audubon spot and found some new birds and got a lesson on poisonous snakes from a local couple walking two cute dogs that apparently eat salad.  It’s funny where conversations go.  Then a drive through the Tetons as the sun went down.  Beautiful.  Bison, deer, elk...no moose.  

Best name seen for lodging:  C’mon Inn

Range in gas price during this drive:  $3.32 to $4.09  Supply and demand...who knew there were oil wells in Wyoming?

Biggest benefit in small town America:  gas stations sell everything

Day 9 - More Prairie Dogs and Bison

Day 9
Badlands National Park, SD - Lusk, Wyoming
Travel Time:  3 hours
Visited:  Badlands NP - Wall, SD, Mt. Rushmore NP, Custer State Park
Highlight:  Herd of buffalo walking past car about 3 feet away

Tomorrow is a travel day.  Seven hours to Grand Teton and Yellowstone.  Looking forward to a shower...although I won't be touching anything in the bathroom.  Tonight I'm camping in a place with two RV's that people live in, rabbits and a raccoon.  

Day 8 - The day I didn't get arrested and fell in love with prairie dogs.

Day 8
Valentine, NE - Badlands National Park, SD
2 hrs + time driving around 2 parks
Total miles driven:  2,383.4
Highlights of day:  Feeding peanuts to prairie dogs, watching the sunset over the formations at Badlands...oh, and not getting arrested.

So, to kick off my police involvement I was pulled over in the booming town of Valentine, NE last night after driving for 9.5 hours...because I didn't have my headlights on.  Ugh.  Find license, find registration, wait with bright light shining in eyes...police returns and asks what's in the baggie in my front seat.  Oh, you mean my drug stash?!?  Just my teabags.  He did, in the end, recommend a hotel to stay at.  That was just my warming up.  So, on Monday I saw this hand in a canal:

I thought, what a great gag...someone put a fake hand in this canal.  On Tuesday a friend of mine said she thought the hand was real and I maybe should call the cops.  Well, I had already started having my doubts, but really...who finds a dead body on a random canal stop on vacation?  It kept nagging at the back of my mind though, so today I figured out where I took the photo and called the sheriff.  Kind of Dukes of Hazzard like.  I thought what a fabulous concerned citizen I was...until I got called back 4 times with questions about why I hadn't called sooner, if anyone had seen the hand with me, if I noticed anyone else in the area, how close had I gotten to the hand, what was the exact time of the photo, had I seen a body and why did I have a close up photo?  Suddenly, past CSI episodes started flashing through my head.  Was I a suspect now?  What are the laws on reporting a random hand you think is fake to the police.  My last call ended with the sheriff and crew at the canal checking into things.  Panic attack ensued.  I wondered what jail in small town Indiana might be like.  How would I get my Element back to MA?  Could I hide out in a cave in the Badlands?  After an hour of playing worst case scenario I called back to check.  The nice lady Joyce was gone.  What is your name and what is your business in calling was the response when I asked for her.  Gulp...I'm the person that called about the hand?  It was fake.  We had a shift change and got busy so we couldn't call you back.  Phew?!?  So, I guess I'll be traveling a few more days after all.  Tonight I am camping inside Badlands National Park.  It is amazingly beautiful and so far there haven't been any suspicious hands.

Day 7 - More Corn

Day 7
Cedar Falls, IA - Valentine, NE
9.5 hours of corn, soybeans & cows

Fun Facts:
* Rick and Terry Kottman are great hosts!  I recommend that everyone visit at least once in their lifetime.
* The size of one's ankles seems to run in direct proportion to the number of hours driven x temperature squared
* The USA grows crazy amounts of corn and soybeans
* Dairy Queen has a new mini size blizzard
* The midwest is just as barren as you've heard and there's more corn than you can imagine
* The Missouri River is flooded, don't plan on taking Route 29 as a scenic birding route
* It is impossible to keep a windshield bug free in Nebraska
* Try having your headlights on after dark if you don't want to get pulled over by the Valentine, NE police department
*  Heat index yesterday - 115 degrees
*  Heat index today - 106
* I know now that there must be air conditioning in heaven

Not fun facts:
* I witnessed my first cattle feed lot today.  It smelled like raw sewage with cows packed in like sardines, no room to move, no grass to eat and no shelter on a day that was 106 degrees.  Please eat meat responsibly...know where your meat comes from.
* A bird hit my windshield
* I got a sad animal chicken sandwich today when I ordered a Filet-O-Fish at McDonald's

The Mighty Mississippi & Yoga

Day 6
Brimfield, IL - Cedar Falls, IA
5ish hours with detours

Woke up in Jubilee Camp State Park thankful the raccoons from the night before didn't carry me off.  I was convinced on several occasions that the car was moving ever so slightly...but it may have just been the torrents of sweat pouring off me and dripping down to the floorboards of the car causing the shaking.  :-)  After a brief detour to the birthplace of Carl Sandburg it was off to the Mississippi.  Dipped my toes in while dodging a barking dog and no trespassing signs.  Apparently the people of Iowa want the riverbank all to themselves.  Arrived at Terry & Rick's place.  Ahh.  An oasis.  Throw in some restorative yoga, an ice cream cone and fabulous conversations and you can call it a day.  I wonder how many cornfields I'll see tomorrow?  Feel free to take guesses and I'll have some fun prize for whoever comes closest.  :-)  Next destination...Mount Rushmore.

