An American Journey: Epilogue

…Continued from The Return Home.

So, those are my road trips across the country.  I wouldn't mind visiting some of these states again, and actually taking time to see some of the sights, and someday I might.  Some of these sights include the Corn Palace, Wall Drug, Mt. Rushmore, an Air Force Museum and an Auto Museum near Rapid City, the Little Big Horn battlefield in Montana, and another Auto Museum near Missoula.

I put over 7000 miles on the Dynasty's odometer between the time I bought it in December 2003 and my arrival at home in June 2004, and I estimate at least 6500 of those miles were these trips.  The Dynasty remained as my daily driver until November 2005.

On November 13, 2005, the Dynasty's power steering failed. The car had also had transmission trouble for as long as I'd had it (it didn't like going into Reverse) and one of the engine's aluminum heads had a MacGyver-inspired repair holding it together, so it was time. I had already started looking for another car, but just hadn't bought anything yet. That very day, I traded the Dynasty into Vancouver Ford in Vancouver, Washington on an almost-new 2005 Ford Taurus SE with 26,373 miles on the odometer. The Dynasty's odometer read 171,892. I thought the Dynasty's story would end here, at least as far as I would ever know, but not quite...

In February 2006, I received a letter from Safeguard Towing in Portland, Oregon. Apparently, they had taken possession of the car on January 12, 2006, and that it was to have been auctioned at 10:00 am on February 13, 2006. (The letter was written as if the auction was yet to take place, though the letter was dated February 15: two days after the date of the auction.) I called Safeguard Towing, mainly to make sure they weren't going to try to collect the listed fees from me. The guy who answered was a new dispatcher, who could only tell me that the letter was sent to anyone who had owned the car, and if I didn't own it anymore I didn't have to worry about it. He couldn't tell me anything about what happened to the car, and apparently the auctions don't even take place at their yard, so I don't even know if the date of the auction was right. All I can say is, if it had still been my car, and had been stolen or something, I would have been pissed to have received the letter AFTER the auction.

For what its worth, here are the fees listed in the letter: Towing: $238.00
Storage: $29.00
Lien Fee: $40.00
At Auction: $1,147.00

I don't know if this means that the car was sold for $840, which is $1,147 minus the other fees, or if that's just what they wanted for it, but I really hope nobody paid $840 for that car. It wasn't worth it. I'd only paid $800 for it in the first place.

In October 2006, I received another letter, this time from Oregon Lien Service. On October 5, Speeds SuperTow took possession of the car. Here are the fees as of October 13, 2006:

Towing: $4.50
Storage: $297.00
This Date: $336.50
At Auction: $1,161.50

The auction date: November 7, 2006 at 10:00 am. (Election Day!) At least they told me before the auction this time, just in case it actually was still my car.

It seems to me that it was still on the road and somewhat driveable, at least as of October 13, 2006. Makes me wonder if any of the things that were wrong with it were ever fixed, like the power steering or the transmission.

In late 2007, I started getting letters and calls from collection agencies about the above issue. In a futile attempt to clear up the issue, I learned from the Oregon DMV that the car was never registered again and ended up in a Portland salvage yard. It seems the Dynasty's story has come to an end.

An American Journey: The Return Home

…Continued from Eastbound.

The Dynasty, May 2004, shortly before loading for the next trip

Fast forward to May 2004.  I had just graduated from MSOE, and without a job was faced with returning to Oregon while I still had enough money to do so.  It wouldn't be until June 1 that I actually got everything taken care of and got the car packed.  As this was a one-way trip, I had to pack everything I had in Milwaukee into the Dynasty, about 1000 pounds worth of stuff.  The car was packed completely full, with just enough room for me, but I got everything in.

I tried to sleep as much as could during the day on the 1st, so I could leave that night and drive all the next day before stopping.  It was difficult to sleep, but I managed it.  It was around 10:00 PM when I left Milwaukee for the last time.  There are no pictures from this trip either, as the batteries in the digital camera had long since died, and I never put in new ones.

I had an almost full tank of gas, so my first stop for gas was Sparta, at the same gas station I had stopped at in January when returning to Milwaukee.  I think the same cashier was working at the counter.  Incidentally, I stopped for gas earlier than I needed to.  With the weight of all the stuff in the car, I was expecting worse gas mileage than I had experienced in the winter.  Plus, the car was sitting much lower in the back than normal, and I was concerned that the fuel gauge might not be accurate.  This stop indicated that my mileage was as good as in the winter (it would actually turn out to be better in the end).

While traveling through Minnesota, I realized the extra weight was causing one problem.  The car was sitting so low in the back that my headlights were now aimed too high.  Also in Minnesota came the one major problem.  A large piece of debris blew across the road right in front of my car.  For the split second I saw it, it seemed to be a large piece of cardboard or thin plywood.  I felt the car run over it roughly, and saw sparks flying from the back of the car.  As I pulled to the side of the road, my fear was a flat tire.  Normally, this would not be that bad, but to get to my jack and spare, I would have to unload most of the trunk, which was packed completely full.  Also, I only had a mini-spare, which would have limited my speed, if it held the excessive weight in the car at all, plus I would end up buying a tire as soon as possible.  As it turned out, it wasn't a flat tire at all.  The debris has ripped the muffler off, which was now wedged under the excessively low back bumper.

I kicked the muffler out from under the bumper and to the side of the road to cool down.  It wasn't a catastrophic problem, but now I had to wait along the side of the road for the muffler to cool so I could put it in the car until I found a place to get it put back on.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I have been too embarrassed to mention this until now, but in the interest of telling the whole story, here it is.  When I got out of the car here, I locked myself out of it!  In Milwaukee, I had developed the habit of locking the driver's door whenever I got out of the car, only this time I had left the car running and the keys inside!  The Dynasty's doors automatically lock at 20 mph, so all the other doors were locked as well.  Fortunately, the door hadn't shut completely, and I was able to flag down a kind truck driver, who provided a metal strap we were able to use to hook the manual door lock and pull it up, unlocking the door.  It was actually very MacGyver-like.  I don't know if that truck driver will ever see this, but I would still like to thank him for his help.  I might have been stuck there all night if not for him.

