Day 19 (7/31)

Last day. Nothing much to write home about. One more run in Louisville (ugh), a lunch stop in Ames, and an ice cream stop in Albert Lea. Man does it always feel good to see that MN sign again!

Vitals:
Miles: 401
Birds: Red Eyed Vireo, E. Phoebe, E. Blue Bird, Cedar Waxwing

Totals miles for the trip:
Total plates: 47
Total birds species:

Total towns visited....Many!

Day 18 (7/30)

A quick morning run in Laramie and we were on the road. Laramie was a nice town! Loved the college and the atmosphere it brought. Found a nice bike path along the river too. Not much to say other than another day of driving. Cutting across Nebraska isn't exactly the most exciting endeavor. When we finally stopped for the night, it was a rather disappointing campground along the Platte River between Lincoln and Omaha. VERY noisy trains blaring most of the night, with a cement plant to supplement noise during lulls. Other than a verbal argument with a truck about whether or not I was in the middle of the road, the run went by easy enough, but this is not a town (Louisville, NE) that's worth living it.

Vitals:
Miles: 530
Birds: Northern Cardinal
Plates: KY

Day 17 (7/29) Out our way home

Sunrise in NV

Well, the decision to finish the day in Great Basin was definitely worth it. We had a relaxing dinner, and woke up to a great sunrise over the basin and range. We were on the road by 7:30, and though we promptly lost an hour at the Utah border, we had a good jump start on the day.

Took a quick pit stop in Salt Lake City for a run. Kate found a nice trail along a river (Jordan?) and even though it was raining more or less the entire stop, it was a great run. Lunch was at some Good News church that happened to have a cafe/bookstore (Google didn't notify us of all this!). It ended up being good coffee/I got a pulled pork special.

Nothing much else of note today. I'd say it rained for 75% of the time on the road. Not the best traveling weather, but we made due.

The final stop for the night was Laramie, WY. Kate again found an awesome restaurant downtown for Bison Burgers, and good wine/beer. Also our cheapest motel of the trip at $45 and wasn't half bad!

The open basins of NV/UT

Vitals:
Miles: 610
Birds: N/A
Plates: N/A

Day 16 (7/28) Great Basin

Wheeler's Peak

Got a decent start today and set off for Wheeler's Peak; the 2nd highest in Nevada at 13,060. It started reasonable enough, I stupidly didn't bring a rain jacked even. It's a decent hike, 8.6 mi and 3,000 ft gain, and we clipped along well enough, though with maybe 1.5 to go, the rain came on. Not afternoon thunderstorms mind you (that's probably worse), just soaking mist and a wind. We trudged on for a while, but Kate had had enough and turned around. Without a raincoat and a bit chilly, I considered, though we were near a couple rangers doing maintenance and they said only a half mile to the top. I took off, determined to get there. In 15 min, I was there, disappointed I hadn't talked Kate into it. Worse (or better I guess), it stopped raining within minutes of reaching the top. The view wasn't fantastic, but solid to the west, and a goal accomplished is a hard feeling to beat.

Older than Jesus...

I wanted to see the Bristle Cone Pine Grove too, though Kate wasn't feeling the 2.8 mile hike so I headed solo, thinking I might not get a chance to see these guys for a while. It was a cool trek. They had some signs up for ones they had dated- some up to 3,200 years.

I'm not sure how I did this- or Kate for that matter as she had done a hike while waiting for me, but we trekked down to the small town, Baker to do a short run after all the hiking (and a little break). It was at least flat, and less elevation. Equally implausible, Kate found a little restaurant/bar managed by a couple of hippies (granolas?) that had good drinks and food. We did a couple margaritas and some guac and savored a job well done.

All in all, this park is amazing. at 90,000 people/yr it's definitely less traveled than almost any other you've heard of, it has mountains, cool hikes and a cave we didn't even get to. It's a bit out of the way, but might be worth swinging by again at some point.

