Most of our summer goals (which changed frequently) have been completed and we are starting the next phase: relocation. One of our goals on this long road trip (and others that we did over the summer) was to research moving to a smaller town and attempt to start a life there. On our most recent "X-ing America" adventure we intentionally went out of our way to drive to many tiny towns and one stuck out a little more than the rest.
We are actively researching the beautiful town of Whitefish, Montana. Nestled in the northwest corner of the state, Whitefish is a small town of around 6,000 people that has a ski area overlooking the city. The downtown area consists of great restaurants and shops all nestled tightly together in a handful of city blocks.
"There is only one Whitefish. Tucked tight against Big Mountain and the stunning peaks of Glacier National Park, Whitefish is a year-round playground steeped in the romance of the rails. From its historic railroad depot to its charming Central Avenue, Whitefish was built on the personalities, generosity, and wisdom of its residents. Cafes mingle with gourmet restaurants, general stores share the downtown with galleries and boutiques, and a variety of western bars will suit any mood. You will also find sophisticated amenities like inns, hotels, rustic lodges, ski and board shops, outdoor gear stores and more. Whatever leads you to Whitefish - the historic downtown, the dramatic landscape, or your own wanderlust- you'll be glad you followed it."
There are a number of requirements that a small town must have for us to consider living there.
Must be under 10,000 people
Must have a reputable hospital
Must have a reputable school system
Must have a larger city nearby (within an hour's drive)
Housing must be affordable
Must have a way for us to stay healthy and active year round
Must be dog friendly
Lakes and/or streams must be nearby
Mountains and forest must be nearby
Should not be on an interstate or "through road"
There are many more standards that Nicole and I have created, but I wanted to illustrate that there is a method to our selections. Geography (economic, cultural, physical, etc) is one of my passions and has had a major influence in our decision making and I believe that Whitefish is ideal for a number of reasons.
First, there is water everywhere. Whitefish Lake, Flathead Lake, Hungry Horse Reservoir along with the rivers and streams that flow in and our of them. I think with any great place in the world, one will find water nearby. Conversely, an area that has little water seems to have problems down the road.
Second, the proximity of Kalispell to Whitefish makes it very appealing. I read somewhere that "Migration between two cities is proportional to the product of the two cities' populations and inversely proportional to the intervening distance" (if it seems familiar that's because it's similar to that of the theory of gravity.) I haven't exactly put exact figures into this equation yet, but my gut feeling says that that Kalispell helps keep Whitefish going (along with nearby Columbia Falls.)
Nicole and I are continuing to research and budget the feasibility of relocating there for the next week or so. We would need to spend at least four months there before we could really determine if this is where we want to stay for years to follow.
It's taken me too long to write since we have officially arrived back in the Portland area. For one thing, it feels nice to not be driving and I have been enjoying catching up on news, books, and various research. Our sleep patterns are somewhat back to normal and we are eating balanced meals again (one cannot survive on Black Pepper Triscuits and Easy Cheese.)
All those days on the road actually did have one side effect. I was napping the other day and something suddenly woke me. Startled, I looked around the room and I was very confused. Everything looked familiar. For some reason my brain had become accustomed to being "not home" that when I saw we were in fact "home," I started to panic. 'We're we in an accident? Was this road trip a dream? Who brought me back here?' It didn't quite make sense that we had actually driven all the way back. It was as the DC to Portland trip had not been completed in my subconscious. After I woke up completely, I was so happy to know that the trip had been completed.
Butte, Montana To Seely Lake, Montana to Columbia Falls, Montana to Logans Pass, to Whitefish, Montana August 11th Distance: 350 miles Time In Truck: 6:15am to 6:30pm
Once again Google Maps couldn't handle our route so I left the map off this post
I haven't really had the time or energy to sit down and write what we have seen and experienced since we left Chicago so I thought I would take a moment to recap. Before I start it's important to note that it is impossible to keep track of all the odds and ends we have seen so far and Nicole and I often comment back to each other how we hope to "remember it all." I will try to highlight some of the interesting sights since we left Chicago.
