Big Country

It seems like we were driving forever. We left on Friday evening, April 18, after loading the truck and cleaning out the apartment at ABC. We wanted to at least get as far as the state line before we stopped for the night, and we did. Just over the line in Tennesee, we passed Chattanooga and continued west, stopping for the night at Nickajack Lake.

We were given a larger truck than what we had reserved (and charged a lower rate because it was their error). We had the bed on edge and tied in place to hold everything, and when we stopped for the night we untied and laid the bed down and we could sleep in the back of the truck. That was the plan anyway. That first night the door wouldn't shut all the way because the bed was about an inch too far out. So I had to rearrange stuff and get the bed to fit, and it was raining, so the edge of the bed got wet. Still, we were able to sleep and the bed dried out the next day, so things worked out.

Louie seems to like road trips. He was quite comfortable on the seat between us, and whenever we stopped he took his command post on the dashboard.

The next day we continued through Tennessee and Kentucky, passing by Nashville (below).

That night we stopped in Illinois, and the following day we crossed the Mississippi and passed through St. Louis. Melodie got some good shots of the arch. Looks like half a McDonald's, doesn't it?

From there we crossed Missouri, turned north just before Kansas City, and headed north through Iowa. Council Bluffs had a whole riverboat theme on the river.

By Tuesday, we had gone through the rest of Iowa and into South Dakota, stopping at Mitchell for the night. Wednesday was when we had to figure out how to continue since we ran out of money (see previous blog). We were finally able to resume on Thursday.

The rest of South Dakota was a long haul, and then we stopped to see the world famous Wall Drug in Wall, SD.

Melodie has several pictures from there, which she will be putting up soon on her photo site. We then continued west, and hit a huge thunderstorm at Rapid City. It was so bad we had to pull off and wait till it stopped, as I couldn't see anything in front of me. But we finally made it out of South Dakota alive!

We stayed overnight in Gillette, Wyoming. In the morning we awoke to a view of The Devil's Tower. Well, the sign SAID Devil's Tower anyway. I later found out that the sign was referring to the road which led TO Devil's Tower (made famous in "Close Encounters"). But this was a pretty cool looking mountain anyway.

We drove through a corner of Wyoming and crossed into Montana. We discovered that it was still winter in this mountainous region. Although beautiful to look at, it was COLD in that truck at night. We survived thanks to lots of blankets and body heat (including Louie).

We crossed Montana, and then a narrow strip of Idaho. This was actually the most beautiful scenery yet, looking down from the mountains into a deep valley, but the pictures didn't come out for some reason.

We crossed into Washington, and kept driving and driving, trying to find a place to stop for the night. Mile after mile of nothing passed by us. We finally got off at an exit where there was a gas station, but it was closed. Fortunately there was a small place across the street where you could get gas with a credit card after hours. It was expensive though, so we got enough to get us to the next town, where we could fill up for less. We spent the night at Moses Lake.

The last day of travel took us over and through the coastal mountains just east of Seattle. These were even more breathtaking than what we'd seen in the Rockies, with their pointed, snow-capped peaks. But sadly the last batteries in Melodie's camera were dead, and she couldn't get any more pictures.

We finally arrived in the Seattle area, and were warmly greeted by Patrick, Michele, and the kids. After a long trip through eleven states we were happy to be anywhere! But it was nice to have a warm, loving place to sleep that night.

Next time I will write about how God has blessed us since we've been here.