JAYSON'S 2003
VACATION
Oregon, Washington,
Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, South Dakota, and
Wyoming
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This
ten day road trip covered a large area of the country (and putting a ton
of miles on my car). After driving through Oregon, Washington
(the Tri-Cities and Spokane) and Idaho (Coeur d'Alene, Kellogg and Wallace),
I spent the first night in Western Montana in the town of Drummond
(population 315, about 50 miles east of Missoula).
I made it into Minnesota, the land of a thousand lakes, driving through Moorhead
and St. Cloud before reaching the Twin Cities area. A stop in Albertville
was made, which had a huge outlet mall. I visited Burnsville, St.
Paul (the state capitol and the state history museum), Minneapolis (with
a convenient indoor skyway downtown to keep people warm in the winter), and
Bloomington, home of Mall of America. I
entered Western Wisconsin, stopping in Hudson, Eau Claire, Tomah and La Crosse
(although I had trouble finding the giant six-pack). I returned back
to Minnesota driving through Rochester, Austin (home of Hormel, the makers
of SPAM), Mankato and Jackson. I
decided to make a detour through northwestern Iowa, covering Spirit Lake
and Rock Rapids before reaching South Dakota. Along the way, I visited
Sioux Falls, Mitchell (home of the Corn Palace, which serves as an events
center), Huron, Aberdeen, Selby, the state capital of Pierre (pronounced
"PEER"), Wall (spending hours at Wall Drug - YOU CAN'T MISS IT), Rapid City,
Keystone, Mount Rushmore (AMAZING), the Crazy Horse Monument (even bigger
than Mount Rushmore), Deadwood, Spearfish and Belle Fourche. I headed back into Montana (clipping extreme northeastern Wyoming), driving through Billings and Bozeman before spending the last night in Missoula. Coming home, I went through the Idaho panhandle and southeastern Washington (Clarkston and Walla Walla) and returning into Oregon (making the final stop in Hermiston) heading home. |
Mount Rushmore National Monument
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