Chicago was such a recharging experience that nearly every day after we have been getting up early and trying to walk, take pictures, and grab coffee before we dawdle across America. This has really helped us feel a little better about sitting for hours (because of the exercise) in the car. It has also allowed us to take more pictures in good light (mornings are great photo times.) When we finish this trip I hope to post "The Best Of The Best."
As mentioned before, we left Chicago in the nick of time and traveled north toward Minneapolis. I was really surprised how beautiful Wisconsin and Minnesota are and quickly changed my preconceived notions about these northern mid-west states. Though they lack mountains (by definition a mountain is over 10,000 feet...citation needed) I was amazed how lush and "cozy" each little town felt.
Minneapolis was beautiful. It felt like Portland minus the hills and sprawl (although we didn't venture out into the surrounding areas.) We stopped in to a Barnes and Noble to find some music for our looming South Dakota leg (we weren't looking forward to it.) The styles and personalities in the bookstore mirrored Portlander attitudes and political views. Minneapolis seemed to be an island of liberal ideals in a sea of conservative states.
Leaving Minneapolis we headed south to Luverne, Minnesota. On this leg I finally saw something that Nicole had talked about since I met her...factory farms. I was a bit surprised having been raised in an area where livestock roam free and never as a child did I think that a cow, chicken, or pig had a hard life. My father would often take us by a sheep farm after church to see the baby lambs and I would think to myself how happy they all were.
We drove by many chicken/goose "sheds" that were literally wall to wall birds. They were all staring out the chicken wire crammed together barely moving...thousands of them. I am still a meat eater and don't plan to change soon, but I can say that I have never seen conditions like this for an animal...and it is saddening...no matter who you are.
After our stay in Luverne, we began our "South Dakota" leg. I knew it was going to be interesting when we passed a billboard after crossing into South Dakota that read "We Dakotans REJECT Animal Activists. Furs, Game, Fish & Livestock are Our Economy!" Nicole couldn't get to her purse quickly enough to write it down. Also, the welcome sign into the state read: "Welcome to South Dakota. Watch Out For Jack Rabbits."
We drove into Sioux Falls, South Dakota...very, very strange town. Our mission was to get an espresso...and it was nearly impossible. The town itself feels like someone created it on SimCity. All the buildings were 3 to 4 stories...and very similar. There were HUGE parking garages full to the brim yet the town had nearly no foot traffic. We stopped by the cafe and bakery to get a mocha and the girl behind the counter pointed to a machine found commonly in hotel lobbies that make "instant" mochas or lattes. Distressed (and wondering if we were in the twilight zone) we did endless circles radiating from city center. By pure luck we found a Starbucks and felt as if we had found the American Embassy in a developing nation. I did a little research on the city and found that it is home to many financial companies (South Dakota doesn't have corporate income tax.)
As expected South Dakota was a long day. We finally arrived in Rapid City, SD around 5pm only to find out that the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally had just started (only a town away.) Hotel rates were through the roof and I honestly thought we would have to drive to Wyoming to find a place to stay. Thanks to Nicole, we were able to negotiate a pretty good rate in nearby Hill, SD.
Before we headed to our hotel, we swung by Mount Rushmore. From what I had heard and read about it, I expected to be underwhelmed. It was amazing. It was a lot bigger than I had imagined and the viewing area made for great pictures. I'm not sure if I would plan a family vacation around this destination, but I definitely would recommend it for anyone traveling on I-90...it's worth the detour.
The next morning we got up early and took pictures of Hill City before jumping in the truck and heading for Sheridan by way of Devil's Tower. For anyone who has seen "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" they would recognize this rock formation as the center piece of the movie's plot. Seeing it up close made me feel special; like I had some bragging rights or something. It's pretty spectacular...but I'm not 100% sure it's worth a side trip unless you are a rock climber.
