2004-10-27: Marathon month is over

Cannon Beach OR-Seattle WA
via US101
WA100
US101
WA107
US12
WA8
WA108
US101
WA3
WA16
WA160
Southworth-Fauntleroy ferry

Miles today: 211
Top up: 4
Top down: 207

Total miles: 3930
Top up: 2359
Top down: 1351 (34%)

Total miles on the odometer, which includes side trips:
4245

The early morning moonset was a treat, the photo does not do it justice. After an early morning walk on the beach and through the town in search of espresso, I stopped at Ecola State Park just north of town. This has great views of the beachs and town to the south and also north to Tillamook Head and the old lighthouse offshore. From here, I made a short stop at Fort Clatsop, which I've visited before but wanted to see again since I've done so much Lewis and Clark trail following on this trip. It was still cool, in the low 50s, but sunny so I could keep the top down. The mist rising off the roof of the replicated fort was a treat, along with the tall Sitka Spruce in the area. From here I crossed the Columbia River on the Astoria Bridge, which arches very high on the Astoria side to give clearance for the big ships, then settles down to near the water for the rest of the crossing. I drove through Ilwaco and to Cape Disappointment to see the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center there, which was closed for renovation the last time I was here. Another good exhibit, covering much of the same ground but emphsizing the events that took place in the area. From here it was an easy drive in sunny weather on US101 and then WA3, avoiding the interstates entirely today. I lucked out and arrived at the Southworth ferry dock just as the ferry was loading for Fauntleroy, arriving home just before 5pm. A few more last day photos are here.

Overall, a good trip, but I cut it short a bit because of the weather. I had originally planned to go through Colorado, Utah and Nevada, but decided the extra miles were not worth it because of the forecasted weather. So I'll just to save that part for another trip.

2004-10-26: East meets West

Richland WA-Cannon Beach OR
via I-182
I-82
I-84
US30
I-84
US26
US101

Miles today:307
Top up: 307 (raining most of the day)

Total miles:3719
Top up: 2355
Top down: 1143 (31%)

The coast-to-coast portion of this trip is finished with the arrival in Cannon Beach. The Atlantic Ocean seawater collected in New Jersey has been delivered to the Pacific Ocean near Haystack Rock. This is my first coast-to-coast drive all in one trip. Miles on the odometer between New Jersey and Cannon Beach: 3694

I seem to be just unlucky with the weather in the Columbia Gorge. This would be a beautiful drive with the top down, but both times I've been here in the last 2+ years, it's been raining hard. So not much opportunity to do any sightseeing, with the rain and cool temperatures in the 40s. After getting through Portland and heading west on US26, the rain gradually dissipated and the temperature was in the 50s at Cannon Beach. I put on my shorts and walked 4 miles barefoot on the beach at Cannon Beach. My feet did get a bit cold but it sure felt good to be at the ocean again. I collected some cheese, wine and smoked salmon and enjoyed an easy dinner at the hotel watching the sunset behind Haystack Rock.

All the day's photos are here. One shows a huge tree farm that I drove past on I-84 in Oregon. It's operated by Potlatch, who has a website about it.

2004-10-25: Lolo Pass

Missoula MT-Richland WA
via I-90
US93
US12
WA124
US12
I-182

Miles today: 358
Top down: 137
Top up: 221

Total trip miles: 3412
Top down: 1143 (33%)
Top up: 2269

Today was the warmest day, at 56 degrees, since the Badlands, and also the coldest day of the trip, 18 degrees at Lolo Summit, early in the morning. The first part of the trip was US12 up Lolo Pass from Montana into Idaho. It was sunny but cold, starting at 30 degrees in Missoula and down to 18 at the summit, 47 miles later. There was snow on the ground at the summit. Continuing west follows the Lochsa River, on the north bank, a winding road that goes for 77 miles according to the highway sign. You are next to the river almost for the entire time. I got lucky and spotted two moose entering the shallow river, but there was no place to stop. I soon turned around and because there was no traffic, was able to stop on the road to get a couple pictures of them. They stared at me, then continued on. I drove this same road in June of 2002, in much warmer weather, and was lucky enough then to see a Bald Eagle go overhead with a fish it had caught, but I consider the moose sighting to be a rarer event.

