The following are entries from my journal as I drove from Oregon to NJ in May of 1999.
5/19/99
Today was my first full day in Bend/Sun River, OR. I will be here through Friday the 21st, when I will be heading back to NJ. Yesterday, I had the movers load my things in Vancouver, and I drove here. Keith was on his way back from AZ and stopped and spent the night plus a couple hours with me at my client.
I've been reflecting on my life in awe over the last couple days. Now that I'm going back to NJ I'm happy. It's a been a difficult couple of months, but I'm content with my decision and actually happy to be going home. I can't believe the opportunities and experiences I've had. I feel very fortunate to have lived the life I have so far. It almost feels like I'm accelerating towards something. I feel like going to NJ is something I'm "supposed" to do. I know it will help me bring closure to some isuses so I can move on. I also feel like NJ is not my last stop. I can't help feeling like I will be back in the West after a few years, but for now I "have to" be in NJ.
This past weekend I was in the Quinault Rain Forest with my friend Rick and saw a wild black bear. Today, I'm in the Oregon high desert and saw a wild coyote and two does, and for me these are awesome experiences. I can't wait for the adventure of driving cross country and the sights I'll see on my stops.
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| Me on a Sequoia Tree in Quinalt Rain Forest |
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| Small example of Quinalt Rain Forest |
I left Bend, OR yesterday about 4:30pm and arrived in Mt. Home, ID about 10:00pm (11:00pm Mountain time). I drove through Eastern Oregon's high desert. The further east I got, the more brown and barren everything got. It was just like the movies where there is nothing for miles, then, in the middle of all, there is a post office, a general store and a gas station. In 2 seconds, you're through the "town". As I got closer to Idaho there were more hills and a river, and there were some ducks and other birds. There were these really cool looking black birds with white tipped wings and long tails. I think they are some kind of scavenger birds because I saw at least one of them eating road kill. This morning I left Mt. Home and am now at a diner in St. Anthony, having a cheeseburger and fries. I stopped at the Harley Davidson dealership in Blackfoot, ID earlier today to pick up a t-shirt. The terrain here is unbelievably flat. The high desert in OR was pretty flat, but there were some trees and lots of little bushes. Here, there is not much of anything to create texture. I guess that's how they grow potatoes. :-) There was a sign for the Potato Expo.
The rest of the ride through Idaho was pretty uneventful. I rode north to Yellowstone. It costs $20.00 for a 7 day pass and I only used about 4 hours worth. I was going to try to drive the whole park in a figure eight, but the road between Tower and Canyon was closed. Instead, I drove north to the Petrified Tree, then headed back south to see Old Faithful. Almost immediately upon entering the park, I saw Elk and Buffalo. They were all over the park. I did not see any bears the whole time. I was surprised at how thin the forest was. The ground was ashy and the trees were like scrub pines. I guess that the result of alot of volcanic activity. There were lots of fields and water too.
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| Elk in Yellowstone |
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| Buffalo in Yellowstone |
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| Petrified Tree in Yellowstone |
The last part of the trip through Yellowstone was Old Faithful. I had no idea when it was supposed to go, but figured if I was supposed to see it, I would. I pulled into the parking lot about 6:35pm and got the the viewing area about 6:40pm. I asked some people there when it was supposed to go and they said around 6:45. Sure enough, about 6:47 it went off, I took a couple pictures and was on my way again. Talk about not wasting time!! I couldn't have planned it better if I tried!
I left the park and drove to Cody, Wyoming where I stayed for the night. I got there about 10:00pm. The ride through WY was similar to eastern OR... desert and hills, but WY hills had no vegetation. They were more like stark reddish brown rock with really sharp shapes. There was a long stretch of road where they were doing construction and it was gravelly. Boy, was I glad I was in the car and not on a bike.
Cody, WY seems to be a typical western town. One street about 15 blocks long is called "downtown". It seems to be pretty lively though, especially for 10:00pm. Oh, also not far outside Yellowstone, I drove next to a large lake. It was still frozen and had snow on it, and along most of the road there was still about 5 feet of snow. There were quite a few spots along the road in WY where there were herds of wild deer in the fields right near the road.
5/23/99
A strange thing happened as I left Cody this morning. Late yesterday, I kept thinking of the song by Phil Collins and a female singer that has the lyrics "You have no right, to ask me how I feel..." but that's about all I could remember of the song. This morning, that was the first full song I heard on the radio. "Separate Lives" I had tears in my eyes as the realization hit me that Keith and I would, at least for now, be living "Separate Lives"... and how appropriate that song was at that time.
Another not-so-strange thing (for me) happened too. About 10 miles outside Cody I realized that I didn't get gas. I decided to just wait til I hit the next town, Grey Bull. Well, I got there, filled up, and realized I locked my keys in the car. It was a typical western town, complete with the officer inside the mini-mart, drinking coffee and eating donuts, and there were three Mexican men who were so close to each other they looked like they were glued together. Of course everyone stared at the "out-of-towner" (me) as she walked up to the cop and explained she locked herself out of her car. He radioed in, but the one guy in town who could unlock my car was on vacation. He requested that a guy who works for him bring the tools over and he would unlock it for me. He was very nice and I was on my way again in a short amount of time.
I stopped in Sheridan, WY to try to get a t-shirt at the Harley dealership there. No such luck-- it was closed. There was a dealership in Gilette, WY but since it's Sunday it was closed for the day. So, I drove on to see Devil's Tower. I had to drive on a dirt road for about 5 miles and thought that was what the whole route was, but thank goodness it turned to pavement again. While I was there, I picked up a vase supposedly made by the Sioux Indians.
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| Devil's Tower... perhaps you recognize it from "Close Encounters..."? |
By this point, the bugs on my windshield are so thick, I have to find the clear spots to peak through. I still am doing 85 in a 75 zone though. Any gas stations I've stopped at so far have not had the washer fluid and my wipers and washer fluid aren't doing the trick. I headed back to Sturgis, where I filled up in preparation for the next day, and was finally able to clean my windshield. I settled in for the night and let myself sleep a little late the next day. I still wanted a t-shirt from Sturgis and the Harley dealership didn't open til 9am.
I had talked to my brother John, tonight and told him that in some of my conversations with our dad, I learned that our mom was having some sort of stomach issues. It didn't seem like he knew about it, so he was going to check in. He called me back later to let me know that dad told him she just went into the hospital and it turned out to be gall bladder issues. They wanted to keep her in the hospital for a few days to do tests. I would keep tabs on the situation, but I may not have any more time for sightseeing and might have to just drive straight through. I'm not really sure there is anything else worth stopping for at this point anyway... we'll see.
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