By the time I got back into the car, the muffler had cooled enough to put in the car, and I was on my way again.  The car was now VERY loud without a muffler, and I was a little concerned I would get pulled over if I happened to pass a police car, but it was too early in the morning to find anything open.  I decided to just continue on to Sioux Falls, where I would have the best chance of finding a place to get the muffler put back on.

It was about 10:00 when I got to Sioux Falls.  I got off the freeway at an exit that looked promising and searched for some kind of garage.  Fortunately, I hadn't gone too far when I came across a muffler shop.  The old muffler was pretty well shot, with a dent in it and all the stuff inside knocked loose, but the mechanic welded it back on for $20.  He said that the muffler itself didn't look like it had been in bad shape before, but the exhaust line leading up to it was heavily rusted.  He asked, "Are you sure you ran over something?  It looks like it just fell off."  I assured him I had.

On the opposite corner from the exhaust place was a Sinclair gas station with gas for $1.919 a gallon.  This was the cheapest gas I'd seen in a long time and would be the low-price leader for this trip.  It was considerably lower that the stations near the freeway.  If you are traveling and looking for the best deal on gas, I recommend getting away from the freeway a little way; the price may drop dramatically.

After lunch in Sioux Falls, I was on my way again.  South Dakota was, as usual, uneventful, however; the bugs were incredibly thick and I found myself stopping at every rest area to clean the windshield.  Also in South Dakota, I began encountering road construction.  Some parts of the freeway were being completely rebuilt down to the base gravel, and as a result both directions of traffic had to use one side of the freeway as a two-lane road in some areas.  I would continue to encounter construction, though usually not of this scale, all the way through eastern Montana.  I also got another rock chip in my windshield, this time on the driver's side, but very low, so not in the way.  To be fair to South Dakota, which I've suggested is boring, I did stop at a rest area in the state with a built in Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center, which was quite impressive and informative.  In the winter, this had not been open.

I stopped for gas and dinner in Rapid City (the address of the gas station was 140 Disk Drive) and left determined to get to Montana before stopping for the night.  My temporarily mis-aimed headlights gave me difficulty through Wyoming; I could see better with my regular headlight than with my high-beams, which seemed only to light up the sky.

I arrived in Missoula, Montana around Midnight, and searched for a motel room, only to find all the cheap ones were gone.  Frustrated, I decided I'd just keep going and find somewhere to sleep in the car.  I was in need of gas though, and looked for the best deal on gas.  I paid for the gas with my debit card at the pump, but I went into the store anyway in search of something for dinner.  There was a large laminated highway map of Montana on the wall and I noticed a rest area about 20 miles west of Missoula.  I decided to spend the night there.  I bought a pre-made sub sandwich and chatted a little with the nice old man behind the counter.  I think he was the owner.

I drove on to the rest area, at which there were signs warning visitors to stay on the paved paths because of rattlesnakes.  I kept an eye out but never saw any.  I ate my sandwich in the car and tried to get comfortable in the car.  In an effort to hang a blanket to block out a light, I broke the rear view mirror off the windshield.  Though, with the car sitting so low in the back, it was really only giving me a view of the pavement behind me anyway.  I settled in as best I could and went to sleep.

The sun was up when woke up the next morning.  I tried to snooze as long as I could, but eventually ended up moving on.  I stopped at the first Burger King I came to for breakfast and coffee, but as I continued on I realized I needed a little more sleep.  I came across a fairly new, and nice, rest area, where I slept for a couple more hours.  At the rest area there was a group of Kiwanis members offering coffee for a donation, so I had a couple cups to wake me up before moving on.

After a stop in Missoula for gas and lunch, I headed across Lookout Pass.  It is a beautiful drive in the summer when you don't have to worry about the weather.  I stopped at the rest area near Coeur D'Alene, where there was another group offering coffee.  When I told them of my trip, they said "I hope you're going to stop soon," to which I replied, "At this point, I'm almost there."  I stopped at the Washington rest area as well for a pick-me-up.  Free coffee at rest areas is one of the few good things about Washington.

At Kennewick, I stopped at Burger King for dinner, and got my first taste of their great new Angus bacon-cheeseburger.  I also bought the most expensive gas of the trip at a Wal-Mart Mirastar station.

It started to get dark as I entered the Columbia River Gorge, and my mis-aimed headlights caused many trucks to flash their lights at me as if I had my highbeams on, but as it was just my regular lights, there was nothing I could do.  I took I-5 home this time (where I saw Amtrak's northbound Coast Starlight running many hours late), and I also took a quick detour.  Even though it was almost Midnight, I wanted to know how much stuff I had in the car, so once crossing back over the Columbia into Oregon from Longview, I went WEST on Highway 30 to Delena, where there is a small scale installed as a minor weigh station (that is never manned).  I pulled the Dynasty onto the scale and made note of the weight before returning home to Rainier and going to bed.

In the morning, I was curious how low the back of the car was sitting, so I measured some key points before I unloaded it.  After unloading, I measured the same points again, and found the back of the car had been down by about six inches (the rear mud flaps had been only an inch and a half above the pavement).  I also drove back to the scale to weigh the now-empty car and found that the car was 1000 pounds lighter.  Though I didn't take any photos of the car loaded, here is a graphic showing the difference between empty and loaded.

Here is a table showing fuel stops for this one-way trip.

