The Oregon Trail

THE OREGON TRAIL
Daniel and Erin Lutz
September 2007

DAY 1: September 9, 2007

Virginia Beach, Virginia – Walkersville, Maryland
(Virginia, Maryland)
Lodging: The Noonan Family

Today was our last day with our friends from New Covenant. The past three days have been busy with packing and finishing all the last minute house repairs needing to be completed before we leave for Oregon. Daniel has been up since 5am working on fixing the bath tub and replacing all the fixtures in the bathroom. Elizabeth and I painted the entire bathroom yesterday which made a huge improvement. However, by the time we arrived at church this morning we were so tired. We were able to enjoy lunch after church with several of our closest friends from the church before saying our goodbyes. It was truly a bitter sweet goodbye and yet at the same time, Daniel and I both were so ready to be in the car and on our way.

Leaving Virginia Beach took three hours more than anticipated. Loading the car (which is jam packed) and a few more house repairs caused us not to leave until 5pm. At 6pm we were at the weigh station weighing the loaded car (a must for any military move, so I’ve learned) only to find out our car was overheating. Daniel quickly inspected the engine finding we had no coolant! Yikes! So it was well after 6pm before we got on the road towards Maryland. The rest of the drive was relatively uneventful. We arrived at the Noonans (sweet friends and a family I worked with in Honduras) about 9:45pm. After visiting with them and eating some dinner we hit the sack…thankful for a real bed to sleep on after a few nights on an air mattress!

DAY 2: September 10, 2007

Walkersville, Maryland – Dayton, Ohio
(Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio)
Lodging: Wright-Patterson AFB, Air Force Inn

After a good night’s rest, we were ready to hit the rode again this morning. We had a leisurely morning with Bill and the girls before they headed off to work and school. It was mid-morning before we left, but a beautiful drive through the mountains of Maryland, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. I drove most of today as Daniel was busy making necessary phone calls to cancel our bills from the house in Virginia Beach, get my car registered under his insurance, and make lodging reservations for our travels this week. It’s amazing how much work it takes to get married and move—ah, but how worth it!!

We arrived in Dayton, Ohio, around 7:30pm. Daniel made us a reservation at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Inn which is located on the east side of Dayton. You can’t beat a $37 hotel room! We quickly checked in and changed into running clothes taking advantage of the last little bit of light to stretch and get some exercise. We ended up grabbing dinner at the Officer’s Club on base right before it closed and headed back to the room for a much needed night of rest.

DAY 3: September 11, 2007

Dayton, Ohio – DeKalb, Illinois
(Ohio, Indiana, Illinois)
Lodging: Dan and Ginger Voogt

Our day started at 0500 this morning—I’m getting pretty used to military lingo now! I am a night owl, however, Daniel is my early bird and was quite happy to jump in the car this morning with his cup of coffee and get on the road while I went right back to sleep. I woke up on the north side of Indiana just in time for us to stop for breakfast at Cracker Barrel—maybe our last good southern breakfast for a while. They’ll probably only serve oatmeal and granola in Oregon!
We spent the afternoon today in Chicago. With only three hours, we hit the ground running and scheduled a boat tour along the Chicago River which showed us the unique architecture of downtown Chicago. We also ate lunch at House of Blues and went to the top of the Sears Tower.Today was a gorgeous day and the sun shining on Lake Michigan from the 103rd floor of the Sears Tower was picturesque!

After leaving downtown Chicago, we had a two hour drive to Dan and Ginger Voogt’s in DeKalb, where we stayed the night. Ginger is one of my best friend’s from college and she also got married this summer to her college sweetheart, Dan. We enjoyed a great evening of fellowship and laughter with them before crashing for the evening.

DAY 4: September 12, 2007

DeKalb, Illinois – Sioux Falls, South Dakota
(Illinois, Iowa, South Dakota)
Lodging: Residence Inn, Sioux Falls, SD

Today was a LOT of driving! We left the Voogt’s about 8am and decided to take the historic route Highway 20, also known as the Oregon Trail. Several quaint towns brought a welcome relief to the miles of corn fields and cows across the state of Iowa. Around lunch time we arrived in Galena, IL, and toured the home of former President Ulysses S. Grant. After crossing the Mississippi River, we were in Dubuque, IA, where we stopped to eat lunch at a restaurant sitting right on the river. The weather was gorgeous and it was a much needed break from the car.

