The drive out west

Saturday of labor day weekend it came time to pack the car and drive out west. Mom was a great help with the packing and cleaning of my apartment. I tried to buy her lunch in thanks only to find the place only took cash - oops! Mom had to help with that too :) Oddly I could have paid for lunch in South African rands or Euros but not in dollars...

Fortunately I had left some stuff at mom's place and had to drive out there before officially hitting the road. I say fortunately because no sooner had I pulled out of the apartment did one of my cats pee and poop in the crate then sit down in it. The whole car smelled and it was gross. I was able to throw out the towels (I had in the crate just for such emergency) at mom's, hose off the cat, and put in fresh towels. I thus was able to start my trip with a relatively odor-free car! At that point he could pee/poop no more, and I guess his behavior served as a warning to the other two cats because there were no more accidents the entire trip!

I went west through Tennessee and past where my step-dad lives. The drive in the western part of North Carolina and just into Tennessee is absolutely beautiful. I wish I had hiked more this summer. I was able to once with the friend I made; he was awesome - I wish I had met him sooner and hiked a lot more. I was very happy to be carrying a bike on my car that he fixed up for me - a 1970's 1-speed that is cute and should work well for me in Oregon. That was a very nice parting gift. I felt Oregon-ready with that strapped on top of my luggage carrier! (My new town is one of the most bicycle-friendly towns in the country.)

I met my step-dad for dinner; we had a fun sushi dinner at a place near his apartment. He wanted me to stay longer but I needed to make it past Nashville where I had booked a pet friendly hotel. The last hour of driving that night was a killer - I was probably still jet lagged, and tired from loading up the car. I made it though, and managed to get all the pets in the room without too much trouble. It took me 6 trips to and from the car for my stuff, the pet food and cat litter, and all 4 pets. There were two young guys partying in the room next to me and they seemed quite amused by the parade I put on. They also wanted to flirt. I was in no mood for that! I crashed quickly after settling into the room, though I was too anxious about the trip to sleep well.

The next day I went from Nashville through western Kentucky and Missouri to Kansas where I stopped in Manhattan (home of KSU) to pick up a friend to help with the rest of my drive. Driving that day was un-eventful. I had seen much of that land before, and had a book on tape to keep me entertained. It was nice to arrive where a friend was staying, because I was able to have dinner with him, his cousin, and her husband. We met again for a late breakfast the next morning, including an early birthday cake for him, and took a tour of the cousin's husband's research lab before hitting the road again. The other nice part about this stop is being a small town my hotel options were limited so I stayed at a rather nice place for the night - no more seedy next door neighbors to contend with! My friend also helped me with the pets, turning 6 trips into only one with the hotel cart. I did feel guilty taking so many pets into a fancy hotel - but they were ok with it.

On the 3rd day we went through Kansas, Colorado (to Denver then North), and into Wyoming. We got about 100 miles ahead of where I thought we would, and had a good day driving. We listened to a book on tape; a fun story about criminals and novice crime solvers on a cruise ship. We saw the most interesting set of characters at "Taco Time" in western Kansas - I guess middle-America does fit some stereo types. A ~10 year old kid had the thickets rat's tail I've ever seen, and an old weathered man had a kid's spider man t-shirt on; I'd need a picture to show how odd it looked. Everyone in there looked like the poster children for middle of nowhere hicks. They made people in Western North Carolina (that I joked about all summer) look Parisian-chic by comparison! Super friendly though. Spider man guy held the trash can flap open for me :) The food sucked, but oh well.

I had never before seen Colorado, and my friend and I were both amazed at how quickly the landscape changed form Kansas to Colorado. There was also an amazing storm we passed through in Colorado that resulted in a huge double rainbow. The 2nd I'd seen this summer. We could see sheets of rain and huge strikes of lightening and the clouds were ominous. The land was high desert; barren and beautiful. Denver came up majestically with the Rockies as a backdrop. I will certainly have to spend more time in that state. Wyoming is also quite pretty and worth further travel, but it was dark when we reached there. We ate dinner at a truck stop diner and though I was totally wiped out (my friend had taken over the night driving - he's a night owl; useful for this trip!) we enjoyed overhearing the conversation between two truckers about the odd types of loads they had carried in their pasts, and what they enjoy about the different things they haul.

The 4th day brought us out of Wyoming, through the NE corner of Utah, which I still think has the most breathtaking scenery in our country (even from this corner off the highway it was beautiful), and through the southern part of Idaho. Utah had a nice grassy rest-stop with great hilly views; I'll have to get pics from my friend to post here. My dog by now couldn't wait to run around as she had only had frisbee playing in hotel lots each morning (except a terrific creek swim in Manhattan, Kansas near the cousin's apartment.) We also passed a fierce storm in Utah that slowed us down; fortunately we didn't get any of the large hail that was reported on the radio. The lightening was rather frightening though, and it seemed we would pass through the worst of it, but it moved east and we missed it. The winds were so strong my entire luggage carrier shifted about 6 inches backward, loosening all the straps. This caused a funny resonance with one of the straps resulting in a high-pitched vibration sound that was rather annoying but quite curious. I'm glad the carrier I borrowed had a water proof lining and my friend lent me extra straps to go with it!

In Idaho we had dinner with a long-lost cousin of mine on my dad's side. It was a hoot. He mostly talked of gambling and his son's motorcycling. I enjoyed meeting him. That night we were going to drive into Oregon but fortunately I called ahead to request late check in, only to find out they closed their window at midnight and we couldn't arrive later than that. This forced us to stop for the night just at the border, only 50 miles ahead (having lost 50 of those we gained the previous day). I was rather exhausted that day, though, so it probably worked out for the best. I also am now acquainted with motel 6 which from the 2 I've since been in are rather nicer and less expensive than many day's inn hotels. They also allow dogs in all rooms so you don't have to worry about the pet rooms being booked up.

Our 5th and final day was totally in Oregon - and all in daylight, which was terrific; I loved seeing my state in detail. Oregon has the most amazing eastern half that is high desert like Colorado, with lush little valleys fed by streams between hills of desert brush and rock. Then there are the Cascades which seem to me like an enchanted forest with moss on the trees and an abundance of ferns. Then you come to the Willamette valley, where I now live, which is so fertile, and you can see mountains on both sides. Past this is the coast with rocks and pine trees making it so much more lush than the plain sands of the central-east coast.

Our drive was on a minor highway which was more direct but also slower - totally worth it though. I really enjoyed seeing the small towns. Eastern Oregon is so vast and desolate we went about 120 miles from the Idaho border to Burns and the largest town we passed had about 4 buildings and one intersection. There was no gas to be bought there at all. Good thing we had a full tank. We stopped in Burnes at "ye old castle" for a decent late diner breakfast. The great thing about that place was the atmosphere. It was filled with antique toys of all types. Refurbished bikes from the 1950's sat above the booths, and tricycles hung from the ceiling. Bookcases were filled with toy cars, buses and assorted other things. It was like a museum. What a great find! Later that day we passed Bend and Sisters; both gateway towns for the Cascades. I can't wait to go hiking here - the mountains are amazingly beautiful. The Pacific Rim Trail is calling me... We arrived in my town around 6pm. I was exhausted, but happy to be driving directly to my new home.