Vitals:
Miles: N/A
Birds: Red Breasted NH, Pygmy NH, American Pipet, Golden Crowned Sparrow, Rosy Finch.
Plates: N/A

Day 15 (7/27) The Great Basin

This lunch stop might beat cup racing near Cheyenne...

I guess we got to see more sand dunes after all...

Well, today was mainly a driving day, albeit a learning experience. We had stopped in an old mining town, Colfax, and I did a little shakeout around town. It's definitely seen better times, but they have a cool little historic downtown and an Amtrak station. That's more than a lot of towns can say. Colfax to Great Basin is a lot of the same scenery, but definitely a learning experience. Within a couple hours, we were on the "loneliest highway" (US 50) and rightfully named. There was a town every 80 miles or so and I'd be shocked if half of them had over 1,000 people. The basin and range was cool to experience. A massive desert stretched out before you, followed by 20 miles winding through mountains with scraggly trees, then back into a dessert, the only thing on the horizon being the next mountains off in the distance.

Trees?!? What is this??

We got to Great Basin by 7 or so and had no problem getting a site- right on a creek! Running didn't seem like a good idea though, we were in the middle of a hill either direction.








Vitals:
Miles: 470

Day 14- Savioring the last moments on the coast

Woke up leisurely from our $170 hotel room, but were hot to trot to enjoy day 2 in San Fran. I had come up with the idea of Kate renting a bike and me doing my long run for efficiencies sake- I was hoping for 20, and it could be a good way to view the city. We rent a bike for cheap ($15) from the sports basement(?) right near Golden Gate and took off. The first stretch was across Golden Gate and back. Cool, but extremely crowded. Next, we headed to Golden Gate Park via a bike route in the Presidio, hilly, but nothing horrible. Golden Gate was cool, we did a loop in there and headed back the same way. The last stretch was along the beach at Crissy Field going toward Fisherman's Wharf. Very crowded, but at least a good surface and flat. It ended up being a solid experience!

I was pumped about driving across the Bay Bridge...

For lunch, we had looked up a Dim Sum place in the Richmond neighborhood(?) to find out that it looked mainly like takeout. We talked to a couple there who said it was awesome, and there were 3 restaurants side by side that were all by the same owners. We cherry picked our way down (place #3 gave me way too much) and ended up with a meal not really dim sum (I didn't see the assortment in the last place that we didn't stop at), but still really good Chinese Food.

Waiting for food to digest, we hit up the aquarium. Not awesome, Monterrey and Boston were way bigger, but decent to check out. Driving to get there was absolutely awful. I probably could have done better on foot. We still weren't super hungry, so I looked up another brewery: Cellarmaker Brewing. Also good beer. No dinner yet, though Kate wanted a coffee, so we found a coffee shop and figured we should just take off and put some road behind us.

It's hard to admit this, but dinner was the best of the trip and found via Kate on yelp at some roadside takeout place in Sacramento. Korean BBQ fusion Tacos. They were amazing. The guys working were cool too. If you ever find yourself on Interstate 80, it is absolutely worth a stop.

Vitals:
Miles: 135
Birds: N/A
Plates: N/A

Day 13- 7/25- Take me to San Francisco

Started the day with a less than pleasant run in Santa Rosa, CA. We were way out on the strip, so it took 3 miles of sprawled, car-centered sidewalks to even hit the city center. The last 2 were a nice enough path along a creek, though some of it was at a slant, and the other stuff was concrete.

Next stop was to drop a couple bags at the next hotel in Mill Valley. We chatted with the hotel concierge and he told us the Larkspur ferry was the best option into the city- more parking and just as close as Sausalito. Plus, the last ferry came back at 9:35. Parking was pay by smartphone- not well signed and very cumbersome- even for a couple of people that I consider fairly tech savvy. You wonder how the 70 somethings would do on such a task.

