We started the last day fairly early. Just before we left Washington the guy at the rental place thought that we were heavy which made me pretty concerned about weigh stations. I also knew that Minnesota was pretty strict at the weigh stations which had me concerned a little.
My gas was a little low coming into Fargo, but I figured it should wait just in case I was borderline. It was probably not a big deal, and a pretty low ratio to my overall weight but I went over the border with the lowest amount of gas I had driven the truck with. I pulled through the weigh station and it was a rather interesting experience. We made it through without any incident but it was interesting to see how they had it setup. Basically, you pulled up to the scale and they had a sign that told you what to do. A couple of trucks ahead of me in line were told to go to the waiting lot for inspection. Like I already mentioned, we made it through, but I wonder if having the trailer and a fairly light car helped out a bit as we were definitely under on the weight of the trailer with the car on it.
We kept moving after the weigh station with just a nasty howling wind which both helped and hindered the driving – it was partially blowing across the truck though on occasion it gave a nice push from behind. Because I let the gas run down a bit I thought it was time to get gas ASAP so we stopped at a little town a bit off of I-94 and squeezed into their lot. Going to that gas station was probably the biggest driving mistake of the whole trip. I almost had to backup out of the lot. I don’t know that I could have done it with that large of a vehicle. Nevertheless, I was able to squeeze out (and drop off the curb rather than going out of the real exit) and keep moving.
We stopped awhile later for lunch and to let Alex run around a bit. He fell asleep after we got back in the truck and we made it “home” to Delano with minimal issues.
That night we unloaded the truck into the storage unit. To call that a fiasco would be an understatement. We had some great helpers so we were able to fit it all in eventually in the dark.
The long drive was finally over and we were able to stop staying at hotels for awhile.
- Total Miles (WA-MN): 1630
- Miles left after day 4: 265
- Desired 5th day miles: 265
- Actual 5th day miles: 265
- Miles Behind: 0
- Miles Left: 0
We got up and got rolling out of Glendive pretty early. We were 50-50 on trying to push to finish or to stop at Fargo for the night. The best part about driving this leg of the journey in the moving truck was that the wind was at my back nearly the entire day.
The drive was pretty boring, but with making good time we were about half way just before lunch time. Alex and I stopped at McDonalds in Bismarck and had a good lunch outside. The weather was pretty nice and it was probably the best lunch stop of the whole trip.
Most of the trip Tassy and crew was ahead of us by a pretty decent margin but this day, with the wind at our back we were ahead by a bit. The decision was made that we would stop at Fargo. We stayed at Super 8s the whole way and the Fargo Super 8 was having a deal on suites. The suite was the same price we had been paying the whole trip for a normal room. We decided we’d take the suite and try to relax a little bit.
Alex and I were in at least 30-45 minutes early for the first time and got settled in early. It wasn’t the Ritz Carlton, but it was a pretty decent Super 8. We had a bunch of room which was really nice.
Apparently, when packing the truck I packed Max’s diapers too far in. At least Target was close…
- Total Miles (WA-MN): 1630
- Miles left after day 3: 655
- Desired 4th day miles: 390
- Actual 4th day miles: 390
- Miles behind: 318
- Miles left: 265
Another fairly early morning. Packing the hotel room for 3 adults and 3 kids is no quick task. It seemed as if we were moving in for a week or better each day even though it was just overnight – literally overnight too. We regularly stopped around bedtime for the kids so we basically brought our clothes, pack-n-play for Max, toys, stuffed animals, Toby (our cat), Toby’s litterbox and Toby’s food. The pack/unpack process was at least a half hour to an hour.
We had to let the truck warm up for about 10 minutes every day which wasn’t a big deal, but it was a bit weird to sit in a perfectly running truck for awhile just hanging out. I usually used the time to get Alex situated with the requisite snacks and get his movie or other entertainment going.