CO-OP C-Store, Sparta, WI

Gallons	$/Gal	Total	Miles	Mileage
10.383	$2.119	$22.00	263.7	25.4

Kings Inc. Sinclair, Sioux Falls, SD

Gallons	$/Gal	Total	Miles	Mileage
13.546	$1.919	$26.00	317.7	23.5

Big D Oil, Rapid City, SD

Gallons	$/Gal	Total	Miles	Mileage
14.509	$1.999	$29.00	345.6	23.8

Holiday Stationstore, Billings, MT

Gallons	$/Gal	Total	Miles	Mileage
14.131	$1.949	$27.54	396.7	28.1

Noon's Sinclair, Missoula, MT

Gallons	$/Gal	Total	Miles	Mileage
14.557	$1.999	$29.10	342.7	23.5

Mirastar (Wal-Mart), Kennewick, WA

Gallons	$/Gal	Total	Miles	Mileage
11.822	$2.199	$26.00	341.1	28.9

Flying K, Longview, WA

Gallons	$/Gal	Total	Miles	Mileage
12.278	$2.199	$27.00	300.6	24.5

The average cost of gas was $2.055 per gallon.  This was about 28% higher than about 5 months earlier!  The least expensive gas was once again in Sioux Falls at $1.919 per gallon, though that station was away from the freeway and closer stations were higher.  The most expensive gas was in the west at $2.199 per gallon.  My total cost for gas for this one-way trip was $186.64.  I estimate that the cost for a round trip would have been about $373.28.  In general, gasoline seemed to be cheaper in the middle of the country, and more expensive in Wisconsin and in the west.  I averaged just over 329.7 miles between fuel stops, and averaged 25.4 miles per gallon.  This was an improvement over the wintertime trip, despite having the car loaded down with 1000 pounds of stuff.  I attribute this to more use of cruise control and more time at highway speeds; these factors are due to better driving habits and, more importantly, better weather.

Continue to Epilogue…

An American Journey: Eastbound

…Continued from At Home.

It took me longer to load the car than I had planned, and it was after 8:00 before I was on my way.  By this time though, the remaining ice on I-5 had melted (it had caused a major accident earlier in the morning) and the roads weren't bad...yet.

After passing through Portland and entering the Columbia River Gorge on I-84, the highway gradually got more and more snow-covered.  As such storms are rare, Oregon doesn't have the snowfighting equipment of other states, like huge fleets of plow trucks (there are a few) and deicing salts.  I, like most everyone else, stopped to put on chains (they were required for trucks, and recommended for everyone else without snow tires).  Cable chains are mediocre at best, but they worked.  The most annoying thing about them was the end of the cable wouldn't stay in the clip meant to hold it, and it would strike the wheel well with each revolution of the wheel.  Upon reaching The Dalles a little after Noon, where I stopped for gas and lunch, I stopped at an auto parts store to get some cable ties for $3.99 to solve the annoying chain noise.  As it turned out though, just past The Dalles the road cleared up considerably, and I ended up taking the chains off.

With the roads cleared, I was able to travel at freeway speeds again, but I wouldn't be able to make up my lost time.  Originally I was planning to get to eastern Montana, or maybe even Wyoming, before stopping for the night.  Now, I was hoping I'd be able to get across Lookout Pass and into Missoula.  The roads were good for most of the day, though they were heavily sanded (since Oregon doesn't use salt in winter, it uses liberal amounts of sand instead) and I got a good-sized rock shot into my windshield, resulting in a good-sized chip.  Fortunately, it was on the passenger side and not in my field of vision.

It wasn't until Spokane that the weather started to worry me again, and when I reached Coeur D'Alene, the snow covered roads suggested to me that I shouldn't attempt Lookout Pass till morning.  Apparently, I had caught up to the storm, and felt I'd better let it pass.  This was discouraging, as it was only 6:30 when I arrived in Coeur D'Alene, and I really wanted to keep going, but I checked into a Motel 6 and went to bed early, hoping to get an early start.

The next morning I started up Lookout Pass with the daylight, and found the road covered with snow.  It was mostly packed snow however, and after trying the chains for a while, I decided they weren't doing any good and took them back off, proceeding at near-highway speed.  I caught up to Idaho state plow trucks, and stayed behind them to the summit, where they turned around.  Fortunately, the Montana side had also been recently plowed, and posed no trouble.  Though it was cold outside, the trip remained uneventful through Montana.  Homestake Pass was once again no problem.  As I entered Wyoming, it began to get dark.  I made up my mind not to stop in Wyoming unless I absolutely had too.  I wanted to start Sunday in South Dakota if at all possible.

It was 7:30 PM when I stopped for gas in Sheridan.  It might be a late arrival in Rapid City, but I was confident I could make it.  As I passed Gillette, I was tempted to spend the night at the motel I had stayed in just two weeks before, put instead I plunged on.  It was starting to snow lightly, but wasn't a problem.

Unfortunately, as I headed toward South Dakota, I realized I had caught up to my storm once again as the weather got worse; however, I couldn't readily tell how much worse.  With almost no other traffic, snow sticking to the road, and nothing else around, I hadn't realized how much visibility had dropped.  I was aware that my visibility was reduced, and thus wasn't traveling anywhere near the 75 mph speed limit.  I was, however, in the 50s.

Suddenly, I saw taillights appear in the snow ahead of me, and I was closing on them fast.  I tapped the brakes and quickly realized that in the snow they weren't going to stop me in time, so I moved into the snow-covered left lane and coasted past a short line of cars.  I slowed down to pace the line of cars, and found they were going less than 30 mph: excessively cautious, even for this weather.  The two cars at the front of the line had license plates I didn't recognize, and I had become familiar with the plates of the nearby states.  These people had probably never seen snow before.

