The Longest Drive

9,325 Miles of the USA

Prologue (May 15 - 17)

In my quest to see all 50 states I had to do something about the great middle and the deep south.  I was originally going to handle it like the Great Lakes Tour. That is, fly out to a starting point, rent a car for the tour, then fly back.  Two things made me decide otherwise - I didn't want to be held to a schedule and I wanted to bring my stuff with me.  Besides, I've found that I rather enjoy getting out on the road and driving.  "Longest Drive" is a typical golf contest, but here it simply refers to the fact that I've never done so much driving in a short period of time.  I remembered to check the odometer at both the start and finish and over 3 weeks (May 15 through June 4) it was 9,325 miles.  WHEW!

I have to confess, I was a bit reluctant to leave my clubs behind.  I knew that on a trip like this I wouldn't touch them, but I'd been playing pretty well. But I'd be back soon enough.  So it was that on Friday, May 15, 2009 at about noon, I set out east on I-80.  It had been recommended that I pick some other time to avoid traffic at Tahoe / Reno.  The traffic never materialized and I made it to Elko, Nevada the first night.

The next morning I headed north on US-93 into Idaho, then east into Montana on I-90.  I made my share of stops (Idaho and Montana are very pretty, but that was another vacation.)  At Billings I went further north on I-94 and found this booming metropolis.  I saw neither deer nor antelope, so I pressed onward to Forsyth where I spent the night. New rule - "Historic District" is motel speak for "high prices".

May 17 I was driving through North Dakota.  On the Big Sky Tour I only made it to the western part of the state for Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  Further east in New Salem, I saw what has to be the biggest cow in the world.

I reached my destination for the day, Detroit Lakes.  It was the start of one of Minnesota's official "Scenic Byways" that I learned of on the internet.  I figured with a name like Detroit Lakes it would have to appeal to me - I was born in Detroit.  If you think they don't have good golf courses in Minnesota, well, think again!  This course was actually on the grounds of my motel.  Suddenly I was second-guessing my decision to leave my clubs behind.

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