Driving to Seattle from the midwest
My family and I drove to Seattle and back last summer. It was a fantastic journey! My advice is not to try and cover to much ground each day. You also must accept that there will be attractions that you would like to see but will have to pass for time and fiscal constraints. I plan on making this trip again in a couple of years. This time I will take longer and do more. Try and make your motel reservations early each day. Make sure that you get confirmation numbers with any reservations you make via cell phone. Try to carry as much food and drink as possible. There are lots of Walmarts and such along the way. There are also plenty of savings using the dollar menu at the fast food places. Good luck. Drive defensively.
I'm back from the most amazing 16 days of my life.
Everyone, and I mean everyone, should take a cross-country road trip at least once in their lives. I have just returned from mine. I'm 25, I set out by myself, and I loved absolutely every second of the trip.
I saw the Badlands, Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse... Wall Drug, Deadwood, Haystack Rock, Portland, Salt Lake City, the Gateway Arch... I spent five incredible days and four phenomenal nights in Seattle, I drove the Washington and Oregon coasts on highway 101... I stayed in hostels and hotels... I ate Cheese-Its and granola bars, and steak and cucumbers... I had fresh apples from the farmers market in Madison, WI, and fresh flowers from Pike Place Market in Seattle... I met girls from Austraila and Germany and a man from Bremerton, who told me about his "brawl" with a sasquatch... I spent more than 80 hours in my car and drove more than 5200 miles...
And I would do it again tomorrow.
I set up an online blog for my friends and family to check while I was on the trip. If anyone wants to check it out, go here: http://itafac.tripod.com/carpediem
I got a digital camera about a week before the trip, and consequently took about 1100 more pictures than I anticipated taking. I'm trying to get those all organized (and consolidated!) to put some online, as well.
I'm sure the folks close to me are going to get pretty sick of me talking about the trip, so if anyone out there wants information about my route or what I saw or did, just post here or shoot me an email.
If you're considering or planning a road trip, though, all I can say is DO IT. DO IT NOW.
Thanks to everyone who posted when I had questions and suggested sights to see and things to do... your help was priceless!
Ask and you shall receive
The rest of my pictures are up! At least, the rest of the ones that are going up on the web site. If you want to see more, you'll have to come to my house!
There are three albums on the site, the three legs of my trip: getting there, Seattle, and getting back. To see them, visit: www.itafac.photosite.com
Enjoy!