I'm starting my PhD at the University of Washington on September 24th! This will be the farthest west I have ever lived, and as such the logistics of moving are a bit more complicated. For a while I considered shipping most of my belongings, flying out there, and buying anew whatever I couldn't bring with me.
About a month before starting my program it dawned on me that I could get myself and my belongings out to Washington via the open-road. Looking at a map of the USA I realized there would be a lot I haven't seen on the way, and it felt like a good opportunity to explore these parts of the US while I had the time.
The Logistics
Now there is a lot between Buffalo, NY (my hometown) and Seattle, WA. I was flexible on my departure date so I chose my route based mainly on two criteria:
- Cities/Towns/Parks I haven't been to, and
- No more than 5 hours of driving a day
Point 2 was especially important to me because I did the trip solo!
Ultimately this led to the route of Buffalo, NY > Detroit, MI > Chicago, IL > Madison, WI > Minneapolis, MN > Fargo, ND > Wibaux, MT > Billings, MT > Pray, MT > Gardiner, MT > West Yellowstone, MT > Idaho Falls, ID > Boise, ID > The Dalles, OR > Portland, OR > Seattle, WA, which I traveled over 14 days.
I don't have a car so I rented the cheapest I could find (which ended up being a Kia Soul). The car was a decent size and fit all of my things quite nicely. On August 28th, I took off!
Day 1: Buffalo, NY to Detroit, MI
I picked up the rental car from the Buffalo airport and drove it back home to pack up my things with my Mom. I was relieved to pick up the car without any problems because I rented from Carrental8.com, which somehow was over $500 cheaper than renting directly through Hertz.
I decided to drive through Canada along the top part of Lake Erie, making the drive about 4 and a half hours versus 6. I had no problems crossing Border Patrol, though with a Kentucky license plate, 7 and 18 year residences in Boston and Buffalo at my heels, and ? years residence in Seattle ahead, I had worried my stumbling over the question "Where do you live?" might seem suspicious.
My first stop in Detroit was the River Walk, which stretches for about 5.5 miles along the Detroit River. In 2021 it was voted best river walk in the US by USA Today readers, and I have to say it gave The Esplanade a run for its money.
I'm not a big car person myself, but while visiting the Motor City I thought it would be appropriate to stop by General Motors Headquarters which happens to be right on the river walk. The outside of the building immediately made me think of Bigweld Industries from the movie Robots.
The inside looked cool too and was a nice spot for a restroom/water break.
After I left the river walk I drove to pick up dinner at Sahara Restaraunt, a lebanese place that reddit reccomended. I liked the familial atmosphere in the restaraunt and thought it tasted great, had good portions, and was pretty affordable. I then settled into my room for the first night at the Red Roof Inn in Dearborn. It was the cheapest I could find which is the nicest thing I can say about it.
Day 2: Detroit, MI to Chicago, IL
I woke up pretty early on Day 2, half because I was excited to check out and half because it was the morning of my first time zone change. I then drove to pick up breakfast at Dunkin Donuts not realizing it would be my last time having it for the forseeable future - a friend told me the closest ones to Seattle are in Sacramento, CA.
Afterwards I stopped at my first Kroger ever to pick up some groceries for my trip before heading to the Warren Dunes State Park on Lake Michigan. I visited on the Friday before labor day but was somehow blessed with a gorgeous empty beach.
It was a little chilly on the water so I first decided to hike the main dune by the beach at the park. At the top I had enough cell service to learn the dunes form because of lots of sand and wind, and this part of Michigan has lots of sand because of the glaciers that flowed and melted to form the great lakes.
I then hiked back down and laid out on the beach for a bit while listening to the Celine Dion album "Falling Into You" - part of a playlist of pop albums I've never heard before that I made for my trip. Eventually I felt brave enough to go for a swim. The water was very very cold but super worth it.
After the beach I finished my drive to Chicago, stopping at Joong Boo Market for dinner before checking into a Motel 6 in Glenview.
This Motel 6 was much nicer than the previous accomodation I stayed at, and gave me a sense of hope that was promptly burned by the following Motel 6's I stayed at on this trip.
Day 3: Chicago, IL to Madsion, WI
On Day 3 I had leftover dinner for breakfast and took off on a short (perhaps my shortest?) drive to Madison. My first stop there was the UW Madison Arboretum, which was a beautiful place to stretch my legs. Really enjoyed my visit here but wish I had brought bug spray.