We finally pulled into Sheridan early enough to get a fantastic dinner at the local Mexican Restaurant (which was amazing.) The hotel we stayed in was very interesting. The Mill Inn is a converted wheat mill (with giant silos) into a hotel plus commercial building. The rooms were very unique and had such an insulated feel that Nicole and I thought we were the only ones in the hotel (it was completely booked.) At sunrise we walked to a coffee stand (after walking to a baking only stand that looked just like a coffee stand) and took pictures of locusts along the way. By the time we got back to our room (around 7:30am) it was already hot outside. We spent the rest of the morning getting new windshield wipers, fix-a-flat, and extra water for our adventure over two high mountain passes (each over 9,000 feet.) After filling up we set out for Medicine Wheel (thanks to Pat S for pointing us this way) which is located at 10,000 feet in the Big Horn National Forest.
On our way up to Medicine Wheel, we stopped to watch people launch hang gliders high above the Wyoming flatlands. We had been driving for a while and stopped at a scenic lookout point to find that a bunch of people had gathered to watch two guys take off in hang gliders. I have never seen a hang glider take off (which were literally just a couple of feet from us) but it was incredible. A crowd gathered before they took flight and everyone gasped each time one would run and jump off the precipice. We could have spent all day there but we had to be over the 2nd pass before sundown.
We arrived at the Medicine Wheel parking lot and walked a mile and a half to the location itself. It was a very solemn experience and we elected not to take pictures (it wouldn't have translated anyway.) On our walk back we saw pica (which are super cute giant rats) and evidence of either bear or cougar (we found scat with fur in it.) We jumped back into the truck and descended down a 10% grade for over 12 miles bringing us down to around the 4000 feet in elevation.
We drove through many quiet Wyoming towns that seemed permanently separated from the modern world. We wondered how close the nearest municipal airport was and if people traveled much outside northern Wyoming. It felt very isolated.
After passing through the last of our Wyoming towns (Cody, Wyoming) we headed north toward the infamous Bear Tooth Pass. I love to study maps in my spare time and I have studied the Bear Tooth Pass on more than one occasion. Before we ascended the pass, Nicole spotted a cougar crossing the road ahead of us (I was of course looking at the beautiful landscape and not the road) and because it was a switch back we were able to cross it's prospective path. Instead of seeing the cougar again, we saw it's prey...a coyote. We stopped in the middle of the switchbacks waiting for the cougar to cross either in front or behind us...which never happened. The coyote crossed behind us and we suspect that the cougar gave up his hunt because of the two humans and their cameras sticking out of sunroofs and windows. Unfortunately, we didn't get the "National Geographic" moment we had hoped for.
Minutes before we started our drive up the Beartooth Highway, we were caught in the most spectacular thunderstorm. The clouds made everything so dark I had to turn on the headlights and Nicole barely got out "three Mississippi" before the thunder rattled the truck. I hoped quietly to myself that it would pass over before we climbed up to nearly 11,000 feet...into the heart of most storm clouds.
As we made our right turn onto the Beartooth Highway the storm ended and the sun came out. We only had an hour and a half until sunset so I made my best effort to get up the mountain as safely possible. Never really going faster than 20 miles an hour we eventually crossed over the top at exactly sunset. Along the way we tried to take pictures and observe wildlife but in the interest of time kept it brief. I got a little camera happy at the top and became obsessed with photographing the most incredible rainbow I have ever seen in my life (of course none of them really turned out.) We were both a little exhausted, the sun was going down, and I had absolutely no idea how far the city of Red Lodge was.
We descended down the most frightening switchbacks of my life. I joked with Nicole that it was incredible that a movie hasn't utilized this unbelievable scary road for a car chase scene. We would turn to the left 180 degrees...then turn to the right for what seemed to be 270 degrees and then back again the whole time with sheer cliffs on the outboard side. It was pitch black by the time we reached the valley floor and we didn't roll into Red Lodge, Montana for another 30 minutes.
