Day 10: Moorhead, Minnesota
Odometer: 98971.7 Miles
Trip Total Mileage: 1659.80 Miles
Position: 46˚ 52' N, 96˚ 47' W
Local Name: Moorhead, Minnesota
Yes, I'm still alive. I didn't really expect it to take me 10 whole days to finally get a post made, but that's how it's been. It's been a combination of being either too busy to sit down at a computer or not being able to get online whatsoever. Anyway, let's get down to business. I have a lot to talk about. I've decided to put everything behind cuts since there's a whole lot and some images too, so click wisely, young voyager.
I left my home in Hillsboro, just west of Portland, with my mother waving goodbye from the driveway. I'm off on my adventure! How many new and interesting destinations lay in front of me? I've made this trip many times, so this was nothing really new. I used to go to college in La Grande, Oregon, which is about halfway to Boise. I stopped into Eastern Oregon University to buy a replacement window decal for the car but it appears they no longer sold the one I wanted. I decided to wander around campus for the first time since July of 2004 and was shocked at a lot of changes. Sure, the campus is pretty much completely the same, but in my old computer lab that I ran for several years, it's now become a storage room. It's horrible.
Not only that, but I wasn't able to find any of my old professors or their offices. Could everyone have left? Could the multimedia program be dead? Most shocking, though, was the construction of several new dorms in the old football field outside my old dorm, Alikut. They look like hotels. It's very strange.
I left La Grande, not knowing if I'd ever return, feeling very displaced and dissapointed. Most everyone -- students I knew, friends in the city and faculty -- that connected me to that place is gone, and I'm saddened. I've realized that there now really is no reason to return to La Grande again. Ever.
While in Boise, I was with one of my very best friends, Jacalyn.
We had a wonderful time and I'm feeling very comfortable and welcomed with her. It's like we never skipped a beat, we're such great friends. People still to this day ask us how we can be friends after being in a relationship and it probably comes from being so easy to get along with. Her cats and my asthma don't mix, but it's a small price to pay to hang out with her. She got me to do this rock climbing thing and we ate a real romantic and expensive dinner at "The Melting Pot," a fantastic fondue restaurant downtown. I went to a party with her friends which was very awkward but they seemed to accept me. Jaci and I ate at a chinese buffet and her fortune cookie said something very very wild and strange: "The one waiting for you when you get home will be your friend for life." She gave it to me and now I will carry it around the country as a pledge to her and our potential future together. Anything is possible!
Also while I was in Boise, I tried everything to get online. It proved to be harder than I expected. NetZero, the ISP I'm trying to use on the trip, is throwing fits and it appears that, although they are a Mac ISP, they don't support the latest version of my operating system. Which is completely stupid and backwards. So, I gave up with those crazies and I guess I'll be stuck only making posts when I'm really lucky and can find net access. I stayed in Boise until Tuesday, September 27th. I was sad to leave yet relieved that my asthma cleared up after I got away from Jaci's cute kitties.
I started out from Boise eastbound on Interstate 84. Instead of following 84 all the way around the state, I decided to cut straight across Idaho on US 20. At first, I thought this was a mistake because the road jumped 5000 feet in elevation in just 20 miles and my car wasn't happy. It also seemed to take eons to go the 200 miles from Boise to Craters of the Moon National Monument.
Craters of the Moon is a place where several volcanoes blew off millions of years ago and basically scorched the earth in all directions. They call it "Craters of the Moon" because the hollowed out cones of the volcanoes look like craters and the dark red and black rock which cover 80 square miles make it look like an alien world. That photo doesn't do the place justice.
I decided against passing directly through Yellowstone since they've begun charging people $20 to go through it and I'd already seen the park when I was younger. I went north on some back road which spent a few miles in the park and in Wyoming to get to Interstate 90 in Montana. I went as far east as I could before getting a hotel in Billings. The next morning, Wednesday the 28th, I saddled up and hopped Interstate 94 out of the Rocky Mountains and into North Dakota where it was only a quick 350 miles to Fargo/Moorhead.
The photo on the left above is pretty close to what the actual colors are for a sunset in North Dakota. As you can see, it's a light blue above changing into purple after going through yellow, orange and red. I'd forgotten how strange the land is here. It's flat. Flat. No mountains, no forests of trees, no hills even. It's very strange but it makes for GORGEOUS sunsets, as you can see.
I've been staying here with my brother, Ryan, while he's attending college at Minnesota State University. Fargo and Moorhead are two different cities on either side of the Red River, a stream that separates North Dakota from Minnesota. My grandfather lives just on the other side of the river in Fargo and I'll probably be spending some time with him in the next few days visiting family. Ryan lives with a few of his college friends here in a house they're renting (Leasing, buying, I don't know) just north of campus. The guys are goofs. They're more like your stereotypical college kids from your National Lampoon movies, where they like to drink and be loud and skip classes, but they're also quite intelligent and they're really into World of Warcraft, a game for computers that they play religiously and know back to front. I'm staying in their basement for another whole week before diving to Minneapolis.
Yea, it looks real slapped together, but that's where I'm calling home for now. I've got the internet and a warm place to sleep so I'm not complaining.
Well, that's it for now. Next up I'll be traveling to Minneapolis next weekend to be with more relatives. Also in Minneapolis is the town I spent the first 11 years of my life in (Including my birth) and I haven't been back in around 8 years, give or take. It will be an eye opening return to my roots.
