Michael Richard Murphy

I have an ipod and an FM transmitter for the car. If you don’t know, it plugs into my ipod and sends the music to an empty FM station so I can listen through the car stereo. It’s very cool because I’m done with CDs and all my music is stored on the computer and ipod (for portability).

The transmitter needs to be tuned into a pretty empty station in order to work and be heard clearly (without static). Unfortunately there were hours and hours of driving time through the Midwest and above that for whatever reason, I couldn’t find a station empty enough to make it worth tuning into. Instead I spent hours hitting scan and bouncing between country and religious stations.

S– and I were headed out to run a quick errand today and she wanted to listen to a CD. I popped open the changer and what did I find…?

Six great CDs ranging from Tom Petty and System of a Down to Wyclef. They were there the whole time! Oh well.

I made it into Hood River, Oregon about 1:30 PST today.

The alarm on a car outside my hotel room window last night went off about every 20 minutes it seemed. Finally about 4 I decided it was’t going to stop so I might as well hit the road.

Idaho was beautiful and the mid-June snowstorm I encountered in Lookout Pass between Montana and Idaho was certainly unexpected.

The tip of Northern Idaho went fast but Washington was painful. Most of what I drove through was desert-like and knowing I was so close…but still hours away made it all the more painful.

I finally crossed over into Oregon about noon with a few more hours left to go. Battling the winds shooting down the Columbia River Gorge with four bikes on the car (acting as a big sail) seemed to make me go backwards.

Ah…finally sweet relief and a place to crash…Hood River.

Check out the Flickr pictures from the trip.

I spent most of the morning in the Badlands and Black Hills Forest taking pictures. With lots of time to make up, I drove about 15 hours today for a total of almost 950 miles. Ouch!

I’m spending the night in Missoula and shooting for finishing the trip through Idaho, Washington and Oregon tomorrow. The legwork and extended time in the car today should leave me with an “easy” 7 to 8 hour day tomorrow.

Tonight I’m in Murdo, South Dakota, a few hours East of Montana/Wyoming borders. In almost 800 miles of driving today, I crossed all of Iowa and most of South Dakota. I’m beat and headed to bed even though it’s only 8:30p here.

Tomorrow’s agenda is a quick stop at Mount Rushmore for pictures, Custer National Forrest to see some bison, and hopefully make it as far as Coeur D’Alene, Idaho.

I’d like an easy day of driving Sunday to finish up this trip. We’ll see what happens.

I think that line is from Monty Python…technically I think it’s, “He’s not dead yet”. At any rate, I’m not dead. I’m just in Illinois.

Some of you know and some of you do not. I’m currently driving cross country to Portland, Oregon. I’m relocating.

That’s part of the reason I haven’t written here since I don’t even know when. Too busy with house and packing and moving preparations.

I hoped to post pictures here of my travels. I’m taking them. Unfortunately it seems I’ve packed the USB cable for my camera who knows where. So pictures will have to wait until I unpack. Stay tuned…