I passed the line of cars, and sped up into the 40s, which I considered reasonable, so long as I didn't encounter any more slow-movers like those.  Other drivers, probably more used to snow, passed me by, stirring up the snow and reducing my visibility considerably.  Once this happened on a curve, and I was completely unaware of where the road was until I saw the guardrail out my right side window.

It was almost Midnight when I finally arrived in snow-covered Rapid City and checked into a Motel 6, though I had gained an extra hour crossing into Mountain Time when entering Montana, so to me it was more like almost 11:00.  Still late in any case.

After breakfast and gasoline (which I didn't really need yet, but I wanted a full tank to make it to Sioux Falls) I left Rapid City at about 9:00 the next morning.  I had to make it back to Milwaukee by tonight, but on my westbound trip I had gone farther in one day, so I was sure I'd make it.  It just might be really late if I caught up to my storm again.

The trip across South Dakota was uneventful, except that I found that my bottle of Windex had frozen solid in the car overnight, so no unscheduled window cleaning.  Though I put the bottle under a heat register in the car, it remained frozen for the rest of the trip.  I stopped at Sioux Falls for gas and dinner at McDonalds (my only stop at McDonalds, I usually prefer Burger King or Arby's) and again for gas at Sparta, Wisconsin around 8:00, though I was now in Central Time, so it was more like 7:00 to me.

As I approached Madison in the dark, the weather turned bad again.  Turns out I wasn't going to get break for the home stretch.  The weather didn't get quite as bad as my approach to Rapid City, but it was close, and the roads were worse.  Wisconsin's road salt kept the roads slushy and slippery.  Milwaukee itself had the most difficult roads of the trip.

I finally arrived back at my apartment at around 11:00.  I learned there had been a huge accident on the freeway in Madison due to the weather, but somehow I had missed it.  I never did take any pictures on the return trip.  Either the weather and/or roads were too bad for me too worry about pictures, or I already had taken pictures of the area on the westbound trip.  Plus, I had realized how much the pictures from the camera sucked anyway.

Here is a table showing fuel stops for the round trip.  The last two columns show the miles driven since the last refueling and the average gas mileage for those miles.

Brookfield Square, Brookfield, WI

Gallons	$/Gal	Total	Miles	Mileage
13.253	$1.629	$21.59	216.9	16.4

Marion Gas Mini Mart, Rochester, MN

Gallons	$/Gal	Total	Miles	Mileage
13.075	$1.499	$19.60	260.1	19.9

Kum and Go, Sioux Falls, SD

Gallons	$/Gal	Total	Miles	Mileage
12.405	$1.459	$18.10	232.4	18.7

Badlands Trading Post, Philip, SD

Gallons	$/Gal	Total	Miles	Mileage
13.019	$1.599	$20.82	268.2	20.6

The Rock Stop, Sheridan, WY

Gallons	$/Gal	Total	Miles	Mileage
13.008	$1.499	$19.50	316.8	24.4

Thriftway, Butte, MT

Gallons	$/Gal	Total	Miles	Mileage
15.144	$1.519	$23.00	354.2	23.4

Templin's At Tokio, Sprague, WA

Gallons	$/Gal	Total	Miles	Mileage
13.625	$1.689	$23.01	374.1	27.5

Flying K, Longview, WA

Gallons	$/Gal	Total	Miles	Mileage
13.369	$1.459	$19.51	353.6	26.4

Astro, The Dalles, OR

Gallons	$/Gal	Total	Miles	Mileage
12.507	$1.639	$20.50	277.7	22.2

Tesoro 2Go, Coeur D'Alene, ID

Gallons	$/Gal	Total	Miles	Mileage
13.007	$1.599	$20.80	308.6	23.7

Exxon Town Pump, Butte, MT

Gallons	$/Gal	Total	Miles	Mileage
12.182	$1.519	$18.50	295.0	24.2

Texaco, Sheridan, WY

Gallons	$/Gal	Total	Miles	Mileage
15.212	$1.479	$22.50	355.3	23.4

I-90 Standard, Rapid City, SD

Gallons	$/Gal	Total	Miles	Mileage
10.672	$1.499	$16.00	248.6	23.3

Shop 'N' Cart, Brandon, SD

Gallons	$/Gal	Total	Miles	Mileage
15.082	$1.459	$22.00	348.7	23.1

CO-OP C Store, Sparta, WI

Gallons	$/Gal	Total	Miles	Mileage
15.007	$1.599	$24.00	310.2	20.7

The average cost of gas was $1.599 per gallon.  The least expensive gas was in or near Sioux Falls, South Dakota or at home at $1.459 per gallon.  The most expensive gas was in The Dalles, Oregon at $1.689 per gallon.  My total cost for gas for the round trip was $309.43.  There didn't seem to be a trend for gas prices based on the part of the country.  I averaged just over 300 miles between fuel stops, and averaged 22.5 miles per gallon, though the first mileage figure is almost all driving around Milwaukee.  Removing that figure puts my average for the trip at 23 miles per gallon.

My three nights in motels cost a total of $101.46.  My cost of gas and lodging for the trip was $410.89.  There was also a cost for food that I wasn't able to keep track of.  I don't include the cost of supplies, as those were things I would have needed for the car anyway.

Continue to The Return Home…

An American Journey: At Home

…Continued from Westbound (Part 2).

While at home, Scott Keller and I replaced the missing side view mirror.  This cost $25 at a salvage yard for the mirror (it was a power mirror).  And, of course, I got the car licensed in Oregon, and got my Oregon plates: ZYJ 015.  (Another nice thing about Oregon, you get your plates right there at the DMV that day, whereas Wisconsin has to make them and send them to you.)  And, of course, I filled up my gas tank.  Winter break for MSOE is only two weeks, so after New Years I had to worry about going back to Milwaukee.