I decided to rent an e-bike at the visitor center so I could see a bit more of the park, which I also really enjoyed.
I then drove to the UW Madison campus to stop by the Babcock Dairy Store, which is run by the Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences. I think the ice cream here is produced by a dairy plant on campus but I'm not sure I ever confirmed this. I panick ordered the Honey Mustard Pretzel flavor which was the first thing on the menu. It was a definitely a little weird but I could see folks with less of a sweet tooth enjoying it.
Afterwards I walked along the main campus drive to get Russian Dumplings at Paul's Pel'meni, which you can douse with lots of different condiments for a very reasonable price.
I then checked into my hotel for the night and got some rest before Day 4.
Day 4: Madison, WI to Minneapolis, MN
On Day 4 I woke up in my first hotel that had a continental breakfast and I definitely made good use of that.
On my way to Minneapolis I stopped by the Wisconsin Dells, which is sort of like a vaguely "themed" vacation destination along the Wisconsin River. I walked along the main strip for a little bit to check out the various shops
This part of the river is also known for its glacier-carved sandstone formations, which I saw a bit of on my walk around the area.
Afterwards I finished my drive to Minneapolis where I stopped by the Como Park Zoo and Conservatory, which is completely free! Considering the (zero) price I was really impressed with the variety of animals you can see here, like sloths, giraffes, tigers and emus.
My favorite part of the zoo were these placards which told you the names and personalities of the animals. This is how I met a lemur who shares my eye color and namesake!
After the Zoo I checked into my hotel and did some laundry. For dinner I went to a restaraunt called Aster Cafe on the Mississippi River, where I had a brownie smothered in ice cream and raspberry sauce that was so good I forgot to take a picture before finishing it all.
Day 5: Minneapolis, MN to Fargo, ND
This morning I had hotel breakfast while deciding what to do. I thought maybe I would stop at Mall of America, but while perusing Reddit I saw some folks recommended a nature preserve called Quarry Park. I really enjoyed my experience swimming in Michigan and so opted to head there instead.
When I arrived, I pulled into the parking lot and was met by an attendant asked which county I was from. When I explained I was traveling from Boston he seemed quite surprised, and expressed his gratitude for my visit in a way that seemed so genuine I was caught off guard. After I parked I made my way to Quarry 11, one of two Quarry's in the park you are allowed to swim in.
This quarry had tall rock ledges all around that people used to jump in. This is probably the preferred way of getting into the Quarry actually, as the only other route is a single dock which gets pretty crowded. I jumped in from a very sensible ledge and floated around for a bit before finishing my drive to Fargo, where I had very good tacos for dinner at a restaraunt called Vaqueros Taqueria.
Actually the night I was in Fargo there was potentially going to be enough Aurora activity to see it, but I was staying at an extremely cozy Sleep Inn and dozed off far before I would have had the chance to.
Day 6: Fargo, ND to Wibaux, MT
I woke up well rested on Day 6 and decided to take a jog around the hotel and get some work done before heading out for the day. I decided to stop in Bismarck, the state's capital, which was conveniently halfway to Wibaux. I stretched my legs at this very scenic view of the Missouri River before grabbing lunch:
For lunch I went to Fried's Family Restaraunt, one of many restaraunts in Bismarck serving German dishes that the region is known for. I had the Knoephla soup (kind of like a clam chowder with chicken dumplings instead of clams) a Fleischkuekle (deep fried meat pie) and a Caramel Roll (basically a cinnamon roll?). Each was very delicious but also required a 30 minute power nap in the parking lot for digestion before continuing my drive.
After my digestion nap I finished my drive to Wibaux, which felt very much like the middle of nowhere and had to be the smallest town I stayed in overnight during my trip.
Day 7: Wibaux, MT to Billings, MT
On my way to Billings I decided to visit Montana's largest state park, Makoshika State Park. I practically had the whole park to myself - I saw only park ranger vehicles from the time I drove in until the time I drove out.
One of the two short hikes I did was in this valley where you could get really close to the layers of sediment that make up oil
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The hike had some nice views of these domey rock formations and even a land bridge, which I laid across for a little bit. Eventually the silent serenity caught up to me in a scary way, making me feel like I was the only person left on earth, so I decided to head back and finish my drive to Billings.
At the time of writing this I've decided to break this post into two because a) there is a lot in this one and a lot yet to write and b) this one has somehow taken longer than it did to complete the trip. Stay tuned for part 2!