The ferry on the other hand was worth every last penny. It got going pretty fast (along with the wind!), but we soaked up the sun and ocean breeze regardless of hat-losing risk. The views were spectacular. Golden Gate, Alcatraz, Downtown, the Bay bridge, Coit Tower, and Angel island SP were all right there.

San Francisco didn't disappoint either. I could probably fill a couple pages with the sites (intended and not), though I'll try to keep it short. Lunch was a Hawaiian Acai place, followed by a walk through Chinatown and a hike up to the Coit tower. No trip to the top though: $7 and quite a line to get there.

Maybe one of the highlights was the quarter arcade, moved to the tourist trap known as Fisherman's Wharf. I have no need to ever go back to the Wharf....but the quarter arcade is worth another visit. We plugged a $20 into quarters and partook in everything from early 1900s "crank movies" to pinball, basketball shooting, and of course, cruising USA.

I wanted to check out a brewery on the other side of downtown, so we found a bus and were on our way. Amazing how smartphones have opened up travel. And I say this well aware of my frustration of the parking above. The bus was slow going, but we finally made Southern Pacific brewing. Very cool atmosphere and good apps.

We temporarily struggled to find good sea food in the area and were all set to take the BART back to downtown and figure it out from there, when we stumbled upon a Mexican place a lady at the brewery suggested. It ended up being awesome. The BART is also significantly faster than Busing (obviously). Less obvious though is that the two are kind of separate entities. No transfers and it seems that google directions didn't sync well. Either way, we were back to the ferry early and meandered around the dock a little. We weren't outside for more than a picture on the way back (it was chilly!), but we enjoyed a few people who had had a bit to drink enjoying the ferrying ride inside.

A great day!

Day 12 (7/24)- Finally enjoying the land of the giants

Today started with the usual: A run in fairly hilly terrain. We were on a back road of 101 and it was actually a solid run for both of us. Lots of good views of the Pacific. Next up was a hike among the Redwoods. It's amazing, as crowded as this area was, Kate found a 3 mile hike through old growth forest and we saw one other party the entirety of the hike. Seal might still win out, but this was absolutely gorgeous and I think Kate's favorite hike of the trip thus far. Very tranquil in the woods. Awesome to spend time meandering through these skyscraper trees.

So...taking timer shots is harder than it looks...

We briefly tried one more short hike on our way out of the park (only a mile), but we got up there and there was a line for the parking lot. Yup, it pays to be fit.

Next stop was Eureka for a little coffee and planning. We ended up finding a cool place downtown called Old Town Coffee and Chocolates. Both the coffee and the chocolate were worth a stop. After booking a place for the night and the next night, we did lunch out on the ocean (though a little trouble finding a good park!) and finally made good on my kite flying goal. The beach wasn't nearly as beautiful as the Sand Dunes in Oregon, but hey, the ocean is the ocean.

The San Francisco plan had morphed into getting close tonight and waking up early in the morning to catch a ferry into the city, so for better or worse, we left the land of the Redwoods a little early and drove to Santa Rosa, CA to finish up the day.


Vitals:
Miles Driven: ~275
Birds: N/A
Plates: N/A

Day 11 (7/23) Back to the coast

Well, we tried for an early start today we really did, but 4 miles into our trek back to the coast, we were already stuck, 25 minutes, waiting for a rock blasting. A couple wrong turns later, and we arrived at Crescent City, to find a solid mist spray across Northern California. Camping didn't seem like a great option, so we stopped at a Starbucks for a little research. 2 hrs later, we found that most of the campsites were all reservable, and it was going to be significantly harder to find a room in San Francisco that I had initially anticipated. Woops. It got a bit worse though as we drove to the campground we wanted to stay at on the coast down a dead end gravel road- 6 miles of the windiest, hilliest terrain you can imagine, to find it booked up. It was late by then, we didn't really see many sites, and we needed a run and some dinner. After trying a couple more campgrounds (both booked) we settled on a cheap, albeit dingy Mom and Pop motel just down the road. If there was any salvage for the day, it was a decent run into the nearby state park for some great views of the setting sun on the Pacific. To hoping for better tomorrow.