Exhausted we stopped at the first place in town that didn't have the ominous "NO VACANCY" sign on. Fortunately we got one of the last rooms in town. We dropped our bags in the room and collapsed on the bed...still buzzing from the amazing sights of the day.
We woke up the next morning (today from the author's perspective) and walked around the beautiful city of Red Lodge. Full of antique shops, bakeries, cute espresso cafes, a candy store, and other tourist targeted venues, this city was extremely charming. I had a deep fried donut for breakfast and a mocha with one too many shots in it. Nicole had an Americano that made her so hyper she was pointing at everything and convincing me that we needed to move here.
After chewing the fat with a local at the Candy Emporium, we hit the road and ventured to Bozeman. After one of our shortest car rides yet, we arrived in the early afternoon which allowed us to check in to a hotel early, shower, nap, and best of all catch up on the blog.
Red Lodge, Montana to Bozeman, Montana August 9th Distance: 170 miles Time In Truck: 10am to 1pm
View Larger Map I haven't looked at the map in detail today, but I think we will head up north tomorrow...
Authors Note: Google Maps couldn't handle the route so the map above is hardly useful.
Here are the step by step route we took: Sheridan, Wy to Medicine Wheel, Wy to Lovell, Wy to Cody, Wy towards Cooke, Wy to Beartooth Pass, Wy to Red Lodge, MT.
SIDEBAR-Hours after we left Chicago they got slammed with a major storm:
Severe storms rattle Chicago, suburbs Thunderstorm watch remains
By Dan P. Blake, Steve Schmadeke and Jeremy Gorner
Chicago Tribune staff reporters
7:01 AM CDT, August 5, 2008
Clean-up efforts were under way Tuesday morning after a line of severe thunderstorms moved through the Chicago area Monday night, downing trees and power lines, starting fires, peeling off roofs, briefly closing down both Chicago airports and ending a Cubs game after two rain delays.
About 225,000 Commonwealth Edison customers were without power.
A severe-thunderstorm watch was in effect until 9 a.m. for Grundy and Livingston Counties, the weather service said.
A little over 2 inches of rain fell at O'Hare International Airport during a six-hour span, the weather service said.
Powerful winds and apparently lightning destroyed part of the roof near the main entrance of St. Charles North High School in the far west suburb, which led to water damage to the hallways, guidance center and potentially a portion of the library, said School District 303 Supt. Don Schlomann. Members of a youth baseball group in the building when the storm struck were safely evacuated by the Fire Department, he said.
Power and gas service was shut off to the high school Monday night and structural engineers were scheduled to assess the damage Tuesday to see if the school can be ready to open when classes start Aug. 27, Schlomann said.
Summer school classes at Glenbard East High School in west suburban Lombard were canceled for Tuesday due to a power outage, according to the school's Web site.
Lightning may have sparked fires at a Batavia barn and single-family homes in Hillside and unincorporated Downers Grove, fire officials in those areas said. Powerful winds accompanying the storms knocked down power lines throughout the area and ripped the roofs from a Hillside commercial building and at least a half-dozen homes in the Hickory Oaks subdivision in Bolingbrook.
As of 5:30 a.m. Tuesday, some 225,000 Commonwealth Edison customers were without electricity in northern Illinois due to the weather, according to Jeff Burdick, a ComEd spokesman, who said utility crews had already restored power to more than 175,000 customers since the storms began earlier Monday night.
Of those currently without power, Burdick said, more than 100,000 were in the Chicago area.
Burdick said more than 270 crews, consisting of two to four people, have been working around the clock to restore power, but it was expected to be a multiple-day effort.
In Chicago, there were numerous downed power lines and fires at single-family homes and apartment buildings that were weather-related, said Larry Langford, a Chicago Fire Department spokesman. Many of the fires were "roof or attic" fires, indicating that lightning may have played a role in the blazes, he added..
Langford said the fires, which were put out quickly upon the firefighters' arrival, caused no serious injuries. Firefighters, however, had to rescue several people trapped in their cars under flooded viaducts at various locations on the North and South Sides, he noted.
