In the Rearview -- Superlatives

Diane's favorite picture of Me as Intrepid Explorer. One other things Diane and I have been keeping track of throughout our journey is a list of what Diane calls "Superlatives," the bests and worsts of where we've been. Before we got any further, a disclaimer: This list is based on our experiences and observations and is in no way scientific or based on research into reliable facts. There are...

Our Trip By the Numbers

Diane and Todd have been keeping all sorts of stats throughout the Todyssey so I thought I'd share a few with you! 8005 The total number of miles we traveled over the course of 31 days. 585.814 Gallons of diesel purchased on our trip. The price of diesel varied quite a lot from state to state but $2.50 is a reasonable average. We'll leave it to you to do the math on that, though. 19 The...

1800 Miles in Under 40 Hours: It's exactly as fun as it sounds

We were on the road by 9AM on Thursday, July 28, and we didn't get off the road until 12:30 AM on Saturday, July 30. Our only stops in that time were A very quick stop at Roosevelt National Park to stand at an overlook of the Painted Canyons in North Dakota's Badlands. A one-hour lunch break at a Cracker Barrel somewhere in North Dakota (delicious fried chicken, btw) And stops every...

The Long Ride Home

After the hot springs, we drove through Butte where Diane and Todd decided to eat a delicious lunch from Burger King. When they told the cashier they were from Massachusetts and were just driving through, she came outside to point out some Butte landmarks for us.  Butte is a mining town surrounded by tall hills. On top of one hill is a massive statue of Mary that's bigger than the statue...

Travelogue -- Half a Day in Missoula

After our big breakdown in Idaho and two days stranded at a slightly crumby hotel outside of Coeur D'Alene, we got on the road on Tuesday, July 26 around 11:00. Although we knew the clock was ticking and we had, oh, 2874 miles to go to get to Maine by Saturday as planned, we had to make one more stop first in Missoula, MT to visit Diane's college roommate Jeanne. Way back at the beginning...

That time we broke down in Idaho

Turns out there was no reason to rush in Coeur D'Alene. We were only a few miles down the highway when the Big Rolling Crate decided it was time to take a break. It happened like this:Sunday morning, we had noticed that the truck was making some new and usual noises. It sounded like a cat was stuck under the hood. Todd and Diane both noticed it but decided (stupidly, it turns out) to ignore it.Sunday...

Travelogue -- Coeur D'Alene

By now it'll be no surprise to know that I went swimming in Coeur D'Alene because I have been swimming in every body of water that wasn't full of algae and bacteria since our road trip began. Coeur D'Alene is quite close to Spokane, so we arrived Sunday morning and found a great parking space for the Big Rolling Crate right near the big park downtown on the lake. Coeur D'Alene is awesome! We...