Not even any pics :(

Miles: 200
Birds: N/A
Plates: N/A

Day 10 (7/22) Chilling out in a volcano

     Well, it was a bit of a tough run today- 3 miles down to check out the Pinnacles, then 5 miles uphill the entire way, with a couple more down at the end. We drove back down to the Pinnacles afterward, their on our same dead end road. They are pretty sweet. Mineral deposits that popped up during the last volcanic eruption. All the ash eroded away over time, but these are a lot stronger and weather resistant.
     Next up was Garfield Peak. Perhaps a 4.5 mile hike up 1,000 ft to 8,000 or so and great views nearly the entire way. There was a bit more traffic on it than yesterday's hike, but not congested and worth the scenery. We had planned a swim/hike down to the only landing on the lake, though as we got closer to the north side of the lake, a storm was whipping up and we had to wait it out in the Jetta. Eventually, we skipped it in lieu of a shower at the Mazama campground- pay showers and the only in the park. I had a decent enough experience, though the machine at all of Kate's quarters without any water in exchange. A second try with a rather grumpy lady working the desk didn't work either. Finally somebody just came and opened the pay box to get the thing going. But hey, we're all cleaner for it.
     Dinner was delicious Hobo dinners again with some s'mores for dessert. There was a loud and obnoxious crew next to us night #2 at the campground, but otherwise an enjoyable stay at Crater Lake and worth a visit. It would have been nice to have a few more challenging/longer hikes, but the ones we did were still great.

So evidently, winters look a little different here!

Note: 43 feet of snow in the winters here! That's not a typo

Vitals:
Miles: N/A
Birds: Mountain Chickadee, Western Tanager (2x!) Townsend's Warbler, Gray Jay
Plates: N/A

Onto Crater Lake (Day 9- 7/21)

Kate and I got up early today for a quick run on Pre's Trails and set coordinates for Crater Lake. It's funny, there have been numerous places we've driven through that look so awesome, you question whether or not you should just stop there and spend a couple days. The drive through the Oregon Cascades on highway 58 was another one of these. Really beautiful mountains and lots of hiking trails off the road. Definitely gives you ideas for another trip.

Made Crater Lake by late morning to find out that Mazama Campground (the main one) was 1/2 closed due to road paving. It was a bit frustrating because leading up to it, we'd called and checked the website and there was no note of it. There was one other campground in the park, but only had 16 sites and it was down a dead end road 12 slow and winding miles away. It was a long shot, but we took it. Luck was on our side- 2 or 3 sites left at 10$/night (5$ with the annual pass). A lot of other campers showed up later emptied handed.

We took it easy at the campsite for a while, then set off for Mount Scott, the highest point in the park at 8,900. It was actually a fairly easy hike- maybe 5 miles with 1,400 ft gain. Good views at the top though overlooking crater lake and Mt. Shasta off in the distance to the south. Met some Germans at the top too so I got a little practice in!

Side note- Kept my streak of cool birds going too!

Vitals:
Miles Driven: ~170
Birds: Srub Jay, Chipping Sparrow, Am Dipper, Rufous Hummingbird, Clark's Nutcracker, Am Dipper
Plates: N/A

