12/26/2005 - Contemplating 90

I'm on Route 90, that asphalt river running west. Had I so chosen, I could have simply hopped on this mighty beast from the beginning and saved myself 500 miles. I live less than 1 mile from an entrance to Route 90 (the "Mass Pike," as it's called around my haunts) and it would have taken me only about 3,100 miles to hike straight to Seattle, which I fully intended to hit anyway.

Instead, I chose a meandering route, designed to hit Niagara, Mount Rushmore (just off the highway anyway) and Yellowstone, to name only a few of the sights that caught my interest. Truth be told, I only added 75 days to my route through such excursions. And amazingly, I still have almost that much hiking to do after I pass through Seattle - Alaska is a long way away.

Anyone who has spent any time on Route 90 (it's part of my daily commute) has probably come to think of it as one of the more barren roads along which one could meander, but the following website does manage to inject a little life into it. Apparently,

• There are occasionally places in Montana where the mighty highway shrinks to a 2 lane road, like the one I grew up on.
• New York is labeled backwards
• I-990, a spur route around Buffalo, is the highest numbered Interstate in the country.

There -- not totally lifeless. I can't be too cruel to this road now, as I will be back on it once I get to the Midwest (after my Canadian excursion).

22,000 uninteresting steps. Cheers,