America

A road trip across America will give one a better feel for the pulse of the country than what is presented in the evening news, or across the internet.

Over the past few years we have taken the opportunity to drive from the Pacific Northwest to the heartland of the country taking both direct and quite indirect routes.

The following is not a collection of tourism pictures but more of a documentation of the experience of the drive. I hope you enjoy.

In late April 2023 I embarked on a solo road trip from Seattle to Central Ohio. Previous trips provided a basis for how many miles one could reasonably and safely cover each day and what places to stay at overnight.

Day 1 was Seattle, Washington to Butte, Montana

Day 2 was Butte, Montana to Murdo, South Dakota.

Day 3 was Murdo, South Dakota to Morton, Illinois

Day 4 was Morton, Illinois to Granville, Ohio.

The four days of driving covered 2,475 miles (3,983 kilometers)

Seattle Traffic I-405. Heading for I-90 to begin my journey east.

Wild Horses Monument, Vantage, Washington

I-90 Bridge at Vantage Washington crossing the Columbia River

Grandson's Bracelet, First Nation (Canada) bracelet The Orca (Spirit of the Traveler). Amulets for a safe journey, I-90 Washington State

Center of the Nation, Belle Fourche, South Dakota

Dignity Woman, Chamberlain, South Dakota

Morton, Illinois (3rd night on the road)

In early May 2023 we started our journey westward, first heading north through Michigan and then heading west across the Upper Peninsula. A late spring snowstorm put some snow on the ground as a distraction but was not a hinderance.

We traveled through Duluth towards Bismarck with a brief stop in Breckenridge, Minnesota, the home of my great great grandfather when he and his family immigrated from Ireland. I had a need to visit the pioneer section of the cemetery and see the farmland that he worked.

Stopping at Theodore Roosevelt National Park we saw more bison than we had previously seen at the Great Grassland Reserve a few years earlier.