7/20- Day 8: Track Town USA

     Woke up at our Dunes site this morning and took a hike down to the beach through the dunes. Maybe only 1.5 miles down there, but really challenging! Pure sand the last mile or so, surprisingly slow going. We hike was absolutely worth it. I'm writing this 14 days into the trip and I don't think either of us has had a singular experience better than the 60 minutes we spent down there. We arrived at the beach with mist rolling off the ocean and no one else in sight. You couldn't hear anything but the surf. Within minutes of gazing out onto the water, we noticed a few dark spots poking out of the water: Seals! For maybe 15 minutes, they popped in and out of the water, getting closer to us to get a better look. They seemed genuinely interested in us, getting as close as 20 meters away maybe. As we're watching this, an Osprey comes out of the sky and dives bombs into the water in chase of a fish (failed) and a couple minutes later, a Snowy Plover comes running up. We took a walk down the beach and took in the tiny sandpipers running back and forth with the surf. The diversity in such a short time was amazing.
      We got on the road, bound for Eugene and without much of a plan beside running there, pulled right up to Hayward Field and oddly enough, got a free parking spot. There was some big convention going on inside the stadium and after chatting it up with a security dude, found on that IAAF Junior Worlds was going on....whoops! He keyed us in on a few good places to run (there are many in Eugene) including Pre's Trails, the River, and another park. I was able to find Pre's Trails (it was a few miles, so Kate didn't get there) and it is one of the coolest places I've run. A park/trail made specifically for runners. The surface was a woodchip, but a perfect balance between firm and soft. A must see for any runner on the west coast.

Vitals:
Miles Driven: ~95
Birds: Olive Sided Flycatcher, Wrentit, Snowy Plover, Sanderling, Least Sandpiper, Band-Tailed Pigeon (51 so far!)
Plates: Virginia (46 thus far!)

Driving the Coast (Day 7) 7/19

We woke up from our crowded campground this morning and didn't feel much of a need to stick around. Got in the car after a quick breakfast and hit the route, southbound for nowhere in particular. Somebody had to stop for the bathroom late morning, so we pulled in at one of the many beaches/small towns along the way to find a farmers market going on. We checked it out and took a quick walk to the beach and it looked awesome! Found an off road ("old 101") to do a run on, then spent an hour or two just lounging around on the beach, soaking up the sun. We braved the water a couple times (along with a select few other brave souls), but it was absolutely frigid, like maybe north shore in June frigid. All the same, it was a great experience and we hit the road again in good spirits. We didn't have a great idea of where to camp, and even planned going straight to Eugene for the night, but on a whim, decided to try our hand camping at the Oregon Sand Dunes. We snagged one of the last spots, and frequent hums of dune buggies off in the distance aside, it was a great spot. In general, there seemed to be less people on the southern half of the Oregon coast, but just as beautiful. I'd love to come back here and spend more time.



Vitals:
Miles driven: ~160
Bird Species: Swainson's Thrush
License plates: N/A

Viewing the coast (Day 6)

Woke up this morning with a final goal in Portland. Voodoo doughnuts. If you've never heard of them: google. There was a bit of a line (I'm told there always is), but it moved fast and they had the system down. I love Glam Doll and Mojo Monkey's in the cities, this is another level. Our doughnutes from left to right were: Memphis Mafia (Banana Fritter with PB/Chocolate), Diablos Rex (Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting) and captain captain (Self explanatory?).

Also found a mechanic to fix the tail light. Super nice guy. In fact, pretty much everyone we've run into in Oregon thus far is very accommodating and friendly. We took off for the coast and hunkered down at Ft. George brewing for a beer and planning session. It turns out, camping sites are hard to come by on the Oregon coast this time of year. We snagged one of the last few spots at Barview Jetty cnt park.
The run for the day was at Ecola State Park. Awful running (single track, extremely hilly) but amazing views of the ocean off steep cliffs and what have you. This would be a great hike.

Camping was extremely underwhelming. We were packed in tight and there were a crazy amount of rednecks. Blaring music, loud, obnoxious kids, and overpriced, but we did have some fellow Minnesotans next to us out to try their hand at surfing. And at the end of the day, we had a campsite for the night on the Oregon Coast.

Vitals:
Birds: DC Cormerant, Stellar's Jay, California Gull, Hermit Thrush
Miles: ~150
Plates: Hawaii, Rhode Island

Portland (Day 5)

 Our first day at a destination definitely lived up to expectations. After a little more research (talking to a local), we found a trailhead to Forest Park, a huge park on the bluffs of the city and headed up for a trail run. This was again mainly uphill, but a reasonable grade and significantly better footing.

