this is our packed car, recently serviced and ready to go. look at how sparkly and clean it is!
the geek, the dog, and i left raleigh, north carolina on a rainy tuesday. six days, 2900 miles, countless tolls, and 4 audiobooks later, we arrived at our new home.
the dog was probably the most comfortable one in the car. while the geek and i took turns driving, the dog snoozed in the backseat, occasionally waking to eat, drink, or explore a rest stop.
a google map of our trip:
day 1: raleigh to dayton, ohio via west virginia
since we were traveling with the dog, we stayed at pet friendly hotels. while a number of hotels are pet friendly, most charge a fee. having just made a down payment on a house, we decided to stick to places where pets stayed free...motel 6 and red roof inn.
when we arrived at our first motel, we were informed that we would not have any hot water. yay! the ceiling paint was falling down...no problem! the towels were tiny, no biggie, it was $35 a night! we were only on our first day of travel, so we were still optimistic and enthusiastic (and remember, pets stay free!). the geek took pity on me and got me a good bbq dinner from company 7 bbq. it was delicious and left me with an overall positive impression of dayton/englewood, ohio.
day 2: dayton, ohio to madison, wisconsin via indiana and illinois
in indiana, we saw the longest trailer ever. it had police escorts that completely stopped traffic so that it could use multiple lanes to navigate the bends in the road. luckily, we were able to get ahead if it between traffic stops.
illinois = tolls. it felt like every 20 feet, we'd stop to pay another toll. i was afraid we'd run out of coins and small bills before we left the state.
in madison, we stayed at a red roof inn. dog-wise, the motels worked out well. we were usually able to get rooms with outside entrances, on the first floor, near the ends of buildings. probably not the safest for a single traveler, but ideal for people with a dog like ours.
day 3: madison, wisconsin to fargo, north dakota via minnesota
we stopped in minneapolis for lunch with a friend at joe's garage, a great restaurant that was known for it's dog-friendly atmosphere. unfortunately the dog was not in a friendly mood despite getting her own little water bowl. :( she had to take a time-out in the park. apparently, her little hissy fit tired her out, because as soon as we were back on the road, she zonked out.
day 4: fargo, north dakota to billings, montana
see the smudges in the pictures? those bugs splats are starting to get really noticable. :P
it was pretty bizarre to plot our drive for the day and see that our next turn was in 606 miles. i don't think i've ever driven that far on a single road. we've been stopping every 2.5 to 3 hours to take turns driving. so far that's been working out well. the dog tends to sleep while we drive, so at the rest stops, she gets to run around, eat, drink, and do her business. the most scenic stop on the trip was the painted canyon lookout near the theodore roosevelt national park in north dakota.
best quote of the day (spoken by a girl upon seeing the dog): "Is that a dog or a bear?"
due to the scenery, this was probably the busiest rest stop we visited. as a result, it's the rest stop that the dog got the most pets and love from other travelers.
day 5: billings, montana to spokane, washington
in billings, we stayed in a motel 6 that was directly across the street from a motel 6. who knew there was such a demand for motels in that part of billings!
the dog's least favorite rest stop was in montana. the designated 'pet area' had a bunch of prickly spurs in the grass that poked her paws. :( she typically does not like her paws touched, but she was very sweet and accommodating as we checked them to make sure all the spurs were removed.
day 6: spokane, washington to our new home
this was our shortest day of driving, so we aimed to get on the road by 9. we were so excited though, that by 7:30, we were packed up and heading west. i had forgotten how flat eastern washington was. we drove along fields, reading signs that told us what crop was planted there...alfalfa, corn, sunflowers, potatoes (might have made that one up). the columbia river gorge was even prettier than i remembered it. i was probably annoyingly giddy all day long.
when we arrived at the house, the dog promptly investigated everywhere, decided that she was not a fan of the hardwood floors, found her bed, and went to sleep.
warning: kinda gross picture. this is what the front of our car looked like by the time we reached our final destination. :P
sorry to the bugs that crossed our path.
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