Passenger Princess Log, Day 11: Boston

0 Miles to Boston and beyond…

We rolled into Boston just in time to have bangers and mash and an English cider for lunch; the traffic was easy, and the crowds were thin, but we were there for a good time, not for a long time. Off we went.

Sunburned (him more than me), tired, and so very happy.

It has been a long trip. By the time we rolled into Boston on July 3, including side ventures, detours, and a quick visit to my home, our 3,365 miles to Boston stretched to 4,082. 

The most important discoveries of this trip have been the unplanned, the in-betweens, and the detours. We celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary on this trip and were pleased to see that even after that amount of time and over 4,000 miles on a motorcycle, we still like, even love, each other. That is definitely an achievement. 

When we first discussed this trip, we talked about just shooting through to Iowa, my home state. We have made that trip numerous times and taken parts of Highway 20 on other trips, but we decided to make the whole thing an exploration and create new memories in every state. 

I have lived in Oregon for 25 years, my husband for all of his life, and we have driven through every county and spent countless hours exploring our state, but we still managed to find some surprises. Such as…

The first free museum of the trip, a sign marking the transcontinental auto race, and the Killer Burger Mural

We had previously taken the entire length of Highway 20 in Idaho, but we had driven past a tank and a nuclear reactor every time.

How did we miss this?

Wyoming, of course, had Yellowstone, but that was not new. New to us were the dinosaurs at Glenrock and the sasquatch at the Silver Dollar Bar in Lusk, where we were able to escape the cold for a bit.

Nebraska is a blur. It rained on us for 200 miles nonstop, so if it weren’t for the rhinos, highway signs would have been the only memories; that just means we will have to return via Highway 20 again instead of taking I-80 across as usual.

Ashfall Fossil Beds

Some of the many highway signs taken with cold and shaky hands

We had to make an effort in Iowa to avoid retracing old memories, but we did it. There we saw the world’s largest popcorn ball and spent time at the Mississippi River in Dubuque and noticed a hatch, almost a plague, of mayflies.

The world’s largest popcorn ball and the plague of mayflies

An unexpected detour took us into Wisconsin. We just hit the corner, so there were no experiences, but it is still a memory.

The only picture of Wisconsin from this trip

Almost immediately into Illinois, we visited the home of Ulysses S. Grant in Galena and then had a drink at the Route 20 Bar and Grill while escaping the heat that had us almost wishing for the rain of Nebraska again. We were definitely wishing for Nebraska, or just about anywhere else, while taking the five hours to drive through Chicago. 

The Ulysses S. Grant Home in Galena and the Route 20 Bar and Grill–a welcome respite

In Indiana, we visited the Dunes National Park, and instead of finding the world’s largest something, I found a collection of the world’s smallest games at a truck stop.

The pink house from Indiana Dunes National Park and a collection of the world’s smallest

Ohio gave us some Lake Erie Love, and then, my favorite, the Merry-Go-Round Museum. 

I had trouble picking my favorite Ohio pictures

Highway 20 just touches the northern tip of Pennsylvania, so all I have to remember it from this trip are the “Welcome to” signs.

From there we hit New York, not New York, New York, but the state outside of the city. We traveled through farmland, had a glass of wine at the state’s oldest estate winery, didn’t get romantic at Niagara Falls (thank you 110-degree weather), learned about women’s rights, and rode the only carousel in the world still housed where it was built. I am still trying to decide which of the carousel museums was my favorite. 

In Boston, we lost the route right before Kenmore Square, so we made a circle, and when we saw the familiar green sign, we were excited, relieved, and exhausted all at once. We parked the bike, took our pictures, and went in to have lunch and a drink from the tavern where we could see the sign. When the owner asked what had brought us to Boston, we told him we’d ridden Highway 20 all the way from Newport, Oregon. He stopped what he was doing, shook our hands, and said that in all the years he’d owned the place, he’d never met anyone who’d done that. Neither had we.

The end, but not

It has been quite the journey, but it is not done. After Boston, we turned North. The next leg begins in Vermont and heads through Canada before dropping down to go back home. I’ll keep you posted.

After Boston, we stayed in Burlington Vermont

Was it worth it? Would I do it again? If you asked me that now, I would say, “When can we leave?” But, then again, we still have to go back. Ask me in a few days.