Somnath loves to drive(and so do I) but he can do it endlessly. It has been his dream to drive coast to coast across the US taking in the changing landscapes and just enjoying being on the road(literally!) :) So we planned a trip from Seattle to NY leaving Seattle on Aug 24th evening and flying back on Sept 3rd.
As with all the trips that we make, Somnath planned out a detailed itinerary that included the miles we would cover each day, the halts that we would make for the night and also made hotel reservations in New Jersey, Buffalo(Niagara Falls) and Boston. The first 5 nights were to be spent in different motels along the way since we didnt want to impose any restrictions on how far we would go or be compelled to drive when tired.
Day 1 Friday- We started from Seattle late evening on Friday, in a silver gray Ford Edge - a mini SUV that was huge compared to the Subaru Outback that we had reserved. No complaints though, the car was good..had a good pick up, extremely smooth and very spacious. Gas mileage was pretty average given its size. Stayed in Spokane, Washington. Started driving the next morning after a good night's sleep to Montana after crossing the state of Idaho.
Day 2 Saturday- Stayed in Harden, Montana. This was the only night where we had to call it a night much earlier than we would have liked to. We had been travelling on freeway I-90E from Seattle that would take us all the way to Boston but on this particular route, we were supposed to take a single lane state highway 212. When we stopped for gas in Harden and mentioned the route, the locals advised against travelling alone the route late at night. The road is deserted, there are too many deer venturing out at night and if we were to have a breakdown, we could on spending the night in our vehicle. Harden was a really small town, with just a handful of motels and it appeared that all the motels were already full. We followed the signs to a out of the way motel called the 'Western Motel'. Pleasantly surprised to find it was run by a retired couple who were very nice. The rooms were very well kept and the price was very reasonable. What more do you need? :) Decided to start the next morning really early to try and make up for the early end to our second day.
Day 3 Sunday - Continued driving through Montana, touched the state of Wyoming a bit(I slept through that part and have to trust Somnath on this one :)) and reached South Dakota. Reached Keystone where Mt Rushmore is located and I've never been there before. So took a short break there to see the monument and clicked a couple of pictures, bought a memento and got back on the road. This was the longest day during the entire trip and we drove through the remaining adjacent states of Iowa and Minnesota. It was around 2am when we stopped for the night in Minnesota.
Day 4 Monday - Woke up late at the motel because we had turned in late the previous night. There was a total change in the weather. While it had been scorching hot on the previous 3 days, it was pouring rain in Minnesota. That made mid-morning look like pre-dawn :) Played some nice 'brishti-er gaan' to welcome the rain and we set off across the Missisipi river. Couldnt help but think of the bridge collapse that had occurred earlier during the month in Minnesota and the innocent lives that were lost. Anway - continued on through Wisconsin to Illinois. We were supposed to take a route that would bypass the Chicago downtown. It was one of the worst on our trip. Extensive roadwork combined with too much traffic throws the itinerary off the track, well just slightly though! Anyway the roadwork and detours made things a bit confusing, we ended up missing an exit and had to enter Chicago downtown(for a couple of seconds mind you) to make a U turn. After more than 2 hours being stuck on the same stretch twice, we were finally out of Illinois and into Indiana. Drove on through Ohio into Pennsylvania and into the state of New York. The scenary in Pennsylvania was breath-taking. Lush green forests with fabulous views of Lake Erie. Reminded us of the evergreens in Seattle :) Our destination for the next 2 nights - Niagara Falls, Buffalo.
As with all the trips that we make, Somnath planned out a detailed itinerary that included the miles we would cover each day, the halts that we would make for the night and also made hotel reservations in New Jersey, Buffalo(Niagara Falls) and Boston. The first 5 nights were to be spent in different motels along the way since we didnt want to impose any restrictions on how far we would go or be compelled to drive when tired.
Day 1 Friday- We started from Seattle late evening on Friday, in a silver gray Ford Edge - a mini SUV that was huge compared to the Subaru Outback that we had reserved. No complaints though, the car was good..had a good pick up, extremely smooth and very spacious. Gas mileage was pretty average given its size. Stayed in Spokane, Washington. Started driving the next morning after a good night's sleep to Montana after crossing the state of Idaho.
Day 2 Saturday- Stayed in Harden, Montana. This was the only night where we had to call it a night much earlier than we would have liked to. We had been travelling on freeway I-90E from Seattle that would take us all the way to Boston but on this particular route, we were supposed to take a single lane state highway 212. When we stopped for gas in Harden and mentioned the route, the locals advised against travelling alone the route late at night. The road is deserted, there are too many deer venturing out at night and if we were to have a breakdown, we could on spending the night in our vehicle. Harden was a really small town, with just a handful of motels and it appeared that all the motels were already full. We followed the signs to a out of the way motel called the 'Western Motel'. Pleasantly surprised to find it was run by a retired couple who were very nice. The rooms were very well kept and the price was very reasonable. What more do you need? :) Decided to start the next morning really early to try and make up for the early end to our second day.
Day 3 Sunday - Continued driving through Montana, touched the state of Wyoming a bit(I slept through that part and have to trust Somnath on this one :)) and reached South Dakota. Reached Keystone where Mt Rushmore is located and I've never been there before. So took a short break there to see the monument and clicked a couple of pictures, bought a memento and got back on the road. This was the longest day during the entire trip and we drove through the remaining adjacent states of Iowa and Minnesota. It was around 2am when we stopped for the night in Minnesota.
Day 4 Monday - Woke up late at the motel because we had turned in late the previous night. There was a total change in the weather. While it had been scorching hot on the previous 3 days, it was pouring rain in Minnesota. That made mid-morning look like pre-dawn :) Played some nice 'brishti-er gaan' to welcome the rain and we set off across the Missisipi river. Couldnt help but think of the bridge collapse that had occurred earlier during the month in Minnesota and the innocent lives that were lost. Anway - continued on through Wisconsin to Illinois. We were supposed to take a route that would bypass the Chicago downtown. It was one of the worst on our trip. Extensive roadwork combined with too much traffic throws the itinerary off the track, well just slightly though! Anyway the roadwork and detours made things a bit confusing, we ended up missing an exit and had to enter Chicago downtown(for a couple of seconds mind you) to make a U turn. After more than 2 hours being stuck on the same stretch twice, we were finally out of Illinois and into Indiana. Drove on through Ohio into Pennsylvania and into the state of New York. The scenary in Pennsylvania was breath-taking. Lush green forests with fabulous views of Lake Erie. Reminded us of the evergreens in Seattle :) Our destination for the next 2 nights - Niagara Falls, Buffalo.