As of 6:30 a.m. Tuesday, crews from the Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation responded to reports of 1,104 damaged trees, 132 malfunctioning traffic signals, 55 damaged street light poles and 92 downed wires. The department said there were also 194 city blocks without working street lights.
A trained spotter reported a tornado touched down in Elmhurst, weather service officials said, but Elmhurst officials said the report was incorrect.
"There was no tornado that touched down," said Elmhurst Police Sgt. Bob Tannehill. "We just had some heavy winds come through the area—some trees down, nothing major, and some downed power lines."
Elmhurst authorities said the minor damage was not confined to any single area of town. No injuries were reported.
Spotters also reported funnel clouds in other west suburbs and officials in Schiller Park said their town suffered wind damage.
In Michigan City, Ind., high winds caused a tree to fall on a car, killing a 23-year-old Michigan City man, authorities said.
About 8 p.m. in downtown Chicago, a calm, warm, humid evening turned into a frightening lashing of wind and strong rains. Tornado sirens could be heard at Wrigley Field, where the Cubs game was delayed twice by the rain.
Thousands of fans were evacuated to the stadium's concourse. Officials warned fans through a public-address system and on the scoreboard to get into the lower levels of the stadium, but thousands remained in their seats. Several fans ran out onto the field and slid on the rain tarp before being pulled away.
There was heavy tree damage in south Maywood and Broadview. Many roads were impassable because of the fallen tree branches.
"This happened so fast," said Broadview resident Roberta McGill, who was taking pictures of a large tree branch that fell on the parkway outside her home. She and her daughter, Nia, 14, saw the sky turn black and green and quickly headed to the basement to wait out the storm. "We hate to lose that tree. That's a lot of shade."
A couple of blocks away in Broadview, Azariah Israel arrived home just after the storm to find a large branch from a backyard tree down across his deck. "It could have been worse," he said.
A window reportedly broke on the 40th floor of the John Hancock Center at 875 N. Michigan Ave. Chestnut Street and Michigan Avenue were closed to traffic. Flooded streets were reported in several suburbs from Tinley Park to Elgin.
Winds of 94 m.p.h. were reported at the Harrison-Dever Crib, about 3 miles offshore in Lake Michigan.
The weather temporarily halted flights at both Chicago airports, according to the city's Department of Aviation. By 9:45 p.m. air travel resumed at O'Hare International and Midway Airports. Nevertheless, flights late Monday night were experiencing delays of up to one hour at O'Hare and 90 minutes at Midway with scattered cancellations.
During the tornado warning, which ended a little before 9 p.m. Monday, O'Hare travelers were temporarily moved to a lower level at the terminals, officials said. More than 350 flights were canceled during the height of the storms.
At Wrigley Field, the game resumed about 10:30 p.m. but was halted again and, subsequently, called due to another round of rain and lightning that began shortly after 11 p.m.
In Bourbonnais, a tornado warning forced the Bears to halt their practice at about 8:30 p.m. and clear the field.
On Tuesday, the Chicago area should see partly sunny skies with a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Some thunderstorms may produce heavy rainfall, according to the weather service. High temperatures in the mid 80s are expected and winds would be coming from the north around 10 mph.
Tribune reporters Hal Dardick, Josh Noel and Ted Gregory, freelance reporter Victoria Pierce and The Associated Press contributed to this report. dpblake@tribune.comsschmadeke@tribune.comjgorner@tribune.com
Oakbrook, Illinois to Chicago, Illinois August 3rd Distance: 40.6 miles Train (Round Trip) and 8 miles on foot Time On Foot: 6am to 9:30pm
Nicole and I have never been to Chicago so we thought it would be fun to stay at least a full day and explore. It was so easy to get to downtown from our secret hideaway (this place is a diamond in the rough.) Even though we only had a day, we went so many places.