Classes started again for me on Monday, January 5.  My dad tried to convince me to leave Thursday, New Years Day, so I "would have plenty of time," but I wasn't very receptive to the idea.  As it turned out, an unusually large snowstorm, made even more unusual due to the fact that there had already been one large storm just a few days before (it rarely snows in this part of Oregon), moved through the area on New Years Day, and I decided I wasn't going to leave in it.  So I ended up leaving on the morning of Friday, January 2.  I would have liked to have waited one more day, as the roads still weren't completely clear, and there was a chance I would catch up to the storm again (a good chance, I would find out) but if I was going to be back in Milwaukee by Sunday night, I couldn't wait any longer.

Continue to Eastbound…

An American Journey: Westbound (Part 2)

…Continued from Westbound.

The next morning, I watched The Weather Channel for a while before checking out of the motel, hoping to determine what I'd run into in the mountains of Montana, but it wasn't much help.  It did however, show that the routes through southern Wyoming and Colorado had been hit hard with snow, so it seemed my route was the best choice, at least. Watching The Weather Channel had delayed my departure from Gillette, and it was almost 11:00 when I bought gas at The Rock Stop in Sheridan.

The Bighorn Mountains in Wyoming

I traveled through eastern Montana without incident.  It wasn't until I approached Homestake Pass that things got interesting again.

Beartooth Mountains (I think) in Montana

 

Driving toward the mountains in Montana 

Homestake Pass, located just east of Butte, Montana, is I-90's pass through the Rocky Mountains.  The pass crests the mountains at an elevation of 6,375 feet.  It is also the crossing of the Continental Divide.  It surprisingly does not look that imposing from the east, though it is significant.  I had passed through Bozeman, about 80 miles east of Butte, with what I thought was plenty of gas.  However, as I climbed Homestake Pass, my Low Fuel light came on.  Not knowing how far I could go with the light on, I began to imagine running out of gas as I neared the top of the pass.  Fortunately, that didn't happen.  I crested the pass and coasted down the other side into Butte, using as little fuel as possible.  I filled my tank in Butte, putting just over 15 gallons of gas into the Dynasty's 16 gallon tank.  This experience did finally give me an indication of the car's range, however; I had gone over 350 miles on that tank.

It was nearly 4:00 when I arrived in Butte, so I had dinner there.  While in Butte, snow started to fall.  It wasn't quite sticking, but I knew I had another pass yet to cross.  I decided this was a good a place as any to buy tire chains.  A gas station pointed me toward a Wal-Mart, where I bought some fairly cheap cable chains, just in case.  They cost $24.82. The search for tire chains made it well after 5:00, and getting dark, before I left Butte.  Snow was falling, but not heavily.  I discovered that rest areas in Montana had speakers installed playing the National Weather Service radio broadcasts, which helped a little. Thanks to Mountain Dew, I wasn't tired as I passed through Missoula, and I kept on toward what would be the most treacherous part of the trip: Lookout Pass.

Lookout Pass is not as high a pass as Homestake Pass.  It is only 4,725 feet high, between the Coeur D'Alene and Bitterroot Mountains.  However, while I had crossed Homestake in daylight with fairly good weather, I faced Lookout in the dark, and in a snowstorm.  Lookout, while not as high as Homestake, does seem to be steeper climb.  As I climbed, my headlights, covered with winter dirt and dust, were barely of use, and I found myself following the taillights of a Jeep Cherokee in front of me.  It had no vehicles ahead of it, so it could use its highbeams/foglights to cut through the weather, which was a help.  The Cherokee's better vision made its driver more confident than me though, and I occasionally found myself going a little faster than I really wanted to in order to keep up with the tail lights I was depending on.

Climbing toward the pass, the highway narrowed to one lane in each direction, a wall of snow filling the other.  The pass was open, but only one lane was plowed each way.  I passed a chain-up area without stopping.  No one else was in it, and I really didn't want to stop in these conditions.  After cresting the pass, which is on the Montana-Idaho border, everything quickly cleared.  As I sailed down toward Coeur D'Alene, I listened to a cassette of 1950s & 60s surfing music.  Oddly, it just seemed appropriate.

I passed through Coeur D'Alene, stopping only at a rest area (where it was so cold the sidewalks had all iced over, making them incredibly slick and forcing me to walk in the frosty grass), and into Washington.  I considered spending the night in Spokane, but I wasn't tired yet, and now being in Washington, I felt I was too close to stop now.  So, I continued on.  Not far out of Spokane, however, the fog began to set in, and I began to feel tired.  I came across a rest area, and pulled in for a nap.

After a short nap in the rest area, I realized that being back in Washington, the rest area might have free hot drinks.  Sure enough, it did.  I wasn't in the mood for coffee, and had a hot chocolate instead.  The chocolate and sugar made me ready to plunge back into the fog.

I was getting low on gas, and decided to start searching for a station.  The first one I found had closed down for the night, though it looked open, and the pumps didn't take cards, so I continued on.  I finally found one near Sprague, at a place called Tokio.  Most of the lights were off, and the fog was thick, but the pumps took cards, so I filled up and cleaned my windows and lights.

Now after Midnight, I remained in the fog as I left I-90 for 395 into the Tri-Cities.  The cities themselves were confusing but relatively fog-free, though when I started down I-82 toward Oregon, I encountered the thickest fog I had seen.  Barely able to see the lines on the road, I proceeded carefully, being passed by cars at freeway speeds that I thought couldn't possibly see where they were going.  Finally, I broke out of the fog and into Oregon.

I stopped at a couple of no-frills Oregon rest areas, mainly just to nap.  I ended up coming through Portland just before the morning rush hour.  Somehow, I'd had enough freeway driving, and drove on into Rainier on familiar Highway 30, finally arriving home about 7:00 in the morning, about 50 hours after leaving Milwaukee.

Continue to At Home…

An American Journey: Westbound

…Continued from Preparations.

