MattTuck
08-17-2010, 07:04 PM
My wife and I spent last week driving from Boston to Seattle.
Thanks to those who had suggestions and advice.
Among the highlights:
Drove LONG hours the first few days. First day we stopped in Michigan, Second night in Minneapolis, Third night in rapid city, then slightly shorter days to Bozeman (for 2 nights), Spokane, then Seattle.
We drove I-90 most of the way. We went into Ontario (north of lake Erie) thinking it would be faster. The delays at the border were horrendous. If you're going to try something like that, invest in the Nexus pass. We found out too late.
The day on our way to Rapid City, we hit Hawkeye Point, which we summited without supplemental oxygen. It's the highest point in Iowa and was actually kind of amusing.
South Dakota was great. We overlapped with the Sturgis bike rally, so there were motorcycles EVERYWHERE. I knew there would be a lot of them, but there were way more than I ever imagined.
I see why the two Laconia, NH and Sturgis, SD host bike rallies. No helmet laws. The one thing that was hard to take was that SD still allows smoking in restaurants. haven't eaten in one of those in a long time (haha, I sound like an east coast liberal elite)
The great irony of the trip is that we have tons of pictures of the side of the road, and NOT ONE SINGLE picture of a sign for wall drug. I've never seen such over the top promotion by billboard. They must have started 150 miles before Wall Drug.
We hit up the Badlands (called that because early trappers called them "the bad lands to travel through"), and that was definitely amazing to see. Lots of motorcyles. Would be a great place to ride a bike in the later season when all the tourists had left.
We climbed Harney Peak in the Black Hills, highest point in South Dakota and the highest point between the rockies and the Pyrennes. It is a cheap hike, 7000+ feet altitude, but the trail head is at about 6000. So didn't take too much time and was a nice break from driving.
Also saw Devil's Tower which is pretty amazing. Again, lots of motorcycles. We didn't stick around for long, despite the bikini clad troupe of motorcycle girls.
Bozeman was great. Met Dave Kirk and saw his shop. He humored my wife and I for a good while as I asked him stupid questions about frame building and lotus automobiles, and he gave us great insights on what to do for a day in Yellowstone. All his suggestions turned out to be right on. Ate at MacKenzie River Pizza company in Bozeman, good eats.
In yellowstone we saw wolves, bison and elk, saw some of the areas that suffered forest fires, and took a quick look at the hot springs.
Dave Kirk also filled me in on something I was trying to figure out for about 200 miles of driving. I kept seeing these weird fences and grates on the roads. Dave explained they were to keep cattle off the roads, or off your property.
After Bozeman, as we drove on Rt. 90, we were listening to a book on CD called "the Big Burn" which is about a huge forest fire in 1910, Teddy Roosevelt, Gifford Pinchot and the establishment of US National Forests and the US Forest Service. This was an amazing experience, because the book is literally talking about Missoula, and Butte, MT and Couer D'alene and Wallace, ID as we're driving through the very forests and towns they were talking about! Very cool.
We stopped for lunch in CDA, but didn't stick around for long.
Instead of driving straight from Spokane to Seattle, we went down through the Yakima Valley for a little wine tasting. We hit up a few vineyards in Prosser and Zillah. Good times and definitely a different feel from California tasting rooms.
So, now in Seattle. Getting settled, will probably go out for my first ride tomorrow morning.
Overall, a great trip. Long days of driving but I'd never seen the middle of the country (except at 30,000 ft) and had a great time! Special shout out Dave Kirk and the folks on this forum that gave me ideas/advice! You made the trip much better.
Thanks to those who had suggestions and advice.
Among the highlights:
Drove LONG hours the first few days. First day we stopped in Michigan, Second night in Minneapolis, Third night in rapid city, then slightly shorter days to Bozeman (for 2 nights), Spokane, then Seattle.
We drove I-90 most of the way. We went into Ontario (north of lake Erie) thinking it would be faster. The delays at the border were horrendous. If you're going to try something like that, invest in the Nexus pass. We found out too late.
The day on our way to Rapid City, we hit Hawkeye Point, which we summited without supplemental oxygen. It's the highest point in Iowa and was actually kind of amusing.
South Dakota was great. We overlapped with the Sturgis bike rally, so there were motorcycles EVERYWHERE. I knew there would be a lot of them, but there were way more than I ever imagined.
I see why the two Laconia, NH and Sturgis, SD host bike rallies. No helmet laws. The one thing that was hard to take was that SD still allows smoking in restaurants. haven't eaten in one of those in a long time (haha, I sound like an east coast liberal elite)
The great irony of the trip is that we have tons of pictures of the side of the road, and NOT ONE SINGLE picture of a sign for wall drug. I've never seen such over the top promotion by billboard. They must have started 150 miles before Wall Drug.
We hit up the Badlands (called that because early trappers called them "the bad lands to travel through"), and that was definitely amazing to see. Lots of motorcyles. Would be a great place to ride a bike in the later season when all the tourists had left.
We climbed Harney Peak in the Black Hills, highest point in South Dakota and the highest point between the rockies and the Pyrennes. It is a cheap hike, 7000+ feet altitude, but the trail head is at about 6000. So didn't take too much time and was a nice break from driving.
Also saw Devil's Tower which is pretty amazing. Again, lots of motorcycles. We didn't stick around for long, despite the bikini clad troupe of motorcycle girls.
Bozeman was great. Met Dave Kirk and saw his shop. He humored my wife and I for a good while as I asked him stupid questions about frame building and lotus automobiles, and he gave us great insights on what to do for a day in Yellowstone. All his suggestions turned out to be right on. Ate at MacKenzie River Pizza company in Bozeman, good eats.
In yellowstone we saw wolves, bison and elk, saw some of the areas that suffered forest fires, and took a quick look at the hot springs.
Dave Kirk also filled me in on something I was trying to figure out for about 200 miles of driving. I kept seeing these weird fences and grates on the roads. Dave explained they were to keep cattle off the roads, or off your property.
After Bozeman, as we drove on Rt. 90, we were listening to a book on CD called "the Big Burn" which is about a huge forest fire in 1910, Teddy Roosevelt, Gifford Pinchot and the establishment of US National Forests and the US Forest Service. This was an amazing experience, because the book is literally talking about Missoula, and Butte, MT and Couer D'alene and Wallace, ID as we're driving through the very forests and towns they were talking about! Very cool.
We stopped for lunch in CDA, but didn't stick around for long.
Instead of driving straight from Spokane to Seattle, we went down through the Yakima Valley for a little wine tasting. We hit up a few vineyards in Prosser and Zillah. Good times and definitely a different feel from California tasting rooms.
So, now in Seattle. Getting settled, will probably go out for my first ride tomorrow morning.
Overall, a great trip. Long days of driving but I'd never seen the middle of the country (except at 30,000 ft) and had a great time! Special shout out Dave Kirk and the folks on this forum that gave me ideas/advice! You made the trip much better.