Some interesting numbers and random observations:

Total miles: 6804
Gallons of gas: 257
Average price/gallon: $2.69
Average MPG: 26.47

(i’m skeptical but considering the cruise control was in use for most of the non-photo-op driving it could be possible.)

Hotels: 14
Photographs: 3133
Spent on road food: $376.86
Blog Posts: 22 (not counting the chicken update)
Hard drives purchased: 1 — 320G

Dams visited: 19
Confluences seen: 1
Confluences unseen: 1

List of dams:
Kittitas, WA — Wanapum Dam
Yakima, WA — Priest Rapids Dam
Kahlotus, WA — Lower Monumental Dam
Helena, MT — Canyon Ferry Dam
Pierre, SD — Oahe Dam
Chamberlain, SD — Big Bend Dam
Pickstown, SD — Fort Randall Dam
Yankton, SD — Gavin’s Point Dam
Panora, IA — Little dam on the Raccoon River
Clearview, WV — Pike Island Lock & Dam
Hannibal, OH — Hannibal Lock & Dam
Newport, OH– Willow Island Lock & Dam
Felicity, OH — Cap’t Meldahl Lock & Dam
Greenup , KY — Greenup Lock & Dam
Markland, IN — Markland Locks & Dam
Lousiville, KY — McAlpine Lock & Dam
Newburgh, IN — Newburgh Lock & Dam
Winfield, MO — Winfield Lock & Dam
Jamestown, ND — Jamestown Dam

Look for improvements in the existing blog posts (links and key words) and photo galleries.

Thanks to everyone for riding along!

–lara–

home

Not so much a trip report as a weather report.

There’s weather approaching from the northwest (hello canada, hello snow) and I’m heading, um, northwest. Somewhere the snow and I are going to meet. I was just hoping to pick the spot.

I chose Billings, MT.

So off I went.

I did stop in Malta, briefly. There was a classic rail depot that’s still in use.

passenger rail service lives on

And of course the grain elevator.

i haven’t deciphered the sign yet

It started raining about then. Nasty, cold, Seattle in November rain. Long straight roads with few other vehicles. Kind of a zen thing — I go up the rise, I go down the rise, I go straight across the valley, I go up the rise, I go down the rise…

At one point I looked up in the sky and saw a helicopter. A big helicopter. It was green and gold and it was flying low. WTF. Not state police and not life flight. No TV logos. Just big, and looking like it wanted a place to land. Really lousy weather to be flying in.

This is what the sky looked like. When it wasn’t raining.

low clearance ahead

At Billings I stopped and called home for recon help. It looked likely that I could make Livingstone before it started to snow/get dark. Jim sweetly made me a hotel reservation. I grabbed a starbucks and headed west again.

About 10 miles outside of Livingston the rain turned to snow.

yup, snow in june

Even the locals are a bit nonplussed.

OTOH My life isn’t as bad as the guy I just met in hotel hallway. Remember what I said about a big green and gold helicopter? They just bought it and are trying to fly it to the coast. Maybe they should rent a truck?

Random Stuff:

If wishes were wings I could fly to the moon.

The music to day was unremarkable. Except, maybe, a couple of Patsy Cline tunes.

Today’s Route:

View It’s a Big Dam Country — Day 24 in a larger map

From Minot, ND to Glasgow, MT. Cool, overcast. It didn’t actually rain but it was very threatening.

Hwy 2 is often an interesting road in that it varies between two-lane and newly divided four-lane. This occasionally leads to confusing lane striping on the portion that used to be two-lane.

that bit between the two yellow lines is the left hand west-bound lane.

I stopped at the Wal-Mart in Williston. Couldn’t be more different from the W-Ms near home if they tried to be. Huge, wide aisles, well lit, well signed, *clean*. Replenished some supplies and headed back out. Head turner on the way out of the parking lot. You’ll notice that the Wal-Mart Logo is nowhere near the sign that says Liquor.

tires, groceries, lawn furniture, and tequila

Along the road there are lots of these little oil pumps slowly moving up and down. Hypnotic.

oil for america

The main attraction for the day was the confluence of the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers. Unlike that other confluence I tried to see this one is open and inviting. The North Dakota Historical Society maintains an interpretive center that sits in the middle of a wetland wild-life refuge.

