A Never-Ending Cross Country Road Trip

It happened first when we talked with our waiter our first night in Tacoma, and then another time the next night with the grocery store cashier.

A bug-eyed, “are you crazy?” look, followed by, “You guys drove all the way from Washington, DC to Washington state?”

I’ll be honest. When first planning what ended up being a forty-four hour drive across much of the width of the country, I had the thought in mind that it wouldn’t be that bad. What would be so hard about spending a few days in the car?

Fun fact, it wasn’t exactly a walk in the park.

I’ll start off by saying that you can’t really fully prepare yourself for a road trip of that magnitude. You can pack all you want for entertainment and things to help pass the time, but you can only distract yourself for so long before starting to go stir-crazy.

Speaking of packing, it turns out it’s also a bit of a tight fit when you’re packing everything you may possibly need for a three-month assignment in the back of a car.

To add a little plot twist, it wasn’t just my stuff, either. My roommate, Shannon, also had to pack her stuff plus her two-year old golden retriever.

To say things were a little snug is an understatement.

Shannon and I met up in Ohio to start the road trip. From Ohio, it was going to be thirty-six hours, myself already having driven eight hours from DC to Ohio, and Shannon more than sixteen hours, having made a stop in Alabama before making the drive to the midwest.

We started out with gray, dreary weather, something that would continue the next two days. In fact, the weather grew exponentially worse as we drove into the plain states, turning into never-ending rain, wind, and freezing temperatures.

The next day, we woke up to snow in South Dakota.

Nothing like a good, end-of-May snowfall to lift your spirits.

We stopped in the Badlands, getting a chance to look at the super neat rock formations, but only from our car since it was still pouring outside. Only once did we take a quick sprint out to a viewpoint to snap a picture as proof that we visited. Otherwise, we got to enjoy a disappointingly brief drive-through of the national park.

Only the next day did the weather improve. And by improve, I mean stop raining. It was a bit of a disappointment, having driven through the plain states before and knowing how beautiful they are. With all the rain and clouds, we couldn’t see much out of the windows, so we were left with a lot of time to simply do nothing.

Only when we got out to Montana did the weather finally start to improve and we began enjoying the trip. Montana is an absolutely beautiful state. There was so much to see, and the mountains in the western half of the state were impressive.

We stayed in a town called Missoula, located just before a big mountain pass going into Idaho. The town itself was such a quirky, fun little place. It’s the home of two major colleges in Montana, so there were plenty of coffee shops, bars, and restaurants to go around.

And something else I’d never seen, there were guys surfing in the river going through the center of the town.

You heard me right. Surfing.

Crossing over into Idaho the next day - the final state before Washington - marked the fortieth state I’ve visited.

Checking off those states, one by one.

Idaho was almost just as beautiful as Montana. As soon as we entered into Washington state, the terrain changed, as did the weather. Suddenly it was full sun, arid climate, and a terrain that honestly reminded me a lot of South Dakota and the other plain states.

Absolutely nothing.

Though it was the arid climate that really interested me. There were literal tumbleweeds rolling down the highway we were on. At one point, we stopped at a scenic point to stretch our legs and were met with dry, desert heat.

Since leaving Ohio four days earlier, we’d experienced just about every type of climate you could imagine.

Ending our drive in Tacoma that evening, we were met with blue skies and cool, comfortable temperatures. We moved into the house we’ll be staying in throughout the summer, a cute little two-bedroom home on top of a hill overlooking a bay. If you sit out on the back porch, you can see Mount Rainier from where you’re sitting.

Pretty neat.

Having only been here for a couple days now, we’re still recovering from all the stress of the past month in addition to the four solid days spent in a car. We’ve managed to make it on one hike already, and spent much of our Memorial Day sitting on a beach, beer in hand.

Not a bad way to end a first weekend in our new home.

Our list of places to see in the area is only getting longer, particularly our list of trails to hike and national parks to visit. If you have any suggestions for things to do in the Northwest, whether it be restaurants, museums, or trails to hike, leave them in the comment section below!

Until next time.