On the Road Again

Hello again loyal readers! We have resumed our travels westward, and have a week ahead filled to the brim with adventure! Admittedly, this is leg of the trip I've most anticipated. So let's get started!

We departed BWI on Monday afternoon, sweating it out at a balmy 105. We landed in Salt Lake City a few hours later. It was 65. I'm going to get on a plane during the summer and fly to areas of higher elevation more often.

This first entry has us seeing a lot of asphalt. We spent a few more precious hours on Monday night with Aaron's family, but come Tuesday morning, we were on the road heading north. Our goal was to reach St. Mary, Montana, the eastern entrance to Glacier National Park--a solid 11-hour drive from Utah. Nine hours later, of pretty much solid drive time, we threw in the towel for the day. The legs were twitching and the bums were aching, and we decided to resume the drive with renewed spirits in the morning.

As our path took us through the southeastern part of Idaho, and then on up through Helena, we got to enjoy sprawling fields of potatoes, the beautiful Snake River, and the unexpected treat of vast acres of wheat fields.

When I was a kid, wheat fields weren't anything unusual. Every farmer planted his share, right in rotation with corn and soybeans. I looked forward to the 4th of July every year, when my favorite color would grace the wheat fields right before picking. But as the soybean and corn industry exploded in the midwest, and the government subsidies for those crops increased ten-fold, the wheat back home started to disappear. Today, you're lucky to see a wheat field every 30 miles.

Not so in Montana. Along with North and South Dakota, Montana harvests 69% of the nation's spring wheat crop. There are wheat fields EVERYWHERE! You can imagine my excitement as I got to spend the entire afternoon watching my favorite color in various shades pass by.

We landed in Great Falls last evening, and as I type this morning, we are on Montana 89 completing the final two hours before Glacier that we didn't accomplish yesterday. We watched the sunrise over open wheat country. It was a beautiful sight! I'm trying to enjoy the scenery, but my heart is already 120 miles up the road. I absolutely cannot wait to traverse Glacier. More on that tomorrow!