Trip Total Mileage: 1659.80 Miles
Position: 46˚ 52' N, 96˚ 47' W
Local Name: Moorhead, Minnesota
Yes, I'm still alive. I didn't really expect it to take me 10 whole days to finally get a post made, but that's how it's been. It's been a combination of being either too busy to sit down at a computer or not being able to get online whatsoever. Anyway, let's get down to business. I have a lot to talk about. I've decided to put everything behind cuts since there's a whole lot and some images too, so click wisely, young voyager.
I left my home in Hillsboro, just west of Portland, with my mother waving goodbye from the driveway. I'm off on my adventure! How many new and interesting destinations lay in front of me? I've made this trip many times, so this was nothing really new. I used to go to college in La Grande, Oregon, which is about halfway to Boise. I stopped into Eastern Oregon University to buy a replacement window decal for the car but it appears they no longer sold the one I wanted. I decided to wander around campus for the first time since July of 2004 and was shocked at a lot of changes. Sure, the campus is pretty much completely the same, but in my old computer lab that I ran for several years, it's now become a storage room. It's horrible.
Not only that, but I wasn't able to find any of my old professors or their offices. Could everyone have left? Could the multimedia program be dead? Most shocking, though, was the construction of several new dorms in the old football field outside my old dorm, Alikut. They look like hotels. It's very strange.
I left La Grande, not knowing if I'd ever return, feeling very displaced and dissapointed. Most everyone -- students I knew, friends in the city and faculty -- that connected me to that place is gone, and I'm saddened. I've realized that there now really is no reason to return to La Grande again. Ever.
While in Boise, I was with one of my very best friends, Jacalyn.
We had a wonderful time and I'm feeling very comfortable and welcomed with her. It's like we never skipped a beat, we're such great friends. People still to this day ask us how we can be friends after being in a relationship and it probably comes from being so easy to get along with. Her cats and my asthma don't mix, but it's a small price to pay to hang out with her. She got me to do this rock climbing thing and we ate a real romantic and expensive dinner at "The Melting Pot," a fantastic fondue restaurant downtown. I went to a party with her friends which was very awkward but they seemed to accept me. Jaci and I ate at a chinese buffet and her fortune cookie said something very very wild and strange: "The one waiting for you when you get home will be your friend for life." She gave it to me and now I will carry it around the country as a pledge to her and our potential future together. Anything is possible!
Also while I was in Boise, I tried everything to get online. It proved to be harder than I expected. NetZero, the ISP I'm trying to use on the trip, is throwing fits and it appears that, although they are a Mac ISP, they don't support the latest version of my operating system. Which is completely stupid and backwards. So, I gave up with those crazies and I guess I'll be stuck only making posts when I'm really lucky and can find net access. I stayed in Boise until Tuesday, September 27th. I was sad to leave yet relieved that my asthma cleared up after I got away from Jaci's cute kitties.
I started out from Boise eastbound on Interstate 84. Instead of following 84 all the way around the state, I decided to cut straight across Idaho on US 20. At first, I thought this was a mistake because the road jumped 5000 feet in elevation in just 20 miles and my car wasn't happy. It also seemed to take eons to go the 200 miles from Boise to Craters of the Moon National Monument.
Craters of the Moon is a place where several volcanoes blew off millions of years ago and basically scorched the earth in all directions. They call it "Craters of the Moon" because the hollowed out cones of the volcanoes look like craters and the dark red and black rock which cover 80 square miles make it look like an alien world. That photo doesn't do the place justice.
I decided against passing directly through Yellowstone since they've begun charging people $20 to go through it and I'd already seen the park when I was younger. I went north on some back road which spent a few miles in the park and in Wyoming to get to Interstate 90 in Montana. I went as far east as I could before getting a hotel in Billings. The next morning, Wednesday the 28th, I saddled up and hopped Interstate 94 out of the Rocky Mountains and into North Dakota where it was only a quick 350 miles to Fargo/Moorhead.
The photo on the left above is pretty close to what the actual colors are for a sunset in North Dakota. As you can see, it's a light blue above changing into purple after going through yellow, orange and red. I'd forgotten how strange the land is here. It's flat. Flat. No mountains, no forests of trees, no hills even. It's very strange but it makes for GORGEOUS sunsets, as you can see.
I've been staying here with my brother, Ryan, while he's attending college at Minnesota State University. Fargo and Moorhead are two different cities on either side of the Red River, a stream that separates North Dakota from Minnesota. My grandfather lives just on the other side of the river in Fargo and I'll probably be spending some time with him in the next few days visiting family. Ryan lives with a few of his college friends here in a house they're renting (Leasing, buying, I don't know) just north of campus. The guys are goofs. They're more like your stereotypical college kids from your National Lampoon movies, where they like to drink and be loud and skip classes, but they're also quite intelligent and they're really into World of Warcraft, a game for computers that they play religiously and know back to front. I'm staying in their basement for another whole week before diving to Minneapolis.
Yea, it looks real slapped together, but that's where I'm calling home for now. I've got the internet and a warm place to sleep so I'm not complaining.
Well, that's it for now. Next up I'll be traveling to Minneapolis next weekend to be with more relatives. Also in Minneapolis is the town I spent the first 11 years of my life in (Including my birth) and I haven't been back in around 8 years, give or take. It will be an eye opening return to my roots.