Mission accomplished

We did it! On time, in style, with lots of music, laughs, conversation -- and memories to sustain us for a long, long time.

I refer, of course, to the Portland-to-Pittsburgh excursion. Simone and I covered the 2,600 miles in six days and five nights and it went smoother than I could have imagined. We rolled into town just before noon Sunday; Simone attended an orientation for her summer class the following morning; and I flew home that afternoon/evening. I had hoped to blog at the end of each day but that didn't happen. So the question now is how to recap the experience. One long post? Or a series of short, albeit after-the-fact, entries?

I can't imagine cramming everything into a single post but neither do I want to string things out. So here goes with an overview:

Day One: Portland to Boise, Idaho.
Best experience: Pulling off I-84 at La Grande and Baker City, two eastern Oregon communities I'd never seen before, and cruising through their retro downtowns.
Worst: Seeing the Columbia River National Scenic Area recede in the rearview mirror.
Surprise: The Basque Block in downtown Boise, a concentration of restaurants and stores dedicated to preserving the Basque culture in Idaho.

Day Two: Boise to Rawlins, Wyoming.
Best: A dozen downtown murals highlighting the history of Rawlins, an authentic cowboy town that straddles the Continental Divide. Also, a general store in Buford (elevation 8,000 feet; population 1).
Worst: The dreary landscape in eastern Idaho. Nothing but scrub brush from just outside Boise to the Utah border.
Surprise: Thai food for dinner in Rawlins. Seriously. The freshest vegetables we'd get for the whole trip.

Day Three: Rawlins to York, Nebraska.
Best: The friendliness of people in places like Rawlins (a cop who told us the story of Big Nose George, a 19th century horse thief who was lynched by a local mob) and Ogalalla, Nebraska (a waitress at the Front Street Steakhouse & Crystal Palace Saloon, with its faux frontier facade).
Worst: The Days Inn in York. A musty room and an indoor swimming pool so small you could take only two freestyle strokes and you'd be at the other end. And a continental breakfast so meager there was a handwritten sign next to the bagels that said, "Sorry. No jelly."
Surprise: Greenery in eastern Wyoming and western Nebraska, a welcome change from the bone-dry browns and grays of western Wyoming.

Day Four: York to Ottawa, Illinois.
Best: Crossing the mighty Mississippi, dividing Iowa and Illinois. Preceded by a fabulous lunch, served family-style, in a German restaurant in the Amana Colonies near Iowa City.
Worst: The apparent inability of some merchants to spell. Examples: A drive-through espresso stand advertised a "Jamican Me Crazy" coffee drink while a restaurant referred to its "pina colodas."
Surprise: The volume of corn grown in the Midwest. I swear, a photo from outer space would show the state of Iowa blanketed in the stuff.

Day Five: Ottawa to Cleveland, Ohio.
Best: A great deal on priceline.com that enabled us to stay in a 3-star hotel near Lake Erie and walk three blocks to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum (more on that in a separate post).
Worst: Toll roads and service plazas. From Illinois and Indiana to Ohio and Pennsylvania, you're paying for the privilege of driving on the freeway. All along the way, you've got these uninspiring plazas hawking fast food and tacky souvenirs instead of genuine roadside rest areas with picnic benches, shade trees and grass.
Surprise: Northern Indiana is so narrow that Simone powered through without me taking a turn at the wheel. Also, Indian food in Toledo. Tasty.

Day Six: Cleveland to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Best: Getting there, safe and sound.
Worst: Not having enough time to fully explore the city's museums and parks. (Ah, but that's a reason to return, possibly as soon as this coming fall.)
Surprise: Pittsburgh seems to have just as many trees as Portland and boasts far more bridges -- 446, according to Wikipedia -- compared to the 12 major bridges here.

Random thoughts:
-- I'm grateful that we didn't have any issues with Simone's car or close calls on the road.
-- While the Midwest has a certain charm, with its preponderence of small towns, I can't imagine living there full-time. The differences in climate, culture and terrain are too great.
-- We covered so much ground one day that we realized we'd had breakfast in Nebraska, lunch in Iowa and dinner in Illinois.

Photograph: Just off I-80, somewhere between Rock Springs and Rawlins, Wyoming.