After lunch and a stroll along the Mississippi, we jumped back in the car for five more hours of corn fields! I would hate to say a drive was boring, especially when your driving through your own country land, but we had seen enough corn and cows for one day! We had made a reservation to stay in a hotel in Sioux Falls, SD, and about 8:30pm we arrived there. I took a quick run on the treadmill, so tired from being cramped in the car. It was then on to a quick dinner and bed. The days seem so long and the nights so short right now!

DAY 5: September 13, 2007

Sioux Falls, South Dakota – Billings, Montana
(South Dakota, Montana)
Lodging: Fairfield Inn, Billings, MT

Today was another early morning on the road! But, we did get to stop and spend a few hours at Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse, the new monument in process. We arrived to Mount Rushmore and the weather had dropped about twenty degrees—we pulled out the jackets, warm socks, gloves and hats! It was a quick introduction to winter.

After walking around the base of the monument we jumped back in the car to visit the other monument before getting back on the road towards Billings. Arriving to our hotel late, we ate a quick dinner and hit the bed. We wanted to get off early again on Friday.

DAY 6: September 14, 2007

Billings, Montana – Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
(Montana, Wyoming)
Lodging: Old Faithful Lodge, Yellowstone

One of the most beautiful drives so far—we arrived in Yellowstone National Park about mid-morning. We stopped in a little western town outside the park to fuel up and get lunch before entering the park. We entered through the northeast entrance and were staying down at the Old Faithful Lodge in the southwest corner. It was a gorgeous several hour drive through the park. Of course, we stopped many times…to see a black bear or byson, other times to see mudpits and small geisers, and our last stop was a six mile trail we partly ran and partly hiked.

The cabins we stayed in at Old Faithful sat right behind the famous geiser and the original inn built in 1904. The cabins were rustic with public bathrooms, but made the experience all the more enjoyable and unique. We ate dinner that night at the restaurant in the Inn, one so popular it is reservation only! It was delicious--serving roasted bison, chicken and all the sides we could possibly want. Roasted bison tastes a lot like roast beef but is supposedly healthier and leaner. Needless to say, we were stuffed and happy after that!

DAY 7: September 15, 2007

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming – Boise, Idaho
(Wyoming, Idaho)
Lodging: The Goebel’s

We woke up to a cool, brisk morning in the park. After a filling breakfast at the Old Faithful Inn, we packed the car and got on the road. We knew it would take a while to leave the park since we were leaving through the south entrance in order to drive through the Grand Teton National park on our way to Idaho. The amazing thing about the Grand Tetons is they are massive mountains that jut straight out of the plains in Wyoming. On the other side of the Tetons is the well-known Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We stopped here for a delicious BBQ lunch and were on our way to Boise.

We arrived at my (Erin) cousin’s late and after visiting for a few minutes we all crashed. It had been several years since I had spent a lot of time with them and their four children so we looked forward to two nights and the Sabboth day with them.

DAY 8: September 16, 2007

This morning we had the privilege of worshipping with the Goebels at their new church plant. David planted this churchon the southern side of Boise this past year and while still a small congregation, it is obvious the Lord is in that church and has incredible plans for it. Later in the afternoon we were given the official tour of Boise which is one of the sunniest cities in the West. The restful day was a much needed pause to our busy traveling schedule. We stayed with them again before heading out for our new home in the morning.

DAY 9: September 17, 2007

Boise, Idaho – Philomath, Oregon
(Idaho, Oregon)
Lodging: Our new home!

Today we arrived at our new home! After an incredibly gorgeous drive along the Columbia River, through Portland and Salem, we found our home in Philomath (a small town outside of Corvallis) a little after dark. After looking around and setting up our air mattress (our bed until the truck arrived) we went out for some dinner and then eagerly hit that sack. It has been an enjoyable road trip, but very long and we were so anxious to begin making our home.

The biggest surprise of our new house was an orange guest room…we couldn’t figure out if the former renters really liked OSU or wanted the room to look like a huge tangerine, but it was the ugliest orange! We called the landlord and she said we could do anything we wanted to the room. We found leftover green paint from the kitchen in the garage and the next morning began the three coats of paint it would take to cover up the orange. So now, we have a beautiful green guest room for everyone to visit!