2022 East Coast Trip Comments and Observations

We were certainly blessed to be able to visit family and friends across this nation.  The terrain, colors, climate certainly do greatly.  Even the sheer vastness of Utah and the central plains was awesome.

Our adventure was not overly planned, and did not expect to visit every national park, memorial, or sight.  We had originally attempted to look for waterfalls in each state... and found some.  A few states are gravely lacking in waterfalls, but then they must have little height for water to fall.  

We seldom traveled the interstate highways until we departed the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  By then our sights were set on home.  Tolls were avoided as well, as written about in an earlier post.  US Highways, state routes, and county roads varied greatly.  In some areas even the two lane state routes were posted at 70mph!

Small farm towns, larger metropolitan areas, and all between... we never felt threatened or unsafe... maybe a more than a bit unnerved by the highway systems and other drivers.  We didn't try to avoid the inner cities or industrial sections of cities, and even with this, we seldom saw graffiti or even the amount of homeless we have grown accustomed to here in the west.

The south proved to present its own set of challenges.  Ice tea?  Sweet or unsweetened.  Sometimes sweet tea came without being asked for preference.  The rich history was diverse... rich land owners and plantations and the slaves.  We did have a great history tour in Natchez with 'The Rev', a black pastor, who gave some insightful history of the area.  

The hospitality in the south is not a rumor.  Now we do need to admit that we did shop in  several Wal Marts. In some of the small towns we didn't take the time to track down our few needs, but went lazy.  But... even the checkers and employees were friendly and helpful!  

Then in West Virginia the man that helped us back out from the ice cream store parking while a long train was creeping through town.  Many, many examples for us to ponder.

Other than the gas we bought on the side trip with family to New York City, the most expensive gas we saw was right here in Klamath Falls.  We paid as little as $3.82/gallon on the trip.  There weren't any shortages or long gas lines, a plus, as we were hoping to avoid these types of issues.

We relied heavily on the navigation program on our cell phones, along with GPS satellites.  They did well most of the time... but then there were those times that utter failure took us 'somewhere else'.  But those were the interesting times where we experienced unplanned adventures. 

Thank you all for following us... for your encouragement and prayers, and covering our duties and responsibilities here at home while we traveled.

Generalized route of our adventure

America the Beautiful

O beautiful for spacious skies,

For amber waves of grain,

For purple mountain majesties

Above the fruited plain!

America! America!

God shed His grace on thee,

And crown thy good with brotherhood

From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet

Whose stern impassioned stress

A thoroughfare for freedom beat

Across the wilderness.

America! America!

God mend thine ev'ry flaw,

Confirm thy soul in self-control,

Thy liberty in law.

O beautiful for heroes proved

In liberating strife,

Who more than self their country loved,

And mercy more than life.

America! America!

May God thy gold refine

Till all success be nobleness,

And ev'ry gain divine.

O beautiful for patriot dream

That sees beyond the years

Thine alabaster cities gleam

Undimmed by human tears.

America! America!

God shed his grace on thee,

And crown thy good with brotherhood

From sea to shining sea.

Day 48: HOME!

Yes we are home!  It was a wonderful trip and think it will take us a while to process it all.  

We both woke up early--probably because we were anticipating home coming--and left the motel in Ontario and headed home.  There were many beautiful farms in far Eastern Oregon.  So thankful for the people that still farm.  

The hills are so bare in that part of the state - so very different from most of the country.  Even in Utah there are shapes to add to beauty.  Then we realized that the uniqueness of Eastern Oregon hills is that there is a "ledge" on a great many of them.  It is a layer of rock that stand out from the rest of the hill.  Usually it is horizontal near the top but not always.  There was one that started at ground level and went diagonally up and to the left. 

We went from Highway 395 west on the Christmas Valley road - first time.  Very interesting scenery.  Lots of sage brush from as far as the eye can see right up to the fog line on the road.  There was at one point along the way where there were over 10 miles of very tall, newer, power poles with a number of wires.  It was spooky driving alongside these massive poles as they looked like a nearly solid wall when looked at on end.  After Silver Lake there were juniper trees that later transitioned into pines. This is when we knew we were close.  It had been weeks since pine trees were so prominent alongside the road.  

Just about eight miles north of town - in the curves before the gravel plant - we were stopped by road construction.  It was the longest stop the entire trip (second longest was waiting for a train in Kansas).  Before we got to go 80+ vehicles went by us heading north.  As we got to the waiting cars on the other end, there were 138 vehicles waiting their turn to move.  We didn't know what was further up the road so we took Lakeport Blvd from near the weigh station and went down by JELD-WEN and then went through town.  It was 1:10 so we stopped at King Wah for lunch--about three blocks from home.  We knew once home we wouldn't want to take time for a meal.  Arrived home at 1:54 - 47 days and 30 minutes from the time we left Klamath Falls.