The Yellowstone River is the longest un-dammed river in the contiguous Untied States.

missouri on the far left, yellowstone on the mid left, wetlands on the right

The coolest part of the visit was eating lunch in the company of 20 or so Goldfinches. The center puts out feeders and keeps them well stocked.

two fellows and a lady dining

waiting his turn

This little guy is not a goldfinch but he was very interested in what I was having for lunch…

what have you got there?

One more goldfinch.

thistle feeder

Next door (sort of) is a recreation of the Fort Union trading post. Built by the American Fur Company in 1828 it was not a military installation. Trade continued until 1866 when Fort Union was torn down and the timber etc. was used to build Fort Buford. (Which was a military installation.)

a place to trade furs

It looks way too much like a Disneyland recreation to me but the original was white washed at the insistence of the management who though it made the place more ‘impressive’.

There were these lovely blue flowers in the parking lot. I have no idea what they are — except pretty.

blue but not bachelor buttons.

From Fort Union I tried to get back up to Hwy 2 using 58 North. Didn’t get far before the “pavement ends” sign sent me back the longer way around. It wasn’t the first time I’ve questioned my choice of vehicle. There have been a lot of local dams up 5 –10 miles of gravel road that I have passed on. On the other hand absolute comfort at 70(nominal) with the top down is just too good to pass up.

Got a whiff of nostaligia when I stopped for gas in Culbertson, MT. Do you remember this guy?

an old friend

Two more quick images from the road between Culbertson and Glasgow.

This is railroad country — here’s another piece of maintenance equipment. I’m staying in the largest hotel for 100+ miles around. There are two full size buses and 5 of the large trucks that can also run on rails used for maintenance-of-way
trucks. (BTW the Wikipedia link is a stub — anyone have a good links for identifying the types of vehicles?)

no doubt this does something very cool

All over the west you find houses that have been abandoned. Sometimes with new houses built right next them. This one doesn’t have anything near it except the range fence.

what happens when you don’t fix the leaks in the roof

Random Stuff:

70 mph on a divided four-lane is not conducive to stopping for the odd photo-op. 70 on a two-lane is better. 60 on a two-lane is even better and not at all hard to get away with out here. Locals are usually driving that slowly anyway and the rest know how to pass politely.

Towns along Hwy 2 in Minnesota, N. Dakota, and much of Montana exist to house/service grain elevators and the railroads that transport the grain.

I need one of those little wifi detector things. There is no cell phone data service out here — but I know that most towns have a town hall, library, school, or community center with open wifi that my Crackberry could talk to. I just don’t have quick way of detecting them.

Song and Lyric of the Day:

The moments of pleasures never do last
Are gone like a suitcase full of your past

Ashes by Now — Emmy Lou Harris

More signers should cover Springsteen songs.

The changes in the color of the worn asphalt make road pictures identifiable to the experienced traveler. (Ooo, rose beige — that would eastern Montana)

I have finished reading Gruber’s Forgery of Venus (good) and begun Giaman’s Neverwhere.

Today’s Route:

View It’s a Big Dam Country — Day 23 in a larger map

Oh my, it’s a windy damn country. Blowing hard enough that the upwind car door is almost too heavy to open. Yipes.

I was planning on two dams today but only made one. Saw a lot of other stuff instead.

All along the roads there are trees planted as wind breaks and planted in between the trees area lilacs. Like these:

all colors from white to deep purple

This set was located at Hwy 46 and 151st Ave SE.

very nice signage

This is 151st Ave SE. If you’ve been to our place you get the joke.

just like home

Near the town of Enderlin I found this church up on blocks in someone’s front yard.

better than the neighbors’ impala

arty shot of the day

Enderlin is a major hub for the Canadian Pacific Railroad.

push me — pull you

There’s a nice city park right next to the rail yard. I stopped for lunch and found this little guy looking for a drink.

looking for a drink

Chatted with the UPS guy about the wind. I have nothing to complain about — I’m not driving a big brown box.

After lunch I moved on the dam of the day.

The Jamestown Dam is smaller than most I’ve visited. It’s a Bureau of Reclamation dam that provides flood control on the James river.

jamestown dam

There’s an outlet on the far side.

downstream side

The parks next to the dam included a designated kite flying field. It thought it was a model airplane field when I first saw it.

flying field sign

There’s an open field and a line of picnic tables. All nicely landscaped.

wings on strings home ground

I’m in Minot for the night. On to the confluence of the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers in the morning. Because, damn it, the universe owes me a confluence. Then the Fort Peck Dam.