After the winding section is done, US12 crosses the river and then spends its time on the south bank almost all the way to Lewiston. After Lewiston, it was warm enough, in the 50s, to put the top down the rest of the way to Richland. I had dinner at the Anthony's on the riverfront, enjoying the view of the kitchen action from a row of seats especially designed for that.

Tomorrow I'll drive the Columbia Gorge to Cannon Beach and the Pacific Ocean, about 2 1/2 weeks after leaving the Atlantic Ocean in New Jersey

Lots of photos today, including the moose.

2004-10-24: Great Falls to Missoula

Miles today: 175
Top down: 162
Top up: 13

Total trip miles: 3054
Top up: 2048
Top down: 1006 (33%)

I did some sightseeing along the Missouri River in Great Falls. When Lewis & Clark came through, they spent a month portaging 18 miles around a series of several waterfalls and rapids. Power generating dams have been built since so the falls are just a shadow of their former greatness. I was going to do some walking this morning while I waited for the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center to open at noon, but it was tough to do much, because the temperature was in the mid 30s and there was a mean southwest wind blowing. I did visit the Giant Spring, which is right on the Missouri, and has something like 134000 gallons per second coming out of it. It's basically a large underground river that happens to come to the surface right at the Missouri. I've been to other Lewis & Clark exhibits and while they are of course all telling the same story, there is always something new to learn. In this case they emphasized the difficulty of the portage, which they had been led to believe would take a half a day involving one waterfall and ended up being the 18 miles and one month of very hard work.

After finishing at the Center, I drove to Missoula via Montana 200. The sun was out so I couldn't resist putting the top down, even though it was only 44 degrees. I turned the heater up full blast and stayed fairly warm. There were some rain showers but I missed most of them and the one that got me still didn't get me wet. This highway goes over Rogers Pass, crossing the Continental Divide at 5800 feet. There was no snow on the Great Falls side, but I hit the snow right at the pass, enough to partially cover the road. I followed the snow plow for 5 or 6 miles until the road became clear. There were a few snow showers after that but none of it was sticking to the ground. The car got pretty cold at 32 degrees and I finally put the top up. I'm sure all the other drivers thought I was crazy but it was fun in a wacky sort of way. Found a great pasta place in downtown Missoula for dinner. Heading over Lolo Pass on Highway 12 tomorrow; this is the road that goes winding along a river for about 60 miles and is very scenic; I drove it in the summer of 2002. It also parallels closely the path Lewis & Clark used to get across the final range of mountains before getting to the Snake and Columbia rivers. Photos here.

2004-10-23: drive to Great Falls

All driving today, 552 miles to Great Falls. The car was frosted over as I left Keystone, but it warmed up quickly to the mid-40s as I approached Rapid City, and there was a beautiful sunrise in progress also. After zipping up I-90, I had decided to try a 60 mile shortcut on US212 out of Belle Fourche instead of staying on I-90. This turned out to be a great decision, as though US212 is onlyl a 2-lane road, it's well maintained and very fast. I was near Billings, Montana by noontime and decided to push on to Great Falls, via Montana state route 3.

The weather was cloudy all day with a bit of rain, not good for convertibles, but it looks to be that way the rest of the trip. Now back online here in Great Falls, I will visit some Lewis & Clark sites tomorrow morning before probably heading towards a stop tomorrow night in Missoula. From there, my likely route is on US12 over Lolo Pass. Lolo Pass is a route I took 2 summers ago and it was very enjoyable in the convertible; a winding road next to a river with the sign marked "winding road next 70 miles". From there I will probably head west down the Columbia Gorge and finally to Cannon Beach to complete my transcontinental section of the trip.