MILEAGE CHALLENGE:  First of all I (Karen) would like to apologize for misleading some in our early conversations.  I guessed 10,522.  Thank you all of participating.

ACTUAL MILES:  8,347.  Jana W. was closest at 8,253 - just 94 miles off.  Werner R. was exactly 300 miles over with a guess of 8,647 - was that a typo Werner?

Over the next few days we'll add some overall comments and observations.  We want to thank each of you for your encouragement and prayers as we wandered about, as well as the hours you took in reading of our exploits.

Day 47: Storms, Sage Brush, Shadows and SO Much More

Unlike yesterday when we decided to travel the interstate, today we chose to travel US 20 through the middle of Idaho.  It was a wise choice because the roads were good and not crowded and, because there wasn't stress from heavy traffic, we were able to enjoy the scenery which was varied and captivating. 

We started our morning (49 degrees--burr), by walking just two blocks from our hotel and being on a River Walk along the Snake River.  We decided to explore the options for this river walk, so drove 3/4 mile and were in the middle of Idaho Falls and at the "Falls" of Idaho Falls.  We enjoyed a nice walk, saw interesting views and learned how and why the falls are the way they are.  

When we left town we were headed straight for a black wall of clouds.  It didn't take long for us to be driving through that wall.  We had to slow down because of the intensity of the rain which lasted about 15 minutes.  We could see other storms in every direction.  We had to pass through one more but missed what could have been very unhospitable.  We noticed what looked like snow along side the road near Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve.  First it was just a few patches but as we drove it got heavier and then there was about and inch on one side of the road for about 1/2 mile.  It was hail; and it looked like it hadn't been there long.  So thankful we did not have to drive through a hail storm.

It was a hilly drive; up and down and round and round with sage brush everywhere.  Then there were areas of hay fields and fields being watered by irrigation lines.  We felt like we were driving around home.  Then there were a number of canyons with water along side.  After the storms passed mid-afternoon the sky was full of white puffy clouds that made beautiful shadows on the hill side and also on the road.  We drove in and out of shadows for quite a long ways.

We finally had to connect with I84.  That is such a busy interstate, and where most vehicles are going
80 or more, it calls for complete attention.  We finally got through the Boise area and traffic thinned out but was still intense.  We were glad to get into Ontario, Oregon.  

Again, God showered us with His grace by having all that we needed and wanted in one place.  We had decided on the place we wanted to eat.  It was right next to Home Depot where we wanted to check out lawn mowers.  No, we are bringing one home in the Prius but we were able to see what they had in case they weren't available when we got home.  The Home Depot here is in a shopping area with many restaurants, Big Lots, Harbor Freight, clothing stores--very interesting.  And our motel was just across the street.  Didn't have to use GPS to navigate--so wonderful.

This should be our last light away from home.  We have been gone two days shy of 7 weeks.  We are more than ready for home. Over the next few days after we get our house back in order we'll be able to add a few additional comments and observations gleaned over these many weeks.  And of course, the results of the total mileage challenge presented in early May.

Day 46: Eyes On Home

Our trip has been so full of family, fun and adventure but all good things must come to an end.  We had a long travel day from Buffalo, Wyoming to Idaho Falls, Idaho so we started at 7:30 this morning.  Right off we had to decide whether to take the interstate which was 70 miles further but 30 minutes shorter driving or the cross-country route.  We chose the interstate because there were places to stop every couple of hours.

We had checked weather last night and all seemed to be OK for the trip, but it got dark just after we left Buffalo, and started to rain about an hour into the trip.  By the time of our first stop in Billings, Montana it was pouring rain so hard that we had the wipers on full time.  We had coffee and a snack and it was still raining when we left.  Thankfully it ended 40 minutes or so after that stop.  It stayed cloudy all day but there was no wind which made things much nicer.  We had considered a car wash yesterday to remove several days of prairie bugs that had accumulated on the front of the car.  The rain today cleaned the front of the car quite well... it looks like we had gone to a car wash.  Money and time saved!

We listened to two of Pastor Russ's teachings on the Olivet Discourse and they gave us encouragement and exhortation to keep following and trusting in Jesus no matter what is happening around us.  We could use that kind of instruction every day as there are so many things assaulting our senses and vying for our attention.  We also continued listening to a book by Clive Cussler.  

