DC to Seattle Roadtrip

[guardianmoon]

FYI, we ended up doing this trip and it was definitely worthwhile! Thanks again to everyone for the advice!

We started on a Thursday night, drove to Pittsburgh and stayed with some family. From there we went on to Chicago, driving through Ohio and Indiana on the way (I got my first ever speeding ticket in Indiana - 91 in a 70). We spent extra time in Pittsburgh and Chicago visiting family. By the time we made it out of Chicago it was pretty late, so we ended up meeting a friend in Madison and spending the night there. After this point we had no one else we knew along the way, so this is pretty much where the adventure began. We also hadn't really planned out hotels and exact destinations, because we were playing so much of it by ear.

From Madison we drove to Badlands National Park and stayed at the Circle View Ranch in Interior, SD. The ranch was just outside the park and had a gorgeous view itself. Badlands was probably my favorite part of the trip - gorgeous, perfect weather, very peaceful. About 1-2 hour drive from there was Mt. Rushmore. The mountains were gorgeous and Mt. Rushmore itself was cool, but I wasn't expecting such a done-up tourist trap.

Then we headed towards Yellowstone. All the hotels were booked up in the park, so we ended up staying in Cody, WY, which was actually a nice town. Yellowstone was obviously amazing. I didn't realize how cool it would actually be. Again, the Old Faithful stuff was kind of boring, but the hot springs scattered around the park were fascinating.

It was pretty late by the time we left the park, so we ended up staying in Coeur D'Alene, ID. Parts of the drive through Montana were nerve-racking, as the tight winding mountain roads became pretty tiring, especially around sunset. But, we managed to clear most of that before dark and only caught some twisting roads again closer to Coeur D'Alene. Coeur D'Alene surprised me as well. I had no idea Idaho had such gorgeous scenery. We stayed at the Roosevelt Inn, which was very comfortable and had a great breakfast. Since it's not too far from Seattle, we might do a weekend getaway there sometime in the next few years.

The drive from Coeur D'Alene was also gorgeous, but all in all, we were pretty relieved when we made it to Seattle. For anyone keeping track, we made it to Seattle by about 3pm on the following Wednesday afternoon, so we spent just about 6days on the whole trip.

In regards to my apprehensions about being non-white and driving through these parts, 99% of the time it was absolutely no issue and everyone was super nice and friendly. We did have one minor incident though. About 45mins away from Coeur D'Alene, at about 9:45pm, I had a pretty embarrassing situation where I really needed to find a place to use the restroom. But, being in the middle of nowhere Idaho in the mountains, there weren't a whole lot of places to stop. I saw a sign for a gas station in Wallace, ID, so I pulled off and drove around the town searching for a gas station or some other place. The only thing open I saw was a grocery store. I ran in to see if they would let me use the restroom, but they were about to close, so they gave me directions to the original gas station I was looking for. They were really nice, but there was this one odd looking 40yr old man in the store that gave me the creeps. I really needed to find a bathroom at this point, so I didn't pay it much attention. I finally found the gas station and since the gas light had just come on, I decided to set it to fill up before running to the bathroom. I felt uncomfortable leaving my wife alone in the car, so I rushed out quickly and apparently just in time. As I walked out, I saw an old Jeep driving up to our car in the gas station, in the driver's seat was that odd looking man from the grocery store. He drove by me slowly, giving me a dirty smile and sneering at me. Once he got a good look, he swung his car around and sped off. My wife was on the phone with a friend the whole time and had no idea anything was out of the ordinary and I decided not to mention it to her until we were safely back on the highway. Again, we were in no real danger and nothing actually happened, but it was just an uncomfortable situation and I wouldn't have changed anything about the trip despite that.

Overall, this was definitely a trip of a life time and I highly recommend it!

[flyingsaucermom]

Originally Posted by guardianmoon

FYI, we ended up doing this trip and it was definitely worthwhile! Thanks again to everyone for the advice!

