Life on the Plains

Wonderful drive on Saturday from Missoula to Great Falls - Went through Lincoln MT (a cup of coffee to the first commenter that names Lincoln's most infamous resident!) - I'll post pictures and stories later. Had dinner at a legendary dinner house called Borries on Saturday - fair steak, okay baked potato and a perfect old school steakhouse blue cheese salad.

Drove around Great Falls - interesting city. Some new age appointments, an amazing number of pawnshops and wide avenues with very few cars in sight. Head out to the fringes of town and the Walmart lot is full.

Lots going on here. Seeing lot of friends and having lots of good times. The class I'm teaching is small; one newby, a smart guy from a small city and a really smart guy from the Federal Highway Administration that's one of my favorite people - too easy to get distracted and talk about things like lane by lane detection - I'm immersed in Signal Geek Heaven!

Didn't make it out of the hotel grounds today. The weather is warm and windy. Hotel breakfast, Taco/Burrito Buffet for lunch and a pretty damn good burger in the sports bar for dinner.

Didn't take a single picture today - too busy. I need to take some photos tomorrow and share my weird world.

Multi-State Solution

Starting Mileage - 164730

Made it on the road only 15 minutes later than the 0600 scheduled departure.

 Oregon to Washington to Oregon to Washington to Idaho and now camped out in a Days end on the west side of Missoula Montana! Whole lot of windshield time today.

First stop was to drop off the dogs in Stevenson. Second stop was a rest area just west of The Dalles. It was a pretty popular place. I walked into the rest room and there was a line - I made a crack about this being the place to get rid of the first cup of coffee for the day and a guy came walking of one of the stalls and cracked back "or the first three cups of beer". He and his buddies were in a luxury motorhome with a keg of beer and were headed to Boise for tomorrow's Football game with the Beavers.

Looking north at Bridge of the Gods - Sunrise Colors on the Rocks

My Rig at the Rest Stop

Big Horn Sheep in the Columbia Gorge near MP 121 - Just east of the John Day River - They're always in the short stretch just east of the river - I usually see them about MP 118 - this is the farthest east I've seen them - they're almost always within a couple of hundred feet of the road

Espresso in Boardman - They use Kobos beans - made a fair latte

Boardman Taco Truck Pod

Umatilla Army Depot - the igloos (the lumpy mounds you can barely make out) where they store the chemical weapons used to be kept weed free. They're still a couple of years away from the end of the project to destroy the chemical weapons stock.

I expect to see lots of corn on this trip - especially in Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas - We don't grow nearly as much here in Oregon and as such it's valuable and we need to protect it with a razor wire topped cyclone fence.

John Deskin's Pride and Joy - Dual Lane Flashing Yellow Arrows - Appreciating it is a Signal Nerd thing

Kennewick - Pasco Bridge - there are two towers - I only was able to get one in the picture - Really Pretty Structure

Zip's in Connell WA - they seem to be the Eastern Washington version of Burgerville - there big thing is their tartar sauce and it bears an uncanny resemblance to Burgerville's secret sauce. They've got crinkle cut fries - something I haven't seen in a while

How do you spell Tokio? Tokio is a ghost town north of Ritzville

 

 

Sprague Lake Rest Area - I always stop here - really pretty and an opportune place to stretch your legs

A bit of Geology across the highway from the Sprague Lake Rest Area

Heading East into Spokane - No Suburbs on the west side - you just sort of show up in Downtown - East side is sprawled in to Idaho

Rabbit at the hotel in Missoula - I can't get this photo to load after the next photo, so it's out of order - I'm having a hard time getting over it! - didn't see much wild life today. The big horn sheep are aways a treat and I did see one magpie- one of my favorite birds east of the mountains

Here's a Cheese Burger at Hudson's Hamburger's in Coeur D'Alene- You've got a choice of
toppings - Cheese, Onions, Pickles. They grind their own beef and hand form the patties. I understand there's usually a line, but I walked right in. It was an excellent choice for a place to eat - Three Sauces - Ketchup, Spicy Mustard and Spicy Ketchup, which is a blend of Spicy Mustard and Spicy Ketchup - I liked the spicy ketchup

Cowboy Cadillac

Almost done packing and getting ready to go. Heading out at Oh Dark Thirty tomorrow. First stop will be to drop the dogs off at Dog Camp in Stevenson and then on to Missoula. Long day at about 540 miles. I want to get in to Great Falls before noon on Saturday and this leaves me with a shorter drive on the second day.

The Suburban AKA Cowboy Cadillac is ready to go. I put in the third seat so I can shuttle five or six passengers around when we're at the conference in Great Falls. The rigs a beast, but it's comfortable and I like having the mass around me - you never know when you'll run into something!

This accident occurred north of Deer Lodge on I-90.  The driver was an approximately 22 year old guy heading east to College.  He had left central Washington early in the morning.  He fell asleep at the wheel and drifted off the shoulder hitting the end of the section of guard rail.

The guard rail came through the right headlight, engine compartment, firewall, glove box, passenger seat, rear seat and exited out the driver’s side rear window.  That is 120 lineal feet of guard rail that threaded through the suburban.

No passengers and the driver was not injured. This why I drive a Suburban - Try that in a Toyota!

Here's the map for Day One - Starting at A - Portland going to B -Stevenson/Dog Camp, then to C  - Coeur d' Alene for a burger and then to D - Missoula

Be Prepared

Be Prepared! The Boy Scout motto and what I'm trying to do. Getting ready for the first long road trip of my retirement and really the first long road in a couple of years.

This will be the longest drive I've ever taken. Six thousand miles give or take a few. I've had the car checked out. Changed the oil, new tires and alignment, tank full of gas, clothes are packed, presentation is ready, class materials have been reviewed. I wonder what I've forgotten?


I'm headed to Great Falls MT for a conference and then on to Eglin Air Force Base in the pan handle of Florida to see my son graduate from EOD School. I'll help him out with a couple of things and then it's back to Portland and back to work.

I hope to see one fun thing and eat at one interesting local place every day. I'll going to try and post photos and comments everyday to document the trip.

Starting at Point A, I'm leaving Portland Oregon and heading to Point B - Great Falls Montana for several days for a conference with friends and fellow transportation geeks. Leaving Great Falls, I'm headed to Point C - Eglin Air Force Base and going through Kansas City (BARBECUE!!!) for the first time on the trip and through Memphis (MORE BARBECUE!!). From Eglin I'm headed to Point D - Trenton Georgia. Trenton is where my son lived for several years before joining the Army. From Trenton I'm headed to Point E - Fort Riley Kansas and it will take me through Kansas City (STILL MORE BARBECUE!!!). From Fort Riley I'm headed home

One man's trip across and around America

I'm an unabashed fan of America.

Born and raised in Oregon, I'm retired at 56 and want to travel Route 66 and see all of the lower 48 states.

Rubbernecking, eating local, smelling and tasting what each stop has to offer.