We have arrived :D

Hey everyone,

We're writing you this blog entry from Powell's, the World's largest independently-owned bookstore, in downtown Portland, Oregon. It feels wonderful to be here and we're so thankful for all of the support from you all.

As you can imagine, we were tired along the way and also, wi-fi was not always available, hence the delay in between posts, but we're sure you understand.

Below are some pictures from Days 3 and 4 of our journey. Enjoy!

We were literally within feet of this beast. No camera zoom was necessary.


We had a great view of Old Faithful's eruption.

This was at Mary's Bay in the mountains of Yellowstone.

Artist's Point. Pictures don't do it justice.

You wouldn't believe how windy it was.

To see more picturesque images of Yellowstone, please click here: YELLOWSTONE.

Brett, Jessica and baby Vera are being excellent hosts for us as we apartment hunt. Yesterday, we spent the day researching units and traveling the city to find a suitable place. We've scheduled some viewings and will keep you posted. We can't wait to have a place of our own.

With Love,

Mary and Ryan

Day Two!

Alright, well we've made it through two days of driving cross-country! We started the day in Sioux City, IA and ended in Sheridan, Wyoming (about 20 miles from the Montana border).

We drove about 675 miles today, which puts us over half way to Portland!

Originally, we planned to stop at Mt. Rushmore, but there was a lot of traffic around Rapid City, IA and it would have taken us 70 miles out of our way. We did, however, see some beautiful scenery driving through South Dakota and Wyoming. Check out these pics below.

We stopped to fill our tanks and get some food in Sturgis, SD, where it was over 90 degrees, so Mary was pretty happy that she got her A/C fixed for the trip. We also saw about 1000 billboard advertisements for "Wall Drug," which is tourist stop in the middle of South Dakota.

So now we only have about 300 miles to Yellowstone! We are both really excited about getting there so we can take a couple days off from driving and relax. So we will be posting more pics in the next couple of days.

Thanks again for the comments, we love getting them!

Day 1

Ryan and I left Muskegon at 9:30 a.m. ready to begin our first day of driving. Saying our goodbyes to friends and family was the hardest part about leaving, but we were both eager to begin our journey.

We traveled 700 miles the first day, making it to Sioux City, IA, which for me was quite the accomplishment for the following reasons:

Prior to today, the farthest I drove was 120 miles. It was my first time driving outside of Michigan. Also, the longest I had ever used cruise control was a mere 5 miles on I-96.

For Ryan, it was a little more feasible. He has a drive from Austin, TX to Muskegon (with only 1 hour-long nap along the way) under his belt.

We traveled through Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and a little bit of Nebraska.



The drive has already been scenic and we're eager to head westward toward more beauty. We have some pictures of Iowa, which had a lot of corn, hills (which surprised us) and windmills. Gas was also in the $3.40-$3.50 per gallon range, significantly lower than the $4.00/gal that we filled up with in Illinois.







It's just past 11 p.m. central time here, and we're getting ready to rest up for another day on the road tomorrow. We are planning to stop at Mt. Rushmore, and some other sites in South Dakota.

Our next post should have some more picturesque images.

Thanks for all the support, and we appreciate the comments. Good night!