Day 7

This was it!

We left Spokane relatively early and headed west for the final leg of the trip. Now, I didn't know this, but after you cross the Rockies you still need to drive over the Cascade Mountains. Maria had mentioned that they were better than the Rockies, but I couldn't conceive of such a thing as we drove through the Rocky Mountains. 

I was wrong, she was right. 

This bunch was taken at a scenic rest area in the Cascades, so I took one of the panoramic shots with my Galaxy Nexus. It came out pretty well, I think. 

It was breathtaking stuff. If you ever go to the west coast, take a drive out there. You can get to Spokane from Seattle in something like 5 hours, and it's worth it if you've never seen real mountains. I'll never forget them, that's for sure. 

We ended up driving around Seattle to the east and staying in Lynnwood that afternoon when we finally made it, so I could see the city for the first time when it wasn't rush hour. 

It was worth it, more pics to come! 

Day 6

After Billings, we pretty much rocked mountains the rest of the way west. It's awesome country to drive through, but it got cold (and even snowed!) a bit, though the weather was generally favorable.

We drove from Billings to Missoula and stopped there for lunch, and we also got gas in Butte. It was pretty chilly in the mountains out there, but they had some amazing views.

Later, we also had the misfortune of stopping at:

50,000 Silver Dollar Travel Stop, Bar, and Restaurant - Haugan,Mt.

They aren't kidding. Amazingly, there's also a hotel. It's called "Hotel". I guess the travel stop won the cool name lottery. In any case, it was a creepshow, as you can probably imagine. We went the wrong way first (THANKS, Google) and got chased down a sketchy road by a number of dogs before turning around in a mud pit and hauling ass out. 

Haugan, Montana seems to have like 2 casinos, 2 bars and a gas station as well as billboards about the dangers of meth addiction. Draw your own conclusions here, people. Move along, I say. 

After that we pushed on to the Wingate Hotel in Spokane, WA after a short stay for sunset in Coeur d'Alene. Didn't do much there except get something to eat. Being so close to the end of our cross-country journey had us itching to sleep and make a run for Seattle, it would seem. 

Day 5

After the horrible night's sleep at the Guesthouse Inn, we got up and left around 10 the following morning determined to make the most of the day, sleepless and grumpy as we were. South Dakota and Wyoming are alright to drive through, it's pretty terrain. By this point on I80 (or was it I90 by then?) you could drive 75 MPH, so we took full advantage of this to drive between 82 and 85, which I didn't actually think our little Fit could handle for extended periods. It did fine, though, and we cleared another 500+ miles before stopping for the night in Billings, Montana.

If you ever get a chance to go to western Montana, I recommend that you do. Hit it in the summer when it's in full bloom, because the Rockies are something to see. I could not get over how much open space there was and how big the goddamned mountains were.

It was humbling and exhilarating all at the same time. 

We stayed in Billings, Montana, and the Best Western Clocktower Inn was decent, but we ordered room service and it took them more than an hour to deliver a pizza (which cost 30 bucks), and not only was it relatively cold, but it also sucked.

Not cool, Best Western, not cool.   

Day 4

Busy day of driving through Iowa and Minnesota. The countryside is pretty nice once it starts back into rolling hills leading up to the mountains. Even as we headed northwest, too, it seemed to get progressively warmer. I picked up a bit of a driver's tan, which is uncool.

We spent the night in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and holy shit. Do not stay at the Guesthouse Inn. The room smelled like they'd used bleach to clean it, and the comforter & sheets gave Maria a rash, not to mention she couldn't breathe. She ended up sleeping on the recliner and I got up with a semi-rash the next morning. It was an unpleasant night, which doubly sucked because I was on hotel duty and picked that godawful place.

I'll say again. If you're ever in Sioux Falls South Dakota, avoid the Guesthouse Inn. In fact, avoid ALL Guesthouse Inns. You can thank me later.

I should also add that we stopped at the weirdest truck stop of all time in Iowa, The World's Largest Truck Stop on Iowa 80. Inside was a crammed in hodgepodge of fast food and convenience store crap that was ridiculously touristy. The people, too, all seemed to be in a daze. Maria pointed it out to me and after she mentioned it I couldn't get over it; everyone just plodded along like a zombie. Oddest thing ever. While we waited for some ice cream I was imitating one and inadvertently did an amazing impersonation of a zombie from Thriller, which caused Maria to break into part of the dance. You probably had to be there, but we laughed the entire way out of the freak stop to the car. Maybe it was exhaustion, but it was funny.

Finally, if you're aching to see what it looks like to drive through flat, featureless plains, here you go: 

That's a rest area on I80 that had a church. Or a steeple, whatever the hell it was. 

Day 3

We left the Smells Like Butts Inn about 11 like we do, and took off through the mountains of VA & West VA. I'll go ahead and say that it was pretty majestic, considering I'd never really seen anything like it before this trip. I've seen the Alps in Europe, but nothing really this close and Alps are a fuzzy memory to me at this point in my ancient life.

When we came out of the mountains of VA into the flat, boring landscapes of Ohio and Indiana, it was still blissfully rain free. I was uncomfortable with being able to see for miles in every direction without a hill or mountain to speak of, I don't know how people do that. Also, there's not much to see out there unless you're into sprawling farms.

We're not.

We made it to Champaign, Illinois that evening and stayed at the Drury Inn. Nothing to write home about, but the breakfast was pretty good. 

Day 2

It was pretty nice in New Jersey when we left today, though I would like to add that NJ is an awful state, as a whole. When we crossed over the Jersey line, it was some of the most foul smelling industrial areas we'd ever come across. It lasted forever, too. Garden State indeed.

On the way out of town, we stopped at the nearby Whole Foods for a quick pitstop to grab some food, which we ate at a nearby park picnic style. Maria picked up a couple bites from something while we were there, though we're not sure from WHAT. They itch and look pretty bad. Stupid New Jersey.

On the way towards DC, we decided that in the interest of time and Solomon's sanity (he stresses in the car), we'd take the fastest route possible. Also, the south was brimming with tornadoes and violent thunderstorms at the time, so we plotted a route to avoid the mass of them. We went around Baltimore instead, and headed southwest into Staunton, VA, since while we were there we figured we'd brave the earth's fury to see the Smokey Mountains, which I think was worth it.

We spent the night in Staunton, at the Sleep Inn. Not the best hotel in the world, but it was comfy enough. Why do hotels have tiny little pillows instead of normal sized ones, now? Talk about uncomfortable. Note also that the room and hallway of the Sleep Inn smelled like butts, and not the smoking kind. Not the coolest place in the world. 

In the morning, Solomon and I did take a quick jog to the top of the ridge and get a decent photo of the area, though crashing in the trees behind us had us heading back down quickly. Goddamned wildlife. 

Day 1

Well, as these things tend to go we left late, sometime around 3:30PM EST from Orrington, ME. The trip was mostly uneventful, except for a delay once we reached NYC as the GW Bridge had some serious construction that cost us almost an hour in deadlocked traffic.

We made one pitstop in Reading, NJ at a completely fog shrouded rest area to use the bathroom; it was one of the most sketchy areas EVER.

Our suite at the Staybridge Inn & Suites was pretty awesome. Nice, big room that was clean and quiet.

I'll have a host of photos to upload once I get a decent hotel internet connection.

Packing

Packing everything 2 people can't do without plus room for 2 pets into a Honda Fit is more work than you'd think.

And here's a test mobile post

Seems to work well. Let's throw in a pic; a sunset the other night in Orrington, ME.