Origins and Conception... Highway 20: Coast to Coast

In the beginning...

...there was an idea.

And that idea was to drive from one end of Highway 20 to the other end and then come back.

Its not like we don't do a lot of driving every summer anyway. We've travelled 75% of the major roads in Oregon together.







And its not like we haven't driven from Denver, CO to Oregon before.

We've travelled nearly all of Oregon sleeping in a great homemade camper.

Sleeping There and Back

I come from a long line of travelers, but doing it out of the back of a Scion XA? We're used to being rustic, minimalists at heart, but this might be stretching things. A blow up queen mattress, with our feet hanging out the open back hatch, an old tent tarp covering the back of the car for privacy, everything stashed in the front seats to make room...

... or everything stashed in the car while we sleep on the mattress in a tent alongside the car. Maybe every third night in a hotel for a real bed and a shower?



We'll be testing all of that out in May for a long weekend as we roam around the north central section of Oregon. We have a few roads around Mulpin we need to highlight on an old Metsker map where we keep track of all the roads we travel together.

The Reality of the Trip...

But we'll see, because its a 6,600 mile trip, probably closer to 7,000 with extra side trips. And if you want to do that in a month you have to average 233 miles a day! Thats four and a half hours of just driving between the time you get up and when you go to sleep, every day, for thirty days straight.

And why Shar's Scion XA vs my Tacoma with at least the canopy on the back?  Easy, gas...

In her Scion its $660 in gas.
In my Tacoma its $1,240.
And that is nearly a savings of 13 nights in a hotel at $45 a night.

Pregame Strategizing... 

So this trip surprised me a little with how little information is available on the internet, especially considering the massive amount on traveling Route 66. We did find a book at Goodwill, Road Trip USA: Cross-Country Adventure on America's Two-Lane Highways, which covers numerous long distance treks. It includes Highway 20, though the section through Oregon is actually Highway 26 and not Highway 20. It has been a great start and will be something we use as we travel along. The information is almost 20 years old at this point and things do change.

The good news is that its not like camping when it comes to food and it won't be like the road trips we have taken where gas locations are an issue. Highway 20 contains a multitude of small towns, over a dozen before we even are out of Oregon. We'll still bring an ice chest, but we'll be able to consistently get ice and restock. We're looking forward to the little mom and pop diners for lunches, dinners, and learning about the local culture and stories. The route also contains enough major cities that maintaining contact with loved ones through this blog won't be an issue either. We're masters at finding free access to wifi at McDonalds and local libraries.

The Seeing and the Doing...

Oregon will be an eight hour blitz because we've already travelled that whole section of Highway 20. Pushing east after hitting Highway 26, a short section of I-85 through Boise and getting to Mountain Home, Idaho, is a long 10 hour day, but puts us already almost two days ahead. We have long sections of empty country in the west and mid west, so getting ahead of the game when it comes to maintaining the necessary 233 miles a day shouldn't be an issue.

Not that pushing hard and just driving is the point of the trip. We want to enjoy the trip after all. One of the ideas we've already picked up from someone's similar trip was to take selfies with every city limit sign we encounter, and I would imagine state border signs will be included in that game plan. We'll be using the Road Trip USA to visit any points of interest that are close, and keeping a eye out for signs indicating places to go as well. We've always been a "stop and read that roadside plaque" kind of couple anyway. We enjoy engaging in conversation with locals, and we'll get still other places to visit from them.

Getting home...

Once we get to Boston the route back becomes unclear. Our current thinking is getting back to Chicago by the quickest route possible using the Interstate system, and then returning to the west on Route 66. More research will determine whether this is a viable option. Keeping track of sights not seen and doing them on the way back is also an option.

So what is left to do...

We have our test run in May to work out any bugs in sleeping arrangements. We are already well practiced in stretching our food dollars using a Coleman stove and an ice chest. The route there is already established, though what we will be doing along the way still remains unknown. A few loose ends on when we'll be leaving still isn't clear. Arrangements for my teenage daughter who isn't joining us will need to be set. Shar needs to have cruise control and a better stereo installed in her Scion, and we'll have to decide on a dozen good audio books to listen to as we travel. We'll need to pack our backpacks with a couple changes of clothes and toiletries. I'll need to purchase a way of charging my Macbook Air as we drive.

Not much left to do really.

Sights to See List (from Road Trip USA and other sources)

River Park - Oregon/Idaho border
Old Fort Boise - Parma, ID
Old Idaho Penitentiary, Basque Museum - Boise, ID
Craters of the Moon - near Arco, ID
Experimental Breeder Reactor Number One - Arco, ID
Teton Dam Museum - Rexburg, ID
Henrys Lake State Park - Just west of Yellowstone
                 OR
Madison Junction Campground in Yellowstone (https://www.yellowstonenationalparklodges.com/winter/)

Yellowstone:
Drive the Loop
Old Faithful, Mammath Hot Springs, Tower Falls, Yellowstone Lake, Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
Mount Washburn or some other hike
Campground info (https://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/campgrounds.htm)
Yellowstone in two days - (https://gypsyguide.com/plan-a-yellowstone-trip/)



Selfie at Foster, NE