The Highways Traveled

The driving route of the Northwest U.S. I covered about 2500 miles in a rental car.

This trip was important for a couple of reasons. One, over the years I had heard much about the beauty and grandeur of the northwest. Two, three states -- Washington, Idaho and Montana -- I had never been to before (I hit all three in the first four hours after landing in Spokane, that makes 47 states I have visited since graduating college). Three, I love visiting national parks and have been wanting to see Yellowstone and Glacier for decades. And four, I wanted to be someplace special for my birthday. A couple of years ago I was in Yosemite for my birthday. This time, it was planned to be in Yellowstone and Grand Tetons. But Enterprise Rent-a-Car cancelled that for me at the last minute (see here for more details).

On trips over time, there are three things I like to see: National Parks, Presidental Homes/Libraries and major Universities. No Presidents from this part of the country.

I did a lot of research for this trip. There is sooooo much to see and do in these five states. A person could easily spend four weeks and still have more places to spend time. I only had ten days. I decided that the priority is what Mother Nature has provided, the things humans built were second. And, since I was doing this trip solo (Sherry recently started a new job and had no vacation time yet), I knew I could make this a whirlwind-type trip with lots of driving. That way, I could cover a large area but only see one or two things each day. I can return another year to visit certain places more thoroughly. One place I really wanted to go but it would take another day or two is Olympic National Park. For another additional day yet, it would be great to take the ferry from there to Victoria in Canada.

While driving through the U.S., I often think about what it looked like when Europeans first saw it hundreds of years ago. Maybe that comes from my decades of family history research and pondering the daily lives of my ancestors.

Some observations made while traveling in this area:

The Bests:

  1. Finally visiting Washington, Idaho and Montana. Just three to go: North Dakota, Hawaii and Alaska.
  2. Finally visiting my Seattle friend
  3. Mountains. I prefer mountains over beaches and lakes/rivers. They make me re-realize that nature is bigger than humans.
  4. Weather. No rain the entire time anywhere. It was`rather warm though -- 80's.


The Worsts:

  1. Enterprise Rent-a-Car (see Yellowstone for more, they may have lost a customer
  2. September is Road Construction Month in the Northwest
  3. AAA (for their policy for booking hotels online)

The Totals: