The return to Washington!

We have returned to Washington. Took us an extra day due to an unfortunate experience regarding a flat tire and one of the Salt Lake City Scion dealerships, but we are back, safe and sound.

Unfortunately I had no internet access during the trip, and have a lot of posts saved up I need to upload and date appropriately. But don't fret! They will be up soon, along with some photos from my trip, which I am going through presently.

The trip was a blast. I already miss Oklahoma, and all the things I've seen in between. I miss the people whom I met while there, too.

To be honest, the experience has me very torn. I've been thinking a lot about the idea of a temporary move, at least until Mitch is able to move up here permanently. Plus, it would give me the ability to explore more of Oklahoma, which I have fallen in love with, especially when it comes to the geology and zoology of the areas I was able to visit during my short time there.

It's not something to take lightly, however, and there will be a lot of thought and planning before even attempting to follow through with the possibility of me moving there. Already been looking into the ideas of putting my things into storage here, renting my house out, and applying for the local college there so I can finish my degree.

Ah well, still a lot to think about. More adventures to come, too!

Destination: oklahoma!

Made it to southeast oklahoma last night. Long drive, 636 miles from Albuquerque, NM but I made it!

I followed part of the route 66. Sadly, the historical area is run down, and there's a lot of ghost towns. Planning on checking some of them out on the way back.

There's not a lot to see out along hwy 40. Many a small town, but most of them are empty other than a few homes and gas stations. Found quite a few abandoned gas stations along the way, so don't always believe the signs saying "gas ahead."

Speaking of fueling up, if you're on a long distance road trip, it's always a good idea to keep a full fuel tank. You never know when you'll see another gas station, especially along old highways like 40. Personally, my rule is to always fill up at half a tank. That way you're pretty safe and sure to not end up stuck on the side of the road with an empty tank!

New Mexico

I'm staying in Albuquerque, New Mexico for the night. Crap hotel, econolodge. Forgot they still allow smoking in rooms down here. Thinking it would have been better to find a campsite, but too late now. I have all sorts of photos to post, will do so when I have reached my destination!

La Grande, Oregon

Stopping for the second gas stop in la grande, Oregon. Still have 400 miles to go til I reach Utah! Here's a neat Texaco I saw in la grande.

So begins my journey...

Completed my last day of class yesterday, and did a pretty good job on the presentation for my research paper. Spoke with one of the teachers about continuing my research via independent study, and he's interested to see what kind of proposal I can come up with, and definitely interested in seeing me do further studies on sea star wasting! Something to look forward to in the fall.

Today is the first day of my very first, 2000+ mile journey by the good old American road trip. My Camobox (car) is all packed, just need to put in a few last minute necessities (cooler, boots, laptop, dog), eat some breakfast, and go!

Hopefully I will be making it to my first destination in Utah by tonight. Depends on stops and tiredness. Not going to rush, just going to enjoy the scenery!

Counting down the hours...

I am counting down the hours until I leave Friday morning. Everything seems to be going straight ahead for me, almost done with the final part of my class (A presentation on my research group's paper on antibiotics and sea star wasting), just have to present tomorrow, then pack everything up in the car and leave Friday morning! Weatherwise, my first destination looks like it will be in the low 80s during the day, but since I'll be arriving at nightfall, looking at ~65F at night. Not bad for a campout! The next destination will be around 91F during the day, but again, ~77F at night. Perfect! My last destination will be in the higher 80s during the day. Not bad for weather for my trip! Time to get off this thing and work on the power point for the presentation. The next couple of days will be very busy, but will post again soon.

Only four more days, route 66 and a new hat!

Only four more days! Finishing up my research paper (did an experiment involving sea star wasting disease, Pisaster ochraceus and antibiotics), have presentations Wednesday and Thursday, and Friday morning I hit the road!

While looking over my route, I realized that part of my route - Hwy 40 from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Amarillo, Texas - is part of the historic route 66! I'm very excited to drive a portion of this route. The entirety of route 66 spans over 2,448 miles, so I won't be driving the entire thing, but it will still be fun to experience part of history! If you would like to read more about U.S. Route 66, Wikipedia has a great page: Wikipedia U.S. Route 66 with some good information, along with links to other sites about the famous highway.

I've also been looking for sites to rockhound while on my trip. Rockhounding is one of my favorite hobbies, and I'm well known for stopping at random road cuts in the middle of nowhere, or along beaches and rivers to paw through gravel in search of little treasures. On previous road trips, I've found some very beautiful geodes, crystals, jasper, petrified wood, all sorts of beautiful rocks. After looking around online, I found a few good sites, not too far off the route I'm taking. Hopefully the weather is good enough that I can stop and pick away with my rock hammer and find some cool stuff!

