Planning the Cross-Country Trip

Even though I'm quite comfortable with computers and other gadgets and even though I recognize their incredible usefulness, when it comes to planning trips, hikes or even day itineraries, I'm much happier with a map, paper and pen. In a couple weeks I'm headed out on a cross-country road trip; my dog and sister will accompany me on the way out and it'll be just me and dog on the way back. My dad's side of the family is gathering for my cousin's wedding. I'm totally not a wedding girl, not least of all because I have to shop for and wear a dress, but I'm actually really excited about the trip.

First off, there's the prospect of actually driving across the country again. I've done it one way twice - if that doesn't make sense at first, I bought a car in Oregon and drove it to the army post I was stationed at in New York and then a year later I returned to Oregon (for good!) - and when I was a kid I went on two roundtrips and two one-way moves. I'm a roadtrippin' girl. I actually LIKE to stare out the window for hours on end with nothing and everything to think about. I love watching the scenery slowly change - from the geology to the plants to the wildlife to the farming to the architecture.

It's three and a half to four days of pretty solid driving, but since we're not in a hurry, we're going to see some national parks and camp along the way. There are lots of places that my sister, being eight years younger, hasn't seen and a few that I've never been to, so we're taking the opportunity to hit some new places.

So far the rough plan is to head towards I-90, make a stop at Glacier National Park, then over to Theodore Roosevelt NP - a place I've never been - then down to the Badlands for a hike. After that we'll be on 90 again for a ways, and at some point we're going to turn north and through the great lakes. Specifically, we're passing through a narrow (perhaps only a bridge, I'm not sure) point between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. Even just on the atlas this part looks gorgeous.

Then there's the Pittsburgh part of the trip. Pittsburgh, like most eastern cities, is staggeringly different from most west coast cities. There are two-hundred-year-old houses, surrounded by even old trees, that would take up two city blocks if they were in the west; some of them even have servants quarters detached on the property, now used as huge single family homes. The road system is not on a grid and kind of exasperating for an out of towner. The city is divided into neighborhoods that are often based on ethnicity - there's the Jewish neighborhood, the Irish neighborhood, etc. Sure, we have Chinatowns in the west, but that's really all, and even those are just not the same thing. There are also a lot of great parks in the city (not that Portland doesn't have a ton) as well as museums, universities and ridiculously good-looking sports facilities. As far as Pacific northwest sports fans go.... well, the Timbers Army is the exception that proves the rule. Never will you find such don't-care-unless-we're-winning gloryhunters than in the northwest. Pittsburgh is where you will find what it means to live and breathe your team and city. I may even go to a baseball game while I'm there and I HATE baseball.

I've even found a pub to watch the USA World Cup Qualifier against Mexico! Of course that would be one of the first things I planned.