This morning the drive was through more rolling, grassy hills.  There were a lot of cattle and horses along the way.  We saw a couple of deer but thankfully they were away from the road.  There were a couple of dead ones along the road also--just like home.  Also, this morning we saw irrigation lines running--first time in over five weeks. Another reminder of home.  There was a section just south of Billings where the roadside billboards were all mangled heaps of metal and wood.  We were wondering if a freak windstorm came through--maybe the storm that brought so much rain to Yellowstone NP.  Chuck found the cutest little pull out for us to have our lunch.  It was alongside the raging Gallatin River.  

The drive this afternoon reminded us of Colorado--mountainous, through canyons with lots of streams and trees.  We saw an unnamed waterfall and were able to stop for a picture.  We did skirt the edge of Yellowstone National Park as we crisscrossed the Montana / Wyoming state line several times.  The rivers in the region are raging.  The Yellowstone River was high enough that many trees seemed to be growing mid-stream. 

It was a nice--though long-nine hour day.

Day 45: Westward Bound

Prairie Dog

Another busy, sensory overload day even though we thought it would be a rather boring day of mainly driving.  It all started yesterday.  Chuck had mentioned that he would have really liked to see the Bad Lands National Park, but since we changed our motel reservations it wasn't going to happen.  But as we were looking over the route and distances, we realized that: 1) Bad Lands were only an hour from where we were staying and 2) it was actually a short driving day. SO...

Bad Lands NP

Today we got up early because we knew it would be warm and wanted to go through the Bad Lands before it got too hot.  It was already 80 when we left our motel at 7:10. Karen was concerned that since she had seen so much green that hills with no trees would be a letdown.  Not at all.  They are actually a marvel of nature--prairie grass on top of mounds of colored rock.  Also, there are two parts to this National Park--the upper plateau and the lower plateau.  We were able to see the colored strata from below, above and at eye level.  In many ways the Bad Lands reminded us of Bryce Canyon National Park in southern Utah.  

Martin VanBuren

Andrew Jackson

After leaving the Bad Lands we couldn't agree on what the rest of the day would look like, so we decided to take a break at a coffee shop in Rapid City, South Dekota.  God orchestrated that!  We navigated to "Alternative Fuel" coffee house which happened to be in the middle of the city (74,700) people.  Fun coffee place--although we had smoothies and we were able to sit outside because even though it was 85 degrees or so. There was nice shade and a strong breeze that keep us comfortable.  We learned that Rapid City is called the city of the presidents, not because Mt. Rushmore is close, but because there was a bronze statue of every president on the street corners right around where we were.  We strolled up one side of Main Street and down the other to see about half of the presidents.  It was great and also there were many cute shops to peer into.  Having enough of that, we continued the journey for the day.

Sturgis, South Dakota, which is about half an hour from Rapid City was a transitioning point from prairie grass to "black hills".  We jested about why the hills are called black, coming up with many differing reasons, but decided that the "black" came from what the hills looked like with pine trees--and
the stark contrast to what we had been seeing for a number of days.  And the hills were real hills where a person cannot see for miles and miles.  It really was like driving 58 from Chemult to Oakridge.  Then we entered Wyoming and the scenery changed back to prairie.  A ways into Wyoming we looked and there in the distance were the Rocky Mountains, topped with snow.  What a sight!!  So the rest of our trip to Buffalo, Wyoming was with the mountains as a reminder that we are getting closer to home.  Surprise!  There were quite a few motorcycles on the road in South Dakota... most were Harley's.

Observations from today: 

• There were fields of large round bales of hay--hadn't see much hay in fields up until today.
• Saw more horses than any other place.  Also buffalo outside the Bad Lands
• Overhead message signs on the free still alert to Yellowstone National Park being closed because of severe flooding.
• Interstate 90 has gates that close the freeway in the event of severe storms.  
  

Day 44: A Traveling Day

Today we just traveled but saw more beautiful country in Iowa, Minnesota, and South Dakota.  We are both looking forward to getting home.  Easy drive as most of it was on I 90 which is straight and flat.  We listened to a book which also helps pass the time. 

We had our 'picnic' lunch at a very nice rest area in South Dakota. There was a tiny chapel that was open for travelers.  There were free copied of the NIV bible as well as devotionals. Very nice.

The wind today was incredible, blowing from the south-east.  We could watch mile after mile of grain waving in the very brisk wind.  Later this afternoon the horizon was much more obscured by dust.

Made an error in an earlier post.  We have been gone 6 weeks, not 7.