Leaving Belgrade was no big deal and we headed east again. One thing to remember when driving through Montana – it’s big. REALLY BIG. In fact, we wouldn’t even make the North Dakota border that night. We stopped in Glendive which is ~25 miles from the North Dakota border. At dinner we ate at the local diner which was pretty good food wise, but when Tassy or Ann (I forget which) asked me what town this was I couldn’t remember. I had to ask our waitress. This was day 3 on the road and already I was forgetting what town we were in. I can’t imagine how bands do it for months at a time. I’d be forgetting which town I was in every night…
At any rate, the hotel at Glendive was the worst BY FAR. If you’re in Glendive, stay away from the Super 8.
- Total Miles (WA-MN): 1630
- Total Miles left after day 2: 970
- Desired 3rd day miles: 315
- Actual 3rd day miles: 373
- Miles Behind: 318
- Miles Left: 655
Day 2 of the drive started fairly early. We packed up the hotel room back into the vehicles, Alex and I fired up the beast and Tassy and crew went to grab breakfast.
Alex and I had grabbed a quick bite from the hotel and we figured we’d grab snacks when we stopped for gas. We left about an hour before Tassy, and she caught us by mid-morning.
The drive through Idaho and the beginnings of Montana was very pretty. Problem is, that stretch is pretty much all mountains which lead to tough driving for the beast. I’ve driven that stretch through Idaho and Montana 3 times with regular cars and such, but it was very slow going in the truck. One benefit was that I could take in a little more scenery than I had expected.
Most of the day was uneventful though Alex and I saw about 80% of the rest stops along the way. It was apparent that we weren’t going to make it in 4 days like I wanted so I might as well not push so hard that we were uncomfortable. In fact, on the way down from a major pass we stopped at a rest stop that had 3-4 feet of snow over everything. He climbed up a bank and promptly got stuck when his feet sank. He was cold and wet so we headed back to the truck to warm up.
We caught up with Tassy for lunch – this was the one day we actually drove close to each other for more than a quick pass. Since she had Max and Nick they had to stop more frequently to feed and entertain. Good thing her mom was with to help with that. For Alex and myself we just stopped to use the facilities nearly every chance.
We stopped that night in Belgrade, MT. We were even more behind now. We had wanted to get to Forsyth that night which was now at least a couple hundred miles away.
* Total Distance (WA-MN): 1630
* Total miles left after day 1: 1360
* Desired 2nd day miles: 444
* Actual 2nd day miles: 390
* Total behind: 260
* Miles left: 970
So, after finally getting the truck loaded the past couple of days moving day arrived with still several things to do before we could hit the road. By the time we ran some errands, drove the car and truck to load the car onto the trailer, drove back to the house and finished up the last few items to stuff into the car and SUV it was noon already. I had wanted to be all ready to go and leave first thing in the morning but that was obviously not the case.
Alex and I set off in the moving truck around noon while Tassy and the rest took the SUV to run another errand or two before heading out.
Alex and I stopped in North Bend for lunch and got back on the road. It wasn’t more than an hour or so later that Tassy caught up to us. As it turns out, a large moving truck full to the brim that is towing a car is rather heavy. Heavy = Slow. Up the mountain pass my average speed was 35-40 mph. I shudder to think what the gas burn rate was there too.
I had one weigh station to swing through without incident, and Alex and I stopped in Ritzville at Perkins for dinner. Tassy and crew ended up stopping one town earlier, Moses Lake, at ironically – Perkins. We didn’t realize that we had both stopped at the same place until after we were both back on the road.
We decided that Spokane would be our stop for the evening. We had wanted to make it to Missoula for the first stop so we were behind. The whole trip was supposed to be Bellevue to Missoula, Missoula to Forsyth, Forsyth to Bismarck, and Bismarck to Minneapolis.
- Total Distance (WA-MN): 1630
- Desired 1st Day Miles: 466
- Actual 1st Day Miles: 270
- Total behind: 196
- Miles Left: 1360