Drive from Oregon to Texas

Well it's about time that I recount my trip from Corvallis, Oregon to Waco, Texas on August 22-24.

I had originally planned on doing this trip in three days. Mapquest.com has the trip lasting 33 hours, 23 minutes and covering a distance of 2235.97 miles. Then I figured I could just make it two long days of driving, approximately 18 hours, and a stop at a rest stop to sleep. That way I only pay for gas and food. In retrospect, it would have been more enjoyable to have followed the three-day plan. Heck, if I had thought this trip through a little more and had a little more money to spend, I could have made my way around the country a little more by staying at jugglers' homes. There is a solid network of jugglers around the country and world that use an online forum to talk about juggling related stuff. I could, and will make it a goal to do this next time. Even though the road was fun, I'd like to take more time to do the state parks and see the sites.

Eastern Oregon

Eastern Oregon

Eastern Oregon

Eastern Oregon

The first four photos show what Eastern Oregon looks like. I forgot to take photos for the first couple of hours I was on the road, so I don't have any views of the beautiful mountains that I drove through on US-20 E. I did stop in Sisters to juggle in front of the twin mountains there for my juggling-around-the-world-video. As you can see in the photos, the big trees many people associate with Oregon disappear as you move east, and little trees take their place in the scenery.

Idaho

Idaho

Idaho

Pilot Car in Idaho

I'd say I was fortunate enough to not have too much construction to deal with.

Idaho

These were some fun roads to drive on because the speed limit was 75 and the roads are curvy and there was this beautiful scenery to watch. The most fun roads were in the mountains of Oregon, however.

Snake River, Idaho

I drove by a sign that said there were falls in the region, only 8 mile detour, that were higher than Niagara Falls. So I decided to go check them out. As I approached the area I came to this roadside viewing area. I pulled over and took some pictures. I looked for some falls, but all I could see was this skinny little fountain of water coming out of the cliff on the other side of the gorge. I figured that was it and was not impressed. I did some juggling for the video and got some gas.

Perrine Bridge, Idaho

This is the bridge that takes you into the town that serves people who visit the falls.

Shoshone Falls, Idaho

I hope there are people out there who will understand what I did that day. The thing I thought was the falls was just some spout of water coming out of the cliff. The picture above, which I copied from the official Shoshone Falls website is what I should have been looking for. I feel really stupid for not realizing that the falls I was looking for were further down the road. I also feel obligated to share this information, however embarrassing. Have you ever done something like that? I need to go back!

Bug on windshield

One of the things I found interesting was how many bugs I killed while driving. What was even more interesting is that I found the bugs got larger as I crossed through Wyoming and Kansas as was evidenced by the increasingly large splatters on my windshield.

Colorado

Still day one... in Colorado as the sun is beginning to go down. I couldn't resist taking a picture of the beautiful road in the beautiful sunlight at dusk.

Colorado

Wyoming

This might be my favorite photo of the trip. I like how the color of the sky, clouds, and earth appear. The car in the photo gives the image perspective.

That's all of the photos I want to post from the trip. I didn't take any more once I got into Texas. The others I have aren't as good at these.

When I finally arrived, I wound up having driven three days. I had to stop in Texas on the second night when I was only 2.5 hours away from my home to get some sleep. So I spent two nights sleeping in my car at rest stops which was not comfortable, but I didn't spend any money at hotels so that makes my wallet more comfortable. I've never slept at a rest stop before and now I can say I have. I learned that energy drinks can only get you so far, and I really like the music of Sublime.