Cross Country from NY to Oregon

So I've made it to Oregon, yay! We made the 7 day journey out to the west coast from New York, beginning at Cedar Point in Ohio. We got to ride on maybe 5 rollercoasters in 7 hours because of the lines, but it was fun none the less.

We then proceeded to Chicago where we stayed with my friend Ashley (thanks again for letting us crash, wish we could have stayed longer to hang out, but definitely great to see you and Becky though!). We had an amazing breakfast at a restaurant around the corner from where she lives (I had white chocolate, pretzel, and carmel pancakes...AMAZING!!).

From there we had a long day of driving, of which Jon did most of, to the Black Hills of South Decota. Along the way were able to visit some exciting tourist traps like the Corn Palace (a building enshrouded completely in corn), and enormous statue of the Jolly Green Giant, the biggest pink flaminco in the world, and an upside down White House that was said to be obducted and returned that way by aliens (WEIRD!).

Before entering our first stop at Badlands National Park we got lucky and were able to see an old missle silo control center that was active during the Cold War; pretty scary what our country had at the push of a button during that time!
We passed through the Badlands National Park, which was beautiful, and very different from anything I've ever seen before. I can definitely see why the settlers of the past called the area the Bad Lands, as it appears to be mysterious and eerie. Besides the fantasitic scenery we were able to see some big horned sheep effortlessly hanging out along the rock faces getting some sun.

After driving through the Badlands we continued our adventure through the Black Hills of South Dakota to Custer National Park. This was a big change from the desert like mountainous terrain of the Badlands. The mountains were green with hidden rivers; horse counrty. While in Custer National Park we made our way to Wind Cave. On the way we were stopped by a large herd of bison that were blocking the road.

We were completely surrounded by the herd and confronted by an enormous male buffalo that kept making a loud puke-like sound and sticking out his tougne, pretty funny, we have great video of this and laugh pretty hard everytime we replay it, haha. Once we were able to avert the buffalo we reached Wind Cave. This cave had over 100 miles of caves, as well as some underground lakes that we weren't able to go to. We took a ranger guided tour of the inside of the caves, which was pretty neat. The guide explained that a 16 year old boy was the person responsible for finding the cave system and exploring it in secret for a number of years with a candle.

Following the cave tour we set-off to see the all famous lighting of Mount Rushmore. We found a stop to watch the ceremony. I was touched by the patriotic message that was communicated during the ceremony, I won't tell you the details, you'll have to go see it yourself! I was greatly impressed with the sight and what is stands for. We didn't go to the Crazy Horse Memorial, but we saw it from the road and according to Jon it hasn't changed much since he was there maybe 10 years ago.

After visiting Rushmore we set out to North Dakota so that Jon could get the high point. Gomer, not sure where Ryan grew up, but this was in Amidon, North Dakota, and probably one of the most rural areas I've been in a while. Only cows, rattle snakes, buzzing grasshoppers, and hay around this tiny mountain. We had to call the people who own the land to get permission to climb White Butte, and drive down a long unpaved, dirt road in my sedan with the snail shell on top; needless to say it was interesting. No, we didn't see any rattle snakes, but the grasshoppers sounded like rattle snakes, which had me nervous until Jon let me know what they were. It took us under 25 minutes or so to climb the highpoint, this should give you some idea of how big it was. After getting some pictures, and making a note in the vistor log we took off to make our trek to Yellowstone National Park.

Montana and Wyoming are unbelievably beautiful states, the vast mountains, and the beautiful rivers that wind through the states are remarkable. These states are definitely what I would call cowboy country, literally. We stayed in a nice town outside Yellowstone called Cody in Wyoming, where we walked through the town and had a few beers at a local pub where a couple guys were playing music; definitely a cute, very western, comfortable little town.

The next day on our way to Yellowstone from Cody a lady merged across traffic from a parking lot and side swiped us...yay! So we had a bit of a draw back waiting for the police to come and file a report. The damage was to the passenger side and a little to the rear door behind the passenger side, we could still open the window and the door, so the damage wasn't too bad, and most of all no one was hurt. It was clearly the other driver's fault, and the policeman was nice enough not to give her a sitation since the sun appeared to blind her vision (her insurance company covered all damages luckily).

