The Trip - Day 2/3 - April 23rd and 24th
The Trip - Days 2 and 3
So, today! Man, I'm still tired, and I just got up after sleeping a full night in a really comfortable bed.
EDIT: I lied. I did have a couple of pictures to show you. They're below.
After staying in my motel room at the end of Day 1, I decided that I didn't want two days jam packed of driving, as I was looking at an 11 hour itinerary for both Monday and Tuesday, leaving me precious little to do in Chicago once I got there.
This influenced my decision to do an all-niter, napping at rest areas away. The good news is that it worked. I got to Chicago about 3pm my time. The bad news is that it sucked, and was one of the more painful experiences of my life.
Also, no pictures. Nothing I took was any good.
Butte, MT was a small and quiet town, yet had gigantic streets. The main drag was at one point three lanes on each side with a turn lane. Also, the shopping mall across the street from my hotel was a JC Penney and two stores. I left at about 6am, with nothing more than a chocolate muffin.
On the first leg of my journey I passed through Montana into Wyoming, and somehow made it all the way across South Dakota. Driving through the mountains of Montana was really nice, as it was cool and breezy, and the mountains were shrouded in fog. I can't help but thing that was what Tolkien meant when he wrote about the Misty Mountains.
Along the way I stopped in Gilette, Wyoming, where a nice lady not only told me it was Gilette, but also said that if the city were a county, they'd be the 5th largest producer of coal in the world.
After that I drove endlessly. About midnight, I stopped off in Mitchell, SD for gas and supplies. I knew something was wrong when I noticed that there was no one on the road, at all. Seriously, it felt like a zombie film. When the ticking of the diesel pump fell into the same beat as the theme to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (I was listening to the radio series at the time), it finally fell into place. I was obviously going mad. I quickly hightailed it to the next rest area, and took a two hour nap. It was at this time that I learned that a heavy woolen cap doubles quite effectively as a sleeping mask.
Leg 2 started at about 3am, after my short nap. In the bathroom of the rest area I ran into a strange old man shaving without his shirt on. His wool cap made him look like a fisherman, which may or may not be normal for Minnesota. The rest of the trip was really boring, including my deviation into Deadwood, SD. I was looking forward to taking some pictures and seeing a museum, but all I found was gambling. Literally. I may stop there on my way back and try my hand at slots.
After that, the only notable moment was my journey into Chicago. I didn't realize that getting to Chicago didn't really mean getting to Chicago, as it took about 45 minutes of passing through toll booths and amazingly packed freeways to get to downtown and my hotel. Also, at the beginning of the process I realized I should have stopped at the last rest area I'd passed, much to my discomfort.
My final observation is that the traffic in Chicago is ridiculous. It is much much busier than Seattle could ever be, and from what I could tell they had traffic cops everywhere purely to keep people from crashing into one another. Keep in mind that all of the lights appeared to work normally, the traffic was just that busy. I can't say as I've liked my experiences so far, as this town might be way too busy for me. Then again, I might feel different as a pedestrian.
The pictures:
Highlights:
- A custom Montana license plate that said only "Yo".
- No rain during my nighttime drive! Definitely a plus.
- History lessons mean steak and casinos, and the award for the most gratuitous use of the word fuck in a screenplay.
- I've found that the most optimal speed for my gas mileage is around 65, as I can maintain 39mpg at that point.
Statistics:
Leg 1 - Butte, MT to Minnesota Mile Marker 1
Distance Covered: 691 miles
MPG: Approximately 37 mpg
Elapsed Time: 17 hours
Driving Time: 15 hours
Leg 2 - Minnesota Mile Marker 1 to Chicago, IL
Distance Covered: 557 miles
MPG: Approximately 39 mpg
Elapsed Time: 12 hours
Driving Time: 10 hours
So, today! Man, I'm still tired, and I just got up after sleeping a full night in a really comfortable bed.
EDIT: I lied. I did have a couple of pictures to show you. They're below.
After staying in my motel room at the end of Day 1, I decided that I didn't want two days jam packed of driving, as I was looking at an 11 hour itinerary for both Monday and Tuesday, leaving me precious little to do in Chicago once I got there.
This influenced my decision to do an all-niter, napping at rest areas away. The good news is that it worked. I got to Chicago about 3pm my time. The bad news is that it sucked, and was one of the more painful experiences of my life.
Also, no pictures. Nothing I took was any good.
Butte, MT was a small and quiet town, yet had gigantic streets. The main drag was at one point three lanes on each side with a turn lane. Also, the shopping mall across the street from my hotel was a JC Penney and two stores. I left at about 6am, with nothing more than a chocolate muffin.
On the first leg of my journey I passed through Montana into Wyoming, and somehow made it all the way across South Dakota. Driving through the mountains of Montana was really nice, as it was cool and breezy, and the mountains were shrouded in fog. I can't help but thing that was what Tolkien meant when he wrote about the Misty Mountains.
Along the way I stopped in Gilette, Wyoming, where a nice lady not only told me it was Gilette, but also said that if the city were a county, they'd be the 5th largest producer of coal in the world.
After that I drove endlessly. About midnight, I stopped off in Mitchell, SD for gas and supplies. I knew something was wrong when I noticed that there was no one on the road, at all. Seriously, it felt like a zombie film. When the ticking of the diesel pump fell into the same beat as the theme to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (I was listening to the radio series at the time), it finally fell into place. I was obviously going mad. I quickly hightailed it to the next rest area, and took a two hour nap. It was at this time that I learned that a heavy woolen cap doubles quite effectively as a sleeping mask.
Leg 2 started at about 3am, after my short nap. In the bathroom of the rest area I ran into a strange old man shaving without his shirt on. His wool cap made him look like a fisherman, which may or may not be normal for Minnesota. The rest of the trip was really boring, including my deviation into Deadwood, SD. I was looking forward to taking some pictures and seeing a museum, but all I found was gambling. Literally. I may stop there on my way back and try my hand at slots.
After that, the only notable moment was my journey into Chicago. I didn't realize that getting to Chicago didn't really mean getting to Chicago, as it took about 45 minutes of passing through toll booths and amazingly packed freeways to get to downtown and my hotel. Also, at the beginning of the process I realized I should have stopped at the last rest area I'd passed, much to my discomfort.
My final observation is that the traffic in Chicago is ridiculous. It is much much busier than Seattle could ever be, and from what I could tell they had traffic cops everywhere purely to keep people from crashing into one another. Keep in mind that all of the lights appeared to work normally, the traffic was just that busy. I can't say as I've liked my experiences so far, as this town might be way too busy for me. Then again, I might feel different as a pedestrian.
The pictures:
Highlights:
- A custom Montana license plate that said only "Yo".
- No rain during my nighttime drive! Definitely a plus.
- History lessons mean steak and casinos, and the award for the most gratuitous use of the word fuck in a screenplay.
- I've found that the most optimal speed for my gas mileage is around 65, as I can maintain 39mpg at that point.
Statistics:
Leg 1 - Butte, MT to Minnesota Mile Marker 1
Distance Covered: 691 miles
MPG: Approximately 37 mpg
Elapsed Time: 17 hours
Driving Time: 15 hours
Leg 2 - Minnesota Mile Marker 1 to Chicago, IL
Distance Covered: 557 miles
MPG: Approximately 39 mpg
Elapsed Time: 12 hours
Driving Time: 10 hours