Random Notes:

The sound track from Grosse Point Blank is excellent driving music.

Traveling Light should be on the Road Trip Music List. But which version?

Having a turkey vulture strafe your car is much scarier than having a pheasant run out in front of you. Also turkey vultures have big feet.

Today’s Route:

View It’s a Big Dam Country — Day 22 in a larger map

Spent much of today vacillating between ‘I want to be home right now — how fast can i get there?’ and ‘the interstate is killing me — how much extra time will it take?’

Somewhere around Sergeant’s Bluff IA I had the motorists’ equivalent of a flashback freak-out and took the first north bound turn off of I-29. That would be 75 just to the east.

Interstate’s are dangerously hypnotic in their sameness. I start to assume stupid things and pass trucks at 85 mph without being able to see all the way around them. I mean that’s why there are two lanes northbound, right? Cue doddering old fart in ’56 chevy pickup with original tires doing 45 in the left hand lane. I don’t make those assumptions on state roads. I’ll live longer on the state roads.

On with the reportage.

The corn that I saw being planted on the way through going east is now up out of the ground. There’s a lot less heavy farm equipment on the road. Here’s a shot from Kimbalton, IA

getting tall already

Northwest Iowa seems very prosperous. All the houses have new paint on them and all the outbuildings are standing straight. There are a lot of cows, some sheep, and a bunch of hog barns. Not the rows and rows that you saw on television a couple of months ago. Two or three barns at a time. Clearly pays well, though.

classic iowa countryside

I skipped the visit to the Museum of Religious Arts. (Yes that was a plural) I was feeling kitsch challenged today. The brochure I picked up at the visitor’s center looked lovely…

A ride up I-29 that didn’t feel comfortable. Then a rest stop and some rethinking. On to Route 75.BTW Iowa rest stops are non-smoking. (Though no one seems to take the signs seriously.)

honored in the breach if at all

Route 75 follows the train tracks pretty closely. All along are huge grain elevators. This is the one in Hinton, IA.

hinton co-op elevator

The ground changes somewhere around the Iowa/Minnesota line. There are granite slabs and boulders in some of the fields.

cows, rocks, sky

From Madison, MN I give you Lou. He’s been standing there proclaiming Madison’s claim to fame — lutefish — for 25 years.

local media star

There’s a hotel down the block called Lou’s Lodge. I should have stopped but was hoping for something with a couple fewer hunter’s trucks parked outside.

There were no rooms available in Ortonville. Next possibility — Wheaton.

Big road detour around construction on 75. Wheaton is in the middle. No idea which end of the detour you can get to Wheaton from. Not willing to backtrack if I was wrong. Onto Breckenridge/Wahpeton.

Found a hotel about 9:30. Grabbed some dinner — Burger King salads are awful. Tried to write, too hyper and too tired at the same time.

But I could see this out of the window. I love the sound of trains. Instant nostalgia.

peaceful

Random bits:

The red-winged black bird continued to be the dominant road-side species. Added some sort of dove near the Iowa/Minnesota line. Also saw the pheasant sacrifice of the westbound trip about then.

There is no more honeysuckle. Must be an Ohio River valley thing. I kind of miss it, so much better than ag chemicals.

The answer to the question posed at the beginning is about 18 extra hours of driving time. (The distance is within a couple hundred miles.)

Today’s Route:

View It’s a Big Dam Country — Day 21 in a larger map

Much driving. 525 miles.

Left Cape Girardeau at 9:30. Hung on to the interstate through St. Louis and a bit north to Winfield. I went looking for the Winfield ferry terminal. I found the terminal — sort of. The ferry wasn’t running today.

winfield ferry terminal

There were a bunch of houses on stilts. A lot of construction going on too.

tall foundations

The dam is just downstream of the ferry terminal.

There is a park next to the dam. (Of course) It’s only been open a couple of weeks and the picnic ground is still muddy. But there are trees and water front.

sandy slough park

The dam is red! It’s first one that doesn’t have the gates painted blue.

There’s a truck parked up on top next to the hoist.