One of the many food truck "villages" in Portland

     We didn't exactly get an early start today (it is vacation after all!) so by the time we got back, it was time to find some food. We took a bus up to NE Portland to the Concordia neighborhood. Alberta street is evidently the attraction, kind of like a hipper Grand Ave. 
     Kate had some kind of salad and I went with a grilled cheese with a couple different kind of cheeses in it. After lunched, we bused to "Hair of the Dog" brewing for a flight (Me) and a different kind of soda brewed out of suburban Vancouver (Kate). Both enjoyable.
     Late afternoon brought a quick jaunt along the river for me and then dinner at Smokehouse 21, a southern comfort food place. Again, a great dinner in a city known for it's food. An awesome day, the best of the trip to date.


Vitals:

New Birds: Dark Eyed Junco
New Plates: NH
Miles: N/A

On To Portland (Day 4) 7/16

Got a reasonable start on the day after canning the morning run idea. Didn't really feel like another jaunt along a lonesome US Highway in the middle of nowhere. Kate and I had the usual breakfast of granola, coffee, and banana bread, then hit the road, Portland Bound.
     Pit Stopped in Hood River and picked up more cherries than we know what to do with for $10. Maybe around 4-5 pounds. They are amazing.

A view from the rose gardens!

     We got to Portland around lunch and immediately found some food trucks. Kate had some kind of a hummus salad and I went for a falafel wrap. Delicious. We didn't have plans for hotel yet, so we took to a coffee shop to research. The barista suggested the youth hostel in NW Portland, and we got a great private room for 180 over two nights. Solid deal for the middle of a major city.
     Checked out the Japanese and Rose gardens over looked the city before checking in, then ran from the hotel up to what we thought was forest park. The trail was great, but up a crazy ravine and mediocre footing. I had planned to do speed today, but after the ravine, found myself on a single track weaving around another ravine. A cool run, but not very fast.
     We looked up a great burger place for dinner. Tilt? There are limitless possibilities out here for food, but I'd recommend it as well. They also had a large pie selection which look delicious.
     After dinner, we did a walk around downtown and across the Willamette to a brewery which happened to be closed, so we settled on the Deschutes brewery on the way back. Decent, but not earth shattering.
All in all a wonderful first day in Portland

Vitals:
Miles: 266
Birds: N/A
License: N/A
      

Day 3- Tuesday 7/15

Hit up a gorgous run in Butte along the Copper Way bike trail. 11 mile run (5.5 each way) and turned around before the trail was finished. One catch: It was all downhill on the way out, and up hill on the way back. Literally all of it.

We stopped for coffee in Missoula downtown. Still think this is an awesome place. Next up was US Hwy 12- an alternative to 90, it was as scenic as I'd hoped; totally worth it, but slow going. Not the road itself was the slowest, but rather you'd get stuck behind semis going significantly slower, so it took a bit longer than planned. Lunch at Lolo's pass (only 5300 ft?!) and onto Clarkston for a homemade huckleberry shake. Kate prefer's more veggies, so she passed, but it was amazing.

     Camping was again, short of where we had hoped to get to, at a small (very small) state park in Eastern Washington: Lewis and Clark state park. No trails, only basically a campground on a small creek that was likely the only running water for miles. Not a great place, but it got the job done. Also had an amazing dinner of Quinoa, left over Kielbasa, and a bunch of veggies in a tomato sauce. Not nearly as aw-inspiring, but Eastern Washington was definitely interesting to see. Very remote and dry.

Vitals:
Miles Driven: 411
New Birds Species: Northern Flicker, Common Raven, White Pelican, Violet Green Swallow, Golden Eagle, Magpie, Great Blue Heron, Osprey, Veery, Catbird, Down WP, Common Night Hawk, Am. Kestrel, Canada Goose
License Plates: NV

Day 2

     Hit up a morning run in Spearfish to check out the town again. Still love this place. I can see why Dan wants to live out here. We got on the road around 9:30(?), bound for Devil's tower. Still glad I did the National Parks pass, we're up to around 50 some dollars on it, getting close to paying it off. Saw some kind of swifts or swallows when we hiked around the tower, limited down to a couple, but I couldn't definitively say, and we didn't have a ton of time.