2004-10-22: Black Hills

The Black Hills area is always larger than I think it is. My first destination for the morning was Wind Cave National Park, which turned out to be about 40 miles away to the south. Wind Cave is one of the first national parks, created in the early 20th century. It's named for the wind that blows in (or out) of the natural entrance, depending on the barometric pressure. It was blowing out today.

In the off season, only the standard intro tour is offered 3 times a day. You take an elevator down about 110 feet and walk about a quarter mile. Unique to Wind Cave is the so-called box structure, rather than the stalactites and stalagmites and everyone expects. Wind Cave now has about 100 miles of passageways, with about 5 new miles discovered every year.

I decided I would also visit nearby Jewel Cave in the mid-afternoon and did some of the local scenic wildlife drives in the meantime, viewing buffalo and elk, as well as going through the narrow road known as the Needles highway. This winds past some great rock formations and includes some narrow tunnels, suitable only for cars. However, the weather turned nasty, with heavy rain showers for much of the time; I enjoyed what views I could through the windshield wipers.

I headed for Jewel Cave and their last tour of the afternoon, only to get there and discover the tour had already been sold out for two hours. Quite a surprise since the area is quite uncrowded this time of year; perhaps the weather was encouraging everyone else to take cave tours.

The tourist season really shuts down here in early October, so the gold mining tour in Keystone was also closed. When I drove by Mt Rushmore in the afternoon, it was partially obscured by clouds. I was going to go to the newer Crazy Horse monument also, but decided it wouldn't be worth it with the low clouds and the rain.

Black Hills photos for the day are here.

2004-10-21:Badlands and the Black Hills

I was on the road before sunrise in order to get across most of South Dakota today. The route today:

I-90
SD240 (Badlands National Park)
I-90
US16
SD244 (Mt Rushmore)
US16A to Keystone

Miles today: 443
Top down: 197 (45%)
Top up: 246

Total miles: 2327
Top down: 844 (36%)
Top up: 1483

I finally got some sunny weather today approaching the Badlands, first time I've seen the sun since the Columbus Marathon last Sunday. Badlands National Park is pretty similar to Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota which I visited 2 years ago: lots of eroded formations, some rock color but not a lot, but it's sure a contrast to the parts of South Dakota that are to the east. Actually, the best stop was at a nice rest stop crossing the Missouri River at Chamberlain. It is, of course, a Lewis & Clark spot and the rest area there has a keel boat similar in size to what was used then. It was windy and cool there. I spotted some wild turkeys running around also; they were pretty tame.

After checking into a hotel in Keystone, I drove up to Mt Rushmore which I've not visited since the early 1980's, though I saw the scuplture from a distance on a visit to the Black Hills two years ago. The visitor center is all new and very impressive; you walk up a walkway with the monument in full view. There is also a nice boardwalk that takes you up very close to the base of the monument, looking up. It was not crowded at all in this off season.

Today's photos are here.

2004-10-20: Iowa

More dreary weather today, just cloudy. Haven't seen the sun since the Columbus Marathon. The route today:
I-74
I-80 to Herbert Hoover Historical Site
I-80
I-380
US218
US18 to Mason City (Meredith Willson Museum)
US65
IA9
IA60
MN60
US59

I stopped at two tourist spots today. The first is on I-80 in southeast Iowa, the Herbert Hoover Historical Site. While Hoover's presidency is pretty much a failure, he was a huge success in almost everything else he did. The museum has a nicely done story of his life. His boyhood home and gravesite are nearby. It's worth the stop if you an hour or two.

The second stop was in Mason City, the city that was partly the inspiration for the musical The Music Man and also where Meredith Willson grew up. Next to his boyhood home is a town center, holding a museum on Willson and a recreated main street from The Music Man. The building is also used as a meeting place. I was the only visitor for most of the time I was there.

From Mason City I headed west on Iowa 9, passing the area of Iowa's High Point. It's so flat around here that it's hard to tell where the high point actually is.

I'm heading to the Black Hills area for Thursday and Friday.

Miles today: 385 (all with the top up)

Total miles: 1884
Top down: 647 (34% or a deficit of 590 miles)
Top up: 1237

The weather forecast is not looking good for convertibles.
Photos for the day are here.

