Road Trip to Oregon - Westbound

Road trip to Oregon to go camping with Jill, Ellie and a friend from a long time ago, Steve. Decided to make the drive a 6-day adventure to provide time to stop and explore along the way. This amount of time meant I did not have to use Interstate highways with the exception of a short section through Montana (because there really isn't any other way over the mountains). Here is link to video montage.

 

Day 1 Wednesday, August 19: Minneapolis, MN to Aberdeen, SD through Montevideo and Ortonville, MN (288.1 miles)

• MN 7 to US 12 into South Dakota
• Prairie
• Big Stone Wildlife Refuge
• Aberdeen has a small Main Street downtown with some redevelopment

Day 2 Thursday, August 20: Aberdeen, SD to Baker, MT through Mobridge (cross the Missouri River) and Lemmon, SD (320.6 miles)

• crossing Missouri River at Mobridge which doesn't seem to acknowledge there is this huge river
• incredible block square petrified wood park
• creepy motel, Roy's Motel, in Baker
• very small town with 3 saloons in a row with another around the corner
• oil pump
• Medicine Rocks State Park (Swiss cheese boulders; baby rattle snake; deer in headlights)

Day 3 Friday, August 21: Baker, MT to White Sulphur Springs, MT through Roundup and Harlowton (353 miles)

• Roundup - not much
• Harlowton - giant electric train engine
• White Sulphur Springs - the sulphur springs were at my hotel

Day 4 Saturday, August 22: White Sulphur Springs, MT to Kamiah, ID through Lolo Pass (337.8 miles)

• Antelope
• Lolo Pass Visitor Center (lunch and hike)
• Clearwater River (stunning)
• Camping at KOA in Kamiah, ID
• Powwow in Kamiah, ID

Day 5 Sunday, August 23: Kamiah, ID to Burns, OR through Grangeville and Riggins, ID (324.7 miles)

• GPS backroads route from Kamiah to Grangeville (quail)
• Salmon River Canyon (US 95 steep steep grades)
• vast, empty eastern Oregon
• wildfire remnants
• Burns hotel hospitality

Day 6 Monday, August 24: Burns, OR to Ashland, OR through Klamath Falls (295 miles)

• vast, empty eastern Oregon
• wildfire warning
• Lake Albert
• Klamath River
• dramatic down the mountain into Ashland