     Lunch stop was some lonely roadside rest-stop along 90 in Wyoming. I'm sure we've stopped at this place before, there's nothing around this part of the country for miles. We didn't make great time today, not really sure why, but there was no way we were making Missoula, so we pit-stopped in Bozeman for a growler at 406 Brewing, which looked like an awesome place.

     After waffling on camping vs. no camping (rainstorm approaching), we missed the exit for the campground we were going to stay at and took another one with a gray-colored road in the atlas that looked like it cut over to the road the state park was on- maybe only 8 miles to get there. 30 minutes later after a wrong turn, and a right turn, albeit extremely winding, narrow gravel road through a canyon, we popped onto our desired route and found the state park soon- only to find that it was full. We scoured the campground to see if they missed a spot (they didn't) and even went up to ask the host if we could just pop our tent in the group site which no one was using. The sign said off-duty, but it was only 9:15, so I figured I'd chance it. He was not a pleasant guy. Some 70-something that asked us if we'd read the sign (I said yes) and then walked back 15 feet (out of original site) to another camper with an "on duty" sign and asked us if we'd read that one (nope, didn't see that damn thing). Makes you wonder if he'd have done the same thing to somebody 20 years older than us. The other guy was apologetic, but a rule follower. Low morale in hand, we trudged back to the car.

     Out of options (there weren't any campgrounds remotely nearby), we went the hotel route again, and found a cheap one downtown Butte for a reasonable price. Not much open for food at 10:30 in Bozeman, but we did stumble upon an old "cigar"store from Butte's rougher days. A couple of baked potatoes loaded with toppings later, everything was somehow right for the day.

Day High: M and M's for sure. 406 was a close 2nd.
Day Low: A-Hole hosts in their massive RVs

Vitals:
Miles Driven: 609
New Bird Species: WB Nuthatch, BC Chickadee, Belted Kingfisher, Starling, House Sparrow, Mallard Duck, Am. Crow.
New License Plates: SC, OH, AR, WA, OR, WY, GA, ND, MA, OK, NY, ID, PA, NM, AL, IN, AZ, MS, WV, AK, ME, FL, MT

A Fresh Start

     Kate and I embarked today on yet another road trip around the country (my third, her first). We were a little late on the start after a wedding and morning long run in Montevideo. It was hard to leave behind so many options in the great city of Montevideo (see picture) but there's so much of the country left to see.
   
     The first of our great plains stops was Pipestone National Monument. I've never been there. Loved it. Very peaceful and cool to see all the exposed rocks in the middle of the plains. Next up was the Corn Palace, then Wall Drug. I could skip these two for another decade and be okay with that, but they are a couple you have to see at least once. I need to go back and check my 9-yr old trip pics, but I'm fairly sure I got my picture taken with the same "Zeke" sitting on a bench across the street from the palace. Good memories.

     We ended up in Spearfish for the night. Not quite as far as I hoped, but still a solid day of sight-seeing and driving. A good day.

 Day High: Pipestone was awesome!
Day Low: Rear tail-light is out- before we even left Montevideo! Gotta get that fixed : (

Vitals:
New License Plates: MN, SD, IA, KS, MO, TX, CO, NE, CT, MI, MD, IL, UT, NC, NJ, WI, CA TN
New Bird Species: Ring-Billed Gull, Barn Swallow, Mourning Dove, Red-Winged Blackbird, Robin, Northern Harrier, Blue Jay, Killdeer, Common Yellowthroat, Song Sparrow, Gold Finch, Turkey Vulture, House Wren, Clay Colored Sparrow, Vesper Sparrow, Red Tailed Hawk, Rock Dove
Miles Driven: 527