I had originally planned to leave Milwaukee around sunrise on the 20th, but I was too excited to sleep well, so I ended up leaving earlier, around 4:30 AM.  I stopped for gas in Brookfield, a suburb of Milwaukee, and added fuel injector cleaner and cleaned all the windows for the first of many times.  This was at about 5:00 AM.

Daybreak in Wisconsin

I stopped briefly at a Burger King in LaCrosse, WI for breakfast around 8:00, and drank my first ever cup of coffee (I figured I'd need the caffeine).  I didn't need gas yet, so I moved on, crossing the mighty Mississippi River at the Wisconsin-Minnesota border.  As I had just bought the car, I hadn't driven it much, and wasn't sure what to expect in the way of gas mileage.  At about 8:45, I got off the interstate at the Rochester, Minnesota exit in search of a gas station.  Rochester isn't actually on I-90, and I had to search a little to find one, but didn't have to go too far.  I was only 260 miles from Brookfield, and so far my mileage wasn't too good, but I wasn't using cruise control at this point, and I had actually stopped sooner than I really needed to.

The Mississippi River

While in Minnesota, I stopped at a rest area with some photogenic views, and decided to try out the digital camera a little.  I'd only taken a couple of shots from the car at this point, but figured I'd get what stationary shots I could.  This being Minnesota in December, there was snow and ice everywhere, including in a newspaper vending machine!

View of I-90 from the Minnesota rest area

 

Large icicle hanging from rest area roof

 

Snow in the newspaper box

Aside from the break at the rest stop, Minnesota was largely uneventful, although I did spot a few electricity-generating windmills.

Windmills in Minnesota

As 1:00 approached, I stopped for lunch at Burger King in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and also got gas at a station named... wait for it... Kum and Go!  I don't want to know where they came up with it.  South Dakota is a big state with few places to stop, so I made sure to fill up here before moving on.

One thing I tried to photograph, but it didn't show up well, was the reddish color of the asphalt in South Dakota.
South Dakota is a big, boring state, the highlights of which are big signs for such attractions as the Corn Palace, Wall Drug, Mt. Rushmore and others, and it was while in this state I finally turned on the cruise control, and really got to appreciate it.  Unfortunately I only turned it on after getting pulled over by one of South Dakota's finest for going 84 mph in a 75 mph zone.  Truth be told I had been going faster for a while.  I ran the car up to 100 mph briefly, just to be able to say I've driven that fast, though it's really nothing to be proud of.  Fortunately, the officer only gave me a warning, and I vowed to myself to use the cruise control as much as practical from then on, at least in South Dakota.  Also, it was right around this point that I found South Dakota's scenic highlight: the Missouri River.

Approaching the Missouri River

Around 4:00 I ended up stopping for gas near the Badlands of South Dakota, as I didn't think I could make it further, though I probably could have.  The gas station was in the middle of nowhere, and virtually closed down, though the pumps still worked with a credit card.  The store itself was shut down and no one was there.  The station probably did decent business, in gas anyway, as I wasn't the only visitor during the short time I was there.

The Badlands in the distance

I wanted to get as far as I could that first night, so I cruised on past Rapid City, despite being tired.  Originally, I had wanted to get into Montana before I stopped for the night, but considering it was dark when I entered Wyoming, I realized that wasn't going to happen.  Out there in the dark, I-90 doesn't feel like an Interstate, more like a country road.  Little other traffic, and you often can't see the lanes for the other direction.  I was going to try for Sheridan, Wyoming, but ended up stopping when I got to Gillette instead.  I was just getting that tired.  I checked into a Budget Inn Express, while proved to be much nicer than a Motel 6, but only a few dollars more expensive.  It even had an indoor pool, which I visited after dinner at a local establishment called Grandma's Kitchen.  It was the only non-fast-food restaurant I stopped at.

Continue to Westbound (Part 2)…

An American Journey: Preparations

…Continued from An American Journey.

Now with a car and a long trip ahead of me, I went in search of supplies.  There was no way I was going to end up stranded if I could avoid it.  On December 13, I went out to get an oil change & supplies.  I started at Wal-Mart where I bought various tools, then had an oil change done at Meineke, and bought a set of fuses at the auto parts store next door.  Knowing I would be driving through the Rocky Mountains in winter, I asked about tire chains, only to find out they are illegal in Wisconsin.  If I decided I needed them, I'd have to buy them along the way.

I later decided I wanted a license plate frame with a clear plastic cover for the paper temporary license plate, so I went to another auto parts store on the 16th and bought one.

On the 18th, I returned to Wal-Mart to stock up on automotive fluids and other general necessities for the trip.  At Wal-Mart, I also stumbled upon an Argus DC1512 digital camera for the low price of $19.67!  At this price, I had very low expectations, but I figured for less than 20 bucks, why not?  I couldn't afford a good digital camera, and I wasn't going to waste film taking pictures while driving with a 35mm camera.  Most of the pictures on this page were taken with this camera.  It was about what I expected.

Here is what a $20 digital camera looks like:

Here is a summary of my supplies:

Wal-Mart – 12/13/2003
Tool Set	$17.84
Jumper Cables	$4.44
Duct Tape	$1.44
Flashlight	$1.97
Funnel	$0.64
Tire Gauge	$0.97
Window Scraper/Snow Brush	$4.86
Snow Shovel	$7.86
5.6% Sales Tax	$2.24
Total	$42.26
Meineke – 12/13/2003
Oil/Oil Filter/Air Filter Change	$21.74
5.6% Sales Tax	$1.22
Total	$22.95
Advance Auto Parts – 12/13/2003
Fuses	$3.18
5.6% Sales Tax	$0.18
Total	$3.86
Checker Auto Parts – 12/16/2003
License Plate Frame/Cover	$7.99
5.6% Sales Tax	$0.45
Total	$8.44
Wal-Mart – 12/18/2003
Paper Towels	$0.50
Cassette Adapter for CD Player	$19.96
Digital Camera	$19.67
Atlas	$7.95
Alarm Clock	$3.82
Hose Clamps	$2.87
Batteries	$1.88
5 Quart Oil	$4.17
Window Washer Fluid	$1.97
Fuel Injector Cleaner	$1.47
Electrical Tape	$0.97
Vinyl Protectant	$1.88
Power Steering Fluid	$1.47
Brake Fluid	$0.78
6 Quarts Transmission Fluid	$11.82
Antifreeze	$4.48
5.6% Sales Tax	$4.80
Total	$90.46

The total for these supplies was $167.47.

