Well, I ran out of West today! I made it all the way to Washington, i crossed the whole US, 3300 miles. I'm pretty excited that I did it (even though there's quite a lot left to go). A lot of driving today and not much sight seeing, but thats okay, I've got quite a bit planned for the next few days.
On the way out of Montana I saw buffalo for the first time (perhaps even the first time in my life in person, I can't remember). There were only a few of them, but they were just grazing there on the side of the road.
Towards the western border of Montana the Rockies really started forming, it was absolutely amazing. I think I really want to live here one day, at least for a few years. Maybe a little closer to civilization towards Washington than Montana, but the mountains here, covered with trees, surrounded by lakes and rivers and rolling hills of grass - they're breathtaking. I saw a few houses up in the hills, it looks like other people have my idea too. I caught a few pictures, but they don't do justice to the size of the mountains - there are certain parts where you're driving down in between them, and they just rise up above the clouds, its awesome.
I saw some ads on signs for Rocky Mountain Oysters, and I accordingly drove in the opposite direction. I'll eat pretty much anything, but even I have my limits. ;)
At one point I stopped in Montana's Butte for gas. Please note pronunciation is very important for the previous sentence.
One thing I've also noticed about the rocky mountains and more specifically the trees that live on them, is how different they are than the trees back East. The trees out here are a little taller and a lot thinner, which isn't necessarily better, but it definitely gives the mountains a different feel than the white/green mountains, for instance.
Eventually I left Montana and hit nothern Idaho (I crossed the state in less than an hour, the top half is thin). Northern Idaho is just as magnificent as western MT. Highway 90 twists and turns all through the mountains, its like a sports car commercial, its a ton of fun - there was another eclipse on the road and we kept passing each other back and forth as we took the turns and the trees flew by.
When I crossed into Washington, I got Sprint PCS service for the first time since pretty much when I crossed the Mississippi - which made me overjoyed, I had like 6 voice messages and a few text messages. I haven't lost it again since, I don't know if perhaps Sprint just isn't out in the farm and barren land of South Dakota and surrounding states (or any cell carrier for that matter).
After driving in Washington for a while, things got really flat again and _really_ barren, I'm not sure how the geography ended up working itself out like that.
It got dark at this point, but as I approached Seattle I could see with the remaining light things getting really mountainous and extremely tree-filled again. About 20 minutes outside of Seattle I saw a sign for Snoqualmie falls (Twin Peaks), and I thought to the fictional murder of Laura Palmer and the series surrounding it. At night, seeing nothing but tall, dark trees all around you (and above you), you really can easily believe there is some great, dark power hiding within the hills. A little creepy, but romantic at the same time (at least for me, I like that kind of thing). Anyway - more on that tomorrow, I'm going to be exploring Twin Peaks for a bit of the day before heading down to Oregon.
I've got a motel room for the first time on the trip (as opposed to a hotel), my door opens up to forest and stars above, seems fitting for WA and my current mindset. I really love the North West so far, can't wait to see more in the days to come.