Movies and Memories

We went to see National Treasure: Book of Secrets today. It's a fun film, and if you liked the first one, you'll like this one. Not to spoil anything for those who haven't seen the film, but at one point, they head out to Mt. Rushmore, and I was reminded of the cross-country trek a couple of friends and I took on our move from northern California and Cal State U, Chico, to the Univ of Wisconsin, Milwaukee (them) and UConn (me).

We took a couple weeks to tour the country, heading north on I-5 to Portland Oregon and then into the Columbia River Gorge where we camped our first night. We then drove through the gorge and the Dalles, and into Idaho and then followed Lewis and Clark's trail along the Snake River in Idaho. We camped the second night somewhere along the Snake--can't remember where--and then followed the trail into Montana. We spent several days driving through and camping in Montana--through Missoula, Helena, Butte, Bozeman and into Yellow Stone--and I remember being struck by the expansive landscape. It really is Big Sky country, and it is amazingly beautiful. We then camped in Custer National Park and went to Little Big Horn before heading into South Dakota.

South Dakota was where I discovered humidity and rampant tourism. I remember stepping out of my air conditioned car into this heavy, wet and sticky air and getting right back in the car. It was horrid! Having spent my first 26 years in California, I'd never experienced anything like it, and I didn't like it. In fact, in all my years living in CT, the humidity was the one thing I couldn't get used to no matter what.

But, back to our adventure. We visited crossed into South Dakota somewhere around Sturgis--I remember because there was a biker's rally (what I now know is "Sturgis Bikers Week") and all the camping spots were full. Some nice bikers took pity on us and let us pitch our tent near theirs. Now that was one hell of a parhty! We toured Deadwood, and then headed down to Mt Rushmore and finally set up camp in the Black Hills. We had to camp a couple of nights before leaving the Black Hills because 1) it's absolutely gorgeous there, and 2) we needed time to recover from the partying in Sturgis. It was the late 80's, and the Crazy Horse national monument was under construction (and still is), but we got to see a bit of it and an outline in the hills that showed what it will eventually look like. From there, we drove through the Bad Lands--an amazing place. I remember it was so hot and so dry, that when we stopped along the way, one beer about put me under. I toured the rest of the Bad Lands in an alcoholic fog which actually added to the supernatural aura of the place. We camped somewhere near the Bad Lands, and then the next day headed back to the Interstate and, of course, went to Wall Drug. Now that's a strange place! Who needs drugs to trip out? Just visit Wall Drugs.

We eventually headed to Wisconsin, where we unloaded my friends' stuff in Milwaukee, spent a couple nights in an actual house, and then headed on through Ohio where we spent a night in the most vicious windstorm I've ever experienced. We then made our way to Virginia where we visited Gettysburg before heading north to Pennsylvania where we got lost in all the construction and somehow managed to meet up 6 hours later at our agreed upon campsite. I've never been so lost in my life and have no idea how I ever found the camp ground let alone our actual camp site. We didn't even bother to pitch the tent that night. We made enough of a fire to boil water, ate some Top Ramen and slept in our cars!

After a couple days rest, we headed out again and onto CT. Once in CT, we unpacked my stuff, spent a night or two drinking and recalling the highs and lows of our trip, and then headed out in search of the Atlantic. Before hitting Oregon on our way out of California, we took a detour west and dipped our toes in the pacific ocean and camped near Cape Blanco, Oregon, and we'd planned to cap off our travels by sticking our toes in the Atlantic. So, we headed to the CT shore and drove and drove and drove, finally ending up somewhere in Rhode Island before we found free access to the ocean. We dipped our toes into the water and toasted our journey with some microbrew we'd never heard of, and then proceeded to have more and more of the brew and had to camp for the night before driving back to CT.

My friends spent another day with me in CT, and then headed back to their new life in Wisconsin. I wish I had a scanner so I could upload the pics I took on that trip. It was a long drive, but I'm so glad we did it. I got to see so much of this amazing country, and I can't imagine having the time (or the inclination) to camp my way across the US again. It really was the trip of a lifetime. 

Comments

[red bottom heel]

I smell the taste of wine. see you! "We do not talk more that day. We stood up, shook his hand and eye lookedeach and so on. Bees were shut out, but came to backhesitatingly.

[supra for boy]

That was my thought,too.