A road trip, in pictures

The great road trip from Bay City, Michigan to Corvallis, Oregon began on August 16th. We drove from the mid-Michigan east coast to Minneapolis in one day, stopping for pasties and ketchup along the way. In the past, we've taken the southern route through Chicago or the most direct route - the Badger across the lake. This time we took the more scenic, cheaper, and less stressful northern route. Even though it took longer, we arrived in Minnesota ready to eat some delicious fajitas with my family and enjoy a visit from my best friend, who dropped off some tunes for us to enjoy on our trip.

The next morning, August 17th, brought us through southern Minnesota (corn and flat) into eastern South Dakota (more corn, flat, but with a corn palace!) As you can see to the left here, I'm giving a thumbs-up to Mitchell's corn palace. In reality, the corn palace was a disappointment. I'd heard so much hype I was expecting an entire building made out of corn. Alas, it was not to be. Oh well. It's free, and has nice bathrooms, so it might be worth a stop if you're out there. At this point, we also spent much time discussing where exactly the Great Plains began. In my opinion, the number and placement of trees is the deciding factor. Discuss amongst yourselves.

Later that day we made the first of our national parks stops at the Badlands. That was a pretty sweet place, let me tell you. At first I was put off by the $15 entrance fee, but Aaron and I got the year pass for $50, which with this visit and a few others we plan on making should pay for itself and then some. And, we're contributing to the national parks, who probably need a few bucks anyhow. The Badlands were awesome, and here are some pictures to prove it:


Aaron and I darkly stand in front of some scenery. I guess this one didn't turn out so hot, but it was breathtaking.



As we were driving through the Badlands, we could see storms brewing for miles. It was amazing to see so far across the flat land and see the rain falling in sheets probably 50 miles away. The coolest part though was when the sun cut through the light mist in the Badlands to form the most intense double rainbow I've ever seen. I love these pictures.



That night we stayed in Sundance, Wyoming. It was a small town, named for the Sundance Kid. No, it's not where the film festival is held, we found out. It is also home to overpriced Best Westerns. Our first night in a hotel of many, I'm afraid. The continental breakfast was nothing to write home about either. We didn't spend anytime exploring Sundance, so let us know if you do and there's anything notable.

Our driving schedule was pretty solid the whole trip. We left around 8 in the morning, after bringing the bikes back down from our hotel room (we don't leave our babies outside, no sirree), strapping them on the back, and loading the lil' Golf back up. We'd drive for 12 to 14 hours, stopping to switch drivers, gas up, and eat approximately every 2 hours. We had an awesome schedule going and were a pretty good team navigating and acting as rearview mirror for each other. Except when I broke the car (not really), but more on that later. Look at us, driving!



So, the next day we made it to the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Memorial. We spent almost two hours there, as I am an American history nerd and Aaron loves Native American history. We bought books (surprise, surprise) and I really enjoyed seeing the actual place that I had read about so much.


Here's the site of the "last stand"; where the white markers are, a soldier fell. These markers were placed in the late 1800s.


On the other hand, the American Indians who fell in battle here were not commemorated until very recently. Red marble markers were placed in 1999 where native warriors were killed, equal in size and shape to the white marble markers of the white soldiers. In 2003, a memorial was erected (seen above) for all of the warriors lost at this site. As you might know, this park used to be known as Custer National Memorial or something like that, but it was recently changed to reflect a more neutral title. Late but important steps in remembering a balanced view of history...

Montana was a long state, let me tell you. We made it to Deer Lodge, Montana by that night, which is about an hour from Missoula. The night before in Sundance I drove through some foothills in the dark and was freaked out, so we decided to call it quits before dark. Deer Lodge, we discovered, is the second oldest city in Montana, housed the first prison, and is very close to where my sister spent the summer with Project Vote Smart.

The next morning is when I broke the car. Ok, I didn't really...well, we're not sure. Basically, after I filled the car up with diesel (it's a diesel, I didn't break it that way) the "check engine" light came on. The owner's manual was decidedly unhelpful, but we've driven over 1,000 miles since then and have an appointment for tomorrow morning at the local VW dealer.

Anyhow, we made the rest of the trip in one day, from Deer Lodge, Montana, through Idaho, Washington, and Oregon, to make it to Corvallis. Some highlights from that Saturday:



In Idaho, we got this awesome shot of the mountains and bikes. The mountains were huge and tree-covered, and I was glad Aaron had this part of the route. It was so curvy and steep...man, I am not cut out for that type of thing. Craziness. We went by many mountain passes that were over 6,000 feet - not super high, but still.



Something that neither of us realized is that eastern Washington is full of nothing. Like, more nothing than South Dakota. It's high desert, dry, pretty flat, and desolate. We went 70 miles without an exit. We did see this dust storm thing though, just like in the movies.



But soon, the air became sweeter, the people more friendly, and the sales tax non-existent because we were in Oregon. This is the bridge that takes you over the Columbia River into the land of Oregon.


Once in Oregon and heading toward Portland, we drove along the Columbia River Gorge. This picture is of the eastern end; as we drove westward, it became more beautiful, mountainous, and tree-ey.



I have to say, the worst part of the drive was easily the last 90 minutes from Portland to Corvallis. The traffic was fine, the road was straight, but I was just so sick of driving and I wanted to be in my apartment so badly. My spirits soared when I saw this sign: Highway 34 to Corvallis! We were only twenty miles away.



Ok, you probably can't read this, but it says "Entering Corvallis Population 53, 165". Revise that, folks -it's 53,167 now!!!

We got in to our apartment, unloaded the car, and headed out in search of food. We discovered Pizza Hut across the street and a grocery store next door. (I have since fallen in love with WinCo and will post about that later. It's amazing, in that way that I love now that I'm poorer than I was in college: it's cheap.)

I know I promised you guys pictures of the apartment, so I'll include a few now.We want to make whole other posts on our awesome furniture finds, food budget, and the beloved WinCo, so I won't put too many details.


Me in the living room.

Aaron in the kitchen, drinking orange juice.

The bedroom, a mess.

Basically, you walk in the door to the living room. Take a few steps in, and you've got the kitchen on your left and the living room on your right, connected through the island. The bathroom door is up to your left-most upper corner, and the bedroom is next to the living room. I don't know if that makes sense, but come visit and you'll see!!!

Ok, that's all for now. Big first day of work tomorrow, should hit the sack. We'll keep you updated on how that goes, along with some other posts!

~Allison