The Corps of Engineer’s channel patrol boat Pathfinder was moving around. It’s mentioned in this article on dredging.

channel patrol boat Pathfinder

Here’s the day’s arty shot.

signal on the lock

Today’s tug and barge combo. Sierra Dawn. I didn’t stay for the whole process.

sierra dawn

This is how they tie a bunch of barges together and to the tug.

tug and barges

So there I was — still in Winfield, MO. It’s hot and sticky and a long way to go to get to anywhere. I asked the magic machine how long. how far to the MILs. 384 miles. I went.

Heading north right into the weather. I could see the front. Above me clear blue sky with little fluffy clouds. Ahead grey — top to bottom. It took about an hour to catch up to it. Within 20 minutes the temps went from 84 to 61 and the rain started falling. I never really escaped the rain. Sometimes it was just drizzle a couple of times it was pull-over-to-the-shoulder bucketing.

Tomorrow, if I can out run the weather I’d lke to get out of the midwest.

Today’s Route:

View It’s a Big Dam Country — Day 20 in a larger map

Wow. Day 19.

Okay, it wasn’t much of a wow day.

From Louisville, KY to Cape Girardeau, MO via a scenic round the barn tour of Hoosier National Forest and Santa Claus, IN.

I meant to visit the Cannelton Lock and Dam in Cannelton, IN and the Newburgh Lock and Dam in Newburgh, IN.

I never made it to Cannelton. I got completely turned around in the Hoosier National Forest and while I got this lovely shot of the Ohio River at Leavenworth I never actually made it back to the river until I was 25 miles west of the dam.

barge on the Ohio River

For what it’s worth, the Hoosier Nat’l Forest is pretty and has lovely, curvy, swoopy roads. They just don’t go where I thought they went.

curvy road, pretty forest

I did however find Santa Claus. Here’s the hardware store. It is by far the most normal thing in town.

even santa needs nuts and bolts

I did finally find the Newburgh Lock and Dam. Not much to see. Smaller than some of the others and awkwardly placed.

This is the top of the tugboat that was locking through at the time. I couldn’t see what cargo they were pushing.

top of a tug boat

By this time the heat was blinding. 97 degrees. Even the finest German engineering gives up in the face of that kind of heat and crawling construction traffic. The AC couldn’t keep up, it was cooler to roll the windows down and sweat in the breeze. But I (we?) soldiered on because we were heading for the last point of this trek down the Ohio River. Yup — Mississippi River here we come.

Or not.

Fort Defiance park is the only access to the actual point of confluence.

fort defiance park

and it was *Closed for Cleaning*

Sob.

The town of Cairo didn’t make me feel any better. Once prosperous now largely abandoned.

I pointed the GPS at a nice hotel in Cape Girardeau and turned my back on the Ohio River Valley.

I did find this sweet little park-let with a boardwalk to to river view on the way.

there’s a nice shaded platform at the end

Made me feel a bit better.

the mississippi river

Today’s Route:

View It’s a Big Dam Country — Day 19 in a larger map

In Louisville all day today. Picked my Mom up around 9am. We didn’t stop until 4:30.

Began the day with a trip to the McAlpine Locks. Right in the middle of the city. Louisville has done a good job of making use of the waterfront. It’s a large, pleasant, pedestrian and bicycle friendly space. It’s not so great for photography. Few good slight lines and a lot of heavy ornamental fences and railings. I did some okay work and got a lot of shots of killdeer. (Why weren’t the waterfront grass lands off limits during nesting season?)

And then, and then… finally! A real™ barge and tug appeared on the scene.

a barge hove into view

We watched them lock through.

They get really close to the walls.

it’s a tight fit side to side

It’s tight fit end to end as well. Here they are closing the upstream gates.

close the upstream gate…

Let the water out, open the downstream gates and off she goes.

and away she goes

It takes bout an hour for a barge to lock through. It’ moves slowly but its never boring.

After the morning excitement we went to my sister’s house to meet up and head for the zoo. The kids spent most of the afternoon playing in the splash park.

I went exploring.

Highlights:

A very colorful lizard.

colorful reptile

From the aviary, Open Billed Stork.

big bird looking sceptical

Crowned Pigeon.

one of my favorite birds

Feeding time in the tortoise exhibit.

those *are* canteloupes

Older fellow eating a green pepper. (Slowly)

greens are good for you

Two from the “What are You Looking At?” gang

yes?

what? me?

Now I’m getting it all packed up again to be on the road tomorrow.

To answer yesterday’s question about how the water moves into and out of locks. Valves and gravity.

from the army corps of engineers

Original at the Army Corps of Engineers.