We started on a Thursday night, drove to Pittsburgh and stayed with some family. From there we went on to Chicago, driving through Ohio and Indiana on the way (I got my first ever speeding ticket in Indiana - 91 in a 70). We spent extra time in Pittsburgh and Chicago visiting family. By the time we made it out of Chicago it was pretty late, so we ended up meeting a friend in Madison and spending the night there. After this point we had no one else we knew along the way, so this is pretty much where the adventure began. We also hadn't really planned out hotels and exact destinations, because we were playing so much of it by ear.

From Madison we drove to Badlands National Park and stayed at the Circle View Ranch in Interior, SD. The ranch was just outside the park and had a gorgeous view itself. Badlands was probably my favorite part of the trip - gorgeous, perfect weather, very peaceful. About 1-2 hour drive from there was Mt. Rushmore. The mountains were gorgeous and Mt. Rushmore itself was cool, but I wasn't expecting such a done-up tourist trap.

Then we headed towards Yellowstone. All the hotels were booked up in the park, so we ended up staying in Cody, WY, which was actually a nice town. Yellowstone was obviously amazing. I didn't realize how cool it would actually be. Again, the Old Faithful stuff was kind of boring, but the hot springs scattered around the park were fascinating.

It was pretty late by the time we left the park, so we ended up staying in Coeur D'Alene, ID. Parts of the drive through Montana were nerve-racking, as the tight winding mountain roads became pretty tiring, especially around sunset. But, we managed to clear most of that before dark and only caught some twisting roads again closer to Coeur D'Alene. Coeur D'Alene surprised me as well. I had no idea Idaho had such gorgeous scenery. We stayed at the Roosevelt Inn, which was very comfortable and had a great breakfast. Since it's not too far from Seattle, we might do a weekend getaway there sometime in the next few years.

The drive from Coeur D'Alene was also gorgeous, but all in all, we were pretty relieved when we made it to Seattle. For anyone keeping track, we made it to Seattle by about 3pm on the following Wednesday afternoon, so we spent just about 6days on the whole trip.

In regards to my apprehensions about being non-white and driving through these parts, 99% of the time it was absolutely no issue and everyone was super nice and friendly. We did have one minor incident though. About 45mins away from Coeur D'Alene, at about 9:45pm, I had a pretty embarrassing situation where I really needed to find a place to use the restroom. But, being in the middle of nowhere Idaho in the mountains, there weren't a whole lot of places to stop. I saw a sign for a gas station in Wallace, ID, so I pulled off and drove around the town searching for a gas station or some other place. The only thing open I saw was a grocery store. I ran in to see if they would let me use the restroom, but they were about to close, so they gave me directions to the original gas station I was looking for. They were really nice, but there was this one odd looking 40yr old man in the store that gave me the creeps. I really needed to find a bathroom at this point, so I didn't pay it much attention. I finally found the gas station and since the gas light had just come on, I decided to set it to fill up before running to the bathroom. I felt uncomfortable leaving my wife alone in the car, so I rushed out quickly and apparently just in time. As I walked out, I saw an old Jeep driving up to our car in the gas station, in the driver's seat was that odd looking man from the grocery store. He drove by me slowly, giving me a dirty smile and sneering at me. Once he got a good look, he swung his car around and sped off. My wife was on the phone with a friend the whole time and had no idea anything was out of the ordinary and I decided not to mention it to her until we were safely back on the highway. Again, we were in no real danger and nothing actually happened, but it was just an uncomfortable situation and I wouldn't have changed anything about the trip despite that.

Overall, this was definitely a trip of a life time and I highly recommend it!

Glad it was a good trip... and welcome!

We've passed Wallace twice and I've always wanted to stop because it looks so historical. We finished our road trip at the beginning of the month. Since we were coming up through Utah we took the opportunity to drive through southern Idaho, clipped NE Oregon and approached Seattle through Sunnyside and Yakima. I think I much prefer your route... the panhandle of Idaho is much prettier than where we were. NE Oregon had some interesting topography (butvery dry) and Sunnyside through Yakima impressed me with the farms, especially wine country... ours was also an excellent trip, but like you, I just got to the point where I wanted to be where I was going. So happy to be home... and back to Seattle weather!