Christopher's Classic Road Trips!

PAGE INITIATED:  NOVEMBER 4, 2000.

LAST UPDATED:  AUGUST 18, 2002!

As promised, here is the classic road trips page!

As far back as I can recall, I have been fascinated by the sights seen along the highways of the world.   My earliest memory of this was my first trip on a Greyhound bus in August, 1972, when Dad took Faith and myself to meet Grandma Grace, Aunt Edith, Cousin Jerry, and Cousin Imogene (Jean).  I have been a traveller ever since.  :-)

I taught myself to read at age 2, and it came in handy at age 7, when I picked up a Rand McNally Road Atlas for the first time, and easily located a highway on the map that brother Kim couldn't find!  The family gave me the title of 'Director of Trips', and the Rand McNally Road Atlas has been my trip planner of choice ever since.  :-)

I will fill in the dates as well as my memory can recall, and details I remember from each of them.
For some of them, you'll also see photos I took along the way (or taken of me).


August, 1972...  My first bus trip, from Dayton, Ohio to Urbana, Missouri!  In addition to meeting the Missouri branch of the family, this was also the first time I ever played a 45 on a jukebox.  Just before boarding the bus for the return trip to Dayton, I remember playing Chér's big solo hit of that time, "Gypsies, Tramps, And Thieves" (featured MIDI) on the jukebox at the Fina truck stop on the corner of US 65 and Dallas County Route 'D'.  (The truck stop was replaced in late summer 2000 by a convenience store, alas without a jukebox.)  I also distinctly remember being chased around the trailer by Grandma Grace because sweet, not-quite-6 years-old Christopher uttered 'shit' for the first time, and Grandma was intent on whipping my behind; Faith and Cousin Jerry played blocker most of that evening.  Jerry gave Faith one of the first-ever environmental sweatshirts as an 11th birthday gift:  "Pollution is a dirty word".

September, 1973...  My first major road trip by auto, from Dayton to Saint Charles (Chicago), Illinois!  Kim drove Mom, Faith, and myself there to visit brother Sam, his wife, Norma, and their then 6 month-old son, Stuart William.  Young Christopher earns a lifetime appointment by locating Illinois Route 394 on the metro Chicago map when Kim loses his way in a construction-filled voyage.  LOL :-)  I will never forget all the construction we faced going around Indianapolis on I-465, on US 30 in Gary, and all along the Tri-State Tollway (I-294).

September, 1974...  Chris gets left at home, as Mom and long-time family friend Helen Wells go off to Spokane to see EXPO '74 and visit the family.

July, 1975...  Same start and stop points as the 1973 trip, but this time we go via I-75 to Toledo, and across the Ohio Turnpike and Indiana Toll Road (I-80/90).

July, 1976...  Ditto 1975 trip, except the return trip we went via the Chicago Skyway (I-94) before hitting the Indiana Toll Road.  Add 2 month-old Miles Henry to the visitee list here.  :-)  Kim and Sam get soaked big time reroofing Sam's house (see Family page #1 for the details)!

August, 1977...  A combined fly/drive trip, as Mom and I fly (my first plane trip!) from Dayton to Kalispell, Montana to visit Papa Carl & Nana Sue Jacobsen.  Faith was at the USTA baton and drum corps national championship in Denver visiting Andy and Tandy, and she flew up to join us.  Meanwhile, Kim drives up to Saint Charles to meet us all, as we fly in from Kalispell, so we all can see Sam, Norma, Stu, and Miles.  The return trip was the same route as 1973 via Indianapolis.  Highlights of the Montana portion included meeting Uncle Dick Jacobsen, Aunt Alice (Jacobsen) Richeson, Aunt Martha (Jacobsen) Christensen, and Uncle Ray & Aunt Helen (Legge) Holst, riding in Ray & Helen's RV to see Glacier National Park (my first of many visits since), my first-ever suitcase being damaged by the baggage handlers at Salt Lake City (how dare they!), and Faith's suitcase being bused in from Missoula (because the airline put it on the wrong plane at Denver!).  Elvis Presley died on August 16, while we were in Kalispell, and I was the first in the family to hear the sad news (appropriately enough, on Papa's tube-fired RCA Victor AM radio).

July, 1978...  Dad worked on cars a lot, and this trip Dad (complete with his sharp peripheral vision) had his almost 12 year-old Director of Trips riding shotgun, his trusty Rand McNally at the ready.  LOL :-)  We used his 1963 Chevy Bel-Air station wagon (complete with bad electric window switches and less than adequate A/C) to tow Papa Carl's old '62 Impala to Springfield, Missouri.  My memories of this trip are still clear to this day:  the wonderful truck stop food served at Stop 127, Brazil 70, a quartet of Bobber Cafés, and the best homemade french fries at a truck stop on I-44 near Rolla, Missouri (and having to steer the towed Impala through fresh asphalt to get to the parking lot), and a very HUMID 104 degree day through the heart of Saint Louis.  John Wayne passed away while we were visiting Grandma Grace and Cousin Jerry in Urbana.  I made my first solo airplane trip flying home.  (photo of me and Grandma to scan later!)