Following that episode we were off to Yellowstone! Our first stop in Yellowstone was a hike up Avalanche Peak. This hike was up a 10,000 foot peak and displayed gorgeous views of the entire park. I had my first experience climbing the Rocky Mountains, and I mean literally rocky (the trail was covered is small loose shale rocks, which made it even more challenging to climb with the altitude). When we reached the top of the mountain the wind was so strong that I felt like I was going to get blown off the mountain (I could jump a few feet off the ground and felt like I was flying for a milisecond, haha). At the top we found a nice refuge from the wind in a small fortress of rocks. There, we snacked on some food and were visited by some chipmonks who had no quams about crawling up our legs in hopes of some food (all the animals in Yellowstone are extremely use to visitors).

We tried to see all the recommended top 10 sites to see in Yellowstone, which included the hot springs (Old Faithful), Yellowstone Lake, some of their valley's with guaranteed wildlife sightings, waterfalls, the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, etc. all extremely worth seeing and beautiful.

We saw wildlife other than pesky chipmonks, such as a black wolf, bison herds, pronghorns, elk, mountain goats, and big horned sheep. I was hoping for a grizzly bear, but wasn't so luck, but that's ok, although we did see grizzly foot prints. After seeing as much as we could before dark we found a camp ground, built a fire, and camped underneath the stars of Yellowstone. The next day we had some more sightseeing to see. We visited some additional hot springs, and traveled to Mount Washborn for a 6 mile hike. This hike was even more beautiful than the first hike. We had beautiful sunny weather, and gorgeous views from the fire tower of the entire park, as well as the Grand Tetons in the distance. Definietly one of my favorite parts of the trip.

From Yellowstone we traveled to Missoula, Montana to stay with Jon's friends Rachel and John before heading to Glacier National Park in the northwest corner of Montana. Unfortately we didn't not get to their house until late that night, so we crashed, and went to breakfast with them in the morning. After a delightful breakfast with them we continued our journey on to Glacier National Park.
Glacier National Park was my favorite part of the trip. The mountains in this national park are vast, monsterous...beautiful. Driving into Glacier we drove past Flathead Lake which was gorgeous! Once we reached Glacier to get where we wanted to do our 12 mile hike we had to drive up a steep road that hugs the mountain; on one side a rock face, and on the other a 100 foot cliff and climbing. Once we reached the top we got ready and started our hike on the Highline Trail to the Loop Trail. What a beautiful sight! Never ending mountains in the background, waterfalls trickling over the side and underneath the trail, wild mountain goats with their babies, big horned sheep, and marmots walking with you on the trail, wild flowers growing out of every inch of the mountain...gorgeous!

In the beginning of the hike we took our time, taking pictures and enjoying the scenery, but as time elapsed we realized we might miss the last shuttle that would take us back up the mountain to our car (if we missed it we would have to walk back or hitch hike back up the mountain). Therefore, we decide to start picking-up the pace. By the time we reach the Chalet near the end of the trail we have less than a half hour to make it 4 miles down to the shuttle. So, we looked at each other, and decide that we were willing to run down the 4 miles of the mountain. We made it down the remaining 4 miles in 30 minutes! Along the way people were cheering us on, and it was funny to see their faces as we passed by. Luckily the shuttle was not on time as we were about 10 minutes late for the posted time, but we made it! Needless to say we were extremely sore and tired after this day, but it was well worth it (morale of the store make sure if you do this hike, you give yourself ample time for a shuttle back up the mountain, haha).

After Glacier we found a hotel to shower and rest in and the next day made the long drive to Corvallis, Oregon. We made it to Oregon in our bug covered, dirty, broken car around 11:00 PM (PST) on Sunday, August 24th, 2008 after leaving from New York on August 16th, 2008 around Noon time. Overall, a remarkable trip!!