« I know I've been out for a long trip but... | Main | Fun with Google Earth »

Like Johhnny Cash Said...

easter_break_map.bmp

"...I've been everywhere man, I've been everywhere...!"

April 1st - Sacramento, California to Idaho Falls, Idaho.

April 4th - Idaho Falls, Idaho to Seattle, Washington.

April 8th - Seattle, Washington To Sacramento, California.

What did I do? What did I see? What did I find that I didnt know before?

- Crossed the Continental Divide three times.

- Crossed into and out of Idaho twice.

- Went through 12 different Mountain passes, never on the same route twice.

- Saw Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Hood, Mt. Batchelor, Mt. Shasta, all in one day. Fantastic...

- Discovered that a river does indeed run through Missoula, Montana.

- Found that Montana has by far the best maintained and best constructed highways of the lower 48 States. It might be that they are the same as all the others, and that they are simply waiting for people to drive on them, but they are truly magnificent to drive on. Smooth as a billiard table, well marked and clear of any sort of debris.

- While passing through Montana, we once traveled for over 75 minutes without seeing another car, truck or vehicle travelling in either direction as we moved down the road. At the same time, no AM radio stations were accessible on the dial, there we were in "scan" mode, the dial just went around and around. This was truly the back side of nowhere and it was fantastic. It is great to know that such a thing exists.

- We were only 100 feet from a major crash of a lumber truck in Idaho and we didn't hear or see a thing. I have no idea how thats possible, but thats what happened. One minute, everything is fine, the next a full lumber truck spread out on its side, across all 4 lanes of traffic. And we never saw a thing...

- That the most spectacular mountain pass by far was the Snoqualmie pass just outside of Seattle. This is not to say that the rest were mere portals through mountain country, its just that Snoqualmie is absolutely stunning.

- A single female deer can stop a full size Dodge RAM pickup truck dead in its tracks.

- That the phrase "Big Sky Country" is an understatement.

- That all 5 radio shows of the Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy take 12 hours and 30 minutes to listen to, which is the exact amount of time it takes to travel from Idaho Falls, Idaho to Seattle, Washington. I dont think the author intended this to be the case, but it works out that way just the same.

- That I would rather have my teeth pulled out of my skull with rusty pliers than ever eat at another McDonalds ever again.

- Cities can be recognized at the periphery by the blue signs that say " Gas Food Lodging" and now in the modern age, they are quickly followed by the signs that say "Gentlemans Club" and "Wal Mart". One is left to wonder if at some future iteration of retail marketing, the two concepts will manage get together and provide the male consumer with what can truly be called "One Stop Shopping".

- That if you are ever in Seattle on a Friday for the first sunny, warm day in about 6 months, you will notice that office productivity in the downtown area will fall off to exactly nothing as everyone will want to be outside catching a few rays. The Green Lake area of Seattle will then swarm with lots of local people, half of which will be nearly opaque due to a complete lack of any descerable tan on their skin.

After a 14 hour day behind the wheel today finishing off the trip at just over 2500 miles, I'm now too tired to go on.

More to follow...

Posted @ April 09, 2007 12:44 AM | Current Affairs

Comments

On an unrelated note, congratulations on being named head coach of Kansas State University Men's Basketball. I think you will really like Manhattan, KS (the "Little Apple").

:)

Posted by: denise at April 9, 2007 08:30 PM

See, thats the coolest thing about having the second most popular name in the english language after "John Smith", it means I can hide in plain sight.

I once had a boss with the same name as me. Hell of a nice guy, I used to take calls from his kids teachers when they would get in trouble at school.

Oh, I was also the main character in the movie The transporter" too. You know, like the beach boys used to say, "I get around....!"

Posted by: frank martin at April 9, 2007 08:52 PM

My brother once travelled the length of Arizona at modday without seeing another car on the Interstate, but that was because of a faint dusting of snow.

Posted by: triticale at April 11, 2007 04:19 PM