I recently moved from my hometown, Kennesaw ,
Georgia , to Seattle , Washington California , and he drove from there to Georgia so I
could move more of my stuff by putting it in the back of his pickup truck.
After making that long drive, he drove with my dad and me from Kennesaw to Seattle , and then he and my dad drove from Seattle back down to southern California . (My dad flew back to Georgia ). I’m
grateful that he helped and I've never known anyone to do that much driving in a
week and a half.
Since I was moving in January, we decided it would be best
to go south along I-10 and then up the west coast to avoid snow and mountain
passes. As the moving date got closer, we decided that the weather was actually
better in the middle of the country, so we contemplated taking I-70. However,
on our second day of driving, we decided to just go for it and take I-90. It
was the shortest route but we had never considered it because it went through
the Rocky mountains in Montana and the
Cascades in Washington .
Fortunately, the weather cooperated and we were able to get through all the
mountain passes with no problems. My grandpa and dad are also experienced snow
drivers, so I wasn't worried.
We ended up making the journey in only 3 days (2 full days
and 2 half days). We left at noon on Monday and arrived in Seattle around 3:30pm on Thursday. On our
first half day, we went from Kennesaw to O’Fallon, Illinois
(a little east of St. Louis ,
Missouri St. Louis to a
very tiny town in South Dakota
called Kadoka. Wednesday was another full day, and we went from Kadoka , South Dakota to Missoula , Montana Missoula
to Seattle . A
typical full day of travel involved waking up at 4am to start driving and
driving until about 6pm.
The other reason I’m glad we took this route is that I got
to see some of the most beautiful scenery the United States has to offer. I love and
appreciate nature, so this was an amazing trip for me and ended up being so
much more than just a drive from point A to point B. This trip was even more of
a highlight for me than graduating with my Master's degree (haha). When I got to
Seattle I was thrilled to be there, but for the next 4 or 5 days I was a little
depressed because I honestly missed driving and seeing so many beautiful
landscapes. I was happy to be settling into my boyfriend’s apartment (as it
meant the end of a temporary long distance relationship) and spending time with
him, but part of me wanted to be back in my car or in my grandpa’s truck and
driving through the vast expanses of land or through the mountains.
I enjoy driving and have done a lot of it in my lifetime:
driving out to Colorado with my family to
camp, driving to Illinois almost every year to
visit family, commuting to Atlanta
for work for 3 summers, commuting 2 hours to graduate school from my house. As
long as there aren't stupid drivers or horrible traffic, driving can be a
relaxing experience and it usually gives me a lot of time to think and just be
away from everything for a while. Driving across the country was the ultimate
“being away from everything” experience. When I was alone in my car, I had time
to think, enjoy the scenery, or sometimes just not think at all. It was a very
freeing experience and is somewhat hard to explain.
Something else that is hard to explain is the experience of
seeing the land in South Dakota , Wyoming , and Montana .
Montana is
probably one of the most beautiful states I've ever been to. It seemed like we
were surrounded by mountains wherever we drove. The small section of Wyoming we went through
seemed like another planet. We passed through some smaller mountains as the sun
was coming up, and then when we came down from the mountains everything just
opened up and I could see for miles. There didn't seem to be any end to it or
anything else in sight. I wish I could have taken better pictures there, but I
know that even a 360 panoramic view would never be able to do it justice. South Dakota was similar
in a way – I could see for a long way and we were heading towards the setting
sun.
I wish I could accurately describe the things I saw, but
there is no way to ever put them into words. All I can do is tell everyone that
at some point in their lives they need to drive on I-90 from about Sioux Falls , South Dakota
to about Coeur d’Alene , Idaho
All the pictures I took (all 400 of them – I love nature
photography) were taken out of a car or truck window. I think they turned out well for me not knowing anything about photography and for being taken through
a window. I’d love to see how pictures would turn out if I went back after
learning a little more about my camera and being able to take photos from outside of a
vehicle.
I’m going to share my favorite shots from each western
state. I tried to limit it to just one or two per state.
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| South Dakota. I saw a lot of cows on the trip. This shot of them grazing with a beautiful sky in the background is one of my favorites. |
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| Wyoming. After driving though huge open spaces of flat land, we could eventually see the mountains. |
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| Montana. Everywhere I turned, there were mountains. This picture was taken with my cell phone camera. |
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| Montana. |
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| Montana. Gorgeous landscape that is currently my Facebook cover photo as well as the header image for this blog. |
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| Montana. This is when we were going through the pass between Missoula, MT and Coeur D'Alene, ID. |
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| My grandpa and I. He's awesome for helping me with my move and doing over 6,000 miles of driving. |
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| Washington. Pretty mountains and sky. |
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| Washington. While going through the Snoqualmie pass it started snowing quite a bit. |
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| Washington. Snoqualmie pass. |
As soon as I can, I want to go driving out West again. Some
part of me feels like that’s where I belong. I’ve lived in suburbs and cities
all my life and I enjoy them, but sometimes I feel caged. The West is freedom. The
land is stunning and the open spaces are so immense. That’s where I want to be.
<3