After we accepted our first placements in Washington State we quickly googled how long it would take us to drive there…. 42 hours. We set off on Friday October 10th with mixed feelings of excitement, anxiety, fatigue, and anticipation. With a loose plan, and a week to get to Washington we started driving.
Day 1: (Driving Time ~ 8 hours) We drove from Wyomissing, PA to Pittsburgh, PA to indulge in some Primanti Bros sandwiches. The sandwiches were good but not great, which may have been due to our lack of menu knowledge. From Pittsburgh we drove to Maumee Bay State Park. This state park is located on Lake Erie near Toledo, OH. We booked a campsite the night before with only 1 of 256 sites available… In hindsight we probably should have wondered why the campground was so full. When we pulled up the campground was decked out with halloween decorations and we were given a packet for the themed weekend! We had good intentions to go to halloween bingo, but were too tired after driving. This was the first night of a major cold front and temperatures were predicted to be 38 degrees overnight. With confidence we layered up and settled in for the night. Then it started raining. Sleeping in the rainy cold in a tent = bad idea. We both woke up really early and decided to hit the road with the heat on full blast.
Day 2: (Driving Time ~ 11 hours) On our second day we crossed through the most states in a single day. Starting in Ohio, we drove through Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and ended in Minneapolis, MN. Best adjectives to describe this day: long, cold, windy, gray, and flat. Our goal was to drive a large chunk of our journey early into the road trip while we still had energy. We booked a hotel room the night before to make sure we made it the full distance. 11 hours later we ordered pizza and collapsed into bed. After sitting in our cars for such a long time we both some serious butt and back pain. Lesson to anyone thinking of doing a cross country road trip – Could you make it across the country in 3 days by driving 12+ hours a day… yes. Will it drive you insane and make you very sore…. YES! Luckily we had budgeted some rest days and took our time crossing the rest of the country.
Day 3: (Driving Time ~ 8 hours 45 minutes) We hit the road early after sleeping well in the warmth and were surprised when it started flurrying. By the time we stopped for gas there was a half inch on the ground and the temperature dropped to 30 degrees. After seeing the movie New in Town several times I was convinced that this was just typical fall weather for Minnesota. The locals promised us that the weather is not always so cold in October, but we will have to investigate further the next time we drive through. Determined to eat something relatively nutritious we bought bagged salad mix at walmart. It turned out to be the perfect lunch – 10/10 would recommend. Surging onward we drove into South Dakota and made it to Rapid City on the western side of the state. We were relieved to finally have made it across the flat midwest when we started seeing bumps and then mountains in the distance. After day 3 of driving we were excited to be over half way, and more excited to sleep.
Day 4: (Day Off!) After sleeping in and indulging in the continental breakfast we set off to see Mount Rushmore. With a little bit of snow the Black Hills were beautiful. We had to break out our winter jackets for the adventure, but we were finally greeted by sun. Mount Rushmore took 14 years to build and includes the heads of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. Afterwards, we attempted to drive Needles Highway in the Black Hills, but it was closed due to the recent snow. To pass some time we did a wine tasting at a local vineyard. We were wondering how they grow grapes… the answer is that they don’t (well, at least most of them)! Instead they use Chokecherries, Buffalo Berries, and Rhubarb in combination with grapes shipped to the area to create unique blends. We were pleasantly surprised by the beauty in western South Dakota and we will definitely be back to explore Badlands National Park!
Day 5: (Driving Time ~7 hours 15 minutes) We reluctantly peeled ourselves out of bed and got back on the road. Our path for the day consisted of driving through the rest of South Dakota, Northeast Wyoming, and halfway through Montana. Armed with full tanks of gas and audiobooks, we drove through seemingly endless farmland with no cell service. The beautiful land was dotted by grazing cows and herds of Pronghorn. We drove, and drove, and drove some more. As we approached Bozeman, MT we were greeted by snow capped mountains in the distance. We were relieved to get out of our cars and even more excited that we only had one more full day of driving left!
Day 6: (Day Off!) Although we were only a few hours drive above Yellowstone we chose to stay in Montana for the day. We made this decision due to freezing weather and dread of driving more. Hint for everyone on road trips: If you are looking for somewhere good to eat while traveling, ALWAYS go to the local diner. We went to an awesome diner called the Western Cafe with cheap food, friendly people, and a buffalo skull for decoration. For the afternoon we decided to take advantage of the local hot springs. We visited Bozeman Hot Springs where they had 12 pools that were fed with water from the local springs. After enjoying the pools in the middle of a Wednesday with the local retirees we made the short drive to Butte, MT.
Day 7 – LAST DAY!: (Driving Time – 7 hours 20 minutes) With the end in our sights we woke up and drove powered by exhaustion and soreness. We drove through Western Montana, the Idaho panhandle, and finally Washington. We passed endless beautiful views which made the drive mostly tolerable. We ended our road trip after 7 days of travel collapsing in our apartment and discussing how we can fly next time. After recovering the last few days we are looking forward to exploring the Tri-Cities and staying out of our cars.
TRIP STATS
Hours on The Road: 43
Miles Driven: 2,904
States Crossed: 11 – Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Washington
Places to Revisit: Black Hills/Badlands National Park, SD; Bozeman, MT; Coeur d’Alene, ID
Erin’s Quote of the Trip: “What’s our ETA?”
Patricks Quote of the Trip: “This is actually a really interesting podcast. They are discussing the health benefits of hot saunas and how it can help to activate heat shock proteins in order to… (and this is when I turned the walkie talkie down)