September, 1979...  Mom goes to Kalispell to scout houses for a move west and see her parents (the last time she ever saw Papa Carl).  Meanwhile, Dad and I take a jaunt to Springfield, MO.  I asked Dad to leave me alone in a motel while he went to help out Grandma Grace and Cousin Jerry.  I remember the return trip through Illinois as being the worst fog I have ever seen.  Dad kept the car in the lane despite the fog and macular degeneration, with help from the shotgun co-pilot (moi).

January 24-30, 1980...  Cross-country move by car from Dayton to Kalispell!  We detoured via the Bobber Café at Effingham en route to Saint Charles, and took the East-West Tollway (IL 5, now I-88) per Sam's suggestion to the Quad Cities; as we headed through the heart of nasty winter weather in Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, and Montana.  

May, 1982...  Whitefish, MT-Spokane-Whitefish.  My first rail trip on Amtrak's Empire Builder to see Kim and Tess graduate from Whitworth College.

June, 1982...  Kalispell-Chinle, AZ-Kalispell.  My church's senior high youth group does a mission trip to Chinle, Arizona to host a vacation Bible school at Nazlini, for our Presbyterian neighbors on the Navajo reservation.  We went down via Salt Lake City and Moab, Utah, and returned via the Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce Canyon, and Salt Lake City.  (More links to add and a bunch of old 126 snapshots to scan later!)  Memories of this trip include:  the van breaking down north of Moab; hi-jinks at night in sweltering heat; desert rains; singing "Jesus Loves Me" in Navajo; the Grand Canyon(!); bunches of other natural wonders (Arches NP, Zion, Bryce Canyon); Glen Canyon Dam; Temple Square and the Mormon Tabernacle; eating at a mall-enclosed McDonald's for the first time; singing my second-ever solo at the Grand Canyon chapel (and my voice barely making it through); and the birth of England's Prince William while we were in SLC on the return home.

March, 1983...  Mom & I go to the State Boys Class AA Basketball tournament in Missoula!  Quite an experience!  We spent night one in Hamilton, and night two at a Best Western in Missoula.

July, 1983...  Kalispell-Urbana, MO-Kalispell.  Kim, Faith, and I venture down for Daddy's funeral.

December, 1983...  Kalispell-Helena-Kalispell.  This was my first visit to Montana's capital city, and I went to watch my high school basketball team get thoroughly thunked by the Capital High Bruins.  Coach Epperly and the trio of official cheerleaders that made the trip were very elated to hear and see the '#1 Braves Fan'.

August 1-6, 1984...  Kalispell via Dubuque to Dayton.  This was a most excellent rockin' summer road trip with Mom, as we ventured back to Ohio for the start of my Freshman year of college.

December, 1984-January, 1985...  Dayton-Dubuque-Dayton.  A Christmas and New Year's to remember.  Sam, Norma, and the 'boyz' drove over from Saint Charles, and Uncle Chris got to baby sit Stu and Miles on New Year's Eve while Kim, Tess, Joyce, and Sam and Norma went to an upscale party.  I bought pizza for the three of us, and we played Atari 2600 and 5200 video games, and watched The Weather Channel as a major blizzard struck Dubuque and shut down the roads headed out of town for 3 days.

April 26-30, 1985...  Dayton-Dubuque-Kalispell.  A rush to get home.  :-)  Well, the first part wasn't so much of a rush.  I wrapped up finals the morning of the 26th, finished packing the car, and arrived in Dubuque that evening, and Kim and I spent April 27 repacking the car, using the roof rack to increase interior visibility, and installing a right-hand mirror.  The rush came later.  Tandy was visiting Kalispell, and was due to fly back to Denver on April 30. I made Chamberlain, SD on the night of the 28th, got 2 hours of sleep after driving straight through from Dubuque, and set forth around 3:00 am on the 29th.  With usual rest stops (and a bee encounter in Spearfish, SD), I was OK until the last leg of the journey from Polson to Kalispell in the wee hours of the 30th.  I managed to make it home with a few hours to spare, and gave Tandy a belated birthday present picked up along the way (REO Speedwagon's Wheels Are Turnin' tape).

May 16, 1985...  Kalispell-Spokane.  Nana Joyce and I rush to await the result (Adam) of 'Mount Faith' erupting from the bottom. :-)

February, 1986...  Butte-Kalispell-Butte.  A wild and snowy President's day weekend.

May 9-13, 1988...  Whitefish-San Antonio.  My first long-distance rail trip on Amtrak via the Empire Builder from Whitefish to Portland, OR; the Coast Starlight from Portland to Los Angeles (passing a dark Dodger Stadium as we rolled into Union Station), and the Sunset Limited from Los Angeles to San Antonio (not sweating despite a power and A/C failure the last 100 miles or so west of El Paso).

