2800 Miles Later

Truthfully my trip across the country didn’t have to be as long as I made it.  It could have been more like 2400 miles if I had taken a more direct route, but I knew this might be one of my only chances (at least for a long time) to be able to do a cross-country road trip, so I took advantage of that opportunity.  Originally I thought about doing a big write-up about the trip, but not only do I feel less than excited to do it now, I feel like if I wait to get excited about documenting the trip, I’ll actually just never get even remotely excited and people will never know about the trip at all.  Instead, here are some fun, quick facts about the trip:

Days: 5
Miles: 2786
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups Eaten: 24
Rockstar Guavas Consumed: 18
Longest Period of (solo) Constant Driving: 19 hours
Shooting Stars Seen: 14
Bald Eagles: 5
“White Tail Heart Attacks:” 2
Laptops Broken Because of White Tail Heart Attacks: 1
Off-Road Driving Lights Installed to Better See Deer Coming: 2
Wiper Blades Installed: 2
Oil Changes: 3 in 5 days, a new personal record.  One before I left, one on the road, and one when I got here.  You really can’t do 3,000 miles when you are beating up your car on mountains.
Coldest Temperature: -14, West Glacier, MT
Most Over Played Song on the Radio: Owl City- Fireflies
-7 times in one hour
Smallest Town: Emblem, MT- Population 10
Longest Period of Time Without Seeing Another Vehicle: 2 Hours 45 Minutes
Best Weather: Washington
Worst Weather: Michigan
Best Roads: South Dakota
Worst Roads: Michigan
Best Scenery:  Three way tie- Ennis, MT; Big Horn National Forest and Glacier National Park.
Ways of Describing “Watch Out For Boulders Falling Off of Mountains Onto Your Car:” 4- ‘Falling Rock Zone,’ ‘Watch for Falling Rock,’ A Picture of a Boulder Crushing a Car and simply the word ‘ROCKS.’

Overall the trip was awesome.  Weather was great once I got out of the “Lake Effect Zone.”  Worst thing I had to deal with after that was some ice in South Dakota and really dense fog in Montana and Idaho.  Almost no snow anywhere.  South Dakota, Wyoming and Montana all have 75 mph speed limits, which is great for making time.  I would give 2 of the hotels I stayed at a 10/10.  They both were immaculate and really cheap considering that they both had king beds, fridges, microwaves, etc.

I thank everyone that had me in their prayers and thoughts as I was driving, it really was a very easy drive and since I don’t mind driving at all it was very enjoyable.  It actually seems a little weird to not be driving all day.

I got to see everything I wanted to see.  Only got lost/turned around twice and both times were for under 15 minutes.

A great trip all things considered and Vancouver, WA has been great ever since I have arrived.  I am really looking forward to finishing the build out on the new cafe and opening on New Year’s Day.

-bry