Sibling Assignment #193: You Want to Go Where?

I gave this Sibling Assignment:

Write about a dream trip you'd like to take in the United States, even if you don't think it'll ever happen.
Include where you'd like to go, and, if fitting, what time of year you'd like to make this trip. Also discuss why this is your dream.

Carol's post is here and here is Christy's.

I dream about taking a long road trip in states east of Idaho and west of Ohio. My dream trip would include Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana.

Last September, when the Deke and I drove from Silver Spring, MD to Kellogg, ID, we made stops in Eau Claire, WI;  Bismark, ND; and Bozeman, MT. In Bismark and Bozeman we tried out a couple of breweries and loved them and, in Bozeman, we had food from a Brazilian joint that we enjoyed a lot.

It made me think that all through these states in places like Butte, Dillon, Cody, Gillette, Lincoln, Omaha, Fargo, Pierre, Mitchell, Ames, Davenport, Bemidji, Duluth, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, La Crosse, New Glarus, Normal, Springfield, Lafayette, Fort Wayne, and other underdog places we might find local breweries, diners, interesting sites to visit, Episcopalian churches, people to yak with, unique beauty, and other surprises such as local festivals or markets.

I love going to big cities so you'd think my dream trip would be to Chicago or New York City or Washington, DC, or Boston; I love the northeast, so you might also think that my dream trip would be to New England in the fall or to return to Cap Cod in October.

But, at the same time, the Deke and I love smaller places, places never mentioned when we see sexy travel ads, places where, if we were asked where we'd like to go, the response would be, "Why? Who goes to Fargo? Or Davenport? Or Normal? Or Omaha?"

I'd be most interested in making such a trip when the weather has cooled off a bit, like in late September or October. I'd enjoy the golden light of autumn, the less crowded roads, and the availability of beers brewed for the fall as well as year round offerings. It would be much easier to walk around and explore these less famous, less glamorous place in the fall, making it much easier to find yarn shops, bottle shops, bookstores, galleries, museums, coffee shops. or other places that might surprise us.

Maybe most of all, I enjoy being out on wide open roads and I enjoy driving on back roads. Travel in these states promises both. I love the feel of the hugeness of the USA. Some find it boring, I realize, but when I am out on those long stretches of uninterrupted terrain in the Dakotas or Montana or driving across Minnesota, I am awestruck by the immense amount of space in this part of the USA and it relaxes me, fills me with wonder, and gives my mind plenty of room to wander and think about things.

I do believe that one day the Deke and I will take some version of this trip. We might focus more on the Great Lakes. We might venture into parts unknown to us in Canada. But whatever we decide, it's almost a sure thing that we'll go where the land stretches out and the towns and cities are modest, not huge and boasting.