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:

• Because of the early arrival of winter and the desire to not make the tourists angry with orange cones/barrels and construction delays, spring and fall are the times when the road crews are out doing their most work.
• The drivers really obey the speed limits. Very few exceed it.
• The drivers, as they exit the interstate, all hit their brakes before they exit. Unknown why since exits are designed to be taken at highway speed limits.
• One mile is longer in the Northwest than the Midwest. A sign says "blah blah exit one mile" but it seems to be about 1.5 miles away. Or, when something is 20 miles away and I drive 60 MPH for 15 minutes but have only knocked off ten of those twenty miles.
• Even in the small towns in the corner of the country there are many large chains that have a store there.
• Chains are often required on vehicles during snows. There are actual signs pointing to actual designated areas for putting the chains on and separate places for taking the chains off in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana.
• Numerous towns, especially in Montana, really go all out to have separate lanes for turning right and turning left. And, they have large lines painted accompanied by large arrows saying "Left Only" or "Right Only" or "Straight Only".
• Speed limits vary in each state in the Northwest. However, just because the speed limit is XX MPH does not mean most drivers can actually drive it because of the countless curves in the roads.
• I am pleasantly surprised at the speed limits of Montana two-lane highways: 70 MPH. And that is with the up-and-down curves around mountains. Few locals can handle 70 MPH on the two-lane highways.

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:

• Miles: 2458 (short a few because of not visiting Wyoming, thanks Enterprise)
• Driving: 37 hours
• States: 4 (Washington, Idaho, Montana, Oregon) (Wyoming got cancelled thanks to Enterprise)
• National/State Parks/Monuments: 3 (Glacier, Mount Rainier, North Cascades) (Yellowstone and Grand Tetons got cancelled thanks to Enterprise)
• Pictures/Movies Taken: 1062/14 but kept 730 of the photos and 9 movies