2004-10-19: Columbus to Iowa

Just a long drive today, in fog and clouds. Too cold and too wet for the top down. 17 states visited so far

Route was via:
I-70
I-65
I-74

Today: 481 miles
Top up: 481 miles

Trip total: 1499 miles
Top up: 852
Top down: 647 (43%)

2004-10-17: Columbus Marathon

I walked the Columbus Marathon. Person best time of 5 hours, 57 minutes; I had been looking to beat 6 hours. Cool start in the dark, mid-30s, and the west wind was unfriendly. I kept on some warm fleece until about mile 10. Once it got sunny, it warmed into the 50s and was pleasant. Really lucky on the weather, though, as it was wet and cold both the day before and the day after. A nice event, very well attended. Photos.

2004-10-14: Virginia to Columbus Ohio

Drove to Columbus today in cloudy and misty weather, temperature in the low 50s, but I could keep the top down and not get any rain as long as I was moving. Everyone else on the highway probably thought I was a bit crazy, but it was fun. On the way I took a short detour to near the Maryland High Point, marked on US219 by a sign. The actual summit is close by.

The route today:
Fairfax Parkway (VA7100)
I-66 west
I-81 north
VA37
US50 west
detour on US219 south to Maryland High Point.
back on WV24 to US50, crossing the Ohio River, then west to Athens
US33 northwest to Columbus
I-70

Mileage Today: 427 miles
Top up: 55 miles
Top down: 372 miles

Trip total: 1018
Top up: 371
Top down: 647 (64%)

2004-10-13: More Washington DC touring

Tour of Washington DC
Metro Blue/Yellow to Gallery Place, National Building Museum, East Gallery for lunch, west to sculpture garden, American History Museum - Julia Child, "America on the Move"
Yellow line to King St, Alexandria walk to waterfront, Torpedo Factory, Blue line home

I did some more touring of DC today, but a bit less walking. I took the Blue line and Yellow line to Gallery Place, then walked to the National Building Museum. This is a beautiful old building with rotating and permanent exhibits and it's well worth a stop in DC. One of the exhibits this time was on the creative use of concrete in building, and another permanent exhibit on the building progression of DC. From here it was back to the East wing for lunch, through the sculpture garden to the American History Museum for an exhibit called "America on the Move", about our transportation history, and the complete Julia Child kitchen, a great looking kitchen and one I'd be happy to work in, and I suspect many others would as well.
From here I took the Yellow line to Alexandria and walked down King Street to the Potomac River waterfront. Alexandria has been around since the 18th century. The former Torpedo Factory at the waterfront has a good archeology museum about some of the excavations in Alexandria.

2004-10-12: Walking tour of Washington DC

About 9 miles of walking today along with Metro Subway rides. Photos for the day are here.
I took the Blue Line to the Arlington Cemetery stop, then walked the bridge across the Potomac River to the Lincoln Memorial. Stopped to read his second Inagural Address which is chiseled into the north wall, then to the Einstein memorial. The raised floor of the Einstein memorial has a sky map but I had trouble recognizing the constellations. Then back across the street to the Vietnam Memorial, past the reflecting pool to the Korean War Memorial. This memorial also has a black wall but with figures of men and scenes etched into it; they are hard to see depending on the light but it's a very effective treatment.
From here I walked south to the new (for me) FDR memorial, along the banks of the Tidal Basin. This is huge, with numerous waterfalls. I have to say I didn't like it all that much. From here I walked south along the water to the Jefferson Memorial, undergoing some restoration, then to the Air & Space museum. I've seen this many times before, but a new exhibit for me was on the Wright Brothers, including the original propeller from the first flight aircraft. Also interesting was the capsules from the first nonstop around-the-world balloon flights.
I walked across to the East Wing underground cafeteria, one of my favorite spots for lunch, then to the Botanical Garden and finally, feeling pretty much walked out, took the Blue Line back home.

2004-10-11: Pentagon tour

The friend I'm visiting works at the Pentagon so I got a tour today. It was the Columbus Day holiday so not many people around; I therefore missed how busy it is on a normal work day. But it's as large as they say. Lots of corridors, but the addressing scheme makes sense, so it doesn't take that long to figure your way around. There are lots of services (food, dentists, etc.) available inside. We walked past regular offices, more important offices (lots of wood paneling). The courtyard at the center is very pleasant, with lots of trees. The section where the September 11 attack occurred is completely repaired; there is now a memorial chapel very near there. A quiet and sober spot.

2004-10-10: New Jersey to Virginia

Today I drove Mt Laurel NJ to Springfield VA
There was some light rain early but cleared up quickly to become a nice day. Route:
NJ73
NJ38
US30
Ben Franklin Bridge into downdown Philadelphia
past the Liberty Bell
I-95 to just past the airport, put top down. Driving along I-95, on the Philadelphia waterfront, I spotted an old ocean liner that I guessed (correctly) was the SS United States. There are still some hopes for restoration of this ship, one of the fastest of its day.
When I got into Delaware, I realized I was only about 5 miles from the High Point of Delaware. (I have all 50 state high point coordinates stored in the GPS.) So I had the Garmin Street Pilot calculate a route to it. It seemed to be in a field near a high school, so I walked to a cell phone tower near there but found no markings. Embarrassingly, I later determined that my stored location was a few hundred feet off, so I didn't get to the exact spot, but instead just pretty close.
From there, I followed:
DE141
I-95
MD295 - very nice parkway in MD, but not in DC
I-295
I-495
I-95

Today's mileage: 179 miles
Top down: 152 (85%)
Top up: 27

Trip Total: 591 miles
Total top down: 275 (47%)
Total top up:316

Afternoon: took the Metro to Farragut West and walked past Lafayette Park, the White House, WW2 memorial, east on the mall to the gardens at the Smithsonian and a photography exhibit at Dillon Ripley museum. Some photos for the day are here.

2004-10-09: Start of the trip west

I drove from Lebanon, New Hampshire to the beach at Long Branch, New Jersey, to Mount Laurel New Jersey today. Lots of traffic backing up at the Tappan Zee Bridge north of New York City; otherwise traffic wasn't too bad. I went to the beach in New Jersey because I wanted to make a symbolic start to the trip by walking in the Atlantic Ocean surf and capturing a bottle of the water. I will eventually empty the bottle somewhere in the Pacific Ocean (haven't decided where yet). Here are some photos of the beach and the bottle.

413 miles driven today:
---124 miles with the top down
---289 miles with the top up
Nice temperatures, ranging from 58 to 76.
Heading for the Washington DC area tomorrow, spending a few days there.

I was in 6 states today, which is the most states I've visited in one day:
--New Hampshire
--Vermont
--Massachusetts
--Connecticut
--New York
--New Jersey

My previous record was 5 states (a much longer drive, over 600 miles):
--Ohio
--Indiana
--Illinois
--Missouri
--Kansas

2004-10-07: Montshire Museum

Today I visited the Montshire Museum in Norwich, Vermont. It's the best science museum I've seen, with many very cleverly designed exhibits and a beautiful setting next to a forest and on the Connecticut River. There are all kinds of nice touches that show a great deal of thought has been put into the exhibits. The leafcutter ant colony was especially good. The outdoor area has an artificial stream, on which you can float ping pong balls and create dams of the water -- fun for kids of ALL ages (I spent a lot of time here).

2004-10-06: Fly from Seattle to New Hampshire

Flew east today to start Part 2 of the Marathon Month. I've been reading the Lewis and Clark journals online day by day by reading the journal entry from exactly 200 years ago. For example, today I read the journal entry for 6 October 1804, in which they continue up the Missouri river in the central part of South Dakota. It turns out that my flight today flew over that area:




This is not a great photo since it's taken from an airplane window and we're 6+ miles above, but the shape of the river (now lake) is quite distinctive. After the flight I determined exactly where this was and found out they had been through this part of the river approximately on 4 October, 1804.