The day with a Segway

Day 5

Cincinnati, OH - Brimfield, IL

6 hours travel time + 1 hour on a Segway

2 swollen ankles from too much driving

4 states passed through today

100 corn fields per state passed through

21 public bathroom used since start of trip

1,000+ miles driven

5 raccoons spotted near the dumpster

2 deer crossed my path as I drove to tent site

Location Information

Eureka, IL  The college home of Ronald Reagan

Kickapoo Creek, IL - no swimming allowed

Farmer City, IL - wins award for most oxymoronic city passed

Learned that the ship that delivered the bombs to be dropped on Japan was hit and sunk by two torpedos on its journey home.  800 of the 1,192 men made it off the vessel.  Because it was a secret mission, it took 5 days for help to arrive.  Only 300 men made it to safety.  (Or so my Segway guide said.)  She also said a wildflower garden looked like weeds to her, so I don't give too much credence to her information.

Learned that salad can be a finger food.

Odd sightings

Sign in campground bathroom:  In case of emergency use phone at gas station 4 miles away.

A crop duster buzzing cars on the highway

A black leather whip in the middle of an off ramp

A hand sticking out of the canal I visited that I thought was fake, and now, that I've looked at the photo more closely, am not sure

Today's highlight:  Viewing hundreds of fireflies lighting up over a field at dusk.

Day w/Ducklings

Day 4
Barkcamp National Park, OH - Columbus, OH - Cincinnati, OH
Travel Time: 4 hrs.

This morning I awoke to the sweet sound of barking dogs and a neighboring camper throwing up in the woods near my car.  This should have been foreshadowing for the outcome of the World Cup Game that ensued.  Great company...sad ending.  Two new friends, topiary, baby ducks, grilled tuna, a bed and a shower in the morning that less than 2,000 other people have showered in.  :-)  Overall, a plus.

Wright On!

Day 3 - Ohiopyle, PA to Benton, OH  - 2.5 hrs

Number of Frank Lloyd Wright homes visited today:  2 (Kentuck Knob & Fallingwater)

Miles from Ohiopyle State Park campground to the first house, Kentuck Knob: 2

Number of states I've been in today:  3 (Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio)

Campgrounds I tried to check into today:  2 (The first one looked like the Hotel California campground.  The doors to the office were chained shut with a note about calling for after hours check in...no, thanks.)

Chipmunks spotted: 2

Other wildlife:  birds and a raccoon...also, I can hear bats while I'm typing this

Today's Highlight:  Seeing two robins, in a nest attached to Fallingwater, feeding each other

Tomorrow I'll be visiting Anne, a friend from high school, in Columbus, OH to watch the Women's World Cup!  

Another Day...Another Goat

Day 2 - aka National Tapioca Pudding Day
Ithaca, NY to Ohiopyle, PA
Travel Time:  about 6.5 hours
Lowest Gas Price of the Day:  $3.59
Number of Bridges I Crossed:  Too many...see below.
What I Learned:  New York and Pennsylvania are full of mountains.  I think I went through the Adirondacks and the Allegenhys today.  
Most Unexpected Event:  Somerfest...complete with parade.  It was blocking my route so I stopped and watched for a while.
Expected Highlight for Tomorrow:  Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater

Today I visited Farm Sanctuary in Watkins Glen, NY.  It is a giant farm for farm animals rescued from abusive situations.  It's amazing how relaxed animals get when no one is planning to eat them.  If you don't know where your meat and dairy come from it's likely produced in conditions that would give you nightmares and quickly make you consider veganism.  If you are eating animal products, it's healthier for you and kinder to living things to make sure the living things weren't tortured before you ingest them.  Hope you're not eating a big burger as you read this.  :-)  Farm Sanctuary has a great website and fun t-shirts as well.
Now, for the driving...I've realized today that our country spends a lot of money on signs that state the obvious.  I guess they are okay for people who have given up meaningful thought for Lent, but for the majority of people with a slight amount of common sense...they seem redundant and often a little ridiculous.  Here are a few of the messages that I surely would not have made it my destination without: Be Alert, Slow Down Now, Buckle Up, Slowing Down Can Save a Life, Bridge May Be Icy in conjunction with Bridges Freeze First...on every single bridge, didn't we all learn this in driver's ed??  And my favorite sign of the day...Beware of Aggressive Drivers (I'm wondering if there is a higher concentration of angry drivers in the areas with these signs...or if they are spreading like those attack bees from Mexico?)
Tonight  I also arrived too late for a fire but made one anyway.  Hope it goes out soon.  It's already tomorrow and I'm ready to hit the foam...that's on the seats...that turn into a bed...inside the car  :-)  

And the Journey Begins

Day 1
8ish hours
Ipswich, MA to Ithaca, NY
What surprised me today: a sudden lane split, a suicidal squirrel and something that fell out of a tree and almost hit me in the head
Word I most enjoyed saying today:  Schenectady
Place most likely to have a disease named after it: Schenevus
Things I learned today:  I still love goats, the Toyota Prius is taking over the roadways of America, out of the way is the way, although Ithaca is hip...it's hard to walk far before becoming overwhelmed by someone's body odor, the Erie Canal is a lot bigger than that photo in my sixth grade social studies book.
Best food I had today:  I guess the tofu burrito...that scares me.
What the Element would say about today if it could talk:  Phew!  (Should sound like my Grandmother when exclaimed.)
Most interesting famous site:  Bainbridge - Home of Elmer's Glue
Place I decided not to visit today: The Beer Cave in Oneonta
Tomorrow's predicted highlight:  Farm Sanctuary, Watkins Glen, NY

Preparations

I'll be hitting the road soon for my summer road trip.  Not sure where I'm headed, when I'll get there or what I'll do there.  Very different from my usual way of travel.