Continue to Westbound…

An American Journey (or two)

An American Journey was originally posted under the FEATURES section of my website on November 26, 2004.

An American Journey is unofficially brought to you by the 1991 Dodge Dynasty LE and the Argus DC1512 Digital Camera.

 

Introduction

In December 2003, I bought my first car.  It wasn't really a planned purchase.  It was my Senior year at the Milwaukee School of Engineering in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  I was planning on having to get a car around graduation, because it would be necessary to get a job, but while in school I didn't really need one, so I wasn't concerning myself with the car issue yet.

My roommate Cody, already graduated from college and working, was offered a good deal on a former company car from work in November, and went ahead and bought it.  He offered me his old car, a 1991 Dodge Dynasty LE, for $1000.  Knowing that was what he had paid for the car two years earlier, and that it needed a little work (mainly replacing the right side mirror, and a lot of cleaning) I talked him down to $800.

In Wisconsin, license plates are issued to people, not cars.  If you sell a car, you keep the plates, and can put them on another car.  The purchaser of your car is responsible for acquiring plates of their own.  Thus, Cody took his Wisconsin license plates off the Dynasty and put them on his new car.  I may have been in Wisconsin, but officially I was still an Oregon resident, with an Oregon driver's license.  I investigated licensing the car in Wisconsin.  License plates would have been $60 a year, plus the initial fee.  I probably would have had to get a Wisconsin driver's license as well, plus car insurance in Milwaukee, Wisconsin was a lot more expensive than in Rainier, Oregon.  I knew there was a good chance that I would be returning to Oregon after graduating, and I didn't like the idea of going through all that for just a few months.  In addition, in January, Oregon's auto license would rise from $15 a year to $50 a year, so if I took the car home over winter break, I could save some money.  (This may not make sense, as it would cost far more to drive across the country and back than what I would save, but I justified it because I would have gone home for break anyway, and would have spent about the same amount.)

Thus I acquired car insurance in Rainier, (it really helped that Rainier is a small town and the insurance agent knew my parents) and purchased a temporary Wisconsin license plate for $3.  These are necessary for out of state residents to buy Wisconsin cars, and not get pulled over for not having plates.  The temporary plate is made of heavy paper, and is good for 30 days.  The number on mine was V97 666!  Not a good number for the superstitious, but fortunately I'm not.

The Dynasty's temporary Wisconsin license plate

I was now committed to driving home, to sign my insurance policy and license the car.  The trip would take me west on Interstate 94 from Milwaukee to Madison, where I-94 met up with I-90, which I would follow all the way to Ritzville, Washington, southwest of Spokane, where I would switch to U.S. 395.  At Pasco/Kennewick, I would join I-82 briefly to I-84, which I would follow into Portland.  From there, I would take one of the familiar routes of either I-5 or U.S. 30 home to Rainier.  I estimated a one-way trip would take about 33 hours of actual driving at freeway speeds, not counting any stops.

This map shows the route, with all the stops I would make, for gas, food, lodging or any combination of those, on all the trips covered on this page.

Continue to Preparations…

Milwaukee Road #01984 at the Illinois Railway Museum in 2004

Milwaukee Road caboose #01984 was built by the railroad’s Milwaukee, Wisconsin shops in 1946. It was later renumbered #991984. The Milwaukee Road was the only railroad to have cabooses with ribbed sided such as this one.

Photo by Cliff West

This concludes the original content of my Illinois Railway Museum PLACES page. To see any additional blog entries about the Illinois Railway Museum, click on the IRM label.

Chicago, Burlington & Quincy #13572 at the Illinois Railway Museum in 2004

Chicago, Burlington & Quincy caboose #13572 was built by the Burlington Route in 1960 at their shops in Havelock, Nebraska. It became Burlington Northern #10343 after the merger on March 2, 1970.

Photo by Cliff West

Continue to Milwaukee Road #01984…

Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Nebraska Zephyr at the Illinois Railway Museum in 2004

The Nebraska Zephyr trainset was one of two sets built by the Budd Company in 1936. The two sets were originally built as the second Twin Zephyrs, replacing the original 1935 equipment of the service between Chicago and Minneapolis, Minnesota which had been quickly outgrown. These new Twin Zephyrs entered service on December 18, 1936. On November 16, 1947, as new Twin Zephyr equipment entered service, the old trains were reassigned to a new service between Chicago and Lincoln, Nebraska called the Nebraska Zephyr. The original 1800 horsepower shovelnose diesels were replaced with 2000 horsepower E5s like Silver Pilot. The trains were retired in February 1968, though the Nebraska Zephyr service would continue with different equipment until 1971. This set came to the Illinois Railway Museum on September 21, 1968 with Silver Pilot. The other Nebraska Zephyr train was acquired by the Royal Saudi Railroad and is in storage in Saudi Arabia.

Continue to Chicago, Burlington & Quincy #13572…

Borden’s #520 at the Illinois Railway Museum in 2004

BFIX #520 is a 6000 gallon milk car built by Merchants Despatch Company in 1935, consisting of two 3000 gallon glass-lined tanks. Cars like this carried and distributed milk mainly in the northeastern part of the country and were known as “Butter Dish Cars” due to their shape, which resembles a butter dish.