Another favorite thing of mine to do on road trips is discover the weird things along the main roads. Seems like the south is full of strange statues, ghost towns, abandoned buildings, etc. Wrote a nice list of things to look for along the way, although I'm sure there will be more to see than just those few. Noted the known locations on my map, along with locations of state parks, national forest lands, campgrounds, and more. Will certainly be taking a lot of photographs, that's for sure!

One thing I've been on the lookout for my trip is a good desert hat. I like the looks of the Indiana Jones and crocodile dundee hats, but they're pretty expensive. Really liking the outback style cowboy hats. Ended up finding a good straw hat, made by Scala, today for a good price.

Getting my car ready.

Took my car in to the mechanic yesterday for a check up before I leave. If it's one major to do before any road trip, it's getting the vehicle checked over.

The last thing any road tripper wants is to break down in the middle of nowhere. Most of the time, breaking down can be avoided by getting your car checked, especially important things, like belts, hoses, fuel lines, battery, tires, fluids and suspension, BEFORE a trip, at least a week before. 

Also, it's often a good idea to bring a full gas can, just in case you run out of fuel. Some roads easily have 300 or more miles between gas stations,  and do not depend on small town gas stations, as often they are closed or run out of fuel!

Having A A A or comprehensive insurance coverage helps, but what if you can't find a working phone?  Always plan for the worst. Have an emergency auto kit in your car, at the very least!

Thankfully, the only things my car needed were a new battery and wiper blades. Toyota also offers a fairly good guarantee,  so if I do get stuck, I can call the closest dealership and they will come get me. :)

Why I prefer a road trip over an airplane.

Many people have asked me why I don't just take an airplane to my destination. Well, to be honest, I loathe airplanes. First, they're tiny, cramped little sardine cans.

Flying is also notoriously expensive. Plus, they are flying disease farms: the seats are almost never cleaned between passengers, and the air is recycled, so if one person is sick, well, you can be sure you'll catch it.

Add in the horrible security walk through, where you pretty much have to strip down to your base layer just to pass through. Overpriced food and drink, your bags often don't make it to your destination...

Lastly, you miss all the cool stuff in between where you leave from and your destination! That's part of the road trip fun... everything you see on the way!

I think Cheryl Wheeler sums up everything I hate about airplanes in her song "on the plane."

Have a listen!

Cheryl Wheeler - On the Plane

Mapping out the drive!

It's a good idea to copy pages from your up to date road atlas so you can mark all over them. Or, just make marks in the road atlas.

However, I prefer to mark on black and white paper, because it's easier to see the marks. Especially if you use a colored highlighter.

Map of my travel route.

Here is a map of my basic travel route. Major cities I will be driving through will be Boise, ID; Salt Lake City, UT; Albuquerque, NM and Amarillo, TX before reaching my destination in Oklahoma. This is just my basic route, I may or may not veer off course from this, depends on if I see something nifty or not along my journey!

New blog, and road tripping to the midwest!

And a new blog has begun! This blog will detail my travels from Olympia, Washington (my hometown) to various places!

I've done more in state road trips than I can count, and a few out of state road trips in my lifetime, including Washington to Southern California(twice), Washington to Idaho (three times, twice to Boise and once to Sandpoint), Washington to Montana (Plains and Missoula), and Oregon, but I don't really count that, because it's so close to Washington.

I've taken the train from Olympia, Washington to eastern North Dakota, then back from Duluth, Minnesota. I've flown to Alaska and Minnesota as a kid, and Florida as an adult before my son was born. Through my travels, I have determined airplanes are expensive and terrible, trains are time consuming, relaxing and amazing, but the most you can see and experience is by the good old American road trip!

My upcoming trip is a long, 2,102 mile road trip to the Midwest, and then the journey back home to Washington. My current route will be taking me through the northeastern corner of Oregon, the southwestern corner of Idaho, most of eastern Utah, the northern half of New Mexico, the north Texas and ending in southeastern Oklahoma.

Driving to the Midwest will be the longest road trip I have ever undertaken. Having never been to the Midwest, I'm excited about what I will see and experience from here to there, while there and back home to Washington, and this blog will be a way for me to share my experiences and sights.

So sit back, read on, posts will be starting to flow as the trip gets on it's way. Only 12 days to go!