America the Beautiful

September 06, 2010

America the Beautiful

I've done a lot of traveling, around the US and the world, yet I don't think I've fully had the opportunity to appreciate just how huge and diverse our country is until Boyd and I took this trip from Santa Cruz, CA to New Haven, CT. In all, drove 4,612 miles over 26 days (including 5 days in Minneapolis) and still we only made one small transect east to west, barely dipping south at all.

On that note, I love playing with technology and maps, so I took this opportunity to create this map of all the places Boyd and I stopped on our way to Connecticut.

There are so many great stories of adventures along the way! I already posted 50 of the best photos of the trip and so here I want to share some of the fun things we saw and crazy things we experienced:

Near Bend, Oregon we stopped in the High Desert Museum for a few hours. They have a great American Indian display, which does a really good job at showing that Native Americans still live in the area and that they are actively adapting and incorporating their traditions and making new traditions. I don't know if I'm explaining it well but I reallyenjoyed it - especially the teepee all decked out with pre-game BBQ supplies!
At the wilderness campground in eastern Oregon there were signs about how to recognize and avoid marijuana grow sites in the surrounding Ochoco National Forrest.
We went through so many small towns, like Spencer, Idaho the "Opal Capital of America" (population 38 in 2000). By the time we reached Minneapolis I felt like it was as big as New York City! One town only had a post office and nothing else for at least 50 miles.

We got lost in the National Forest just west of Broadus, Montana, driving around for over an hour trying to find a campground or a makeshift campsite for the night. We were initially following signs for a campground but we made a huge loop before we saw anything. Luckily we were enjoying our book on tape (Ken Follett's "Pillars on the Earth")! It was interesting, though, almost all of the National Forest was fenced off and leased out to ranchers.

Gas station differences across the US: In Oregon you can't pump your own gas. They have people who come out and pump it for you, which is nice, except for I usually have to get out anyway and go to the bathroom. In Montana the "regular" gas is only 85.5 octane instead of the usual 87. Once you get to South Dakota the gas is cut with ethanol. Near DeSmet, SD we stopped at a gas station that had really old school pumps and no credit card machines.
In Minnesota we had a badger dig a huge hole right next to our tent in the middle of the night. I was really excited to see a badger in the "wild".
I love the prairies of the west and it is encouraging to see the special wildernessareasthat are set aside in South Dakota to protect the grasslands.
Our cat, Qwill, is named after the detective in the "Cat Who..." mystery series by Lilian Jackson Braun, and it is generally understood that the"Mooseville" (where the stories are set) is in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. So, of course, driving through the U.P. we had to get one of the books on tape to enjoy along the road. Although the stories are pretty cheesy, they are cozy and fun! One of the best nights along the road was staying at our friend Julie's house on the Green Baylake front. Boyd and I enjoyed the long evening watching the moon reflect on the lake and listened to the end of our tape, each with one ear of the head phones!
In northern New York there are lots of small farm stands along the side of the road. As we passed through most of them had tomatoes and zucchini. In South Dakota the only things growing along the side of the road are soy beans, corn and wheat.