V is for Vanessa

Arrived in Missoula in the wee hours after a white-knuckle ride across Montana in the sometimes rainy dark.  Since I got in so late, I decided not to try and head out early and make it to Seattle in time for dinner.  Instead, I slept until 10, checked out at 11, filled up on gas and Starbucks, replenished my snack supply and set out in the direction of Idaho.

Idaho is beautiful, but the rest stations leave something to be desired.  I made a pit stop in a small town and some kids came in dressed in old-timey costumes.

Eastern Washington wasn’t what I was expecting.  Mainly, there were a lot of rolling hills covered with large farms growing field corn, soybeans and other various cash crops.  I thought that I saw a giraffe in a field, but it turned out to be some rusty crane-type apparatus- guess that’s one way to tell when you’ve been driving too long.

After a final long day of driving, I arrived at home around 9pm.

Time: 9:15
Distance: 502.8 miles

Total distance: 2531.7 miles

Long day.

Almost 20 hours on the road.

Drive time: 16 hours
Distance: 855.5 miles

I’m leaving Interior and the Badlands for Missoula today. Hoping to stop through and see Mt Rushmore and maybe Deadwood on the way.

Today’s projected stats:

Distance: 794.4 miles
Time: 11 hours, 28 minutes

Today was long and much time was spent driving.  I started in Chicago, drove north and then west through Wisconsin, Minnesota and crossed most of South Dakota. I left around 8:30 and arrived at 12:30 (but in the next time zone, so it was more like 1:30). To be fair, I wasted a fair bit of time before I even left the greater Chicago area- but with construction and pitstops, the ride took much longer than anticipated.

I didn’t want to be out driving after dark, but the sunset over the farms and prarie were beautiful. Not sure yet what it looks like here, we’ll see in the morning. Tomorrow I’m taking the scenic route through the park and, hopefully, swinging by Mt Rushmore.

Official stats for the day:

Time on the road: 16 hours

Time actually driving: 14:24

Miles traveled: 853:2

State number four.

Today I drive from Chicago to Interior, South Dakota.

My TripTik says the journey will be 829.5 miles and take 11 hours and 57 minutes.

I’m just hoping that the ride isn’t too boring or riddled with construction.

After six hours of driving and traffic, I’ve arrived in Chicago. Going out dancing tonight. First time to see the Boilermakers since 2005:

The drive, lousy with roadwork, took a whopping 6 hours and 20 minutes to go 319.6 miles.

At 2:12 EST Lulu & I are on our way to Chicago.

307 miles to go.

Meet Lulu.

Lulu the southern belle

Lulu, who hails from Louisianna, will be accompanying me from Detroit to Seattle. She’s a nice girl with a nice sparkle. Not only can I fold all her rear seats into the floor, but she also is super comfy and comes equipped with satellite radio. We’ve been getting along pretty well so far; although, I did accidentally put a dent in her rear end (who put that deck so close to the parking pad?). Lucky for both of us, she’s got insurance.

Today, August 1st, 2010, I will leave Michigan for Washington. Over the next four days I will take my rental minivan filled to the brim with my personal belongings and drive across the country to Seattle.

Some projected stats according to my AAA TripTik:

Total Distance: 2417.0 miles
Total Estimated Drive Time: 35 hours, 23 min

I’ll be recording my drive time and mileage to see exactly how the trip goes.

My itinerary:

Sunday: Leave Detroit and stay the night in Chicago.
Monday: Chicago to Interior, South Dakota. Stay the night in the Badlands
Tuesday: Interior to Missoula, Montana and stay the night.
Wednesday: Missoula to Seattle. Hug the family, love on the dogs, unpack the van.