January-February, 1989...  San Antonio-Kalispell-San Antonio.  A cold spell to remember...  A nasty cold wave blasted down from Alaska and Canada, and reached even San Antonio!  My bus was the only one that left San Antonio the Sunday before MLK day (3 hours late), and that shortened my layovers at Amarillo, Denver, and Salt Lake City.  While at home, Mom and I ventured over to Great Falls to see my recruiter, an old college friend of Mom's in Butte and Geoff, too (pic to scan later), and over to Spokane to see Faith et. al.  The starter on the Corolla went out during the cold snap, and we got to Spokane on push-starts until we could replace it.  The replacement starter went out again in Fort Collins, CO on the return trip to San Antonio by car over President's Day weekend.

October 16-30, 1989...  San Antonio-Kalispell-Mountain Home, ID.  One wild PCS!  I got to Denver, had a few hours sleep while visiting Tandy and Andy, and left early to beat the weather... and hit a nasty blizzard north of Fort Collins.  Traffic limped along at 30-35 MPH until I made it to Cheyenne.  Cheyenne to Bozeman was slow going, but I managed to arrive in time to get a pizza in Bozeman.  While in Kalispell, I ventured over to Great Falls to help my recruiter with a career day.  The trip down to Mountain Home was relatively uneventful, save for a nasty ice storm over Lost Trail Pass.

November, 1990...  Mountain Home-Kalispell and back.  A wild and snowy Thanksgiving drive to remember, complete with a flat at Grangeville, Idaho...

August, 1991...  Kalispell-Spokane and back.  Adventures in Tercel 4WD wagon driving, as the right front drive shaft goes out.  Thank goodness I could lock in the rear wheels to get home from Spokane...

January, 1992... Kalispell-Mountain Home-Las Vegas-Mountain Home. Chris represents Mountain Home's CircuitNetters at the Furnée Soiree in Las Vegas, Nevada.  I spent part of that leave in Kalispell, went via Mountain Home for a night in my warm bed, and ran out of gas near Twin Falls en route to Vegas, and sleeping en route in long johns amidst another cold spell.

February, 1993...  The 'Mother' of all road trips! LOL  See Mom's bio on Family page #1 for all the cool links.

December 13-15, 1994...  Mountain Home-Great Falls, via Ryder.  The truck-trailer combo towing my car handled very well at 65 MPH.

May, 1995...  Great Falls-Kalispell-Mountain Home-Kalispell.  A Kim and Chris jaunt from Kalispell to Mountain Home, Golden Spike NHS, the Bonneville Salt Flats, and Craters Of The Moon National Monument.

August 25, 1996...  Chris sees Yellowstone NP for the first time!

August 25, 1997...  Chris starts out at Glacier, and then goes on to see Yellowstone NP for the second time!

September 3-6, 1999...  Spokane to Seattle and Bremerton, and back.  For better or for worse, this trip changed my life forever.

November 10-11, 1999...  Spokane to Seattle and Bremerton, and back.  A grayer weekend, my life had never before known.

December, 1999-January, 2000...  The last road trip Kim and I would take, as Kim picked me up and returned me while the RAV4 was having deer damage repaired.  We listened to a lot of music from both of our collections.  We finally had a sibling bonding that trip, more so than the previous trips.

August 2-8, 2000...  Away, away, away down south to Dixie... Biloxi, Mississippi
August 2: Spokane-Bozeman, a very nice day for a drive.
August 3: Bozeman-Wall, SD.  Bikers galore, as Sturgis was getting ready to roll!  Saw Mount Rushmore, too.
August 4: Wall, SD-St. Joseph, MO. Full of construction on both I-90 and I-29.
August 5: St. Joseph, MO - Belleville, IL via Urbana and Buffalo, MO.  No luck finding any of the Smiths there, and St. Louis was a NO VACANCY zone, with the Rams first pre-season game that night, and a lot of rain too.  I ended up sleeping in a Rest Area on the IL side of the Mississippi on I-64 early on the 6th.
August 6: Belleville, IL - Memphis, TN  Nice drive, visited the Anheuser-Busch Brewery in St. Louis, and more construction.
August 7: Memphis, TN  Replaced the blower motor in the RAV4 (again), saw Graceland, Sun Studio, and Beale St.
August 8: Through the heart of 'Ole Miss' and New Orleans, and on to Biloxi.

August 25, 2000...  A day trip to the heart of Clower Country: McComb and Liberty, Mississippi.

October 21, 2000...  A day trip to the Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL.

October 27-November 2, 2000...  The return trip from Biloxi to Spokane.  I beat a nasty blizzard leaving Rapid City, too!

November 23-30, 2000...  Thanksgiving with the family in Kalispell and the trip to my new duty station.

December 2-4, 2000...  An unanticipated return trip home (details), with 99% good driving weather.

December 18-22, 2000...  The return trip to my new duty station, complete with lousy weather.

COOL TRAVEL LINKS


Greyhound

Amtrak

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