After getting up around 6am to exercise and swim laps, we drove to the nearby Westmont Metra Train Station to catch the 8:40am train. Though we were far out from Chicago, the train was already fairly full. Looking at the passengers (who were primary dressed in blue shirts and baseball hats) we quickly figured out that there was a Cubs game today. The train itself was nice (enough) and we took turns dozing in and out on our 45 minute ride into town.
Chicago Union Station is right across the river from the Sears Tower. Nicole (who would not go up) encouraged me to get in line to see what it was all about. After a series of elevators (both down and up) a 15 minute History Channel movie, a security check, and a photo (which I declined but they took my picture anyway) I found myself at the top of the Sears Tower.
The view from up there is breathtaking and unnerving. When I went up to the top of the Empire State Building I didn't remember being so much taller than everything else around. From the top of the tower I could see for miles in every direction even with haze in the air. It was fun to look around but I was eager to go back to Nicole (I took a photo of her from the top...it's really blurry)
From the tower we walked north to Michigan Avenue stopping for coffee along the way. We walked slowly North visiting gardens and Millennium Park taking pictures and watching children play in fountains.
Chicago has to be one of the most "appealing to the eye" (for lack of a better description) cities that we have ever visited. The rivers, trains, architecture and proximity to a huge lake make this city so beautiful and constantly interesting to look at. It also felt a little more spacious than New York or Boston like the sidewalks were bigger and people's social bubble was also large for a big city.
After gazing at "The Bean" at Millennium Park for a long time, Nicole and I had a Chicago Style Pizza. Though it took forever for them to prepare the pizza, it was worth the wait. There is nothing like it in the Northwest...the portion I ate weighed 1.5 pounds (an easier way to describe portion size our bartender told us.)
From there we walked further north past the Tribune Tower (an amazing building) and creeped into the shopping district where Nicole bought nothing and I was the one who got the goods. We finally reached Water Tower Place and realized that we were exhausted and that we had to backtrack to the station.
We walked back to the river to find that we had missed the last water taxi to Union Station by mere minutes. Because the trains run every two hours we knew that we had to really get going if we were to catch the 6:40p train back towards Aurora. Walking as fast as we could in flip flops we decided to walk along the river all the way to the station. Even though it was a hurried 30 minute walk, we saw some of the most amazing buildings (too many to name) that helped distract us from our aching feet.
Of course we made the train (with 3 minutes to spare.) The train was packed (remember that Cubs game?) I had to stand for a portion of the trip because there were so many people on board. Eventually I was able to sit and Nicole and I took turns sleeping for only seconds at a time. This train trip took an hour this time.
After arriving back to the station we grabbed a meal and returned to our hotel. We each cleaned up and scrubbed our feet (8 miles in flip flops will do a number on your heels.) We both asleep shortly thereafter.
Chicago is our favorite city so far and we hope to come back here (it's a great halfway point for our East Coast siblings) or perhaps bring friends and family for a shopping blitz. I can't believe that I waited so long to visit
Before we started I played 9 holes of golf at the East Potomac Golf Course in possibly the hottest, most humid weather of my life (and I have been to Thailand, Singapore, Okinawa, etc.) It was nice to walk before being stuck in the truck for so long and I had lots of fun with the guys we played with.
Our goal was Cleveland, but due to the world's worst traffic jam outside of Morgantown, West Virginia.
I will finish this later...we're off to Holland, Michigan.
Most of our summer goals (which changed frequently) have been completed and we are starting the next phase: relocation. One of our goals on this long road trip (and others that we did over the summer) was to research moving to a smaller town and attempt to start a life there. On our most recent "X-ing America" adventure we intentionally went out of our way to drive to many tiny towns and one stuck out a little more than the rest.
First, there is water everywhere. Whitefish Lake, Flathead Lake, Hungry Horse Reservoir along with the rivers and streams that flow in and our of them. I think with any great place in the world, one will find water nearby. Conversely, an area that has little water seems to have problems down the road.
Nicole and I are continuing to research and budget the feasibility of relocating there for the next week or so. We would need to spend at least four months there before we could really determine if this is where we want to stay for years to follow.