Continue to Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Nebraska Zephyr…

DOTX #3 at the Illinois Railway Museum in 2004

This car, formerly owned by the United States Department of Transportation, was originally an express refrigerator car owned by the Railway Express Agency. It was built in 1957 by General American Transportation. It was part of the Railway Express Agency’s REX 7400-7899 series of cars.

Continue to Borden’s #520…

Union Pacific #907149 at the Illinois Railway Museum in 2004

Union Pacific #907149 was built in 1939 by the railroad as #9195, one of 100 cars for the railroad’s new Challenger Merchandise Service. Challenger Service trains carried “Less-Than-Carload” (LCL) Merchandise Shipments and provided overnight service between several pairs of cities across the Union Pacific system. The U. S. entering World War II forced the service to end in 1942, and the cars, including 30 more built in early 1941, were assigned to carrying express freight in Union Pacific passenger trains until Amtrak’s creation in 1971. Some of the cars found further use in maintenance service, including #9195, which became storage car #907149 until its retirement.

Continue to DOTX #3…

Union Pacific #900075 at the Illinois Railway Museum in 2004

Union Pacific #900075 is a steam-powered rotary snow plow, built in December 1949 by Lima-Hamilton as Union Pacific #079. Rotary snow plows are still used today, though almost all are now powered by diesel engines. Rotary snow plows are used to clear tracks after the most severe winter storms. Their large rotating blades are capable of clearing snow higher than the plow itself, and throwing the snow one hundred feet from the track. This plow was retired in April 1979. It was originally donated to the Smokey Hills Chapter of the National Railroad Historical Society and was displayed at a railroad museum in Kansas City. It came to the Illinois Railroad Museum sometime later.

Continue to Union Pacific #907149…

Burlington Northern #5383 at the Illinois Railway Museum in 2004

Burlington Northern #5383 is a 3000 horsepower U30C built by General Electric in Erie, Pennsylvania in November 1974, one of an order of 50. General Electric built a total of 596 U30C locomotives between 1966 and 1976, when the model was replaced by the new C30-7. Burlington Northern was the largest owner of U30Cs, eventually owning 181 of the locomotives. #5383 was placed in storage in April 1994, and was donated to the Illinois Railway Museum on September 24, 1994.

Continue to Union Pacific #900075…

Burlington Northern BN-3 at the Illinois Railway Museum in 2004

BN-3 was originally built as Chicago, Burlington & Quincy E9A #9989A by EMD in January 1956. It became Burlington Northern #9989 after the merger of March 2, 1970. In April 1973 it was rebuilt for Chicago commuter service and became E9AM #9919, the Joseph F. Coyle. At this point, the locomotive technically was owned by Chicago’s West Suburban Mass Transit District and leased to Burlington Northern. The rebuilt E-units were retired from Chicago commuter service in July 1992, and in August #9919 was transferred back to Burlington Northern. It was sent to be repainted and emerged on January 6, 1993 as BN-3. It joined BN-1 and BN-2 in Executive Service until the 1996 BNSF merger, after which it was donated to the Illinois Railway Museum.

Photo by Cliff West

Continue to Burlington Northern #5383…

Burlington Northern BN-1 and BN-2 at the Illinois Railway Museum in 2004

Burlington Northern locomotives BN-1 and BN-2 (not visible behind BN-1) were the locomotives assigned to Burlington Northern’s Executive Service in the 1990’s. BN-1 and BN-2 were originally Northern Pacific F-9A #6700A and F-9B #7002C, built by EMD in February 1954 and August 1954 respectively.  They became Burlington Northern #9800 and #809 after the merger of March 2, 1970. After the creation of Amtrak, #9800, originally a passenger unit, was assigned to freight service and renumbered #766. In the 1980s, the locomotives became rotary snow plow power supply units #972567 and #972574. In September 1990 they were rebuilt by Burlington Northern’s West Burlington Shops in Burlington, Iowa into F9-2s BN-1 and BN-2. The rebuild included replacing the original 1500 horsepower engine with a new 2000 horsepower 16 cylinder engine. They were retired after the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe merger of 1996 and were donated to the Illinois Railway Museum.

Continue to Burlington Northern BN-3…

Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe #92 at the Illinois Railway Museum in 2004

Santa Fe #92 is an FP45 built by EMD in December 1967 as Santa Fe #102.  It is one of 9 FP45s built for passenger service on the Santa Fe. It is powered by a 20 cylinder engine producing 3600 horsepower. In 1970, #102 was renumbered to #5942. It was rebuilt in October 1982 and was renumbered to #5992. In 1989 it was renumbered to #101 and in 1990 was renumbered again to #92. It was retired in January 1997 and donated to the Illinois Railway Museum. Though two of the Santa Fe’s FP45s were destroyed in accidents, the other seven all survive today.

Continue to Burlington Northern BN-1 and BN-2…

Union Pacific #6930 at the Illinois Railway Museum in 2004

Union Pacific #6930 is a DDA40X built by EMD in 1970. There were a total of 45 of these locomotives built between 1969 and 1971, and Union Pacific was the only owner of them. They were called Centennials, due to their introduction 100 years after the completion of the first transcontinental railroad. A Centennial is nearly 100 feet long, and is powered by two 20 cylinder engines producing a total of 6600 horsepower. Centennials are still the largest and most powerful diesel locomotives in the world. #6930 made its last trip on March 12, 1985, and was donated to the Smokey Hill Railway & Historical Society of Shawnee Mission, Kansas in August 1985.  In October 1991 it was traded to the Illinois Railway Museum. #6930 is one of 14 surviving Centennials; one other survivor, #6936, is still owned by Union Pacific and is operated on special occasions.

Continue to Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe #92…